Selecting for fit: a direct test of Schneider's selection proposition

This paper reports an empirical test of Schneider's (1987) selection proposition that organizations select people who share the organization's values. The values of 412 applicants to nine utility companies in the United Kingdom were captured and their fit to (1) the values of the organization as viewed by members of the Top Team (P–OV fit), (2) the values of the recruiting departments as viewed by employees within those departments (P–DV fit), and (3) the values of people working in those recruiting departments (P–P fit) was calculated. The results show that selection outcomes are positively associated with P–P fit, negatively associated with P–DV fit, and not associated at all with P–OV fit. Selection effects for fit were small and only present when there was some form of face-to-face contact between applicants and selectors. At the end of the paper, a conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for the fit literature in general and Schneider's selection proposition in particular. Some managerial implications are also considered