1. Formal/Informal- New employees may be put directly into their jobs, with no effort made to differentiate them from those who have been doing the job for a considerable length of time. In such cases, informal socialization takes place on the job and the new member gets little or no special attention. In contrast, socialization can be formal.When the programme is more formal, the more the new employee is segregated from the ongoing work setting and differentiated in some way to make explicit his or her role, as newcomer.
2. Individual vs Collective- The socializing programme either can be individual specific or for a group of new entrants. The individual approach is likely to develop far less homogeneous views than collective socialization. As in the informal structure, individual socializing is more likely to preserve individual differences and perspectives. But socializing each person individually is expensive and time-consuming. It also fails to allow the new entrants to share their anxieties and concerns with others who are in similar circumstances.
Making the new members socialize in collective
groups allows them to form alliance with others who can empathize with their adjustment problems. The recruits havebpeople with whom they can interact and share what they are learning. The group shares problems and usually forms a common perspective on the organization among group members.
In practice, most large organizations find individual socialization impractical. They tend to rely on group socialization techniques because their objective is to de-velop uniformity among all the new recruits. Moreover, it is easy to implement and create a group cohesiveness that leads to team building activities. Small organizations, which have relatively less recruitment at a given point of time and fewer new entrants to socialize, frequently use the individual approach
Read About Socialization
The pre-arrival stage explicitly recognizes that each individual enters with a set of values, attitudes, and expectations of their own. In case of experienced people, they come with the cultural mindset of their previous organization. In both the cases, it is essential to acclimatize them with the culture, values and functioning of the new organization. A fresher who comes directly from the campus, has only conceptual knowledge and some of the information regarding the functioning of the organization during the classroom teaching. In practice, most of the things are completely different which may not match with the expectation of these freshers. In the selection process, organizations try to look for candidates who could adapt to the culture and requirements of the organization. Hence, the candidates who correctly anticipate the expectations of the employer are likely to be picked up by the organization. In this process, the candidate tries to understand and learn about the organization from different sources to make him suitable.
Upon joining the organization, the new employees
enter the encounter stage. In this stage, the individuals confront with the reality which may be just the reverse to their expectations about their job, their co-workers, their boss, and the organization in general. If expectations prove to have been more or less accurate, the encounter stage merely provides a confirmation of the perception gained earlier. In reverse situation, there is a culture shock that needs to be managed. In this case, for experienced people it is essential to make them unlearn before they learn new values, philosophies and culture. If this is not being done properly, then the individual may feel suffocated and incline to quit the job.
The new members must work out any problems discovered during the encounter stage. This may mean going through changes. Hence we call this the metamorphosis stage. We can say that the metamorphosis is complete when the new members have become comfortable with the organization and their job. They have internalized the norms and practices of the new organization and their work groups.
The new members feel accepted by their peers as trustednand valued individuals. They are self-confident that they have the competence to complete their job successfully. They understand the system-not only their own tasks but the rules, procedures, and informally accepted practices as well.
