- Email: [email protected]
Creating a good first day on the job
INN-SIDE OF THE LAW
Food-Servers' ProductLiability Law Revisited: The Traditional ForeignNatural Test Is Being Replaced by a ReasonableExpectations Test
byJohn E.H. Sherry
Not too long ago the test for product liability in cases where afoodservice consumer was injured by an undesirable object in his or her food was whether the object was naturally associated with the food consumed (e.g., a pit in acherry pie). Recently, however, many states (e.g., California) have adopted a "reasonable-expectations" test that allows customers to argue that there is a reasonable expectation that even naturally occurring objects should be removed during preparation of afood item.
pp. 18-19
HUMAN RESOURCES
Child-Labor Laws and the Hospitality Industry
byJoan M. Clay and Elvis C. Stephens pp. 20-25
Creating a Good First Day on the Job-Allaying Newcomers' Anxiety with Positive Messages
by CheriA. Young and Craig C. Lundberg pp. 26-33
Executive Conflict Management:]{eys to Excellent Decisions and Smooth Implementation
by'Tony Simons
pp. 34-41
State and federal regulations covering employees under age 18are specific, and state labor-department officials have tightened enforcement. Ironically, many hospitality-industry operators remain unfamiliar with labor-law provisions and risk large fines. No one under the age of 18may be hired for a hazardous position, defined primarily as work that involves operation of machinery, including motor vehicles. Children aged 14and 15may not work more than 18hours per week during the school year and may not work past 7:00 PM on school nights. Time regulations are slightly less stringent during summer vacation and school recesses. While the National Restaurant Association is encouraging the government to ease child-labor restrictions, child-labor groups are trying to tighten the law.
The first day of work appears to be critical for a new employee's attitude about his or her new company, and about the messages it conveys on this day. A sample of hospitality-industry newcomers remembered mostly negative first-day incidents involving supportiveness (orits lack), appreciation (or blame), being made to feel welcome (or unwelcome), and being made to feel part ofthe family orteam (orexperiencing conflict and separation). Organizations need to focus on job aspects that are most critical to the newcomers and provide newcomers with the information most useful to them for alleViating the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the entry process. Structured activities held on the first day should make newcomers feel welcome and provide emotional support. The process of socialization can affect a newcomer's performance, satisfaction, and commitment to (or intention to leave) the organization.
Effective management atthe senior level requires high-quality strategic decisions and reliable implementation ofthose decisions. Inthis study of 151 strategic decisions reported by executives at78 hotel-operating companies, debate, trust, and collaboration in the top-management group allenhanced decision quality, while avoiding confrontation impeded it. Of the four, debate was the most important single factor for high-quality strategic decisions. Trust and collaboration both enhance implementation, and an unwillingness to bring up dissenting views impedes effective implementation. The open expression of difference in an executive group is key to making high-quality strategic decisions, and the resolution ofany differences in a way that fully addresses allconcerns is key to implementing those decisions.
December 1996 • 5
Creating aGood First Dayan the Job Allaying Newcomers' Anxiety with Positive Messages
The welcoming atmosphere that most employers think they're providing for new hires isn't always what the newcomers feel.
by Cheri A . )~) II I1.1! (/11/1 Cm~1! C. Lllll db('~1!
Long concerned about excessive employee turnover and its associated costs.' many hospitality-industry firms have responded in recent years with better selection methods, improved training, and numerous practices to increase employee satisfaction and thereby reduce turnover. Cheri Young is a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, stlldyin)! at the School cif HotelAdministration, where Craig Lundberg, PII.D., is the Blanchard Professor of Human Resources Management. © 1996. Cornell University
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I Uy one estimate it com S1,150 to replace an hourly wage employee and almost $6.600 to replace a salarred employee. See:John Jesitus, " Hotel. Hunger for Stable Work Force," Hotel a" d M
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Because most turnover occurs within the first several months, some observers have begun to focus on the entry and socialization of new employees as a factor in turnover. The sheer number of newcomers in the hospitality industry due to excessive turnover accentuates the need to better understand the newemployee socialization process. Meryl Reis Louis, a researcher in the area of socialization, says: There is growing concern that current organizational entry practices do not adequately ease the transition of new members into work organizations. Voluntary turnover during the first 18 months on the job is increasing among college graduates in first career jobs, and reports of mounting disillusionment among new recruits are accumulating in college placement offices and in corporate personnel departments. That these trends are found despite growing attention by companies to new member orientation highlights both the difficulty of bringing newcomers on board and the need for improved organizational entry practices."
Although a great deal of research has been conducted in the area of organizational socialization, within the hospitality industry the work has been limited to prescriptive information.' Most of those writings focus on orientation and training without examining the larger question of the overall socialization process. By focusing exclusively on orientation and training, the pervasive nature of the socialization process-which continues long after orientation and training programs are completemay be overlooked. 2
Meryl Reis LoUIs. "Surprise and Sense Mak-
109: Wh,lt Newcomers Experience 10 Enrermg
Unfarmhar Orgamzanonal Settings," Administratwc Science QHartl·r!y. Vol. 25 (19/l0). p. 226. 1 See. for example: I >aVid J. Kennedy and Florence Berger, "Newcomer Sociahzanon: Oriented to Facts or Feehngs," Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Qllarterly, Vol. 35. No.6 (December 1994), pp. 5/l-71.
