Measuring Perceived Employee Misfit: Some Initial Thoughts and Scale Suggestions

Employee misfit, which is defined as an individual's personal sense of not belonging or being out of place at work, is an emerging area of organisational research. Despite increasing academic interest, the field lacks dedicated measurement tools. Existing instruments, adapted from person-organisation fit research, often mischaracterise misfit by treating it merely as the inverse of fit. This paper critiques such approaches and argues for a distinct conceptualisation and measurement of misfit as a salient, self-perceived psychological state. Drawing from recent qualitative studies and grounded theory, the authors propose a suite of new scale items designed to capture various dimensions of perceived misfit, including its emotional intensity, duration, positivity or negativity, and recurrence. They differentiate between misfit as identity, emotion, and experience, and advocate for molecular (discrepancy-based) rather than molar (similarity-based) measurement designs. The paper also explores domain-specific misfit (e.g., with job, team, values) and offers guidance for future empirical testing of these scales. Ultimately, the authors aim to facilitate more accurate, employee-centred assessments of misfit, enabling deeper insights into its antecedents, consequences, and role in organisational life.