Topic: New Employee Communication
Author(s), Title and Publication
Lamude, K. C., Scudder, J., Simmons, D., & Torres, P. (2004). Organizational Newcomers: Temporary and Regular Employees, Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Superior-subordinate Dyads, Supervisor Influence Techniques, Subordinates Communication Satisfaction, and Leader-Member Exchange. Communication Research Reports, 21(1), 60-67.
Summary
This study used leader-member exchange (LMX) theory as the theoretical framework to examine the relationship between the LMX quality and newly hired employees’ characteristics, supervisors’ influence tactics, and employees’ satisfaction with supervisor communication. The LMX theory argues that supervisors develop dyadic relationships with employees, and the quality level of these relationships range from highly interactive to less attractive and very formal.
A survey was completed by 148 employees from two financial organizations in a western state. They had worked in their organizations for less than two months prior to the survey. Their characteristics were analyzed based on whether they were temporary or regular employees, and whether their gender was same as their supervisors’ gender. Supervisors’ influence tactics were categorized into pro-social tactics and antisocial tactics.
Results indicated that employees who were satisfied with their communication with supervisors, and those whose supervisors used pro-social influence tactics (e.g., reward, rationality, and friendliness) were more likely to perceive a high quality of LMX. Employees perceived low LMX quality when supervisors used antisocial tactics, in particular, supervisor authority and legitimate authority. Employees’ job classification and gender were not significantly related to LMX quality, which might be due to the nature of the short interactions (less than two months).
Implications for Practice
Managers might build quality relationships sooner with new hires by providing them with some immediate reward, boosting their self-esteem, and using less approaches and tactics.
Location of Article
The article is available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08824090409359967#preview (First page preview, purchase full article, journal article)