In this article we describe what we learned about socialization in a recent descriptive study we conducted. Unlike previous researchers who focused on formal orientation and training programs, we decided to look at critical incidents that respondents reported had made an impression on them and showed them what it was going to be like to work in their new company. The results indicate that newcomers focus on the events that affect them emotionally. Moreover, training and orientation experiences were not the most salient means of socializing newcomers,
Organizational Socialization Organizational socialization is a process of adaptation (i.e., "learning the ropes") and of going from being an outsider to becoming an insider. It has been defined as the process by which newcomers come to understand and "appreciate the values, abilities, expected behavior, and social knowledge essential for assuming an organizational role and for participating as an organizational member,"! Surrounded by new faces, places, and things, the newcomer has to discover what the organization is all about and what will be expected of him or her. To accomplish that, the individual uses both formal means, such as orientation and training programs, and informal means, such as overhearing a conversation between managers, as we discuss below. Contrasts and surprises. Organizational entry has been described as a type of"reality shock." Instead of being able to ease into the organization a little at a time, newcomers are plunged into it. They are inundated with information, may experience "sensory overLOUIS. pp. 229-230. 'John P. Wanous, "Organizanonal Entry: From Naive Expectations to Reahsnc Behefs,' j<>urna1 <>f Applied Psycl",It\~y, Vol. 51, pp. 22-29. 4
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load," and likely have many questions about their role in their new company. At the same time that they are trying to learn about their job, they are also trying to do the job and determine their role in the company. The overall result is that many new employees find the experience of organizational-entry disorienting and taxing. Part of the shock of socialization comes from contrasts and surprises." Newcomers may experience contrast when certain pieces of information about the organization stand out in comparison with their previous experience. An example of a contrast would be when a server who has always written customers' orders on slips of paper and handed them to the chefjoins an organization that uses computers to enter orders that are transferred to an electronic printer in the kitchen. Seeing new co-workers placing orders via the computer keypad stands out in contrast to previous experience and supplies information about how the organization works and what is expected of the newcomer. Surprise occurs when the newcomer's expectations of the organization do not match the actual experiences with it. An example would be when a new hire was expecting to be helped in relocating and is instead handed a newspaper and told to start apartment hunting, as we found in our study: I was supposed to have been given a furnished apartment but instead was handed a newspaper and told to start calling for apartments. I was shocked that they would leave a new person alone in a new city the first night without being taken to dinner or anything, and I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision about taking the job.
Research has shown that excessive surprises are associated with subsequent turnover. One major (, Louis, pp. 236-23/l.
December 1996 • 27
We allowed the newcomers to tell us what incidents and events were critical, unlike other research on socialization that assumed orientation and training programs were critical.
source of surprises is thought to be newcomers' unrealistically high initial expectations. To quell those expectations, organizations have begun using "realistic job previews" in an attempt to reduce or eliminate surprises. Realistic job previews lower the newcomer's expectations to a level that the organization can likely achieve, and meeting those expectations can result in reduced turnover." Other studies have focused on unmet expectations without judging whether the newcomer's expectations were realistic. H Researchers in those studies measured unmet expectations as the difference between initial expectations (or needs) and actual experiences on the job. They found that turnover was associated with unmet expectations, regardless of the initial level of expectations. Contrasts and surprises signal something about the company that prompt the newcomer to uncover more clues. Having discovered something unexpected about the company, a new hire begins a process of inquiry. Discrepancies in the form of contrasts and surprises create apprehension and uncertainty and force newcomers to "reevaluate their assumptions about these organizations" and seek an explanation about "why people behave as they d o."9 Although organizations would like newcomers to interpret the information provided in orientation 7 Darnel R. Ilgen, "The Psychological Impact of Reahstic Job Previews" (Technical Report No.2, Department of Psychological SCiences,Purdue Umversity, 1975). "See: Marvin D. Dunnette, Richard D. Arvey, and Paul A. Banas,"Why Do They Leave?" Personnel, Vol. 50 (1973), pp. 25-39; Mildred Engberg Katzell, "Expectations and Dropouts in Schools of Nursmg,"JOfjrnal q(Applied Psychology, Vol. 52 (1968), pp. 154-157; and Ian C. Ross and Alvm Zander, "Need Sansfacnon and Employee Turnover," Personnel Psycholo.~y, Vol. 10 (1957), pp.327-338. 'I Gareth R. Jones, "Socialization Tactics, Self Efficacy,and Newcomer's Adjustments to Organizations," Acadcmy of Management, Vol.29 (1986), p.263.
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I:~R~f,ll HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
and training programs in a certain way, newcomers' interpretations are as varied as are the newcomers themselves. Similarly, contrasts and surprises can alter or offset training efforts, because new hires interpret surprises in a multitude of ways. Indeed, in an attempt to make sense of the new surroundings, the newcomer interprets everything about the organization, from specific events and programs to the smallest of actions and moments.
Orientation and training. Organizations often try to influence newcomers'interpretation of information by using specific socialization tactics. Such tactics usually take the form of formal orientation and training programs, which may be the first experiences newcomers have with an organization, providing important information about the organization and their role in it. During entry, newcomers are desperate for information and are particularly susceptible to influence. 10 Many researchers therefore believe that orientation and training programs designed to socialize newcomers can influence their impressions and attitudes toward the organization and their commitment to ir." Unfortunately, studies of orientation programs have provided mixed results. Says Saks, "The results of previous research on newcomer training are at best mixed and somewhat disappointing, especially in light of the increasing use of training as a socialization practice."? 10 Blake E. Ashforth and Alan M. Saks,"Socializanon Tactics: Longitudinal Effects on Newcomer Adjustment," Acadcmy q( Management Journal, Vo1.39 (1996), pp. 148-178. 11 Arnon E. Reichers.john P. Wanous, and Karen Steele, "Design and Implementation Issues 10 Socializing (and Resocializing) Employees," Human Resource Planning, Vol. 17,No.1 (1994), pp.17-25. 12 Alan M. Saks,"The Relationship between the Amount and Helpfulness of Entry Training and Work Outcomes," Human Relations, Vol.49, No.4 (1996), p. 431.
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Nelson and Quick note that "there may be little benefit associated with attempting to influence newcomer outcome behaviors through socialization activities." Instead they suggest that building supportive relationships is more important to newcomer adjustment than orientation and training programs. 13
AStudy of Newcomer Socialization Using Critical Incidents In light of the skepticism regarding the effectiveness of formal orientation and training programs for socialization, we decided to look at socialization from another angle. In this study we asked employees to recall events that were influential in their socialization process so that we could begin to uncover how newcomers came to understand the beliefs and norms of the organization. Unlike the research on socialization that assumed orientation and training programs were critical to the newcomers' socialization, we allowed the newcomers to tell us what incidents, events, and experiences were critical. Nor did we try to constrain the meaning of"critical"-we left it up to our respondents to determine which incidents were critical, and to tell us what role those critical incidents played in their socialization and what those incidents told them about their organizations. Most critical incidents probably involve contrast or surprise. They stand out because they were unexpected. Whether the employee was a participant or a bystander in the incident, she or he characterizes the event 'as one that generated insight into the nature of the organization and her or his role in it. . 3 Debra L. Nelson and James C. QUick, " Soci al Support an d Newcomer Adjustment in Orgaruzanons: Attachment Theory at Work?," Journal of O~~an izalional Behavior, Vol. 12 (1991), pp.543-554.
