Discussion
The results of testing the first hypothesis in this study indicate that PS-Fit has a positive effect on LMX. It can be said that the more in line with the values ​​held by employees and their leaders, the closeness between the two increases. Conformity between employees and leaders can be shown from the similarity of personality, values ​​and goals between the two. Frequent interactions between employees and their leaders can show interest in each other which will increase their closeness which is shown by mutual respect, protection, and self-sacrifice between one another. The Interpersonal Attraction theory explains that leaders are attracted to subordinates because they are complementary and have something in common. (Lim et al., 2019). The compatibility between the two makes them interact more, complement each other and need each other compared to other employees. This study is in line with other studies that prove that PS-Fit has a positive effect on LMX (Van Vianen et al., 2011).
The results of testing the second hypothesis in this study indicate that LMX has a positive effect on employee performance. It can be said that the better the LMX level, the higher the employee performance. Employees who are close to their leaders are more receptive to instructions given by their leaders so that coordination between the two can work well, which will improve employee performance. Leaders who are close to their subordinates also always provide solutions to problems faced by employees (Enwereuzor et al., 2018; Reitan & Stenberg, 2019). Zakiy (2019b) explains that employees who are close to their leaders (in the group of LMX) are more trusted and get more information than employees who only have work contracts (out of the group of LMX). For this reason, employees who gain a lot of trust from their leaders will always maintain that trust by improving their performance. This study confirms previous research that explains that high LMX can improve employee performance (Anand et al., 2018; A. Lee et al., 2019; Singh & Vidyarthi, 2018).
The results of testing the third hypothesis in this study indicate that LMX has a positive effect on work engagement. It can be said that the higher the closeness between the leader and his subordinates, the higher the work engagement of employees. Employees close to their leaders get more priority than other employees who are not close to their leaders. In addition, leaders who are close to their subordinates always provide motivation in interpreting a job encourage and always inspire employees to love their work. In other words, employee work engagement can be created because of the leader’s role in providing direction and input to employees. The results of this study are in line with previous research, which said that high LMX could increase employee work engagement (Agarwal et al., 2012; Kim & Koo, 2017).
The results of testing the fourth hypothesis in this study indicate that LMX is able to mediate the effect of PS-Fit on employee performance. It is not only the compatibility of employees with their organizations that can cause employee performance to increase (Wulandari, 2021), but the compatibility between employees and their leaders also greatly determines the working conditions of employees. The similarity of values ​​between employees and their leaders makes the closeness between the two increase, which can improve employee performance. As previously explained, the important factor in the formation of LMX is the compatibility of goals, values ​​and personality between the leader and his subordinates, and this can make employees focus on their performance and strive to improve their performance. In other words, these results explain that LMX has succeeded in connecting PS-Fit with employee performance. The interpersonal closeness between leaders and subordinates makes closeness between individuals (Lim et al., 2019; Subramaniam & Sambasivan, 2018), which has a major influence on social interactions and relationships between individuals (Singh et al., 2017). This causes the closeness between the two to increase, which leads to an increase in employee performance.
The results of testing the last hypothesis in this study indicate that LMX can mediate the effect of PS-Fit on work engagement. Besides being able to mediate PS-Fit on employee performance, LMX can also mediate the effect of PS-Fit on employee work engagement in this study. The similarity of goals, personality and values ​​shared by both of them can make LMX increase so that it has an effect on increasing employee work engagement. This suitability is manifested by the high interaction between leaders and subordinates in both formal and informal forums, which makes employees get more information about work, so they can maximize the work they do. This study confirms the Social Exchange Theory, which explains that the reciprocal relationship between leaders and subordinates can lead to mutual benefits (Decuypere & Schaufeli, 2020) by increasing more effort at work (Regts et al., 2019). This can cause employees to better understand the meaning of work and be more involved in their work.