PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

1983, 36

THE AVAILABILITY AND HELPFULNESS OF

SOCIALIZATION PRACTICES
MERYL R, LOUIS
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California

BARRY Z, POSNER
Management Department
University of Santa Clara

GARY N, POWELL
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut

This study reports on the socialization practices tnost available to

new employees and the extent to which these practices are seen by
newcomers as being helpful in becoming eflFective organizational
members. The results showed that socialization practices are
diflferentially available to newcomers, and perceptions of their
helpfulness vary. The helpfulness of various socialization practices
as reported by newcomers appears to affect their feelings of
subsequent job satisfaction and commitment.

THE socialization process in an organization has a major influence

on the performance of individuals, and thus aflFects group and
organizational performance as well. Regardless of whether it is
consciously planned and managed or whether it occurs informally,
socialization provides newcomers with considerable information
about appropriate roles and behaviors. It is the process of what
Schein (1968) referred to as "learning the ropes." While few would
deny that the socialization process is part of organizational life, the
specific relationship between socialization activities and subsequent
employee attitudes is not well known. The basic question is: What
makes for an eflFective organizational entry practice? Neither re-
searchers nor practitioners have addressed this issue directly.

Copyright © 1983 Personnel Psychology, Inc,

857
858 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

Van Maanen (1978) identified seven dimensions along which to

characterize socialization or entry practices. From those dimensions
and earlier work by Schein (1971) on types of newcomers and role
responses (e.g., custodianship, role innovation). Van Maanen devel-
oped a set of propositions which link characteristics of socialization
practices to responses of newcomers to their jobs. These proposi-
tions were derived from an examination of both the research
literature and examples of socialization practices in organizations.
However, verification of these propositions has been virtually non-
existent.
Louis (1980) has argued that why and how some entry practices
work, if in fact they do, can only be understood from the perspective
of the newcomer's entry experience. Her model identifies features
of a typical entry experience and the sense-making processes
newcomers employ to cope with their early job experiences. Louis
suggests that when new members enter an organization they are
faced with learning a new culture. Newcomers must assimilate the
unoflficial rules for sorting, labeling and interpreting experience in
the organization. These unwritten rules provide important clues for
how to become an efiFective organizational member.
Organizations spend a great deal of time and money to orient
newly hired employees. Usually the direct costs for indoctrination
programs are substantial. There are indirect costs as well. For
example, new employees generally work below capacity while they
learn their jobs and adjust to new surroundings. The possibility of
reducing costs provides an important incentive for organizational
leaders to learn more about ways to improve orientation and
socialization programs.
Our purpose in conducting this study was to compare alternative
socialization practices and to investigate how they might have an
impact on subsequent employee attitudes. Our comparison of social-
ization practices results in data which is primarily descriptive. This
is an attempt to understand more about various socialization prac-
tices currently in use in organizations. Further, we were interested
in which practices are perceived as most helpful for newcomers
"learning the ropes." Because there is a lack of good descriptive
information about socialization practices, the development of spe-
cific hypotheses about their impact on newcomers' attitudes is
speculative. It seemed reasonable to test the general hypothesis that
employee job satisfaction, commitment, and intention to stay will be
positively related with the availability and degree of helpfulness
attributed to each socialization practice.
 MERYL R, LOUIS ET AL, 859

Method
Sample
The sample consists of undergraduate business school alumni
from a small private West Coast university {N - 91) and a large
public East Coast university (A^ = 126). Both sample populations
were comprised of business students contacted 6-9 months after
graduation. A questionnaire regarding early job experiences was
mailed to all individuals in each population. All responses were
voluntary and confidential. The typical respondent was 23-25 years
old and involved in his/her first full-time (non-summer) employment
experience. There were no significant demographic differences
between respondents from the two sample populations.

Measures
There are a variety of techniques organizations use to orient and
socialize new employees. We surveyed a panel of personnel offi-
cials, college placement officials, and recent hires in order to
generate a listing of socialization practices that were common to
many organizations and represented a range of activities. The most
representative practices which emerged were: Formal onsite orien-
tation sessions, offsite residential training sessions, other new
recruits (employees), a buddy relationship with a more senior
coworker, mentor and/or sponsor relationship, your first supervisor,
secretary or other support staff, daily interactions with peers while
working, social/recreational activities with people from work, and
business trips with others from work.
Individuals indicated for each socialization practice whether it
had been available to them in the organization when they entered.
We then asked them to indicate how helpful the particular socializa-
tion item had been for "learning the ropes" and becoming an
effective organizational member. Respondents indicated on five-
point scales (1 = very little; 5 = very much) the extent to which this
was true or not for each "available" socialization item.
Several dependent variables were assessed. The job satisfaction
measure was taken from O'Reilly and Caidwell (1980). Respondents
indicated how satisfied they were overall with their job (1 = very
little; 5 = very much), and the extent to which their job met their
image of the ideal job (1 = very little; 7 = very much). These two
items were combined to form a job satisfaction index (coefficient
alpha = .86). Commitment was measured using six questions from
860 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

