Organizational socialization

          Organizational socialization is an important process for building effective organizations workforce and competitive edge. “Organizational socialization, the process by which an employee learns the appropriate norms and required behaviors to participate and become part of the organization, has arrived as an extremely important dimension to the study of organizational behavior” (Luthans, 1982). Employees who are well socialized into an organization are more likely to stay and develop their careers with that organization.   For an organization to develop an effective socialization plan, the three stages of organizational socialization, the relationships among the stages, and the socialization processes that happen within each stage must be clarified. Yes, Doc. Effective employee socialization has been linked to the successful performance of businesses. This is because organizations require employees to meld with the group norms and culture so that they can interpret their everyday work experiences to produce results consistent with the company’s mission.

 

Three stages of organizational socialization

            Organizational socialization is a vitally important influence on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, innovation, cooperation, and ultimately organizational performance (Fisher, 1986). A typical socialization process includes three stages.

The first stage is anticipatory socialization. It includes the learning about the organization. The correct anticipatory socialization will have a positive effect on the following phases. The second stage is called “encounter.” In this stage, the newcomer starts to learn about job tasks and receive training. Formal commitment is made to join the organization, initiate into the job, establish relationships, and clarify roles.  The third stage is Change and Acquisition. In this stage, new employees master tasks, accept group norms and values, and resolves any role conflicts.

Relationships among the stages

            "Socialization is a process in which an individual acquires the attitudes, behaviors and knowledge needed to successfully participate as an organizational member" (Van

Maanen, 1979). The process of socialization affects the new employee's work productivity, commitment to the organization's objectives and his decision to stay with the organization.

             “The period prior to joining an organization is called anticipatory socialization” (Kramer, 2010, P. 6). Anticipatory socialization is the process that occurs when an individual develops expectations and knowledge about possible jobs and positions. It is the first step that occurs in the search and acceptance of an individual into an organization (Porter, 1975).  At this stage, the individuals have not entered an organization with a completely view yet, and that they carry subjective assumptions.  Through anticipatory socialization, expectations are developed about the company, job, working conditions, and interpersonal relationships. Anticipatory socialization comes from a variety of sources including family, peers, school and the media. Each of these groups can add a different level of information to the socialization. Some provide broad information about organizations in general, and some provide specific task information for specific roles within an organization (Taylor, 2000). The quality of the information that the participants collected is very important to make sound judgment. Accurate information about the organization can help potential employees better fit the new position with suitable personality and skill sets. There are several facets that make up this phase of socialization. It includes the process of learning about work, a specific occupation and finally, an organization. As children we learn about work through our parents, the media and school. Expectations are developed regarding work schedule, hours, and the environment. In addition, in our youth, we develop perceptions regarding particular occupations. This awareness of various occupations at a young age, although often highly idealized, creates the framework for occupational socialization.

 

            Several other positive affects of anticipatory socialization have been identified as well. Anticipatory socialization helps in the formation of the overall set of expectations that an individual holds in relation to their contributions to an organization, and the response by the organization to the contribution (Rousseau, 1991). Other traits of the potential employees such as energy, skills, and loyalty in this stage can be adjusted in the late phase of the socialization. Excellent, Doc Q. The new hire orientation process serves to introduce the employee to job requirements, the history of the organization, the guidelines and rules, as well as the environment. Human resource departments dedicate a significant amount of time and resources towards acclimating new hires. The goal is to give the employee all of the necessary tools and information early on to eliminate or reduce anxiety related to this transition.

 

Encounter accommodation

          Encounter accommodation is the period in which the individual starts to work in the organization and sees what the organization is actually like and initiates actions for adjustment.  During this time, individuals anticipate taking a position. If the individual and the organization have inaccurate knowledge of each other, the psychological contract would contain mismatched expectations, which may lead to frustration, disillusionment, anxiety, and may impact the following stages.

