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We examined how firms' socialization tactics help establish personorganization fit between newcomers and organizations. We used a 3-wave longitudinal design that followed individuals over 2 years: we distributed the first survey before their job search began and the last survey 18 months after their college graduation. Results indicated that newcomers' subjective fit perceptions, as well as changes in their values, were associated with two types of socialization tactics: content (i.e., tactics that are sequential and fixed vs. variable and random) and social aspects (i.e., tactics that emphasize serial and investiture processes rather than disjunctive and divestiture processes). The context dimension of socialization tactics, where socialization is collective and formal (vs. individualized and informal), was not related to P-0 fit in this study.
Person-organization (P-O) fit, or the compatibility between people and the organizations in which they work, is a key to maintaining a flexible and committed workforce that is necessary in a competitive business environment and a tight labor market (Bowen, Ledford, & Nathan, 1991; Kristof, 1996). Much of the recent interest in the concept of PLO fit can be traced to the attraction-selection-attrition (ASA) framework, which suggests that individuals and organizations are attracted to each other based on similar values and goals (Schneider, 1987). Consistent with the ASA framework, research has shown that job applicants self-select into organizations based on P-0 fit (Cable & Judge, 1996; Tom, 1971) and that interviewers use P-O fit when evaluating and hiring job applicants (Cable & Judge, 1997; Rynes & Gerhart, 1990).
Although job applicants' and interviewers' decisions help inculcate PLO fit during organizational entry, PLO fit also may evolve through socialization. Socialization refers to the process by which an individual acquires the attitudes, behavior, and knowledge needed to participate as an organizational member (Bauer, Morrison, & Callister, 1998; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). Socialization is therefore fundamental to organizations because it ensures the continuity of central values and norms, providing new employees with a framework for responding to events in their work environment and coordinating with other employees (Bauer et al., 1998). Moreover, when socialization processes cause newcomers' personal values to become aligned with organizational values, they are more likely to be committed to the organization and are less likely to quit, ensuring that firms receive...