Pathways through organizational socialization: A longitudinal qualitative study based on the psychological contract

Abstract

In this study, we explore different pathways during organizational socialization through the lens of the psychological contract using in‐depth longitudinal qualitative methods. Analysis of 112 critical incident interviews with 27 newcomers across their first year of work reveals five distinct psychological contract pathways through socialization, within which fulfilment and breach influence adjustment by facilitating or restricting opportunities to learn and integrate, as well as influencing attitudes and behaviour. The analysis reveals that whilst perceived psychological contract fulfilment facilitates newcomer adjustment, perceived breach can disrupt the process. We provide a detailed account of the way socialization and the psychological contract unfold for newcomers over time, and show that psychological contract events can significantly alter the course of adjustment. Practitioner points Delivery of perceived promises that are of particular importance to newcomers during early tenure can accelerate adjustment. Managers should therefore attempt to find out which promised contributions are important to employees and prioritize their delivery. The negative effects of perceptions of broken promises on newcomer adjustment may be reversed by later delivery. Managers should explain the reasons for any broken promises and seek to fulfil them in the future. Ongoing support from managers can help newcomers to negotiate the difficult period after organizational entry, even where promises are perceived to have been broken. Direct managers should be made aware of information provided and promises made to newcomers by those responsible for recruitment.

ToJugaador Not? How Mumbai’s Gig Workers Thrive Against Psychological Contract Discrepancies

“…Thus, an initial PC state is formed in these newbies’ minds, which acts as a guiding light and base for their future perceptions (Rousseau, 2001). These initial PCs may remain stable until the maintenance phase stage is reached while accumulating more verbal and non-verbal promises in the process (Rousseau et al, 2018; Woodrow & Guest, 2020). Boswell et al (2005) observed that this initial socialisation period (akin to a honeymoon period) into the organisation might spike job satisfaction for employees, especially those keen to learn on the job.…”

“…These reality checks can affect their PCs and can further drive them to seek relevant information checks to measure the discrepancies in their obligated versus delivered inducements in an objective manner (Holtom et al, 2017). As the lack of normative embeddedness of the gig economy starts impacting the workers (Wood et al, 2019), little has been explored on how the employee reactions and the adjustments (or end states of their PCs) shape in response to these adverse shocks (Woodrow & Guest, 2020), especially in the context our study. Though studies have shown that initial PC judgments could determine employee attitudes to a large extent within the first two months of their employment (Delobbe et al, 2016), the intensity and importance of the breach event/violations could still shape the employee coping responses at later stages.…”

“…Though studies have shown that initial PC judgments could determine employee attitudes to a large extent within the first two months of their employment (Delobbe et al, 2016), the intensity and importance of the breach event/violations could still shape the employee coping responses at later stages. Moreover, when resorting to quantitative methods with a half-yearly follow-up or less for temporal ones, the captured PC pathways across the employee tenure from induction lack the clarity that a qualitative and exploratory examination may bring (Woodrow & Guest, 2020). Bankins (2015) had called for increased use in qualitative perspectives to bring out the complex dynamics of PC breach unfolding and the potential theoretical implications such a study can produce.…”

“…Also, how PCs shape over a while and across different groups of employees (for instance, newcomers and experienced employee groups) is an area that is hardly explored. With the wealth of their experiences, especially those related to breach events or the accumulating nature of the same over a while, older workers may perceive and act on the breach/violation quicker than a newcomer (Woodrow & Guest, 2020).…”

Recruitment Communication and Psychological Contracts in Start-Ups

“…There is a range of research focusing on the relationship between organisational socialisation and the shaping or fulfillment of psychological contracts (e.g. DeBode et al, 2017;Thomas & Anderson, 1998;Woodrow & Guest, 2020). In this paper, I specifically focus on the tensions between recruitment communication and initial psychological contracts in start-ups.…”