Introduction
Statistics show that individuals change their jobs close to six times, and most of those in this group are between the age of 18 years and 24 (Vandenberghe et al., 2021). Newcomer turnover refers to the total number of new employees who quit working at various organisations over a particular time (Vandenberghe et al., 2021). It is important to address the issue of newcomer turnover as it can lead to a poor image in the labour market. This could, in turn, result in rival organisations having a better workforce which is a competitive advantage for them.
When it comes to socialisation, organisations can use different tactics, for example, giving the responsibility of familiarising a new employee with the environment to someone already employed (Kowtha, 2018). Such a technique has not worked in integrating an individual into the culture of a company since it does not allow people to interact naturally. Discouragement of gossip has led to a lack of a starting point for forming friendships that grow deeper with time between colleagues. This can change by encouraging individuals to participate in activities that bring them closer to one another. Organisational socialisation refers to learning as well as adjusting in a manner that enables one to assume a workplace role and resolve role uncertainty, thus entering the workforce successfully (Kowtha, 2018).
Some of the organisational socialisation tactics include mentoring, seeking information from peers, and role negotiation, which is a technique for improving new professionalsâ comprehension of othersâ roles (Kowtha, 2018; LaGree & Olsen, 2022). These are important to ensure that newcomers feel included and, thus, create a peaceful environment that leads to improvement. By implementing these techniques, companies instrumentalize colleague and managerial behaviour to support the association between different individuals in the workforce and newcomersâ understanding of their roles; in social tactics, newcomers receive social support from coworkers and supervisors (Kowtha, 2018). This essay aims to critically evaluate the impact socialisation tactics such as informal mentorship and other socialising influences such as colleague behaviour can have on newcomer turnover.
Socialisation Tactics
The more particular connection between newcomer adjustment, tactics as well as workforce outcomes differ by the technique someone uses to interact. The ones most strongly linked to results include support from longer-tenured employees and that from new workers’ skills, attitudes, and abilities. Chi et al. (2020) claim that due to this, it is necessary that all companies promote connections between employees. Some of the strategies to apply consist of job shadowing, offering a positive and consistent opinion on newcomersâ performance, and validating their identities.
Job shadowing is similar to employee training, whereby the newcomer works closely with the experienced worker at an organisation and understands how to accomplish different tasks. For instance, in the case of a new lawyer employed in a firm, someone else who has been undertaking cases and has a record of winning is responsible for teaching a newcomer about the job. According to Chalim (2018), while learning, the parties involved form a bond due to interaction. On the one hand, when the method of training is utilised well, it becomes easier for the newly-employed to enjoy their new environment and plan to remain there long-term and thus, less turnover.
On the other hand, if not done properly, it may create a negative impression of the organisation on the newcomer, which might result in their early quitting the job. For someone who is new in a workplace environment, offering a positive and consistent opinion on newcomers’ performance and validating their identities means that trust. According to Peltokorpi et al. (2022), this is indicative of the surroundings being conducive and people willing to work with them towards meeting organisational objectives. No single employee desires to have a job in a place that discourages them and causes their motivation to lessen. When the work can sustain their morale, then it becomes easier for them to remain there long-term (Omilion-Hodges et al., 2019). The socialisation tactics in the workplace can be grouped into individualised and institutionalised.
On the one hand, the institutionalised strategy offers newcomers data in an organised manner and reduces their level of anxiety in them. By using this method, the norms and values of the company can be transferred to the new individual more sophistically (Lee et al., 2019). It has a positive impact on custodial role orientation, organisational commitment, job satisfaction as well as proactive socialisation behaviour (Chiu et al., 2018). Moreover, the technique has a negative effect on the ambiguity of the role of new employees, intention to quit the job, and role disputes.
On the other hand, by utilising the individualised strategy, the socialisation process in a company is characterised by an absence of structure and away toward sink-or-swim. In an organisation that applies this technique, newcomers are usually beginning to work instantly after employment. According to Farid (2019), it is expected of them to understand the required capabilities and working approaches and data concerning the workplace without being offered assistance from an organised program. As the settings are defined by an informal approach, newcomers ought to have a more proactive character to comprehend the organisation’s circumstances and anticipations (Park et al., 2018). Nevertheless, the tactic offers a possibility to develop someone’s standpoint, which can result in an innovative and inventive interpretation of their role in the company. This shows that even though institutionalised seems better, it is ideal to utilise both.