Interpretations and sense making. Although two people may experience the same objective incident, their subjective interpretations of the event in terms of emotions and beliefs about the organization may differ. For example, if two newcomers are taken out to lunch on their first day of work, one newcomer may interpret the event as the organization's celebrating the newcomer's arrival, and the other newcomer may interpret the event as a mere ritual, without much thought or caring behind it. Such was the case with one hotel sales manager who responded to our study: On my first day some hotel salespeople came to visit our office. They brought a "mile-long " sub sandwich, sodas , cookies, and such. Then they made a joke about this being my introductory lunch . It's the custom to take new people out for lunch .
Although another newcomer might have found the experience fun, personal, and more welcoming than being taken out for a formal lunch, this newcomer gave it a different meaning. She felt that she "was peripheral" and "not included as part of the team." She went on to say, "It was no big deal that I was there." Although that was probably not the message the organization wanted to convey, the incident illustrates the "sense making" that goes on when a newcomer joins an organization.
Our Study We developed a questionnaire to survey new organizational members about their early experiences with their present employer. Recent graduates of the baccalaureate and master's programs in hotel administration at Cornell University were sent the questionnaire. The 423 recipients had graduated within the previous two years and , except for five individuals who had worked for
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their current employer before or during their schooling, all were considered newcomers at their jobs. The questionnaire stated: "Typically,during th e first few months on the job, people have experiences (i.e., they see and hear things) from which they form impressions about what it is like to work in the organization they've joined. This questionnaire is designed to help us capture some of these critical incidents." These were the instructions: "Please begin by thinking back to those incidents that you've experienced since your first day with your current employer that made an impression on you about what it is like to work here. On the following pages, describe several of these incidents , when they occurred, who was involved, and the meaning you took from them." After two mailings, we received 49 usable surveys (a 12-percent response rate), providing 115 critical incidents." Only four respondents were not employed in the hospitality industry. As expected, most respondents were relatively young: 43 were between the ages of22 and 30. Twenty-eight were women. Most (43) had been working for their current employer for less than a year and a half. Twelve of the 49 respondents had been employed fewer than 6 months; 13 of them, six months to a year ; 20, one to two years; and 4, two to three years. All but one respondent had prior experience in the hospitality industry, the rest averaging 5.3 employers. Analyzing the incidents. To develop a typology of critical incidents, we each looked for recurring themes in the descriptions of the
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The cr itical in cidents provided by th is study's respondents rep resent the first data colle cted on the meanings that newcomers make of their early experiences. The co nc lusio ns in this article sho uld therefore be treated as tentative. Addition al research using a larger sampl e co uld provide add ition al support for our findings and the inferences we draw from them.
December 1996 • 29
incidents and independently created our own category schemes. Then we collaborated to construct a composite category scheme and separately analyzed the incidents again, this time using the composite scheme (see the 11 categories in Exhibit 1). At this point we also independently interpreted whether the message of each incident was positive, negative, or neutral in tone. After each of us had analyzed all the incidents using the common, agreed-upon typology, we met to determine the degree of agreement. Of 115 incidents analyzed, we had agreed on the category placement of 87 incidents, giving an intercoder reliability rate of76 percent. That was a sufficient rate to continue our analysis, given that Miles and Huberman indicate one should not expect greater than 70-percent intercoder reliability at first. IS Many incidents fit neatly into one category, while other incidents, because of multiple events or messages, fell into more than one category. For example, a concierge at a hotel reported an incident that occurred on her first day: While most of the orientation was helpful in familiarizing me with the hotel and its history, there were a couple of things I found very odd. First, framed pictures of the Executive (Management) Committee were passed around. I was insulted that at least one or two of the execs didn't stop in to say "hi" and "welcome to our team." I felt that the passing around of pictures was unbefitting a five-star resort. Second, there was no hierarchical chart of the organization, so I could not get a grasp on all the departments and how the organization was structured. The message that I got, and that proved to be true, is that communication is totally lacking in the organization. Information is often hard to 15 Matthew U. Miles and A. Michael Huberman. Qualitative Data Analysis:A Sourcebook of Nell' Methods (Beverly Hills. CA: Sage, 1984).
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orientation and trainmg programs. For example, when the president of a company ordered lunch for the office Positive Negative Neutral Total because the weather Supportive ness or care was treacherous, one 15 o 28 from others 13 newcomer interpreted Appreciation 16 22 6 o it as showing concern 12 Welcomeness 9 o 21 about her well-being 1 Family or team climate 11 20 8 and convenience. Training 5 8 13 o Such an experience Company policies or speaks much more 10 values 3 13 o loudly than, say, an 7 Communication 5 o 12 orientation-program 7 2 Task assignment 9 o lecture during which 4 4 Competence o 8 she was simply told Politics or trust o 7 7 o that the president was o 4 4 Job security o concerned about the 68 88 1 157 Total well-being and convenience of employees. The researchers rated the emotional tone of 157 different Another newcomer critical incidents as either "positive," "neutral: or "negative" said that on his first based on the respondents' descriptions of those events. day,when his boss was hour and a half late an come by, and there is no care or concern displayed by management. to an appointment with him, he felt he "wasn't too important." In coneven though we're supposed to be one big team. trast, when a junior consultant was taken under the wing of a senior We agreed that that incident was consultant and told "who is who, multifaceted, and that the newwho is doing what, where are the comer likely took multiple meanchallenges and opportunities," she ings from it. Other incidents likefelt here was "one person in