Topic: New Employees and Organizational Socialization
Author(s), Title and Publication
Jokisaari, M., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2009). Change in newcomers’ supervisor support and socialization outcomes after organizational entry. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 527-544.
Summary
This study examined how new employees’ perceived supervisor support changes during the 6-21 months following organizational entry, and how these perceived changes affected new employees’ socialization outcomes (i.e., work mastery, role clarity, job satisfaction, and salary). Organizational socialization is a process wherein new employees adjust and assimilate into an organization after learning the behavioral patterns expected by the organization.
The authors surveyed graduates from four polytechnic schools in Finland half a year, a year, one and a half years, and two years after their graduation. The graduates were asked to answer questions based on their life situations (e.g., employment). Those who were employed were asked questions about perceived supervisor support, work adjustment (i.e., job satisfaction, role clarity, and work mastery), salary, and several control variables such as relations with co-workers, occupational domain, years of work experience in their current occupational domain, and months of work experience in current jobs. The number of participants who responded and were employed at the four time points ranged from 273 to 236. Latent growth modeling was used to analyze data.
Results showed that on average, new employees’ perceive supervisor support declined during 6-21 months after organizational entry. As perceived supervisor support decreased, new employees’ role clarity and job satisfaction decreased, and increases in salary slowed. However, results showed that new employees’ work mastery did not change because of changes in perceived supervisor support.
Implications for Practice
Organizations may want to encourage new employees to make good use of the supervisor support they receive on entering, and provide supervisors with resources to better advise new employees after organizational entry and to build longer-term relationships. Supervisors also may help new employees to develop informal ties in the organization by introducing them to others in their networks.
Location of Article
The article is available online at: http://amj.aom.org/content/52/3/527.abstract (abstract free, purchase full article)