the Porter, Steers, Mowday, and Boulian (1974) index. Respondents

indicated, using 7-point Likert scales; whether they agreed or
disagreed with statements assessing perceptions of loyalty to the
company, willingness to work hard to achieve organizational goals,
and acceptance of organizational values (coefficient alpha = .84).
Intentions to stay with the organization (tenure intention) was
assessed using the two-item measure provided by O'Reilly and
Caidwell (1980). They referred to this as "behavioral commitment."
First, respondents indicated, on a 5-point scale, the likelihood of
working for the organization in 3 years (Kraut, 1975). Then, using a
7-point scale, ranging from less than 1 year to more than 10 years,
respondents estimated how long they planned to remain with the
organization. These two items were combined to form an index of
tenure intention (coefficient alpha = .91). Commitment and tenure
intention were only measured in one sample and job satisfaction was
measured in both samples.

Results
Means and standard deviations for the helpfulness of each social-
ization practice are presented in Table 1. Also shown are the number
(and percentage) of respondents reporting the particular socializa-
tion aid was available.
As Table 1 documents, the three most important socialization aids
were interaction with peers, supervisor, and, senior coworkers.
Interaction with peers on the job was reportedly available to nearly 9
out of 10 newcomers and was viewed as most important in helping
newcomers become effective employees. The vast majority (87%)
also reported that their supervisor was both available and helpful in
enabling them to learn the ropes and become effective organizational
members. "Buddy" relationships with senior coworkers were
viewed as quite useful and available to three in every four respon-
dents. All but two socialization items (offsite training and business
trips) were reported as available to more than half of the respon-
dents.
Formal onsite orientation sessions were reported by nearly two-
thirds as being available, and were viewed as moderately helpful in
learning the ropes. Offsite residential training sessions were avail-
able to 35% of the newcomers. Newcomers felt these sessions made
a modest contribution to their development. Mentors or sponsors
were reported available to about half of the respondents and were
felt to provide important socialization assistance. Secretarial and/or
clerical support staff personnel were often available to newcomers
 MERYL R, LOUIS ET AL, 861

TABLE 1
Availability and Helpfulness of Socialization Practices
Availability Helpfulness
N % X S.D.
Formal Onsite Orientation 135 64 3,18 ,41
Offsite Residential Training 74 35 3,08 ,48
New Recruits 131 62 3,20 ,35
Senior Coworker Relationship 157 75 3,79 ,27
Mentor/Sponsor 48 45 3,23 ,47
Peers 193 89 3,96 ,12
Supervisor 183 87 3,52 ,36
Secretary/Support Staff 131 62 2,78 ,39
Social/Recreational Activities 139 66 2,87 ,28
Business Trips 80 38 2,86 ,35

as sources of socialization but their perceived helpfulness in this

process was not very great. Social and recreational activities with
people from work was mentioned by two-thirds of the newcomers as
available, although they were seen as contributing minimally to their
development as effective employees. Business trips with others
from work were not often available nor were they viewed as
especially beneficial in their development.
The relationship between the availability of socialization practices
(or opportunities) and job attitudes is reported in Table 2. Compari-
sons of levels of job satisfaction, commitment and tenure intention
by whether the particular socialization aid was available or not to
the newcomer revealed only one significant difference. Lower levels
of job satisfaction, commitment, and tenure intention were reported
by newcomers when the secretary/support staff was available as a
source of socialization. Taken as a "set" of socialization practices,
however, the "availability" of socialization opportunities was sig-
nificantly associated with subsequent job attitudes. Regressions
were performed on each job attitude using dummy variables for the
socialization items (0 for unavailable and 1 for available). For job
satisfaction approximately 10% of the explained variance was
accounted for by the availability of various socialization aids to
newcomers (F = 2.27, p < .05). Availability explained nearly 20
percent of the variance in both commitment and tenure intention {F
= 5.20, p .001).
Correlations were computed between the reported helpfulness of
each socialization aid and job satisfaction, commitment, and tenure
intention. This analysis is reported in Table 3 and includes only
those respondents who indicated that the particular socialization aid
was available to them. Job satisfaction was modestly correlated with
eight socialization items: offsite orientation training, new recruits.
862 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

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 MERYL R. LOUIS ET AL. 863

TABLE 3
Correlations Between Helpfulness of Socialization Aids and Job Satisfaction,
Commitment, and Tenure Intention
Job Tenure
Satisfaction Commitment'' Intention"
Formal Onsite Orientation .09 .41*** .18
OfFsite Residential Training .42*** .42*** .40**
New Recruits .16** .07 .01
Senior Coworker Relationship .22** .48*** .19
Mentor/Sponsor .23** .11 .04
Peers .24*** .24** .24**
Supervisor .15* .38*** .29**
Secretary/Support Staff .13 . -.02 -.07
Social/Recreational Activities .21*** .22 .22
Business Trips .33*** .44** .48***
Note,—TV's vary for each socialization category because they include only those respondents indicating that it was
available to them.
^ Administered in west coast, private university sample only.
• p < .05.
•• p < .01.
" • p < .001.

senior coworkers, mentor, peers, supervisor, social activities, and

business trips. Commitment was significantly correlated with six
socialization aids: onsite orientation sessions, offsite sessions, sen-
ior coworkers, peers, supervisor, and business trips. Tenure inten-
tion was correlated with oflfsite orientation sessions, peers, supervi-
sor, and business trips. Post hoc analysis yielded few significant
differences by type of job, respondent major in school, or previous
work experiences.