the wise could not be coded into a company who knows how I must single category. As a result, the 115 be feeling and cares about it." descriptions resulted in 157 indiThe category of appreciation, vidual incident-message combina(being praised and recognized or tions, which we coded into the 11 blamed and punished) was another categories shown in Exhibit 1 and frequently mentioned category; 22 discussed below. of the incidents fell into this catMost frequently reported egory. Most of the incidents were categories. The most frequently positive and involved a manager reported incidents involved supportiveness orcare from others. They who acknowledged the efforts of included reports of concern, interest, the newcomer or the newcomer's department. For example, when a caring, and supportiveness (or the lack thereof) expressed by managers front-desk person at a four-star hotel received a "letter in the mail or co-workers toward the newfrom the managing director of my comer. With just over half of the hotel thanking me for my kindness respondents reporting at least one and thoughtfulness to a guest," he incident in this category, the results his"organization really felt that clearly suggest that relational attachcared about contributions." ments are more important than
Exhibit 1 Critical incidents and emotional tone of message
[tl HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
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Many of the newcomers reported being favorably impressed by ceremonial events that recognized the efforts of employees. An assistant club-operations manager felt his "hotel cares about its management staff and appreciates all of their hard work and dedication." That message came from experiencing a reception where various managers were honored. Respondents also reported a number of welcoming experiences, both negative and positive. Positive incidents involved new hires being made to feel welcome by fellow workers and managers who stopped by to say hello and greet the newcomer. Negative incidents involved co-workers who acted suspicious or resentful of the newcomer and apparently felt threatened. Many newcomers also said that their organizations were totally unprepared for their arrival, and some reported incidents of "baptism by fire." Others simply reported not feeling particularly welcome. For example, a junior consultant wrote: On my first day, at 8:00 AM , my boss took me to his office and gave me lots of work. Then he told me to pack for a three-day business trip with him. During all the hours we spent driving , he didn't say a word. On the second day he told me to meet him in the lobby at 8:00 the next morning. He called at 7:45 and asked me where I was and if I'd overslept. During the first three days he took me to all his major clients, didn't give me any background information, and made me take minutes and drive the company car all the way. The newcomer felt that her boss wanted to overwhelm her and that he did "not care about the feelings of a new employee. He does not make any effort to make somebody feel welcome." The category offamily or team climate included both positive bonding events, such as being made to feel like a member of the team, and
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Critical Incidents and Messages Here are some typical incidents from each of the 11 categories noted in Exhibit 1, in the respondents' own words.-C.A. Y. and eCL Supportlveness or care from others. "I had a meeting with my program coordinator. I meet with her once a month. During the meeting, she asked me the samequestions she'd askedlast month. It mademe feel as though she was meeting with me because it was her duty and not because she cared aboutmy progress." Message: "She didn't really care about my work or experiences; meelingwith me was just a formality." Appreciation. "The area vice president took our office (fourpeople) out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town. It was just a thank-you for all our hard work." Message: "Thearea vice president really appreciates us, and all our hard work isn't going unnoticed." Welcomeness. "I started working with this hotel during its preopening stage. My boss and I were the first two peopleto move onto the site, while the rest of the team were still off-site. Halfway through the day, my boss left for a meeting and left me alone in the office. Nobody else stopped by to welcome me." Message: "I needed to fend for myself. I wasn't very important to the company." Family or team climate. "WhenI first came here, the partner let me stay at his house while I apartment-hunted. The CEO let me use his car until I boughtone." Message: "This was a tight-knit organization-a family." Training. "Throughout my orientation period, my agenda was not planned. and whenI showed up, manypeopledidn't know that I was supposed to be there. Manymanagers didn't know what they were supposed to do with me. The HR directorwas not very organized or prepared for my 'training proqram." Message: "Not much emphasis was put on training new managers properly." Company policies or values. "A front-desk agent was checking someone in, and there wasn't a bellman immediately available. The front-desk agent hurriedaround to the lobby and carried the guest's bags upstairs. Our GM saw this, and he personally tipped the agent $5." Message: "Unusual guestservice is worthyof unusual praise. As a manager, I am expected to reward this excellence." Communication. "One of my duties is to relieve the receptionist for her lunchbreak. Through the grapevine I heardthat one of the vice presidents didn't like the way I was handling her calls. I actually overheard this-no one addressed the issue with me directly." Message: "Things are not handled in a straightforward manner, and I will not receive timelyor accurate feedback." Task assignment. "When I first started, no one had time to showme anything, and no one woulddelegate any work for me to do. So instead, I got two or three cursoryminutes of smalltalk each day for almosttwo weeksand was told to read old reports to learn about the company's style." Message: "I don't have time for you, and you can't do anything until I tell you." Competence. "Aftera few weeksthe boss called me in to his office and told me that one of my co-workers was basically incompetent, that he had screwed a report up, and that no one had time to fix it. He said, 'We'll use it as a training exercise for you:" Message: "Your co-workers aren't as good as their boss, and you probably aren't either." Politics or trust. "Thedepartment I was temporarily working in was blamed for a really bad mistakethat had nothing to do with us." Message: "Coveryourself beforethere is a problem-everyone is quickto point fingers." Job security. "Someone I respect very muchwas fired for no apparent reason. The company did not makean effort to explain what had transpired and why. My supervisor (whofired the manager) pretended nothing had happened. It appears to this day that there was no adequate reason for firing this person," Message: "There's a lack of respect for employees; job securityis in question; and employees are not important enough to be given explanations."