            If the mismatches concern critical issues or if the contractual parties allow non-critical mismatches to persist, dissatisfaction may result in early termination or impaired performance very good. However, if the anticipatory stage has been well-managed, discrepancies will involve non-critical issues. The employee and management can renegotiate these issues through open discussion. Then the new staff member can devote full attention to the tasks of the encounter stage such as developing job competency, establishing relationships with other employees, and clarifying his or her role definition. Companies can provide training and feedback to further facilitate the development.  If the individual and the company matched well in this stage, the process of Change and Acquisition phase will be smoother. Socialization upon entry into an organization typically occurs through various formal and informal interactions between the existing employees and the new ones. Organizations are becoming more decentralized, global and virtual is decentralization (btw, is this out of necessity or is it a result of competition, Doc?). Traditional means of socialization through face to face meetings, extended contact, or interaction with colleagues has become less frequent or even non-existent in some organizations. This makes it even more difficult for newcomers to adapt to their new positions. What say you?

 

Change and acquisition

            At this stage, newcomers begin to acquire and internalize the culture of the organization. This results in some changes in their beliefs and values. Both anticipatory and encounter phases affect the change and acquisition stage directly.  The change and acquisition process is made easier when organizational newcomers are active in seeking information about their job, role, and the organization’s culture, and the new comer has no critical conflict with the company in the earlier stages. Yes, you are correct here. At this stage, employees are reasonably proficient in their roles and typically have mastered the job requirements. They have adapted to the culture, norms and values of the organization. The employee is able resolve conflicts with little assistance utilizing the resources available to them.

 

Socialization processes within each stage

            “Organizational socialization is a powerful phenomenon with numerous long lasting effects on employees” (Kwesiga, 2994). Anticipatory stage occurs before new hires join the organization. Through interacting with representatives of the company, family members, peers, school and the media, the potential hires develop expectations about the company and the job prior to organizational entry. The individual could develop images about the goals, climate, of the company, job duties, skills, abilities that are appropriate to take the job. The shared values and the personal needs would also be anticipated.

             In the encounter phase, new employees would manage life conflicts to balance personal life and work life including demands on employees’ family, amount of preoccupation with work and scheduling. The inter-group role conflicts would also be handled in this stage, which include the progress in dealing with conflicts between the roles.  The new employees’ role is clarified within the immediate work group. The duty, priorities, and time allocation for task are decided.  The new interpersonal relationships should be established, and group norms are learned. The development of new interpersonal relationships is initiated.

             In the change and acquisition stage, the agreement had been arrived with the work group on what tasks to perform with the priorities and time allocation implicitly and explicitly. The management of conflicts between personal life and work life as well as the role conflicts are mutually accepted. The basic tasks of the new job have been learned; the self-confidence and the positive performance are established. The personal value is adjusted to the group norms and culture. The new employees may feel liked and trusted by co-workers.

Conclusion

            Three stages of organizational socialization include Anticipatory Socialization, Encounter, and Change and Acquisition. The quality of the information that the participants collected is very important to make sound judgment. Accurate information about the organization can help potential employees better fit the new position with suitable personality and skill sets. Encounter accommodation, is the period in which the individual sees what the organization is actually like and begins to take his or her place in it. If the individual and the organization have accurate knowledge of each other, a sound psychological contract can be developed, and the possible discrepancies will involve in only non-critical issues. Both anticipatory and encounter phases affect the change and acquisition phase directly.  The change and acquisition process is made easier when new employees are active in seeking information about their job, role, and the organization’s culture, and the new employee developed good relationship in the encounter stage.

            In the anticipatory stage, the individual could develop a picture about the goals, climate of the company, job duties, skills, abilities that are appropriate to take the job. At encounter phase, new employees would manage life conflicts to balance personal life and work life including demands from employees’ family, amount of preoccupation with work, and scheduling. The inter-group role conflicts would also handle in this stage.  At Change and acquisition stage, the agreement had been arrived with the work group on what tasks to perform, the priorities and time allocation implicitly and explicitly. The personal value is adjusted to the group norms and culture. The new employees may feel liked and trusted by co-workers.