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This chapter briefly reviews findings from recent socialization research to provide an updated view of the socialization literature. To help advance the literature, this chapter then takes an instructional system approach, viewing socialization fundamentally as a process of learning about a new or changed role and the environment surrounding that role. As such, attention will first be given to further understanding exactly what needs to be learned during socialization. In doing so, an expanded socialization content typology is presented. In addition, two other components are added to this typology to reflect the fact that (a) each of those content dimensions needs to be learned relative to different organizational levels (e.g., job, work group, unit, organization) and (b) socialization occurs over several months and there are temporal considerations relating to the different socialization content dimensions. This chapter then examines how to best facilitate the learning of that expanded socialization content. The Gagné-Briggs theory of instruction is used in connecting socialization content with the means of learning that content. The socialization and orienting activities commonly used by organizations to help new employees in the adjustment process are also identified and then mapped onto the learning outcomes they could best help facilitate. Finally, the conceptual, measurement, and research needs suggested by these extensions to the socialization literature are identified.

From the start, organizational socialization has been all about learning. In fact, most definitions of organizational socialization are very explicit about this and the general notion that socialization involves learning “the ropes” of a particular organizational role (Fisher, 1986). Socialization has been described as a sense-making and learning process in which newcomers acquire a variety of types of information and knowledge to become effective members of the organization (Klein & Weaver, 2000).

This study aims to test the propositions of socialization resources theory, specifically focusing on social capital resources and their prediction of proximal (relational learning) and distal (job satisfaction and intent to quit) outcomes. The authors include the job design characteristic of job autonomy as a moderator of these associations.

Cheung et al.’s (2021) four-step SEM procedure was used to test our mediation, moderation and moderated mediation hypotheses. The sample consisted of newcomers (N = 175) measured at two time points.

The results support the proposed model. Relational learning mediates the associations between social capital resources and outcomes; the utility of these social capital resources is stronger when job autonomy is lower.

Organizations can use social capital resources to reduce newcomers' uncertainty during socialization, facilitating learning and positive outcomes. Organizations should also carefully consider the amount of job autonomy they grant to newcomers, as too much can be detrimental.

Despite the acknowledged importance of workplace resources and relationships, few studies have focused on social resources provided during socialization. Moreover, job design is rarely included in socialization research, despite its influence on workplace processes. Thus, this study provides information about two novel areas of investigation: socially-oriented socialization resources and the impact of job autonomy.

Socialization is one of the fundamental processes that define how collectivities emerge. Socialization underpins the social structures that shape not only how social actors interact in community but also the boundaries of action and the rules of engagement. In the context of organizations, socialization is a process that significantly shapes organization in the way core practices shape how things are done and why they are done in particular ways. This emphasis on consistency within and between practices is seen to be greatly facilitated by specific practices like staff induction. The purpose of this paper is to review the current conceptual and empirical research on staff induction as a process of organizational socialization and outlines some of the areas for future research particularly if a social practice perspective is adopted.

The paper presents a systematic review of the relevant literature on organizational socialization and staff induction and outlines themes to which the debate can usefully be extended.

This paper focuses on how staff induction practices provide valuable insights about how social agents (especially newcomers) get socialized in organizations.

This paper provides a foundation for the various staff induction practices that other papers in this issue will be presenting. By outlining the current debate and insights from previous empirical research on staff induction, the objective is to extend the debate by outlining some new avenues for research that papers in the special issue both respond to and further explicate.

This paper explores staff induction and organizational socialization as a practice that can provide new insights into the dynamics of social interaction within organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify extant training needs for preparing supervisors to support newcomers’ organizational socialization and to develop a research agenda concerning aspects that conduce to making supervisors efficacious in the process of organizational socialization.

A review of the literature on the development of socialization agents for organizational socialization generally indicates that relatively minimal research has been undertaken on this topic. Most articles have focused on the effects of organizational socialization on other variables – such as newcomers’ work outcomes, turnover intention and organizational commitment. The review was conducted in light of this phenomenon. It is based on the structured literature review method, per Rocco, Stein and Lee (2003).

