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Organizational Socialization

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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Onboarding; Professional socialization; Socialization; Socialization tactics

Definition

Organizational socialization is the process by which newcomers become effective organizational members.

Introduction

Public sector organizations are largely assessed by their effectiveness and to a large extent their effectiveness relies on their most important asset – employees. As such, how to transition new employees into effective organizational members who are likely to serve the organization for a long time is a key concern for public sector managers. They may expend a great deal of effort and resources to bring new employees onboard through activities such as orientation, training, mentoring, buddy systems, and on-the-job training. These activities comprise formal organizational socialization tactics – the means by which an organization inculcates newcomers with the organizational culture and transforms them into full-fledged, effective organizational members (Van Maanen and Schein 1979...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Policy, University of Connecticut, 1800 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford, CT, 06117, USA

    Deneen M. Hatmaker

  2. Institut de Sciences Politiques Louvain-Europe, Université catholique de Louvain, Chaussée de Mons, 151 box M1.01.01 7000 Mons, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Stéphane Moyson

  3. Department of Public Administration and Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Nadine Raaphorst

Authors
  1. Deneen M. Hatmaker
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  2. Stéphane Moyson
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  3. Nadine Raaphorst
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deneen M. Hatmaker .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Hatmaker, D.M., Moyson, S., Raaphorst, N. (2016). Organizational Socialization. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_148-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_148-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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