Content area
Abstract
Through an emic examination of youths' experiences, this study purports to explicate the nature of the newcomer at-risk youths' experience during organizational socialization. Suspending a priori assumptions concerning the nature of the newcomer experience, this study explored prior experiences that formed workplace perceptions, the phenomena that comprised the organizational experiences, and reactions to organizational entry incidents.
Utilizing a longitudinal design, data was collected from the at-risk youth narrators via biographical questionnaires, observations, and a series of three active interviews. The narrators' organizational stories formed the basis for both the taxonomic analysis and the narratives that contextualized the analysis. Overall, 442 incidents were grouped and organized into three taxonomies, consisting of 11 categories, 29 subcategories, and numerous sub-subcategories.
Results of the analysis concluded that despite the narrators' diverse life experiences, their socialization experiences shared common features. Specifically, the nature of organizational entry experiences are characterized by policies and procedures, the variable nature of work, workplace relationships/interactions, and temporality of employment. Their sources for organizational perceptions included prior employment, their social circle, various organizational sources, and the media. Affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions followed organizational entry incidents.
A number of conclusions emerged from the analysis; taken as a whole, they clearly and uniquely illustrate the complex, interconnected, communicative activity known as organizational socialization. These conclusions both support the current socialization literature while modifying and extending current models and findings. Challenges and implications abound as future research should continue to explore the negative aspects of socialization and the power of the narratives as illustrated in this current study.
