Organizational Socialization Process Analysis

The Organizational Socialization Process

The socialization process where the new employee adapts from outsider to insider commences prior to the employee joining the organization (pre-employment), resumes when the newcomer starts employment and continues with further adjournments and changes taking place until the newcomer becomes a fully integrated member of the organization (Ardts, et al., 2001). The majority of theorists and researchers view organizational socialization as a multistage process consisting of three main phases (stages) with a range of activities and resultant outcomes (Fisher, 1986; Haski-Leventhal & Bargal, 2008). These phases are: an anticipatory phase that occurs prior to organizational entry (pre-encounter): an accommodation

Most newcomer socialization takes place during the early period before (pre-encounter) and following organizational entry (encounter) (e.g. Filstad, 2004; Kammeyer-Mueller & Wanberg, 2003; Kickul, 2001) with the first four months of the organizational socialization process having a marked and rapid effect on newcomer adjustment (Ashforth & Saks, 1996; Cooper-Thomas & Anderson, 2002). The transition period prior to and just after crossing an organizational boundary, such as the outsider-to-insider passage that occurs during the pre-encounter and encounter phases of socialization is critical as adjustment is at its most intense and problematic for newcomers (Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). This is because the gap between newcomer perceptions of the organization formed prior to entry and the actual reality experienced soon after joining the organization is probably at its widest during this period (Fisher, 1986; Nicholson & Arnold,

socialization agents) influences and it is difficult to predict newcomer adjustment without exploring the nature of socialization from both an employee and employer perspective (interactionist perspective) (Jones, 1983; Reichers, 1987). Despite the need for research to examine the organizational socialization process from the perspective of both the newcomer and the organization being recognized since the 1980 's (e.g. Jones, 1983; Louis, 1980; Reichers, 1987), most organizational socialization research examines the process from the perspective of either the organization or the newcomer, with the organization being regarded as the primary influence (Jones, 1983; Louis, 1980). For example, Jones (1986), Saks (1994) and Saks and Ashforth, (1997) include an examination of the influences of newcomer individual differences and actions on newcomer adjustment, whilst other researchers investigate the role of socialization agents (e.g. Louis, et al., 1983; Morrison, 2002). Reichers (1987) was the first to examine the role of newcomers and organizational insiders