Joining an organisation
(Originally published on the OUBS Blog)
How to integrate a new member of staff into the organisation.
There are 9 stages but the first 5 were covered with the recruitment and selection. We will not look at Adjustment, Adaptation, Attrition and Audit.
Induction is the tangible part of the organisational entry while socialisations my be described as the intangible, familiarising the newcomer with the often unwritten and unstated ways of working and communicating within an organisation.
Dessler (1988) identifies some of the problems of the initial entry stage for the newcomer as being due to the following factors:
\- Change
\- Unrealistic expectations
\- Surprise
To find the information and support you should provide Fowler (1996) suggested several levels:
\- Individual level: contractual issues, personal support.
\- Job / task level: work to be done, how to start; health and safety drills, rules, procedures, …
\- Support and department level: relationships to employees, other jobs, other departments; meeting key contacts, …
\- Organisational level: structure, objectives, wider context; policies, pension and insurance schemes, …
The induction has 3 aspaces as of Marchington and Wilkinson, 1996:
\- An administrative exercise: info aobut job, procedures, orga
\- Welfare and employee support process: well-being, support provided as needed
\- Human resources management process: educate people about company ethos, their individ. Accountabilities and standards of performance required.
Remember that special groups might need special care.
Go slowly with the induction and here are some aspects that you might need:
\- Documentation
\- A buddy
\- Meet colleagues
\- Special projects
\- Useful task for the first day
It is also useful if several people start at the same time.
Other factors might have an effect:
\- Degree of formality
\- Individual or group induction
\- Organisational fit
\- Resources available
Socialisation is a four-stage process, as of Wanous (1992) :
\- Confronting and accepting reality
\- Achieving role clarity
\- Coming to terms with the context
\- Detecting signposts of successful socialisation
Harris and DeSimone put forward three fundamental concepts relating to socialisation:
\- Organisational roles influence how a person fits into the organisation, help them make sense of their own position, and begin to define what they must do to perform effectively.
\- Group norms need to be understood and people need to com to terms with the ways of working, rules and established patterns of behaviour. There is no universal model that the newcomer can use to help them understand the norms of the group they are joining
\- The individual’s and organisation’s expectations are a key aspect of induction and socialisation.
As of Meighan (1991) there are different roles in an organisation that have a role in the induction:
\- Human resources department
\- Managers and supervisors
\- Colleagues and other staff
\- Training staff
\- Existing staff
In general you have the organisation take over the formal part and possibly the person leaving the job giving over some of the knowledge and existing stuff for social support and the wider picture. The manager will do the induction, show the tasks and do the monitoring, etc.