Socialization and

assimilation
C3 - AHA
Intro
- from life employment (Japan, family firms, farms etc.) to multiple jobs and careers => it is
important to understand the processes through which employees and organizations adapt to
each other.
What does assimilation mean?
- ongoing behavioral and cognitive processes by which individuals join, become integrated into,
and exit organizations
- assimilation presupposes socialization (adaptation, integration) and individualization (change)
Models of organizational
socialization
1. What are the phases of socialization?
- Anticipatory socialization
• occurs before an individual actually enters an organization
• learning about work in general, learning about a particular occupation, and learning about a
particular organization
• we learn about work in early childhood and all through our life, so in adolescence we will have a
clear notion of what having “a real job” means
• we learn about careers from early childhood – from “what do you want to be when you grow up” to
more developed adolescent career plans
• we learn about organizations from traditional or online media, from campus presentations, and also
from interviews (responsibilities, salary and culture)
Models of organizational
socialization
- Encounter
• occurs at the organizational point of entry, when an employee first encounters life on the job
• the encounter experience may be one of change, contrast and surprise, and the new employee
must make sense of the new culture based on predispositions, past experience and
interpretations of others
• the encounter phase may cause stress if expectations are not met
• the encounter phase encompasses both learning about a new organization and role and letting
go of old values, expectations and behaviors
• the encounter phase can involve a wide variety of formal and informal communication
processes: organizationally design orientation programs, formal and informal mentoring and
information seeking on the part of the employee
Models of organizational
socialization
- Metamorphosis
• the final stage of the socialization process occurs when the new employee has made the
transition from outsider to insider
• the recruit begins to become an accepted, participant member of the organization by learning
new behaviors and attitudes and/or modifying existing ones
• the relationship between the individual and the organization is not static, because there is
always some measure of flux and uncertainty in employees’ understanding of organizational
roles and culture
• when individuals transfer from one job to another within an organization, they typically are not
seen as new employees and thus are not provided formal socialization, even though they must
cope with new job requirements, new social relationships and sometimes a new location
Models of organizational
socialization
2. What is the content of socialization? What must be learned in order to adapt to the organizational
context?
- role related information – the information, skills, procedures and rules that an individual must grasp
in order to perform on the job
- training programs are particularly relevant to learning role related information, especially for lower
level employees
- culture related information – formal documentation regarding cultural norms rarely exists and
current organizational members might have a difficult time articulating these values for the newcomer
- new employees rely on observation of behavior and artifacts to draw inferences about cultural values
and assumptions
- stories and memorable messages play an important role in making sense of the culture
Models of organizational
socialization
Temporary socializing
- to save money on benefits, enhance flexibility and reduce spending on HR, many organizations
are now choosing to use contract workers or workers from temp agencies to staff many
organizational functions
- temps affect the process of socialization: the time spent in the organization is much shorter,
and the temps follow the rules of the temp agency, they do not build lasting relationships in the
workplace
Communication during
assimilation
1. What role does the employment interview play?
- the employment interview plays an important part in the anticipatory socialization
- it’s not only about the initial “screening” interview, it’s also about second and third rounds of interviews
which often take place at the organization
- the interviewer makes a decision about the quality of the recruits; the recruit is using the interview as a
way to find out more about the organization; the interview serves as a socialization tool – facilitate the
adaptation of the new recruit should he or she be hired
- during selection, the organizational representative often has only 30 minutes to assess the candidate =>
structured interviews are used: situational interview, behavior description interview, stress interview,
inverted funnel approach (closed-ended questions at the beginning and open-ended questions in the end)
- using directed or leading questions (”We are a national company with the need for high-mobility
employees. Would you be willing to relocate as part of your job?”)
- although there is a great deal of variability in the content of interview questions, one issue that seems
important to almost all interviewers is communication ability
Communication during
assimilation
- applicant satisfaction with the interview is a good predictor of the acceptance of a second interview
- active and passive interviewee – do you ask questions only when you are asked to?
- the recruit is more satisfied when: the interviewer used probing questions (empathy), open-ended
questions predominated (opportunity to express oneself), when questions addressed job-related
issues and when recruiters have a warm, open and interested demeanor
- recruiters are predisposed at calling to a second interview only applicants who asked job and
organizational-related questions
- RJP (realistic job previews) – if applicants have a more realistic image of the job, then they will be
less disappointed when entering the organization
- the risk of RJP: some recruits may view negative job characteristics as a challenge and hence not
self-select out of inappropriate jobs
Communication during
assimilation
2. What are the newcomer information seeking tactics?
- newcomers play an active (proactive) role in the socialization process (encounter)
- overt and indirect questions
- secondary sources (co-worker) vs. primary sources (boss)
- testing limits (deviant behavior, breaking rules)
- disguising conversations
- observations
- surveillance
- information seeking tactics are influenced by social costs and uncertainty
- information seeking continues well beyond the initial stages of employment
Communication during
assimilation
3. What are the forms of organizational exit?
- retiring, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, transfers and downsizing
- career/occupational identification leads to a greater exit than organizational identification
- exist is a process, not an event – it should be anticipated
- organizational exit is a process that influences both those who leave and those who are left
behind
- organizational exit can have profound effects on the families of those who leave the
organization
- exit facilitates voice (taboo topics) and stress relieving