Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Socialization

Discuss the various socialization tactics used to socialize employees and explain the Four Types of Development Networks derived from mentoring.
Our book lists the three types of socialization as anticipatory, encounter and change, acquisition, to become a successful employee it important to understand what each of these means (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). Anticipatory means before you get to the company what do you even know about it? Going online to check out the company’s website is a good start and keep in mind that there may be a public and private site so check out both. I worked for John Hancock and had applied for a position a couple of years ago but never got called, I completed my BA in Communications and then I got the call out of the blue. There are two parts that can be viewed on the website just for people who are looking for jobs and JH Funds which gives detailed information to the public about stock success, fund managers profiles and what the figures from the previous day was. This website was so helpful that one of my customers spoke to the call center manager and was so thankful that I got her signed up with her own account and I gave her a tour of the website. Most people did not offer tours because it took too much time and their productivity would go down, I thought it was just a part of the job. The culture here I learned was numbers based and I assumed that everyone was doing the same thing I did which was not the case.
The next phase is the encounter phase where employees learn what the organization is really like, this is the part where we learn about the norms and try to achieve the goals that are set forth by our managers. When I started at John Hancock nine of us ventured into the world of finance and together we stayed for a whole month, with little or outside contact from any of our managers on the floor. One day I remember that we all went into the room that was set up like a firing line to meet our managers and the higher ups. It was really quite disconcerting they sat in a row and we sat in another row in front of them, they could have changed the seats to be in circle, but they did not. This is how we met our future managers, during our month of training we were basically being beaten up in a training room because our training managers were tough and we had to do mock calls in front of everyone. I was very fearful because I learned things at my own pace and I felt that we should have had more training on the phones. I know that listening to how seasoned employees speak to customers helped me at the previous call center that I worked for. We had two hours of training on the floor with a senior rep and that was it. I messed up my first week when someone who was already mad at one of my managers called and several of us had to deal with him, I felt intimidated because he was yelling at me. I did not do a good job on that call and they made me listen to it again so I could learn from my mistakes.
This important stage is also where on-boarding should take place to help each new employee get adjusted to their environment, and learn how to do the job and gain help from others around them. I found a great research paper written by Talya Bauer, PH.D called On-Boarding New Employees: Maximizing Success, it is very long but I was excited to see so many positive thoughts and ideas in one place I had to print it up. Did you know that half of all senior outside hires fail within 18 months in a new position? Did you know that half of all hourly workers leave new jobs within the first 120 days? This information is almost shocking because just think about how much money is put into training and salaries when the system of on-boarding could have been stronger and the retentions would have been higher. Do you remember you’re on boarding process? Are you still going through one?
The Four C’S
Compliance teaches us about the legal and policy related aspects to our position. Clarification helps us to understand what we really need to do and what goals are expected from us. Culture means that we get to see and experience what our work environment is like. Where do I sit? Who are the types of people that sit near me? What can I learn from my co-workers that may confuse me now? Am I supposed to ask questions or do I need to figure them out on my own? Learning the culture at John Hancock was hard because I was naïve and not very business minded. I believed I was there to help the client but sometimes it seemed more like the scorecard and the rules put out by whoever puts them out (maybe stakeholders) were more important. The final one is connection and this refers to relationships that are established with other co-workers and managers in the department. I had better relationships with the more seasoned managers and I had people to ask questions of that were specialists (that were really their title) and that felt good and my manager felt jealous. The Four C’S are important and the way that Talya Bauer laid everything out there was no question that this was an established Human Resources expert. Companies who practice a high level of on-boarding process are the ones who will have a higher level of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, lower turnover, higher performance levels, career effectiveness and lower stress levels (Bauer, 2011).
The last part of the socialization process is change and acquisition at this point is when employees adapt and adjust to the company’s values and norms and that they are clear about what their role is and what the expectations are of them (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). So after 6 months this seems to be the amount of time given at John Hancock and if the person like me is not meeting their goals then they are out of there. I have signed up with several temp services and they told me that this is a traditional practice for some companies. Although I did not enjoy my position at John Hancock I tried my hardest to fix my errors so they would not happen again, I am truly glad that I am not there anymore.
The Four Types developmental networks are receptive, traditional, entrepreneurial and opportunistic and the descriptions that are book offers of each lead less to be desired from but here goes (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).
Receptive- Is composed of a few weak ties from one social system
Traditional- Contains a few strong ties between employee and developer
Entrepreneurial- Contains strong ties among developers from several social systems
Opportunistic- Is associated with having weak ties and multiple developers from a variety of social systems
I believe that it is important to get help from all level of managers and any training from corporate leaders within the company will allow someone to feel like that person is stepping down to their level and sharing their, “Well this is how I got there stories and you can too”. Having someone that is one-on-one is a very helpful and realistic way to overcome the hurdles of learning your new job, I was lucky that I had a QA Specialist to help me reach some of the goals set by my department. She would have a one-on-one session with me each week, created charts so I could understand the same information but in another way and she gave me positive feedback when she went over the recorded calls. I was still let go, but having her help made a big difference while I was there.
Bauer, T. (2011, Novemeber 26). Onboarding new employees: Maximizing success. Retrieved from http://www.right.com/thought-leadership/research/shrm-foundations-effective-practice-guidelines-series-onboarding-new-employees-maximizing-success-sponsored-by-right-management.pdf
Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills & Best  Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

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