INTRODUCTION TO THE ORGANIZATION

HRM 8

Sushanta Kr Sarma
INDUCTION
• Process of receiving and welcoming employees when they first join an organization
• It has the following aim
• to smooth the preliminary stages when everything is likely to be strange and unfamiliar to the starter;
• to establish quickly a favourable attitude to the company in the mind of the new employee so that he or
she is more likely to stay;
• to obtain effective output from the new employee in the shortest possible time;
• to reduce the likelihood of the employee leaving quickly.
 WHY TAKING CARE ABOUT INDUCTION IS IMPORTANT
1. Reducing the cost and inconvenience of early leavers.
• Some of these costs may include
• recruitment costs of replacement;
• induction costs (training etc);
• cost of extra supervision and error correction;
• gap between the employee’s value to the company and the cost of the employee’s pay and benefits
 WHY TAKING CARE ABOUT INDUCTION IS IMPORTANT
2. Increasing commitment
• present the organization as one that is worth working for and to ensure that this first impression is reinforced

3. Clarifying the psychological contract

• consists of implicit, unwritten beliefs and assumptions about how employees are expected to behave and
what responses they can expect from their employer. It is concerned with norms, values and attitudes.

4. Accelerating progress up the learning curve

5. Socialization
INDUCTION PROCESS

• Reception
• Ensure that the person whom the starter first meets (ie the receptionist, personnel assistant or supervisor) knows
of their pending arrival and what to do next.
• Set a reporting time, which will avoid the risk of the starter turning up before the reception or office staff arrive.
• Train reception staff in the need for friendly and efficient helpfulness towards new starters.
• If the new starter has to go to another location immediately after reporting, provide a guide, unless the route to
the other location is very straightforward.
• Avoid keeping the new starter waiting; steady, unhurried, guided activity is an excellent antidote to first-day
nerves.
INDUCTION PROCESS
• Documentation
• The employee handbook
• a brief description of the company – its history, products, organization and management;
• basic conditions of employment – hours of work, holidays, pension scheme, insurance;
• pay – scales, when paid and how, deductions, queries;
• sickness – notification of absence, certificates, pay;
• leave of absence; company rules; disciplinary procedure;
• grievance procedure;
• promotion procedure;
• health and safety arrangements;
INDUCTION PROCESS
• Company Induction – Initial Briefing
• Introduction to the workplace
• On the Job induction training
• job or skills analysis to prepare a learning specification;
• an initial assessment of what the new starter needs to learn;
• the use of designated colleagues to act as guides and mentors – these individuals should be trained in how to carry out
this role;
• coaching by team leaders or specially appointed and trained departmental trainers;
 SOME DEFINITIONS
• Orientation : the process of completing new hires’ employment-related paperwork and familiarizing
them with their jobs, coworkers, work spaces, work tools, and the company’s policies and benefits

• Socialization: a long-term process of planned and unplanned, formal and informal activities and
experiences through which an individual acquires the attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge needed to
successfully participate as an organizational member and learns the firm’s culture
CHOICE OF SOCIALIZATION
• Individual socialization: a socialization process whereby newcomers are socialized individually,
as in an apprenticeship
• Collective socialization: a socialization process whereby newcomers go through a common set of
experiences as a group
• Formal socialization: a structured socialization process conducted outside of the work setting using
specifically designed activities and materials
• Informal socialization: an unstructured, on-the-job socialization process conducted by a new hire’s
coworkers
CHOICE OF SOCIALIZATION
• Sequential socialization a socialization process that follows a specific sequence of steps
• Random socialization socialization steps are ambiguous or changing
• Fixed socialization a socialization process whereby new hires are informed in advance when their
probationary status will end
• Variable socialization a socialization process whereby employees receive few clues as to when to
expect their probationary periods to end, and the timeline isn’t necessarily consistent across
employees
• Tournament socialization a socialization process whereby each stage is an “elimination
tournament” and a new hire is out of the organization if he or she fails
• Contest socialization a socialization process whereby each stage is a “contest,” and each new hire
earns a track record, or “batting average,” after each stage
• Serial socialization a socialization process whereby supportive organizational members serve as
role models and mentors for new hires
• Disjunctive socialization a socialization process whereby newcomers are left alone to develop their
own interpretations of the organization and situations they observe
 WHAT MAKES A SOCIALIZATION EFFECTIVE?

