The Motivational Effects of Work Characteristics Need-Supply Fit on Active Employee Behaviors

Work design theory and research suggests that increasing the supply of work characteristics increases employee motivation. This perspective is limited because it fails to recognize the role of individual preferences for work characteristics. To qualify and expand this more is better perspective, I draw upon person-job fit theory to propose an interactionist model, suggesting that the effects of work characteristics on employee motivation is best understood when considering the joint effects of work characteristics supply and employee preferences. I first suggest that task characteristics congruence, knowledge characteristics congruence, and social characteristics congruence are positively related to psychological empowerment and negatively related to psychological strain and that these relationships are stronger at high levels of the work characteristics as opposed to low levels of the work characteristics. Second, I suggest that the relationship between task, knowledge, and social characteristics oversupply is non-linear, whereby psychological empowerment will increase at modest levels of oversupply and will decrease at excessive levels of oversupply, and psychological strain will decrease at modest levels of oversupply and will increase at excessive levels of oversupply. Third, I suggest that task, knowledge, and social characteristics undersupply is negatively related to psychological empowerment and positively related to psychological strain. Fourth, I suggest that task characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to proactive performance behaviors, knowledge characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to innovative behaviors, and social characteristics congruence, oversupply, and undersupply are related to interpersonal citizenship behaviors, through psychological empowerment. Fifth, I suggest that undersupply of work characteristics is related to a reduction in active employee performance behaviors and an increase in job crafting behavior through manifestations of psychological strain. In total, this dissertation seeks to contribute to work design theory and person-environment fit theory by illustrating that active employee behaviors depend upon the joint effects of individuals and organizations and that work characteristics congruence motivates active employee behaviors.