‘First, get to know them’: a relational view of organizational socialization

Abstract

An important episode in workplace learning is the socialization of newly hired people into the organization. Typically, the literature conceptualizes the socialization of new employees as a learning process whereby the newcomer is responsible for learning to fit into the organization. This perspective seems to underestimate the social influences of co-workers and managers. Research and theorizing on social exchange and interpersonal relationships identify the quality of relationships between members of a group as a fundamental factor moderating the quality and outcomes of other interactions related to learning and work. This paper presents the findings of a recent study of organizational socialization experienced by new engineers recently hired into a large, global manufacturing company based in the US. Results of this qualitative case study explore and explain the socialization process from a relational perspective providing compelling evidence that relationship building is a primary driver of the socialization process in organizations.

Keywords:

• socialization
• workplace learning
• workplace relationships
• social exchange

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education and the Stanford University Collaborative Research Laboratory for support. Specifically, I thank Sheri Sheppard, Cindy Atman, Karl Smith, Steve Barley, Bill Jordan, and Jan Benson for their support on this study. Additional support came from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0227558, which funds the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE). Finally, I also thank the new engineers for their gracious participation in this study, as well as the managers in the organization for being receptive to the project and providing immense support.