Spillover of workplace IT satisfaction onto job satisfaction: The roles of job fit and professional fit

Abstract

With information technology (IT) increasingly penetrating in workplaces, employee satisfaction with workplace IT becomes an integral part of work and significantly influences work-related outcomes. Scant attention, however, has been paid to whether and how employees’ IT satisfaction plays a role in generating job-related attitudinal changes among employees. Drawing upon satisfaction spillover theory, we developed and empirically tested a model to examine the relationship between individual satisfaction with workplace IT and job satisfaction. Specifically, we introduced two elements of user-task-technology fit—namely, job fit and professional fit—to examine the transition in employees’ satisfaction from the technological domain to overall satisfaction with work. We found that job fit not only mediated but also strengthened the effect of workplace IT satisfaction on job satisfaction, whereas professional fit did not play a moderating role in the relationship between workplace IT satisfaction and job satisfaction. The findings suggest that practitioners should emphasize workplace IT as a crucial ingredient of the work context and improve employee experiences with using IT. More importantly, the fit of IT with employees’ job and professional requirements is critical for this transition in satisfaction.