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negat ive event s, involving separation or conflict between departments, managers, and subordinates or between co-workers. A tour-operating newcomer noted that when he first joined his company, his manager put him up while he looked for an apartment, and the CEO lent his car to him until he bought one. To the newcomer, the incident conveyed the message that his company "was a tight-knit organization-a family." I3y contrast, another respondent, a new employee-services coordinator, felt that her "department was not 'in' on the social events of the company," because her department members hadn't been asked to sign the birthday card for the president. Other categories. Some of the incidents coded under training, a category that encompassed both formal and informal training and orientation activities, conveyed messages of haphazard training. Said one new employee, "T here was no formal training at my company. The first few weeks I basically paired up with another associate and learned as I went." She felt that her company, a consulting firm, was "DISORGANIZED!" (emphasis provided by the respondent). The company policies or values category included events that conveyed messages about service standards, rules of all kinds, and managerial or firm values. One trainee felt her company's values included tolerating or condoning racism and discrimination, because she had overheard the food-and-beverage director complaining to the room-service manager about the Chinese waiters and "how he couldn't stand them, and he said he would kill the next one who spoke in Chinese." Other incidents fell into these categories: communication, about feedback and intraorganizational communication; task assignment, about menial or challenging jobs; competence, about incidents that made
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of employment, involved staff people, for example, the human-resources personnel. Close to half of the Number of respondents (24 of 49, or incidents Positive Negative 49 percent) experienced at Boss or supervisor 16 37 53 one critical incident least A group (co-workers, on the first day in the new bosses, other 45 29 16 departments) organization. Of those 24 Co-workers 4 9 5 first-day incidents, 17 were negative. The incidents Staff personnel 3 5 2 included: training and oriSubordinates 3 o 3 entation events that ranged Total 51 115 64 from lackadaisical to professionally impressive; meetings with supervisors or perthe newcomer feel competent and sonnel representatives that were valued; politics ortrust, about disusually ad-libbed; having to get right crimination, covering-up behavior, unethical activities, and finger point- to work with little guidance or without appropriate tools or work ing ; and job security, about the comspace; being assigned menial work or mitment of the organization to its being left alone for long periods of employees and short-time-frame time; and observing poor work by activities. (See the sidebar on the others. In two cases the newcomer's previous page.) presence was apparently not even Individuals involved. We asked expected. respondents to list the people inIncidents occurring on the first volved in the critical incidents by day of the job tended to provide specifying job titles or briefjob descriptions (see Exhibit 2). Of the 115 unfavorable views, and negative incidents, 46 percent involved either messages predominated throughout the first week (59 percent), the first the respondent's immediate boss or month (54 percent), and the first six another superior; 70 percent of those incidents involving supervisors months (56 percent) . In fact, messages that we interpreted as negative held negative messages for the rewere derived from 56 percent of all spondent (as interpreted by the researchers), and a third of those nega- incidents reported. tive messages from superiors were Managerial Implications of the Findings delivered on the first day. We expected the respondents to Thirty-nine percent of the incireport mo st frequently about oriendents involved a group of individutation and training programs since als, often a mixture of bosses, cosuch programs are typically the first workers, and people from other departments. Among those incidents, experience newcomers have with an organization. That was not the there were twice as many positive case, however, despite all the remessages as negative ones, and most sources employers commit to such involved ceremonial events. Just efforts. The types of incidents men8 percent of the reported incidents tioned most frequently involved were solely with co-workers, and supportiveness (or its lack), appreciathose were evenly divided between tion (or blame), being made to feel positive and negative incidents. A welcome (or unwelcome), and being handful of incidents (4 percent), all made to feel part of the family or of which occurred on the first day
Exhibit 2 Who was involved in criticalincidents
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team (or experiencing conflict and separation) . All four of those categories speak to feelings newcomers experienced. Earlier researchers reported that many new hires find the experience of socialization to be "a time of loneliness, social isolation, and performance anxieties," and the incidents reported in this study lend support to that notion." Respondents who reported incidents involving recognition or blame may have done so because they were highly sensitive to their performance and looking for assurance. The loneliness these newcomers felt may have contributed to their focusing on those incidents involving care-giving and concern. Incidents involving family, teamwork, and welcoming experiences may speak to the social isolation felt by the newcomers when surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and yet wanting desperately to belong. Because those were the most frequently mentioned types of incidents, they lend strong support to loneliness, social isolation, and performance anxiety's being an inherent part of newcomers' socialization. The process of socialization can affect a newcomer's performance, satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and his or her intention to leave the organization. The costs associated with employee turnover underscore the need to understand the socialization process of newcomers, and we believe this study has introduced data that contribute to that understanding. Newcomers are like sponges; they pick up on everything around them. But unlike sponges, which simply absorb the material, organizational newcomers interpret the information and infer meaning. Managers who are ignorant of newcomers' sense-making processes are probably unaware of the messages they are I"
Nelson and Quick. p. 543.
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Positive and Negative Messages Based on the comments we received duringthe study'sinterviews, the respondents reported practically all the incidents in emotional terms. Usingthe 11 categories described in the text and listed in Exhibit 1, we coded respondents' messages as positive, neutral, or negative basedon our interpretation of how they may have felt about the reported incident. All but one message was either positive or negative in tone. Overall, we classified 43 percent of the incidents as positive and 56 percentas negative.-e.A. Y. and C.C.L. Positive. Some of the newcomers' messages that we interpreted as positive were: • "My boss wanted to includeme and to let me know she trustedme enough and thought enough about me to let me meet a major client." • "Everyone seemed to really like each other and our company. I felt really welcome and happyto be a part of the wholething." • "New employees are made to feel important-an asset to the company." • "Thearea VP really appreciates us, and all our hard work isn't going unnoticed." • "This was a professional management team that cared about their entire staff. They seemed to value every individual on the staff.I felt I was going to work for a quality operation." Negative. Someof the newcomers' messages that we interpreted as negative were: • "The little peopledon't count. The bottom line and avoiding workers' compensation are all that's important." • "There is no commitment; there is no security; there is no truth." • "I felt like I was not particularly wanted." • "Utterchaos, unpreparedness, lack of care for employees, baptism by fire, sink or swim, utter shock." • "My supervisor had little interestin gettingto know me. Maybe she didn't even want to have a new hire in the first place. Whatever the case, I was hurt by this slight." • "Nobody cares."
sending to those newcomers and the impact those messages are having on the new employees. Although it is unrealistic to think that an organization can manage and control every moment and interaction with a newcomer, our study shows that managers need to be aware of the types of information to which newcomers are sensitive. Newcomers are barraged with all sorts of information and stimuli that need to be deciphered. In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty and anxiety associated with the challenge of mastering new tasks, playing new roles, and forming new relationships, they hunt for clues and are easily influenced. Managers need to be aware of the strong, and often negative, impact they can have on newcomers. The first day appears to be one of the most critical days for newcomers, when anxiety appears to be at its highest level. Most negative firstday incidents for newcomers involve not being made to feel welcome
and not feeling that their managers and co-workers care about the , . newcomer s anxiousness. Although orientation and training programs can be effective in socializing new employees, organizations need to focus on what is most critical to the newcomers, not to the organization. Orientation and training programs held on the first day should make the newcomers feel welcome and provide emotional support. On the following days the programs can expand to include making the newcomer feel like a part of the family or team and demonstrating the organization's appreciation for the hard work of its employees. Regardless of the means used to socialize employees, organizations should be aware of and sensitive to the sense-making process of newcomers and provide them with the information most useful to them for alleviating the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the new-employees' entry process. CO
December 1996 • 33
Food-Servers' ProductLiability Law Revisited: The Traditional ForeignNatural Test Is Being Replaced by a ReasonableExpectations Test
byJohn E.H. Sherry
Not too long ago the test for product liability in cases where afoodservice consumer was injured by an undesirable object in his or her food was whether the object was naturally associated with the food consumed (e.g., a pit in acherry pie). Recently, however, many states (e.g., California) have adopted a "reasonable-expectations" test that allows customers to argue that there is a reasonable expectation that even naturally occurring objects should be removed during preparation of afood item.
