TESTING THE EFFECT OF PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT ON EMPLOYEE PERCEPTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL GOAL AMBIGUITY

Reducing the ambiguity of employees' perceptions of organizational goals is an effective strategy for improving their work-related attitudes and organizational performance, but our understanding of how this can be accomplished is limited. This article focuses on the perceived level of person-environment fit and examines its relationship to individual perceptions of organizational goals. Statistical analysis of survey questionnaire responses from public and nonprofit organizations shows that employees who see themselves as compatible with co-workers and job requirements perceive lower goal ambiguity in organizations even after controlling for other individual characteristics, such as employees' reported level of role ambiguity, affective organizational commitment, and public service motivation.