There are many practices and methods that organizations can employ to socialize new hires and get them on board. In this chapter, we review five socialization practices that have received the most attention in the socialization literature: orientation programs, training programs, socialization tactics, job characteristics, and socialization agents. We conclude that as a whole, the socialization literature remains fragmented, undeveloped, and incomplete, as it has failed to adequately identify and study the socialization practices used by organizations today. In an effort to address these...

There are many practices and methods that organizations can employ to socialize new hires and get them on board. In this chapter, we review five socialization practices that have received the most attention in the socialization literature: orientation programs, training programs, socialization tactics, job characteristics, and socialization agents. We conclude that as a whole, the socialization literature remains fragmented, undeveloped, and incomplete, as it has failed to adequately identify and study the socialization practices used by organizations today. In an effort to address these limitations, we review the practitioner literature and provide examples of what several organizations do to socialize their new hires. Based on this information in combination with the research literature, we then introduce a new, more complete and integrated approach to organizational socialization called Socialization Resources Theory (SRT). Socialization Resources Theory focuses on the resources that newcomers require for a successful adjustment and socialization. We describe 17 socialization resources that organizations can provide before entry, immediately after entry, during the first 6 months of the socialization process, and after the formal socialization period. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of SRT for socialization theory, research, and practice.