Organizational socialization research: Enabling, constraining, and shifting perspectives

Organizational socialization has been an area of inquiry for several decades. There is a wide variety of theories, processes, outcomes, and implications of organizational socialization inquiry that make it both a complex and rich focus of study. As an inherently communicative process of central importance to human social life, socialization is a natural area of inquiry for communication scholars. Most broadly, socialization may be considered as a central process through which individual-societal relationships are mediated. More narrowly, it is examined as a process through which newcomers become organizational members. Most often, research emphasizes the latter view. Socialization is linked to employee and organizational success. Organizational socialization processes are viewed as central to role taking, newcomer acculturation, employee attitudes and behaviors, and the shaping of newcomers' identities. In this essay, I have chosen to focus broadly on communication and organizational socialization, first briefly describing common assumptions. In the remainder of the essay, I speculate on this perspective by adopting Weick's (1979) ambivalent stance. By both trusting and distrusting accepted views, we should be able to both identify past socialization work that needs to be extended as well as to question past assumptions in order to turn to alternative future possibilities. I focus first on future possibilities that are enabled by accepted assumptions and then turn to an alternative perspective to identify future possibilities that are constrained by those same assumptions. Communication and Organizational Socialization Jablin has developed a thorough, heuristic model of organizational entry, assimilation, and exit (Jablin, 1987). Most extant socialization research is consistent with this broad model. My purpose is not to thoroughly review the model and related research but to emphasize several of the wide variety of themes that emanate from this model, focusing both on enabling and constraining possibilities. Enabling Possibilities