Socialization is a process by which people learn the rules, norms, and expectations of a culture over time and thereby become members of that culture. Hess states that workers who remain apart from the culture are unlikely to be as effective or satisfied with the job. There are many topics in Ch. 5 that resonate at my workplace, but this experience happened fairly recently. We have hired a number of people who bring in deep technology experience to the group. Most of these employees have a fair number of years experience in other work environments. Assimilating to our small, 150 person group, is admittedly a challenge as we create our own processes and definitely have our own culture. For example, the group is very competitive – in everything from sports to idea generation. At the senior level, the executives have worked together for years (some at least for 10 years), so there is an inherent level of networking and interaction.
Recently, we’ve had a few of the new hires quit after about 6 months on the job. One person even admitted that she did not feel she fit in with the group. She said that there were very few activities that helped her learn about the culture and she always felt she was “outside”. I understand that it may take time to become a member of the culture (maybe longer than 6 months), but I think it’s also the responsibility of the organization to help these new hires be involved in the group and complete the organizational assimilation process. We’re working on it by matching up the new hires with “buddies” in the group, setting aside time to introduce them to the group at meetings, and involving them in organizing group activities (such as social or community service events). It’s a small start, but I think it’s a good measure of making progress to help people become part of the group.
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16 years ago
2 comments:
That is really interesting about employees at your workplace and not feeling as though they had a chance to “fit” into the culture. I like the “buddy” system solution and the investment in new hires. I would imagine that the “higher ups” assume that the interview process would screen applicants to be sure that only those who were a good fit with the organization would be hired. It is easy to forget that while a new hire was a good fit, they still need to benefit from the socialization process and be shown the ropes of their organizational culture.
Socialization is an important concept to adapt to within organizations because it is what is going to add to one's comfort and sense of belonging. I can see why someone would leave an organization if they feel as though they don't fit in. In the workplace, one spends so much time with co-workers that a relationship usually develops. However, in the events that such relationships never develop, something must be wrong. Either individuals are ignorant to people's differences, or they just don't care enough to socialize with someone who may be "different" from what they're used to. It is challenging when one joins a new organization (whether work, school, volunteering, etc). Therefore, it is important that people who are already a part of such organizations do their part in making someone feel welcome.
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