How personal values shape job seeker preference: A policy capturing study.

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resource Management
• Social Psychology

Background:

• The existence of an "ideal" organization is questioned, with a focus on whether diverse workplace attributes attract distinct employee profiles.
• Understanding the interplay between personal values and workplace preferences is crucial for effective recruitment and retention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify the strongest predictors of perceived organization attractiveness among Australian job seekers.
• To investigate whether job seekers' personal values moderate the impact of organizational attributes on attractiveness ratings.

Main Methods:

• A randomized experiment involving 400 Australian job seekers who evaluated 64 unique organization descriptions.
• Utilized a policy capturing methodology with multi-level modeling to analyze responses to the Employer Attractiveness Scale.
• Assessed six attributes: economic, development, interest, social, application, and environmental value.

Main Results:

• All six organizational attributes positively predicted perceived attractiveness.
• Social, environmental, and application values emerged as the strongest predictors.
• Job seekers with strong self-transcendent or weak self-enhancement values were particularly sensitive to the absence of social, environmental, and application values.

Conclusions:

• Job seekers' personal values significantly shape their preferences for specific workplace attributes.
• Organizations can enhance recruitment by aligning workplace conditions with the values of their target workforce.
• Tailoring recruitment strategies based on value-based preferences can improve hiring outcomes.