Article 2014

Organizational Socialization Tactics and Newcomer Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support

Group and Organization Management
Journal · Vol. 39 · Issue 3 · pp. 247-273
Abstract

Understanding and facilitating new hires’ adjustment are critical to maximizing the effectiveness of recruitment and selection. The aim of the current study is to examine how organizational socialization tactics interact with perceived organizational support (POS) to influence socialization outcomes above and beyond proactive personality. Our sample consisted of 103 blue-collar apprentices from a well-established apprenticeship program that began in the Middle Ages in France. Using a time-lagged design, we surveyed apprentices in their first months of employment, while they were learning their trade (carpentry, roofing, and stone cutting). We found that POS significantly moderated the relationship between socialization tactics and three important socialization outcomes (learning the job, learning work-group norms, and role innovation), such that there was a positive relationship under low POS and a non-significant relationship under high POS. Unexpectedly, POS was negatively related to role innovation. Implications for the organizational socialization literature are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Keywords

Author Keywords

learning outcomes Perceived organizational support Organizational socialization role innovation socialization tactics

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Université Paris-Dauphine, Paris, Ile-de-France, France
Portland State University, Portland, OR, United States
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
Funding & Acknowledgements
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR : Agence Nationale de la Recherche).
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