Supervisor training is suggested as a means for enhancing organizational socialization. However, supervisor training is not often studied in organizational socialization research. Therefore, the verification of the impact of supervisor training on organizational socialization is required. Given the proposed research agenda, identifying the impact of supervisor training on different areas of organizational socialization domains and inspiring increased interest on supervisor training as an effective program for organizational socialization are logical outcomes.

The concept of socialization is used in broad areas of research, such as education, military and engineering. However, it was reviewed here vis-à-vis human resource development (HRD). Therefore, the focus was on the notion of organizational socialization, which is appropriate for employee training development. The concept of organizational socialization in this paper, therefore, was delimited, as it failed to include all meanings of socialization. This paper sought to review all studies related to organizational socialization. However, some research was not considered and, thus, not discussed in this paper. This was because of time and resource constraints. The author sorted previous studies by personal standards and, thus, may have inadvertently included non-germane or excluded relevant citations.

Supervisory training for organizational socialization can be proposed as a potential area for leading to an effective organizational socialization program. So HRD professionals should study further about the topic and develop such programs. Increased attention on supervisor training for organizational socialization may increase the number and quality of supervisor training programs. Such studies would augment HRD professionals’ knowledge about organizational socialization and eventually enhance performance in organizations.

This paper can expand the area in which social learning theory can be applied. According to Bandura and Walters (1977), the social learning theory posits that learning new behaviors can usually be acquired by observing and imitating others. This implies that newcomers emulate other organizational members to adapt to the organization and their assigned roles. In this process, supervisors can play a key role through showing them the appropriate behaviors, supporting their learning and providing appropriate feedback. Presumably, then, new employees may perform better if supervisors receive training on crucial socialization efforts.

Significantly, socialization agents are uniquely situated to greatly impact the organizational socialization process of newcomers. Among the socialization agents, supervisors garner enormous influence on newcomers’ organizational socialization. However, relatively few studies investigated the training of supervisors for organizational socialization.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of mentoring on newcomer well-being, as mediated by newcomer socialization and moderated by proactive personality.

Data were collected at four time points in a sample of 227 newcomers. Regression analysis and bootstrapping method were used to test the hypotheses.

Mentoring had a positive and indirect effect on newcomer well-being through socialization. The moderated mediation analysis also revealed that proactive personality augmented the direct effect of mentoring on socialization and its indirect effect on well-being.

Our data were collected in China, thereby limiting the generalization of the research findings. Future research can test our model in different cultural contexts.

Organizations should consider establishing a mentoring program to foster newcomer socialization and achieve well-being. Within the mentoring context, cultivating newcomers to become more proactive can predict higher socialization levels, resulting in higher well-being.

Previous research largely focused on the development of the well-being of tenured employees. Drawing on socialization resources theory, this study focuses on the newcomer well-being and proposes the influential mechanism and boundary condition of the relationship between mentoring and newcomer well-being. It sheds light on exploring the well-being development for newcomers.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential effects of organizational socialization on organizational-level outcomes and to demonstrate that organizational socialization is an important human resource (HR) practice that should be included in research on strategic human resource management (SHRM) and should be part of a high-performance work system (HPWS).

This paper reviews the research on SHRM and applies SHRM theory and the ability-motivation-opportunity model to explain how organizational socialization can influence organizational outcomes. The implications of psychological resource theories for newcomer adjustment and socialization are described and socialization resources theory is used to explain how organizational socialization can influence different indicators of newcomer adjustment.

An integration of SHRM theory and organizational socialization research indicates that organizational socialization can influence organizational outcomes (operational and financial) through newcomer adjustment (human capital, motivation, social capital, and psychological capital variables) and traditional socialization/HR outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance and reduced turnover.

In this paper the authors describe the socialization resources that organizations can use to facilitate newcomer adjustment to achieve newcomer and organizational outcomes.