Social Exchange Theory
Social exchange theory refers to the sociological as well as psychological idea concerning social behaviour in the interaction of more than one party. It involves economic associations whereby a cost-benefit analysis happens when each side has goods that the others value. It suggests that these computations happen in friendships, romantic, ephemeral, and professional relationships as simple as exchanging words with a consumer at the cash register. The proponents of the concept claim that in the event, the costs of the relationship are higher than the rewards. For instance, if much money or effort is put into interaction and not reciprocated, then it may be abandoned.
The social exchange theory can include the effect of other socialising influences on newcomer turnover. Applying this concept, the newcomers desire to feel as if the effort they put into relationships at work is reciprocated (Song et al., 2019). For instance, there are various ways that one can be integrated into the organisation’s culture. It could happen through being asked to perform certain tasks, share information with each other about a particular topic or individual, or be corrected in a positive manner. This prompts the idea that socialising influences can occur in two different ways in an organisation, that is, through colleague behaviour and management behaviour. Socialising influence refers to how an individual new to an environment is able to acquire certain culture or subculture. In the case of a newcomer, they can learn how to behave or act in a specific manner only associated with a company through colleague behaviour and management behaviour.
At the colleague behaviour level, there is the use of gossip, which can be talking about a certain topic or individual. This act makes employees feel closer to one another in the work environment and raise their level of trust in each other (Babalola et al., 2019). This, in turn, improves the cooperation as they can not only share rumours among peers but some thoughts or ideas that greatly better the working procedures (Balliet et al., 2021). It assists employees, especially newcomers, to free themselves from daily normal routines and issues in their lives (Bencsik et al., 2019). Furthermore, in the event a person talks about another, they will distract from negative aspects and turn their attention to a different subject. Unless it turns into ostracism and bullying, gossip can help in the retention of newcomers.
Socialisation influences can as well occur at the management behaviour level in terms of leadership. It is important that a company examines the type of managers it has, for this can affect how newcomers quickly integrate into the organisational culture (Gress, 2019). It is their responsibility through guidance to ensure that new employees in the workplace learn about how various tasks are accomplished and the goals (Guo et al., 2021). Additionally, they can find the right workers who are more experienced to train them for easier incorporation.
Colleague Behaviour
Colleague behaviour refers to how the employees conduct themselves with regard to their peers. It is important to look at it since it can affect how the newcomers are integrated into organisational culture. For instance, the issue of gossip between employees has been seen to either form a bond or create a rift which leads to a high rate of retention or turnover (Cheng et al., 2020). Researchers consider gossip to be an essential influence due to its impact on how new workers feel in the novel workplace surroundings.
In recent years, gossip has been turned to appear to have a negative meaning. The specific incidence of negative gossip in the workplace remains hard to estimate, but current research suggests that it is common but not universally classified as an example of workplace mistreatment (Naeem et al., 2019). Scholars, however, have focused on the various types and how they can be used or applied in the workplace environment to have a positive impact at work and help in the socialisation of newcomers (Ribarsky & Hammonds, 2019). Gossiping is considered to be good when the information shared could benefit someone or when it leads to individuals developing a positive perception of the party in the discussion.
Positive gossip consists of sharing positive information about others and expands newcomersâ informational ties in new organizational environments (Zong et al., 2021). According to Mawritz et al. (2022), when scholars consider it, they look at prosocial behavioural responses. For instance, in the event a person shares data that aids the group evade the adverse effects of a norm-violating colleague, then it is considered good (Dores Cruz et al., 2021). The information shared can help others correct themselves and prevent more harm to others.
Positive gossip has been seen to enhance a workplace environment by improving newcomersâ socialization (Zong et al., 2021). It builds trust as well as increases team cohesiveness, which is good when considering the retention of newcomers. Much can be traced to the mantra of praising while in public while criticising in private (Jiang et al., 2019). When an employee is conditioned to expect supervisors, colleagues or subordinates to talk about them positively, it leads to the development of morale (Bai et al., 2020). When they anticipate the opposite, it destroys their motivation, promotes mistrust and results in toxicity.
