What drives young workers? Person‐organization fit‐in identity motives—A mixed‐method study

Person‐organization fit theory is among the most productive theoretical frameworks used to assess the relationship between an organization and its employees. Nevertheless, the P‐O fit literature has often limited its scope to the evaluation of P‐O fit in the values domain, overlooking P‐O fit‐in needs. This study addresses this issue under the motivated identity construction theory (MICT, Vignoles, Handbook of identity theory and research, New York: Springer; 2011). In particular, we analyse how the fit between individual identity's needs and the organization identity's needs may influence the retention and engagement of under 35 workers. Findings demonstrated that the need for efficacy is fundamental for workers under 35 s. Not only this aspect of motivation is rated as more important in comparison with others but also P‐O fit‐in efficacy has a direct impact on identification with the company and a direct and indirect effect (through organizational identification) on engagement and intention to leave. Overall, this study gives evidence of how useful the intersection between P‐O fit with MICT can be. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.