Fundamentals of Human
Resource Management
Eighth Edition
DeCenzo and Robbins
Chapter 8
Socializing, Orienting, and Developing Employees
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Introduction
• Socialization, training and
development are all used to help new
employees adapt to their new
organizations and become fully
productive.
• Ideally, employees will understand and
accept the behaviors desired by the
organization, and will be able to attain
their own goals by exhibiting these
behaviors.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
• Socialization
– A process of adaptation to a new
work role.
– Adjustments must be made
whenever individuals change jobs
– The most profound adjustment
occurs when an individual first
enters an organization.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
The assumptions of employee
socialization:
– Socialization strongly influences employee
performance and organizational stability
– Provides information on how to do the job
and ensuring organizational fit.
– New members suffer from anxiety, which
motivates them to learn the values and
norms of the organization.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
The assumptions of employee
socialization:
– Socialization is influenced by subtle
and less subtle statements and
behaviors exhibited by colleagues,
management, employees, clients
and others.
– Individuals adjust to new situations
in remarkably similar ways.
– All new employees go through a
settling-in period.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
The Socialization Process
– Prearrival stage:
Individuals arrive with a set
of values, attitudes and
expectations which they
have developed from
previous experience and the
selection process.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
• The Socialization Process
– Encounter stage:
Individuals discover how
well their expectations
match realities within the
organization.
– Where differences exist,
socialization occurs to
imbue the employee with
the organization’s
standards.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
The Socialization Process
– Metamorphosis stage: Individuals have
adapted to the organization, feel accepted
and know what is expected of them.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Insider-Outsider Passage
A Socialization Process
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Purpose of New-Employee
Orientation
• Orientation may be done by the supervisor,
the HRM staff or some combination.
• Formal or informal, depending on the size of
the organization.
• Covers such things as:
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The organization’s objectives
History
Philosophy
Procedures
Rules
HRM policies and benefits
Fellow employees
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Purpose of New-Employee
Orientation
• Learning the Organization’s Culture
– Culture includes long-standing, often
unwritten rules about what is appropriate
behavior.
– Socialized employees know how things are
done, what matters, and which behaviors
and perspectives are acceptable.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Purpose of New-Employee
Orientation
The CEO’s Role in Orientation
• Senior management are often visible
during the new employee orientation
process.
• CEOs can:
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Welcome employees.
Provide a vision for the company.
Introduce company culture -- what matters.
Convey that the company cares about
employees.
– Allay some new employee anxieties and
help them to feel good about their job
choice.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
The Purpose of New-Employee
Orientation
HRM’s Role in Orientation
• Coordinating Role: HRM
instructs new employees
when and where to report;
provides information about
benefits choices.
• Participant Role: HRM offers
its assistance for future
employee needs (career
guidance, training, etc.).
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Training
Definitions
– Employee training
a learning experience designed to
achieve a relatively permanent
change in an individual that will
improve the ability to perform on the
job.
– Employee development
future-oriented training, focusing on
the personal growth of the
employee.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Training
Determining training needs
• Specific training goals should be based on:
– organization’s needs
– type of work to be done
– skills necessary to complete the work
• Indicators of need for more training:
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drops in productivity
increased rejects
inadequate job performance
rise in the number of accidents
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Training
• Determining training needs
– The value added by training
must be considered versus the
cost.
– Training goals should be
established that are tangible,
verifiable, timely, and
measurable.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Training
Determining Training Needs
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Training
• On-the-job training methods
– Job Rotation
– Understudy Assignments
• Off-the-job training methods
– Classroom lectures
– Films and videos
– Simulation exercises
– Vestibule training
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Development
• This future-oriented set of
activities is predominantly an
educational process.
• All employees, regardless of
level, can benefit from the
methods previously used to
develop managerial
personnel.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Development
Employee development methods
– Job rotation involves moving
employees to various positions in
the organization to expand their
skills, knowledge and abilities.
– Assistant-to positions allow
employees with potential to work
under and be coached by
successful managers.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Development
Employee development methods
– Committee assignments provide
opportunities for:
• decision-making
• learning by watching others
• becoming more familiar with organizational
members and problems
– Lecture courses and seminars benefit from
today’s technology and are often offered in
a distance learning format.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Employee Development
Employee development methods
– Simulations include case studies, decision
games and role plays and are intended to
improve decision-making.
– Outdoor training typically involves
challenges which teach trainees the
importance of teamwork.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
• What is change?
• OD efforts support changes that are
usually made in four areas:
– The organization’s systems
– Technology
– Processes
– People
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
• Two metaphors clarify the change
process.
– The calm waters metaphor describes
unfreezing the status quo, change to a new
state, and refreezing to ensure that the
change is permanent.
– The white-water rapids metaphor
recognizes today’s business environment
which is less stable and not as predictable.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
OD Methods
• Organizational development facilitates
long-term organization-wide changes.
• OD techniques include:
– survey feedback
– process consultation
– team building
– intergroup development
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
• Survey feedback assesses
organizational members’
perceptions and attitudes.
• The summarized data are used
to identify problems and clarify
issues so that commitments to
action can be made.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
• Process consultation uses
outside consultants to help
organizational members
perceive, understand, and act
upon process events.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
• Team building may include:
– goal setting
– development of interpersonal
relationships
– clarification of roles
– team process analysis
• Team building attempts to increase
trust, openness, and team
functioning.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Organization Development
The Learning Organization
• Values continued learning and
believes a competitive advantage can
be gained from it.
• Characterized by:
– capacity to continuously adapt
– employees continually acquire and share
new knowledge
– collaboration across functional
specialties
– teams are an important feature
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Evaluating Training and
Development Effectiveness
Evaluating Training Programs:
• Typically, employee and manager opinions
are used,
– These opinions or reactions are not necessarily
valid measures
– Influenced by things like difficulty, entertainment
value or personality of the instructor.
• Performance-based measures (benefits
gained) are better indicators of training’s costeffectiveness.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Evaluating Training and
Development Effectiveness
Performance-Based Evaluation Measures
– Post-training performance method.
Employees’ on-the-job performance is
assessed after training.
– Pre-post-training performance method .
Employee’s job performance is assessed
both before and after training, to determine
whether a change has taken place.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
Evaluating Training and
Development Effectiveness
Performance-Based Evaluation Measures
• Pre-post-training performance with
control group method.
– Compares the pre-post-training results of
the trained group with the concurrent job
performance of a control group, which
does not undergo instruction.
– Used to control for factors other than
training which may affect job performance.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
International Training and
Development Issues
Cross-Cultural Training
• Necessary for expatriate
managers and their families:
– before assignments (to learn
language and culture)
– during, and after foreign
assignments (to adjust to
changes back home).
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
International Training and
Development Issues
• Cross-cultural training is more than language
training
• Involves learning about the culture’s:
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History
Politics
Economy
Religion
Social climate
Business practices
• May involve role playing, simulations and
immersion in the culture.
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins
International Training and
Development Issues
Development
• Often, organizations do not do a good
job of planning for the return of
overseas managers.
• Leads to the managers’ being frustrated
• Returning expatriates can:
– be assigned a domestic position
– prepare for a new overseas assignment
– retire or be terminated
Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins