Journal of Applied Psychology · 1996 · 85 citations · 0 references
ManagementOrganization StudiesOrganizational BehaviorIndividual DifferencesOrganizational DevelopmentSocial InfluenceBarriers To EntryEmployee SocializationEntry ModesMotivationOrganizational SocializationSocializationEmployee ProactivityEntryEntry BehaviorsLongitudinal EffectsNewcomer ProactivityOrganizational EntryPositive FramingSocialization Stages
Organizational socialization research has traditionally focused on stages and situational factors shaping newcomer behavior, with recent work exploring how individual dispositions influence entry experiences. This study aimed to describe the proactive tactics newcomers use to gain personal control during entry and to assess how these tactics affect self‑reported performance and satisfaction over time. The authors identified and categorized tactics such as information and feedback seeking, relationship building, job‑change negotiating, and positive framing, and examined their longitudinal impact on performance and satisfaction. Results showed that newcomers engage in multiple proactive tactics linked to desired control, but only some tactics were associated with higher performance and job satisfaction.
This study described the various ways that newcomers proactively attempt to gain feelings of personal control during organizational entry and examined their longitudinal effects on self-reported performance and satisfaction in a sample of organizational newcomers. The results suggest that individuals engage in proactive activities such as information and feedback seeking, relationship building, job-change negotiating, and positive framing during entry and that individual differences in desired control were related to 6 proactive entry tactics. However, only some of these tactics were related to self-reported performance and job satisfaction. The socialization literature describes the ways in which organizations mold and shape individual behavior (Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). The literature has focused on stages of socialization and on situational factors that influence individuals during the entry period (Reichers, 1987). More recently, researchers have begun to examine the role that individual dispositions might play in the en