Gossip can aid in socialisation since it becomes easier for one to be integrated into the culture of an organisation. It is through it that someone can learn about how they need to conduct themselves in various situations (Lee & Barnes, 2021). Additionally, talking about a particular topic that affects involved parties, or another person, there is a bond that is created as there is something that connects all of them (Spoelma & Hetrick, 2021). There are different ways that gossip in the workplace environment can occur, for example, when a newcomer is the one discussing or is involved in it talking about supervisors or colleagues.
When a new employee is the topic of discussion, it may create a negative impression most of the time since they need others who have more experience at the organisation to embrace them. Negative gossip refers to when it is used to bully fellow employees, and it could be used to bully newcomers as well (Liu et al., 2020). The social exchange theory dictates that any relationship is based on cost-benefit analysis, and thus, people need what they give to be reciprocated (Minor et al., 2020). This means that in the event a new person in the work environment chooses to make an effort to create a bond with others, the latter needs to do the same (Tan et al., 2021). If all they try to accomplish is act and treat other people right and they are still bullied, they will decide to end the relationship which is working at the particular organisation. This shows the impact of negative gossip on newcomer turnover.
Management Behaviour
Managerial behaviour refers to how individuals at the leadership position or level in an organisation act in terms of interpersonal communication; the right managerial behaviour is often regarded as a predictor of trust-based employer-employee relationships (Matsuura et al., 2020). It is important to look at this since the person supervising a new employee in a workplace environment can determine their impression of the type of culture (Gustafsson et al., 2019). Leadership is an essential influence as newcomers can only feel fully accepted in a new work setting if they have the support of their managers (Holland & Haegele, 2020). For instance, there are many cases of bullying at work in various companies. Management that is keen on ensuring comfort for the new workers will set rules that aim to cause collaboration and cooperation instead of isolation.
Leadership or, more specifically, the selection of leadership styles, can affect the rate at which new employees are hired and retained within a certain amount of time (Dwipayana & Suwandana, 2021). When a manager is able to guarantee good working conditions and environment, it becomes easier for newcomers to commit long-term (Hornung et al., 2021). However, in the event that they fail to ensure their welfare, they tend to leave shortly after employment. According to the social exchange theory, when it comes to gossip or social exchange, individuals desire to be incorporated in a manner that shows they are part of the culture (Wilson et al., 2020). When not allowed to participate, they feel as if the effort they are giving to foster the interactions with others is not reciprocated. Leadership and gossip can be connected in different ways; for instance, leadersâ involvement in negative gossip can sometimes permeate workplace culture (Kuo et al., 2018). Hypothetically, under the influence of a gossiping leader, subordinates might feel the need to engage in the same behaviours to assimilate and demonstrate some respect for this norm.
Conclusion
The essay has critically evaluated the impact socialisation tactics such as informal mentorship and other socialising influences such as colleague behaviour can have on newcomer turnover. It has been identified that both can have a positive or negative effect on newcomer turnover, which refers to the total number of new employees who quit working at various organisations over a particular time. Gossip has been recognised to assist in the socialisation process as it ensures that it is easier for one to be integrated into organisational culture (Zhou et al., 2019). Through it, individuals learn more about how they need to conduct themselves.
Additionally, being involved in the act of talking about a particular topic creates a bond which can lead to higher retention rates of newcomers. Positive gossip has been witnessed to enhance a workplace setting as it establishes trust, which is a great impression for a new employee. When someone is bullied, it then must be considered negative, which is a limitation of the socialising influences (Yuan & McNeeley, 2018). For instance, it is hard for a novel worker to commit long-term to a company if they feel targeted, which can increase the rate at which they leave work after employment.
Future research should be done on how managers and other leaders in different organisations can ensure that they balance the effects of socialising influences such as gossip. It would be great for companies to train their staff members on better ways of interacting with new employees. By promoting an environment that is welcoming and allows everyone to work with others in peace, it becomes easier for people to choose to return. One can conclude that since humans are social beings, it is important for companies to consider that in their tactics to retain workers.
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