Effective new employee socialization: a review of the critical role of communication

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bauer TN ; Erdogan B ; Simon L
• Description:
  New employee socialization (NES) is a process of a newcomer moving from being an organizational outsider to an insider (Louis, 1980). It is a process of reciprocal influence (Reichers, 1987), with both the organization, through its structures, procedures, and employees, and the newcomers, through their perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, affecting one another. Given its interactional nature, the socialization process is dependent upon and embedded within a constellation of communication among organizational insiders and newcomers. We adopt this perspective. Researchers and human resource management (HRM) professionals have taken a strong interest in NES in the last few decades using both communication and noncommunication approaches. Organizational representatives have emphasized and formalized socialization under the umbrella of new employee onboarding, even devoting conferences to the topic. Interest in socialization may stem from its profoundly positive outcomes. By creating more effective onboarding programs, organizations can save considerable sums of money when factoring in productivity increases and lower turnover costs. Better job attitudes and job performance result from employees who are more confident, report less ambiguity, and feel more connected to organizational insiders (Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, & Tucker, 2007). Further, given that individuals likely transition jobs and organizations an average of ten times or more in their lifetime, NES continues to be important for HRM. Successful socialization is manifest in both the early stages and the later stages of new employees' tenure with an organization. Early indicators of success include feeling accepted by the group, having role clarity, and confidence in one's role (Bauer, Morrison, & Callister, 1998). Later indicators of successful socialization include more positive job satisfaction and organizational commitment, better performance, more innovative behavior, better organizational and job fit, lower levels of stress, and remaining with the organization longer. The specific goals of this chapter are to describe the manner in which organizational programs used to socialize new employees currently rely on effective communication and to suggest expansion of these HR activities based on new streams of communication research. Conclusion: HRM activities such as recruitment, selection, onboarding, and orientation programs are highly visible during the newcomer socialization process. While the importance of communication during this process is implicitly recognized, specific studies examining how communication processes influence this process and how the socialization process can be structured more effectively to facilitate effective communication of the intended goals should be conducted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Communication Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Adaptation Attitude Communication Research Communication Systems Employees Employee Satisfaction Humans Management Personnel Psychological Adaptation Sociological Factors Task Performance Work Environment Workforce Development Work Operations Work Organization Workplace Studies Work Practices

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780415630207
• Publisher:
  Routledge-Taylor & Francis
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; New Jersey ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  52-63
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20048419
• Citation:
  Meeting the challenge of human resource management: a communication perspective. Miller, VD, Gordon, ME, eds. New York, NY: Routledge-Taylor & Francis, 2014 Jan; :52-63
• Editor(s):
  Miller VD; Gordon ME
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Portland State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Meeting the challenge of human resource management: a communication perspective
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:587d5d20d05f940ebdf55dd8dc7d8e6339c4df1f25c6fa5c1f3a952f1ea897c360ea80c494f201b3717c98e83cfdde0eb77637831b633156c8399afa8fe9c13c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/203176/cdc_203176_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.06 MB ]