Person-environment fit, authentic leadership, psychological meaningfulness and individual work performance of young professionals in South Africa

Abstract

In the current VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world of work, which poses different challenges, a new approach to understanding young professionals and what encourages them to perform within this work context is required. Young professionals are known to constantly change jobs, which could be due to organisations not understanding the needs of this generation. The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between person-environment fit, authentic leadership, psychological meaningfulness (positive meaning) and individual work performance among young professionals (Millennials) within South Africa. The study was cross-sectional in nature, with a nonprobability convenient sample (n = 350). The measuring instruments utilised were the Perceived Fit Scale (PFS), Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI), Work and Meaning Inventory (WAMI) and the three-factor Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). Correlations were tested to determine the relationships between each of the constructs; confirmatory factor analysis determined construct validity of the instruments; and the structural model determined regression between the latent variables and possible indirect effects. No indirect effects were found between person-environment fit through psychological meaningfulness (positive meaning) on individual work performance, as well as with authentic leadership through psychological meaningfulness (positive meaning) on individual work performance. However, direct relationships were found between person-environment fit, authentic leadership, psychological meaningfulness (positive meaning) and individual work performance. These findings suggest that managers and human resource professionals within organisations should consider developing interventions focused on the development of person-environment fit, authentic leadership and psychological meaningfulness (positive meaning) in order to improve young professionals’ performance. Recommendations were made for practice and future research.