• Should encourage new employees to ask question and should engage them
• Research suggests that socializing new employees as a group, using formal activities and materials in a
predetermined order within a specified time frame, giving them access to role models or mentors, and
providing the new hires with social support can enhance their loyalty, reduce their turnover, and
increase their job satisfaction and commitment to the firm

• Should take feedback from everyone involved in the process

SOCIALIZATION
• Attitude and values of employee changes during their managerial career.
• The process that brings such changes is termed as “organizational socialization”
• It is the process of ‘learning the ropes’, the process of being indoctrinated and trained, the process of
being taught what is being important in an organization.
• Effectiveness of socialization determines- employee loyalty, commitment, productivity and turnover.
• Socialization is defined as the process by which a new member learns the value system, the norms,
and required behavior pattern of organization which he is entering.
• The value system, the norms, and required behavior generally include –
• The basic goal of the organization
• The preferred means by which these goals are to be attained
• The responsibilities of members in the role which is granted to him
• The behavior pattern which are required for effective performance in the role
• A set of rules or principles which pertain to the maintenance of the identity and integrity of the
organization
 BY WHAT PROCESS THE NOVICE LEARN THE VALUES AND NORMS
• Socialization as reaffirmation process
• Socialization as unfreezing phase – it involves detaching the person from her former values ( can you relate
this to Amisha?)
• The process aims to prove that the present self of the candidate is not good enough for the organization. It
impact the self-image of candidates.
• Upending experience- deliberately planned or accidently created which confirm or disconfirm some of the
major assumptions which the new entrant holds about himself, company or job.
• Success of socializing technique depends on two factors – 1. Initial motivation of the entrant to join the
organization; 2. the degree to which the organization can hold the new member captive during the period of
socialization.
• Peer group of novices is effective in adopting new norms in organization
 HOW DOES THE NOVICE ACQUIRE NEW LEARNING
• Official literature of the organization
• Peers operating as helpful big brothers
• Invest time and effort in new members and build expectation of being repaid by commitment and loyalty
by the new member (Taj Hotel Probation period)
• Making small behavioural change (like taking responsible roles)
• Transition of the novice into to a full-fledged member- giving him important responsibility
FAILURE OF SOCIALIZATION
• Pivotal values
• Relevant values
• Response to socialization can be
• Rejection – rejection of all values and norms
• Creative individualism – acceptance of only pivotal values
• Conformity – acceptance of all values

• Professional socialization vs organizational socialization

• Your as new entrant suppose to bring a fresh viewpoint but your boss wants you to work in the way that’s
been in practice for years
• You need to learn to be creative individualists !
MODEL OF NEWCOMER EXPERIENCE
CHANGE – CONTRAST – SURPRISE

• Change
• Objective difference in setting
• Change in identity and role
• Change includes crossing three
boundaries – functional, hierarchical, and
inclusionary
• Contrast
• Contrast is noticed personally not
publicly
• Person-specific not indigenous to
organization
• Surprise
• Difference between anticipation and
subsequent experience
• May be positive or may be negative
CREATE A SOCIALIZATION PLAN FOR IRMA STUDENTS
• Create a socialization plan for incoming batch. It should include monthly events to help the students become
familiar with IRMA’s way of doing things and develop a better understanding of goals, values, history, and
people in the organization.
• This is 6 months long process. Focus on appropriate/inappropriate behavior (classroom and outside),
relationship with friends, teacher and staffs.
• Behavior during assignment, management of student’s activities and committees
• Time management
• Any other issues of importance
• Clearly articulate the event and outcome expected.
• Use the elements of socialization process and make a presentation. You are required to submit the
presentation.