This is one of the first papers to integrate the organizational socialization literature with SHRM theory and to explain how organizational socialization can influence organizational outcomes.

Although work engagement has become an important topic in management, relatively little attention has been given to newcomers’ work engagement in the socialization literature. The purpose of this paper is to explain how newcomers’ work engagement can fluctuate during the first year of organizational entry and the role of organizational socialization in developing and maintaining high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

A review of the socialization literature indicates that uncertainty reduction theory has been the basis of research on socialization tactics and newcomer information-seeking both of which function by providing newcomers with information to reduce uncertainty. Socialization resources theory is used to develop a new pathway to newcomer socialization which focuses on providing newcomers with resources during the first year of organizational entry and socialization.

The uncertainty reduction pathway to newcomer socialization is narrow and limited because it primarily focuses on minimizing and reducing the negative effects of job demands rather than on providing newcomers with resources that are necessary to facilitate work engagement and socialization.

Organizations can use newcomers’ work engagement maintenance curves to map and track fluctuations in newcomers’ work engagement during the first year of organizational entry and they can conduct an audit of socialization resources to determine what resources are required to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

This paper describes newcomer work engagement maintenance curves and explains how socialization resources can be used to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement. A model of a new pathway to newcomer socialization is developed in which socialization resources, personal resources, and job demands influence newcomers’ work engagement and socialization outcomes.

This study aims to explore relationships among supervisors’ socialization behaviors, newcomers’ socialization outcomes, organizational commitment, and work outcomes in three large companies in Korea.

The research was conducted via an online survey in three large firms in Korea. The sample comprised newcomers who had worked for more than six months but less than one year in these firms. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Derived from SEM, the study’s results confirmed a causal relationship between supervisor’s socialization behaviors and newcomer’s work outcomes, which was fully mediated by newcomer’s socialization outcomes. However, organizational commitment was observed as a mediating variable, not a moderating variable. All types of supervisors’ socialization behaviors were related to newcomers’ socialization outcomes. Providing appropriate feedback, supporting newcomers’ development and improving social relationships were most strongly related to newcomers’ socialization outcomes.

This study proposed a rationale for the potential effectiveness of supervisor socialization behavior training. Related variables such as supervisor training aspects and the effectiveness of supervisor training for newcomers’ organizational socialization could be examined further.

The study offers critical areas to consider when designing training programs focused on supervisors’ socialization behaviors. Human resource development practitioners should be aware of the importance of supervisors’ socialization behaviors for newcomers’ organizational socialization and develop a program to improve all types of supervisors’ socialization behaviors.

New areas of training and development for supervisors can be proposed to improve newcomer organizational socialization and, eventually, to enhance the work outcomes of newcomers.

The purpose of this paper is to compare newcomers’ perceptions on how employers structure the socialization process in the core and peripheral workforce and to explore the proactivity of these new hires in form of information seeking behavior.

The data of this study were collected from a German sample with 359 contingent and permanent new hires in skilled jobs.

The employment type was linked to both socialization tactics firms provided during organizational entry as well as information seeking of permanent and contingent newcomers. In addition, organizational tenure was positively linked with information seeking of both newly hired temporary agency workers and newcomers holding fixed-term contracts.

Since most of the participants worked for different employers, differences in socialization might also be caused by different organizational cultures. Future studies should compare the socialization of new permanent and new temporary workers on an inter-organizational and intra-organizational level.

For skilled jobs firms should offer long-term assignments for temporary agency workers, as they are associated with higher proactivity. Further, firms should intensify the socialization of newcomers holding longer-term work contracts, as these employees may tend to show lower proactivity.

A structured organizational entry of skilled temporary agency workers may represent a stepping stone for permanent employment due to improved work attitudes and behaviors.

This is the first study that examines employment characteristics as potential determinants of organizational socialization tactics. In addition, the study uses a German sample and therefore, follows recent calls for more research on organizational socialization in non-Anglo-Saxon work contexts.