The Organizational Socialization (termed “OS” next) is highly valued by companies because it can motivate an employee loyalty to an organization (Guerfel-Henda, El Abboubi, & El Kandoussi, 2012). Nevertheless, if there is not any support during this critical moment, this process can also result in higher turnover which can be very costly for companies (Campion & Mitchell, 1986) and for employees.
Moreover, the OS is a long term phenomenon. Indeed, it is a ‘longitudinal process’ (Lacaze, 2007, p. 11). Its impacts precede and follow the onboarding into a new organisation (or team). Sometimes, this makes it difficult to delimit. Moreover, this socialization may concern different individuals : people who are getting their first job after their studies, those who had already have a work experience, or those who change roles while remaining in the same organisation (Bauer et al., 1998). This can also be a source of complication for the support of this important time in a career.
In order to better understand what is the OS, Taormina (1997) proposed a model in four key components of a same continous process :
- “Training”: developing skills and abilities related to one’s job,
- “Understanding”: grasping and applying specific knowledge to one’s job, organization, its members and culture,
- “Support”: to support or be supported on a moral, emotional or operational level, to develop satisfactory relationships,
- “Future perspectives”: anticipating a professional career and projecting oneself in one’s organization.
In addition, relying on a theory largely developed by Almudever et al. (1999), there are more elements to take into account. Their definition is based on an OS “active, plural and prospective”. “Plural” because it is a part of an interweaving of the different spheres of the individual’s life (social, professional, personnal and familial). “Prospective” because it is not limited to the present, and “active” because the subject is placed at the heart of the process. This theory looks really complete. Indeed, it considers different aspects which could impact or be influenced by the organizational socialization. Let’s now introduce those aspects more precisely :
- “Activity” includes the cognitive and/or relational behaviors and processes that a person establishes in all the domains of life. This leads the invidual to shape his environment and structure his life according to the importance he gives to his different spheres. This notion can be compared to that of “agentivity” developed in Bandura’s socio-cognitive theory (1993), which theorizes the feeling of being the main cause of what happens to ourselves and that we can control it.
- The notion of plurality is, as previously seen, reflected in the experiences of the individuals which occur in all their domains of life rather than being compartmentalized. In order to cope with disruptions in one domain (in this case, professional transition and integration into a new position or a new organization), it is necessary to take into account the notion of exchange of resources between spheres, which results in a more effective regulation and articulation. It seems that this aspect can positively influence the management of specific problems, provided that the level of exchange between domains is neither too great nor too low (Almudever et al., 2006).
- Finally, by “prospectivity”, Almudever et al. (1999) emphasize the importance of seeing the OS as a process that goes beyond the time barriers set, sometimes in a limited way, at the present time. Indeed, past experiences and future projections often carry a huge importance in the current subjective situation.
Let’s now go further by discussing about the steps and tools for a successful onboarding and what are its outcomes. The next paragraph is inspired by Bauer and Erdogan (2011).
They first introduce different stages which stand for necessary newcomer adjustments for an effective OS :
- Self-efficacy (how confident employees are doing their job)
- Role clarity (knowing and understanding the roles newcomer should occupy)
- Social integration (acceptance by organizational insiders)
- Knowledge of organizational culture (understanding it, learning how the organization works).
After that, they give some advices for a good organizational socialization program, to mention only ones of the most important :
- Implement some socialization tactics (for instance, make onboarding participatory, develop a written plan to follow…),
- Make a formal orientation program (in order to help new employees know and understand the organizational and social context they are integrating),
- Introduce the basics prior to the first day at work and give realistic job previews (during the recruitment)
To sum up, the organizational socialization should be a primordial subject to consider in a company. There is a lot to do about it in order to create a favourable ambience at work for newcomers. Even more so because a satisfying and adequate onboarding could foster a better job satisfaction, deeper commitment, higher performance and can also decrease turnover.
Vocabulary learned :
- uncertainty (incertitude)
- provided that (à condition que)
- support (accompagnement)
- to implement (mettre en œuvre)
- stakeholder (partie prenante)
- favourable (propice)
- ambience (atmosphère, ambiance)
- to foster (favoriser)
- at the heart of (au centre de)
- interweaving (imbrication)
Bibliography :
- Almudever, B., Croity-Belz, S., & Hajjar, V. (1999). Sujet proactif et sujet actif : deux conceptions de la socialisation organisationnelle. L’Orientation Scolaire et Professionnelle, 28(3), 421‑446.
- Almudever, B., Croity-Belz, S., Hajjar, V., & Fraccaroli, F. (2006). Conditions d’efficience du sentiment d’efficacité personnelle dans la régulation d’une perturbation professionnelle : la dynamique du système des activités. Psychologie du travail et des organisations, 12(3), 151–166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pto.2006.06.008
- Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived Self-Efficacy in Cognitive Development and Functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117‑148. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2802_3
- Bauer, T. N., & Erdogan, B. (2011). Organizational socialization: The effective onboarding of new employees. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 51–64). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12171-002
- Bauer, T. N., Morrison, E. W. & Callister, R. R. (1998). Socialization research: A review and directions for future research. In G. R. Ferris & K. M. Rowland (Eds.), Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management, (16). (pp. 149-214). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
- Campion, M. A., & Mitchell, M. M. (1986). Management Turnover: Experiential Differences Between Former and Current Managers. Personnel Psychology, 39(1), 57‑69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1986.tb00574.x
- Guerfel-Henda, S., El Abboubi, M., & El Kandoussi, F. (2012). La socialisation organisationnelle des nouvelles recrues. RIMHE : Revue Interdisciplinaire Management, Homme & Entreprise, 4(4), 57–73. https://doi.org/10.3917/rimhe.004.0057
- Lacaze, D. (2007). La gestion de l’intégration en entreprise de service : l’apport du concept de socialisation organisationnelle. Management & Avenir, 14(4), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.3917/mav.014.0009
- Taormina, R. (1997). Organizational Socialization: a Multidomain, Continuous Process Model. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 5(1), 29-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2389.00043