Every organization socializes
new employees. This article defines socialization as "...the
process by which an individual acquires the attitudes, behavior,
and knowledge needed to participate as an organizational member."
In essence socialization is an educational activity, one that
can happen in a more formal or informal manner. The outcome of
that process is to create the best fit possible betweeen the
person hired and the organization in which he or she now works.
Cable and Parsons' study is based on previous
research which indicates that compatibility between people and
the organization in which they work is a key to a flexible and
committed workforce in a competitive business environment. They
examine how a firm's socialization tactics help establish person-organization
fit.
The authors found two types of socialization
tactics associated with newcomers' perceptions of how they fit
into their new organization. The first involved content
elements of the socialization process. The author's data indicated
that newcomers were more likely to report positive person-organization
fit perceptions when they experienced sequential and fixed socialization
vs. variable and random socialization activities. Sequential
and fixed socialization tactics involve giving recruits explicit
information about the sequence of activities they will go through
in their new environment, including a precise timetable for completing
each stage of that process.
The second tactic involved social
aspects of socialization. The authors concluded that newcomers
were more likely to report positive person-organization fit perceptions
when they experienced serial and investiture-oriented socialization
tactics as opposed to disjunctive and divestiture tactics. Serial
and investiture tactics involve organizational members acting
as role models for new recruits and newcomers receiving positive
social support.
Not only did the newcomers report a better
fit, results of this study also suggest that firms' socialization
tactics influenced the newcomers' values: New employees' values
became more consistent with what they believed were their
organizations' values as they became involved the content and
social aspects of the socialization process.
A firm's investment in socialization tactics
is significant because the greater the degree an new employee
believes he or she fits into the values of the new firm:
1. The less likely is the person to leave
(i.e., lower turnover);
2. The more committed the individual will
be to the organization; and,
3. The greater the continuity of a firm's
central values and norms.
What can we learn from this article? Perhaps
the most important lesson is that organizations cannot take socialization
for granted. Without a plan, individuals will receive whatever
learning is available form informal and sometimes destructive
sources, particularly where the organization's culture is at
variance with the mission and formal policies of the organization.
Recently one of our students addressed
this same issue in class by suggesting that it would be important
to create an orientation plan for all new employees, a set of
activities that would begin during the probationary period and
continue well beyond. Such an idea seems perfectly consistent
with the conclusions of this article.