pp. 18-19
HUMAN RESOURCES
Child-Labor Laws and the Hospitality Industry
byJoan M. Clay and Elvis C. Stephens pp. 20-25
Creating a Good First Day on the Job-Allaying Newcomers' Anxiety with Positive Messages
by CheriA. Young and Craig C. Lundberg pp. 26-33
Executive Conflict Management:]{eys to Excellent Decisions and Smooth Implementation
by'Tony Simons
pp. 34-41
State and federal regulations covering employees under age 18are specific, and state labor-department officials have tightened enforcement. Ironically, many hospitality-industry operators remain unfamiliar with labor-law provisions and risk large fines. No one under the age of 18may be hired for a hazardous position, defined primarily as work that involves operation of machinery, including motor vehicles. Children aged 14and 15may not work more than 18hours per week during the school year and may not work past 7:00 PM on school nights. Time regulations are slightly less stringent during summer vacation and school recesses. While the National Restaurant Association is encouraging the government to ease child-labor restrictions, child-labor groups are trying to tighten the law.
The first day of work appears to be critical for a new employee's attitude about his or her new company, and about the messages it conveys on this day. A sample of hospitality-industry newcomers remembered mostly negative first-day incidents involving supportiveness (orits lack), appreciation (or blame), being made to feel welcome (or unwelcome), and being made to feel part ofthe family orteam (orexperiencing conflict and separation). Organizations need to focus on job aspects that are most critical to the newcomers and provide newcomers with the information most useful to them for alleViating the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the entry process. Structured activities held on the first day should make newcomers feel welcome and provide emotional support. The process of socialization can affect a newcomer's performance, satisfaction, and commitment to (or intention to leave) the organization.
Effective management atthe senior level requires high-quality strategic decisions and reliable implementation ofthose decisions. Inthis study of 151 strategic decisions reported by executives at78 hotel-operating companies, debate, trust, and collaboration in the top-management group allenhanced decision quality, while avoiding confrontation impeded it. Of the four, debate was the most important single factor for high-quality strategic decisions. Trust and collaboration both enhance implementation, and an unwillingness to bring up dissenting views impedes effective implementation. The open expression of difference in an executive group is key to making high-quality strategic decisions, and the resolution ofany differences in a way that fully addresses allconcerns is key to implementing those decisions.
December 1996 • 5
Creating aGood First Dayan the Job Allaying Newcomers' Anxiety with Positive Messages
The welcoming atmosphere that most employers think they're providing for new hires isn't always what the newcomers feel.
by Cheri A . )~) II I1.1! (/11/1 Cm~1! C. Lllll db('~1!
Long concerned about excessive employee turnover and its associated costs.' many hospitality-industry firms have responded in recent years with better selection methods, improved training, and numerous practices to increase employee satisfaction and thereby reduce turnover. Cheri Young is a doctoral candidate at Cornell University, stlldyin)! at the School cif HotelAdministration, where Craig Lundberg, PII.D., is the Blanchard Professor of Human Resources Management. © 1996. Cornell University
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1:11 ~ ~~:,," HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
I Uy one estimate it com S1,150 to replace an hourly wage employee and almost $6.600 to replace a salarred employee. See:John Jesitus, " Hotel. Hunger for Stable Work Force," Hotel a" d M
HUMAN
Because most turnover occurs within the first several months, some observers have begun to focus on the entry and socialization of new employees as a factor in turnover. The sheer number of newcomers in the hospitality industry due to excessive turnover accentuates the need to better understand the newemployee socialization process. Meryl Reis Louis, a researcher in the area of socialization, says: There is growing concern that current organizational entry practices do not adequately ease the transition of new members into work organizations. Voluntary turnover during the first 18 months on the job is increasing among college graduates in first career jobs, and reports of mounting disillusionment among new recruits are accumulating in college placement offices and in corporate personnel departments. That these trends are found despite growing attention by companies to new member orientation highlights both the difficulty of bringing newcomers on board and the need for improved organizational entry practices."
Although a great deal of research has been conducted in the area of organizational socialization, within the hospitality industry the work has been limited to prescriptive information.' Most of those writings focus on orientation and training without examining the larger question of the overall socialization process. By focusing exclusively on orientation and training, the pervasive nature of the socialization process-which continues long after orientation and training programs are completemay be overlooked. 2
Meryl Reis LoUIs. "Surprise and Sense Mak-
109: Wh,lt Newcomers Experience 10 Enrermg
Unfarmhar Orgamzanonal Settings," Administratwc Science QHartl·r!y. Vol. 25 (19/l0). p. 226. 1 See. for example: I >aVid J. Kennedy and Florence Berger, "Newcomer Sociahzanon: Oriented to Facts or Feehngs," Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Qllarterly, Vol. 35. No.6 (December 1994), pp. 5/l-71.
In this article we describe what we learned about socialization in a recent descriptive study we conducted. Unlike previous researchers who focused on formal orientation and training programs, we decided to look at critical incidents that respondents reported had made an impression on them and showed them what it was going to be like to work in their new company. The results indicate that newcomers focus on the events that affect them emotionally. Moreover, training and orientation experiences were not the most salient means of socializing newcomers,
Organizational Socialization Organizational socialization is a process of adaptation (i.e., "learning the ropes") and of going from being an outsider to becoming an insider. It has been defined as the process by which newcomers come to understand and "appreciate the values, abilities, expected behavior, and social knowledge essential for assuming an organizational role and for participating as an organizational member,"! Surrounded by new faces, places, and things, the newcomer has to discover what the organization is all about and what will be expected of him or her. To accomplish that, the individual uses both formal means, such as orientation and training programs, and informal means, such as overhearing a conversation between managers, as we discuss below. Contrasts and surprises. Organizational entry has been described as a type of"reality shock." Instead of being able to ease into the organization a little at a time, newcomers are plunged into it. They are inundated with information, may experience "sensory overLOUIS. pp. 229-230. 'John P. Wanous, "Organizanonal Entry: From Naive Expectations to Reahsnc Behefs,' j<>urna1 <>f Applied Psycl",It\~y, Vol. 51, pp. 22-29. 4
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load," and likely have many questions about their role in their new company. At the same time that they are trying to learn about their job, they are also trying to do the job and determine their role in the company. The overall result is that many new employees find the experience of organizational-entry disorienting and taxing. Part of the shock of socialization comes from contrasts and surprises." Newcomers may experience contrast when certain pieces of information about the organization stand out in comparison with their previous experience. An example of a contrast would be when a server who has always written customers' orders on slips of paper and handed them to the chefjoins an organization that uses computers to enter orders that are transferred to an electronic printer in the kitchen. Seeing new co-workers placing orders via the computer keypad stands out in contrast to previous experience and supplies information about how the organization works and what is expected of the newcomer. Surprise occurs when the newcomer's expectations of the organization do not match the actual experiences with it. An example would be when a new hire was expecting to be helped in relocating and is instead handed a newspaper and told to start apartment hunting, as we found in our study: I was supposed to have been given a furnished apartment but instead was handed a newspaper and told to start calling for apartments. I was shocked that they would leave a new person alone in a new city the first night without being taken to dinner or anything, and I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision about taking the job.