Discussion
In this study we sought to determine: (1) what kinds of socializa-
tion aids (practices, experiences, people) were available to organiza-
tional newcomers, (2) to what extent were these various aids viewed
by newcomers as making a contribution to their becoming effective
employees, and (3) how were the availability and helpfulness of
certain socialization aids associated with subsequent newcomer job
attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, commitment, and tenure intention).
A number of interesting conceptual and pragmatic suggestions
emerge.
According to the results, "daily interactions with peers while
working" (Peers) was the most important factor in helping newcom-
ers to feel effective. The variance was lowest on this factor,
indicating respondent consensus. Further, interaction with peers
864 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY

was available to more respondents than any other aid, and was
significantly correlated with job satisfaction, commitment and ten-
ure intention.
Thisfindingseems consistent with conceptual models of socializa-
tion which postulate that "accommodation" and "sense-making"
are important processes through which the newcomer learns what
the organization is truly like (Louis, 1980; Feldman, 1976). That this
socialization aid should play such a prominent role is testimony to
the impact of day-to-day events and interactions which aflFect
individuals' feelings of comfort and competency. This aid may also
tap newcomers' feelings of being accepted by their relevant refer-
ence group. This occurs, of course, as the newcomer learns and
adopts the group's norms (Homans, 1960). Unfortunately, despite
the benefits of this strategy, we suspect that not many organizations
are consciously involving the peers of newcomers in their socializa-
tion efforts. Similar arguments might also be made in regards to "a
buddy relationship with a more senior coworker" as an aid to
effective socialization and positive newcomer attachments to the job
and organization.
There has been considerable emphasis on the impact of the first
supervisor on the new employee's job performance and overall
adaptation to the organization (Berlew and Hall, 1966; Kotter,
1973). Consequently, it is not too surprising to find that the
supervisor is a major contributor to the process of acculturation.
The supervisor is generally perceived as available and helpful. The
supervisor's involvement with newcomers is seen as affecting their
subsequent job satisfaction, commitment and tenure intention.
The importance of mentors or sponsors in the career of an
individual has also received considerable attention (Clawson, 1980),
although our data provide minor or mixed support for such an
assertion. For example, mentors were not particularly available nor
was their involvement viewed as particularly helpful. The role
played by the mentor in subsequent newcomer reactions to the
job/organization was also inconclusive. The mentor relationship was
significantly correlated with job satisfaction but not with commit-
ment nor tenure intention. It is possible that the impact of having a
mentor takes more time to result in observable attitudinal or
behavioral (e.g., promotion) consequences. It is even more likely
that mentors may wait until the newcomer has had sufficient time to
demonstrate his or her savvy (for instance, by learning the ropes on
their own) before initiating or responding to sponsorship or protege
relationship interactions. Possibly the nonsignificant correlations for
commitment and tenure intention result from some mentors who
 MERYL R. LOUIS ET AL. 865

advise their proteges to seek greater opportunities outside their

present organization.
The most formal and planned socialization aids generally used by
organizations are various onsite orientation sessions and offsite
residential training sessions. The impact of these sessions was
somewhat tenuous. While many (64%) participated in formal onsite
orientation sessions, these were viewed as only modestly helpful by
respondents. The greatest value of these highly formalized programs
was in fostering loyalty to and identity with the organization
(commitment). Job satisfaction and newcomer intentions to stay
with the organization were not significantly correlated with formal
orientation programs.
Offsite residential training programs were available to only 35% of
the newcomers. While it was reported as contributing little directly
to becoming an effective employee it was strongly correlated with
positive newcomer job attitudes (job satisfaction, commitment, and
tenure intention). Possibly this effect on attitudes is due to the
symbolic and ceremonial nature of these events. Selection for
participation in these programs may signal that a new employee has
"been noticed," has "cut the mustard," has "paid his (her) dues,"
and is "on the team" (Rosenthal and Mezoff, 1980). It should be
noted that there is considerable variance among respondents in
regards to the helpfulness of both offsite and onsite sessions.
It is undoubtedly important to know more about the content and
process of these various socialization aids and practices before
making specific organizational recommendations. The impact of
these socialization efforts and opportunities may vary from one
setting to another, depending upon a number of factors such as the
effectiveness with which they are performed. This study provides an
important step in generally delineating the character and quality of
many socialization efforts and should provide future researchers
with fertile ground for more specific investigations both within and
across organizations.

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