Building on the Past: Enacting Established Personal Identities in a New Work Setting

Abstract

A qualitative, longitudinal study of two groups of experienced professionals beginning work in a research organization provided insights into how newcomers with work experience adjust to and become assimilated into new jobs and work settings. Multiple methods were used to collect data on the newcomers' work experiences before and after assuming their new jobs. Repeated interviews with them during their first six months in their new jobs revealed that their past experience affected their assimilation in three primary ways: through the personal identities they had developed and carried with them, through the know-how they had acquired in past jobs and how well it fit with their new jobs, and through the personal tactics they had learned for managing their work and managing change. In general, newcomers with diverse experience adjusted better than those with narrow experience because (1) they found it easier to enact dimensions of their personal identities that allowed them to function effectively in the new situation, (2) they more easily found a fit between know-how gleaned from that experience and their new jobs, and (3) they could draw on a wider variety of personal tactics that they had previously used to help them adjust.

Resiliência e socialização organizacional entre servidores públicos brasileiros e noruegueses

“…Uma tendência das pesquisas nesse campo tem sido a investigação do papel das diferenças individuais como variáveis preditoras, moderadoras ou mediadoras nos processos de socialização (Cooper-Thomas & Anderson, 2006;Saks & Ashforth, 1997). A autoeficácia, por exemplo, tem sido uma das variáveis mais empregadas nestes estudos , mas também já foram estudadas as experiências prévias de trabalho (Beyer & Hannah, 2002;Carr, Pearson, Vest, & Boyar, 2006), as dimensões de personalidade relacionadas à extroversão e à abertura a experiências (Wanberg & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2000) e as variáveis demográficas (Finkelstein, Kulas, & Dages, 2003), dentre outras.…”

Recruitment And Selection Criteria Of NMB Bank PLC Branches In Mbeya Region: An Assessment Of Influence On Performance In Financial Institutions In Tanzania

“…It is also noted that employees with experience assess their weaknesses more realistically (Hausman, Crow and Sperry, 2000). Knowledge and skills gained from previous related work experience improve employees' productivity, self---efficacy, response time to work---related challenges and hence leads to enhanced work Performance (Beyer and Hannah, 2002). Controversy however, organizations must have a rational basis for defining "relevant experience" considering that not all previous experiences are equally good predictors of performance on a given job (Ivancevich, 2004).…”

My Affair With the “Other”

“…When our sense of self is challenged within our organizational context, a "meaning void" is created which must be filled (Pratt et al, 2006). We therefore engage in sensemaking in our attempt to establish a greater degree of congruence between our key identity attributes and those of our organization (Beyer & Hannah, 2002). Some individuals may find the incongruence too great, resulting in disidentification or ambivalent identification (Kreiner & Ashforth, 2004).…”