"Socialization of the New Hire in the Workplace"

Linda Lambert

Linda Lambert graduated with a BS in Technical Communication (with High Honors) from New Mexico Tech in 2008. Her advisor for this thesis was Dr. Julie Ford. Linda currently works as a technical writer for research and development laboratory.

Contents

Abstract and Introduction

Purpose and Approach

What is "Socialization"?

Review of Literature 

Necessity vs. Sufficiency

The Path to Success

Conclusion

References

Abstract

The process of socialization by which a newly hired Technical Communication professional adapts to an organizational context consists of the following steps: formal training, preparing for employer’s expectations, transitioning from student to employee, new employee orientation, on-the-job training, and long-term professional and personal growth. A survey and analysis of peer-reviewed works relevant to these steps indicates that most studies deal with the first five of these steps with a greater degree of thoroughness than the final most crucial step. Many works in the literature emphasize the evolving role of the TC professional as a "boundary spanner" across various disciplines of the organization but few provide details on how to accomplish this. I have identified four potential elements of this final pathway to assist the TC professional in achieving the role of boundary spanner: leadership among your peers, ownership of your development, entrepreneurship of your growth and the growth of the organization, and stewardship of your goals and those of the organization.

Introduction 

Individual Work Experience – The Framework of the Problem

As part of the requirement for a Bachelor of Science degree in Technical Communication, I served a summer internship. In the process I found the biggest challenge was not completing the assigned tasks but incorporating myself into the corporate structure and leveraging my specific skills. Specifically, I was originally placed under a Technical Communication (TC) professional who was to govern my workflow and act as a point of contact for all of my assigned activities. This arrangement changed quickly as I was instructed by my internship contact to make my own contacts and take the necessary actions to complete my work. When projects became more difficult and consuming, she redirected my requests for advice and guidance back to me. I realized then that this experience might not fulfill the traditional expectation of an intern to work with a seasoned TC professional.

The issues I observed in this experience are the same as those facing new hires in general, regardless of their employer. Some of these issues are partially addressed in the peer reviewed literature, but coverage of some equally important issues seems scant. These include the acquisition of non-technical (i.e. people) skills that are taught neither in TC nor purely technical curricula; a few (Kalmbach, Jobst, & Meese, 1999 and Wilson and Ford, 2003) have recognized such overlooked skills as essential. Some of these skills might include understanding organizational dynamics, and program, project, and time management. While program, project, and time management skills are taught indirectly through assignments (such as a senior thesis), students often do not make the correlation between the soft skills acquired through such activity and the applicability of these skills in the workplace.

I propose to identify various strategies and tactics of corporate socialization that the open refereed literature has addressed, to identify potential gaps in what the literature, and to propose additional courses of action for academics, employers, and students. The results of this thesis can help those in academia better serve the profession, help graduates more quickly and efficiently fulfill their employer’s expectations, and form the basis for additional research.

Socialization of anyone entering a new professional environment is no less important for the student destined for academia than one whose interests are more aligned with the private sector. This work is more an outgrowth of the author’s internship experience in the private sector, but can also illuminate some of the pathways to socialization for anyone entering a new professional environment, public or private.

Aspects of the Problem

Formal training in TC curricula provides the student and future practitioner with the necessary foundations, principles, and mindsets necessary for the successful pursuit of our profession. However, just as with any other profession, one must grow into the job, and maybe transform the job in the process. The private sector is evolving to include the technical communicator as a partner essential to corporate success (Conklin, 2006), and academic faculty and the curricula they administer are attempting to show more sensitivity to employers’ needs (Rainey, Turner, & Dayton, 2005 and Rehling 1998). The pathway to forging this partnership is fraught with hurdles to be surmounted by both employer and employee. For the employee, achieving the necessary level of trust, confidence, and respect in order to become a full team member can be daunting. For the employer, streamlining this pathway can be equally daunting. The adaptation of the employee to meet the employer’s expectations and the adaptation of the employer to meet the individual employee’s needs is essential to the process called socialization.

A preliminary survey of the literature reveals broad but non-comprehensive treatment of the problem of socialization of the new technical communicator within the corporate context. All who examine the subject agree that the socialization process is essential (Allen, 2004).  Some of these previous works have approached the subject from pedagogical theory (St Amant, 2003, Schreiber, 1993, and Brady, 2007), some frame the problem in terms of establishing the collaborative environment (Bekins & Williams, 2006), and others concern themselves more with changes the graduate/new employee might bring to the corporate context rather than adaptation to the corporate context (Harrison & Debs, 1988).

Few, however, have outlined an integrated approach that can leverage the existing unique strengths of members of a three-way partnership: educational institution, corporation, and individual. An integrated approach might constitute principally a cooperative adaptation among the three. Opportunities for an individual to change the course of either industry or academia are probably few; the opportunities for an individual to optimally posture oneself for streamlined or accelerated socialization into the specific employer’s corporate context may be many.  Specifically, these opportunities might include:

• Pursuit of required formal training
• Pursuit of elective formal training that would at worst add value to the student’s transcript and at best prove as essential as required courses
• Acquisition of skills, strategies, and tactics that would have been difficult to learn only from formal training