Research has shown that excessive surprises are associated with subsequent turnover. One major (, Louis, pp. 236-23/l.
December 1996 • 27
We allowed the newcomers to tell us what incidents and events were critical, unlike other research on socialization that assumed orientation and training programs were critical.
source of surprises is thought to be newcomers' unrealistically high initial expectations. To quell those expectations, organizations have begun using "realistic job previews" in an attempt to reduce or eliminate surprises. Realistic job previews lower the newcomer's expectations to a level that the organization can likely achieve, and meeting those expectations can result in reduced turnover." Other studies have focused on unmet expectations without judging whether the newcomer's expectations were realistic. H Researchers in those studies measured unmet expectations as the difference between initial expectations (or needs) and actual experiences on the job. They found that turnover was associated with unmet expectations, regardless of the initial level of expectations. Contrasts and surprises signal something about the company that prompt the newcomer to uncover more clues. Having discovered something unexpected about the company, a new hire begins a process of inquiry. Discrepancies in the form of contrasts and surprises create apprehension and uncertainty and force newcomers to "reevaluate their assumptions about these organizations" and seek an explanation about "why people behave as they d o."9 Although organizations would like newcomers to interpret the information provided in orientation 7 Darnel R. Ilgen, "The Psychological Impact of Reahstic Job Previews" (Technical Report No.2, Department of Psychological SCiences,Purdue Umversity, 1975). "See: Marvin D. Dunnette, Richard D. Arvey, and Paul A. Banas,"Why Do They Leave?" Personnel, Vol. 50 (1973), pp. 25-39; Mildred Engberg Katzell, "Expectations and Dropouts in Schools of Nursmg,"JOfjrnal q(Applied Psychology, Vol. 52 (1968), pp. 154-157; and Ian C. Ross and Alvm Zander, "Need Sansfacnon and Employee Turnover," Personnel Psycholo.~y, Vol. 10 (1957), pp.327-338. 'I Gareth R. Jones, "Socialization Tactics, Self Efficacy,and Newcomer's Adjustments to Organizations," Acadcmy of Management, Vol.29 (1986), p.263.
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I:~R~f,ll HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
and training programs in a certain way, newcomers' interpretations are as varied as are the newcomers themselves. Similarly, contrasts and surprises can alter or offset training efforts, because new hires interpret surprises in a multitude of ways. Indeed, in an attempt to make sense of the new surroundings, the newcomer interprets everything about the organization, from specific events and programs to the smallest of actions and moments.
Orientation and training. Organizations often try to influence newcomers'interpretation of information by using specific socialization tactics. Such tactics usually take the form of formal orientation and training programs, which may be the first experiences newcomers have with an organization, providing important information about the organization and their role in it. During entry, newcomers are desperate for information and are particularly susceptible to influence. 10 Many researchers therefore believe that orientation and training programs designed to socialize newcomers can influence their impressions and attitudes toward the organization and their commitment to ir." Unfortunately, studies of orientation programs have provided mixed results. Says Saks, "The results of previous research on newcomer training are at best mixed and somewhat disappointing, especially in light of the increasing use of training as a socialization practice."? 10 Blake E. Ashforth and Alan M. Saks,"Socializanon Tactics: Longitudinal Effects on Newcomer Adjustment," Acadcmy q( Management Journal, Vo1.39 (1996), pp. 148-178. 11 Arnon E. Reichers.john P. Wanous, and Karen Steele, "Design and Implementation Issues 10 Socializing (and Resocializing) Employees," Human Resource Planning, Vol. 17,No.1 (1994), pp.17-25. 12 Alan M. Saks,"The Relationship between the Amount and Helpfulness of Entry Training and Work Outcomes," Human Relations, Vol.49, No.4 (1996), p. 431.
HUMAN
Nelson and Quick note that "there may be little benefit associated with attempting to influence newcomer outcome behaviors through socialization activities." Instead they suggest that building supportive relationships is more important to newcomer adjustment than orientation and training programs. 13
AStudy of Newcomer Socialization Using Critical Incidents In light of the skepticism regarding the effectiveness of formal orientation and training programs for socialization, we decided to look at socialization from another angle. In this study we asked employees to recall events that were influential in their socialization process so that we could begin to uncover how newcomers came to understand the beliefs and norms of the organization. Unlike the research on socialization that assumed orientation and training programs were critical to the newcomers' socialization, we allowed the newcomers to tell us what incidents, events, and experiences were critical. Nor did we try to constrain the meaning of"critical"-we left it up to our respondents to determine which incidents were critical, and to tell us what role those critical incidents played in their socialization and what those incidents told them about their organizations. Most critical incidents probably involve contrast or surprise. They stand out because they were unexpected. Whether the employee was a participant or a bystander in the incident, she or he characterizes the event 'as one that generated insight into the nature of the organization and her or his role in it. . 3 Debra L. Nelson and James C. QUick, " Soci al Support an d Newcomer Adjustment in Orgaruzanons: Attachment Theory at Work?," Journal of O~~an izalional Behavior, Vol. 12 (1991), pp.543-554.
