Employee orientation and induction is also called employee socialization process. In today’s world, socialization is a continuous process due to the fact that the organizations have become dynamic.
For the new employees, Decenzo and Robbins (1999) identified that the socialization process involves three distinct stages as follows:
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1. Pre-Arrival Stage:
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At this stage, an individual employee comes to an organization with certain values, attitudes and expectations. At the selection stage only, an prospective employee needs to be enabled to understand to what extent his perceived mapping gets along with the organizational culture and systems.
It is the duty of the persons involved in the selection process to facilitate this. Nowadays because of the availability of information about organizations through different media, including Websites and Internet, an enthusiastic individual may also have some preconceived ideas about the organization.
Therefore, it is better to first understand from the individual what he understands about the organization and then help him to synchronize this information with the reality. This helps the individual to take the right decision.
2. Encounter Stage:
At this stage, perceptions earlier generated by an individual, are reaffirmed through a well-planned induction programme. Any dichotomy between the employees’ perceptions and organizational perceptions needs to be properly identified and removed through increased socialization process.
3. Metamorphosis Stage:
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At this final stage of socialization, employees understand the organization and identify themselves with it. Employees develop a sense of belongingness and become contributors to achieving organizational goals and objectives.
However, as explained earlier, socialization is a continuous process, as organizations are now required to go for restructuring and reengineering every now and then, keeping pace with the changing environment.