(How) Will I Socialize You? The Impact of Supervisor Initial Evaluations and Subsequent Support on the Socialization of Temporary Newcomers

Lucas Dufour (), Pablo I. Escribano () and Massimo Maoret ()
Additional contact information
Lucas Dufour: Odette Business School, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
Pablo I. Escribano: Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, 7941169 Santiago, Chile
Massimo Maoret: Strategic Management Department, IESE Business School, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

Organization Science, 2021, vol. 32, issue 3, 881-908

Abstract: This study proposes and tests a new theoretical model explaining whether, and how, supervisors socialize “temporary newcomers,” defined as new organizational members who join an organization on a temporary basis, with a potential, but uncertain, opportunity of receiving a long-term job offer in the future. We suggest that under specific conditions, supervisors first evaluate temporary newcomers’ proactivity based on whether they positively stand out by proposing new feasible ideas and by promoting their achievements. On the basis of these initial evaluations, supervisors then decide whether to increase their support of newcomers’ creativity (using an investiture approach) or to intensify newcomers’ socialization by attempting to change their behavior (using a divestiture approach). When supervisors adopt an investiture approach, it positively influences temporary newcomers’ socialization adjustment outcomes, as indicated by increased newcomer job satisfaction, social integration, task performance, organizational and task socialization, challenge stress, and reduced hindrance stress. When supervisors instead adopt a divestiture approach, it has an opposite (thus negative) effect on the same socialization outcomes. We tested our theoretical model using a mix-method design, based on a three-wave longitudinal sample of 325 newcomer–supervisor dyads spanning a wide range of companies and industries, complemented with interviews of 41 supervisors.

Keywords: newcomer socialization; temporary newcomers; supervisor support; supervisor autonomy; supervisor evaluation; onboarding; proactive behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.1468 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:32:y:2021:i:3:p:881-908

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Science from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().