Interpretations and sense making. Although two people may experience the same objective incident, their subjective interpretations of the event in terms of emotions and beliefs about the organization may differ. For example, if two newcomers are taken out to lunch on their first day of work, one newcomer may interpret the event as the organization's celebrating the newcomer's arrival, and the other newcomer may interpret the event as a mere ritual, without much thought or caring behind it. Such was the case with one hotel sales manager who responded to our study: On my first day some hotel salespeople came to visit our office. They brought a "mile-long " sub sandwich, sodas , cookies, and such. Then they made a joke about this being my introductory lunch . It's the custom to take new people out for lunch .
Although another newcomer might have found the experience fun, personal, and more welcoming than being taken out for a formal lunch, this newcomer gave it a different meaning. She felt that she "was peripheral" and "not included as part of the team." She went on to say, "It was no big deal that I was there." Although that was probably not the message the organization wanted to convey, the incident illustrates the "sense making" that goes on when a newcomer joins an organization.
Our Study We developed a questionnaire to survey new organizational members about their early experiences with their present employer. Recent graduates of the baccalaureate and master's programs in hotel administration at Cornell University were sent the questionnaire. The 423 recipients had graduated within the previous two years and , except for five individuals who had worked for
RESOURCES
their current employer before or during their schooling, all were considered newcomers at their jobs. The questionnaire stated: "Typically,during th e first few months on the job, people have experiences (i.e., they see and hear things) from which they form impressions about what it is like to work in the organization they've joined. This questionnaire is designed to help us capture some of these critical incidents." These were the instructions: "Please begin by thinking back to those incidents that you've experienced since your first day with your current employer that made an impression on you about what it is like to work here. On the following pages, describe several of these incidents , when they occurred, who was involved, and the meaning you took from them." After two mailings, we received 49 usable surveys (a 12-percent response rate), providing 115 critical incidents." Only four respondents were not employed in the hospitality industry. As expected, most respondents were relatively young: 43 were between the ages of22 and 30. Twenty-eight were women. Most (43) had been working for their current employer for less than a year and a half. Twelve of the 49 respondents had been employed fewer than 6 months; 13 of them, six months to a year ; 20, one to two years; and 4, two to three years. All but one respondent had prior experience in the hospitality industry, the rest averaging 5.3 employers. Analyzing the incidents. To develop a typology of critical incidents, we each looked for recurring themes in the descriptions of the
'4
The cr itical in cidents provided by th is study's respondents rep resent the first data colle cted on the meanings that newcomers make of their early experiences. The co nc lusio ns in this article sho uld therefore be treated as tentative. Addition al research using a larger sampl e co uld provide add ition al support for our findings and the inferences we draw from them.
December 1996 • 29
incidents and independently created our own category schemes. Then we collaborated to construct a composite category scheme and separately analyzed the incidents again, this time using the composite scheme (see the 11 categories in Exhibit 1). At this point we also independently interpreted whether the message of each incident was positive, negative, or neutral in tone. After each of us had analyzed all the incidents using the common, agreed-upon typology, we met to determine the degree of agreement. Of 115 incidents analyzed, we had agreed on the category placement of 87 incidents, giving an intercoder reliability rate of76 percent. That was a sufficient rate to continue our analysis, given that Miles and Huberman indicate one should not expect greater than 70-percent intercoder reliability at first. IS Many incidents fit neatly into one category, while other incidents, because of multiple events or messages, fell into more than one category. For example, a concierge at a hotel reported an incident that occurred on her first day: While most of the orientation was helpful in familiarizing me with the hotel and its history, there were a couple of things I found very odd. First, framed pictures of the Executive (Management) Committee were passed around. I was insulted that at least one or two of the execs didn't stop in to say "hi" and "welcome to our team." I felt that the passing around of pictures was unbefitting a five-star resort. Second, there was no hierarchical chart of the organization, so I could not get a grasp on all the departments and how the organization was structured. The message that I got, and that proved to be true, is that communication is totally lacking in the organization. Information is often hard to 15 Matthew U. Miles and A. Michael Huberman. Qualitative Data Analysis:A Sourcebook of Nell' Methods (Beverly Hills. CA: Sage, 1984).
30
1:11 R~
orientation and trainmg programs. For example, when the president of a company ordered lunch for the office Positive Negative Neutral Total because the weather Supportive ness or care was treacherous, one 15 o 28 from others 13 newcomer interpreted Appreciation 16 22 6 o it as showing concern 12 Welcomeness 9 o 21 about her well-being 1 Family or team climate 11 20 8 and convenience. Training 5 8 13 o Such an experience Company policies or speaks much more 10 values 3 13 o loudly than, say, an 7 Communication 5 o 12 orientation-program 7 2 Task assignment 9 o lecture during which 4 4 Competence o 8 she was simply told Politics or trust o 7 7 o that the president was o 4 4 Job security o concerned about the 68 88 1 157 Total well-being and convenience of employees. The researchers rated the emotional tone of 157 different Another newcomer critical incidents as either "positive," "neutral: or "negative" said that on his first based on the respondents' descriptions of those events. day,when his boss was hour and a half late an come by, and there is no care or concern displayed by management. to an appointment with him, he felt he "wasn't too important." In coneven though we're supposed to be one big team. trast, when a junior consultant was taken under the wing of a senior We agreed that that incident was consultant and told "who is who, multifaceted, and that the newwho is doing what, where are the comer likely took multiple meanchallenges and opportunities," she ings from it. Other incidents likefelt here was "one person in the wise could not be coded into a company who knows how I must single category. As a result, the 115 be feeling and cares about it." descriptions resulted in 157 indiThe category of appreciation, vidual incident-message combina(being praised and recognized or tions, which we coded into the 11 blamed and punished) was another categories shown in Exhibit 1 and frequently mentioned category; 22 discussed below. of the incidents fell into this catMost frequently reported egory. Most of the incidents were categories. The most frequently positive and involved a manager reported incidents involved supportiveness orcare from others. They who acknowledged the efforts of included reports of concern, interest, the newcomer or the newcomer's department. For example, when a caring, and supportiveness (or the lack thereof) expressed by managers front-desk person at a four-star hotel received a "letter in the mail or co-workers toward the newfrom the managing director of my comer. With just over half of the hotel thanking me for my kindness respondents reporting at least one and thoughtfulness to a guest," he incident in this category, the results his"organization really felt that clearly suggest that relational attachcared about contributions." ments are more important than
Exhibit 1 Critical incidents and emotional tone of message
[tl HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
HUMAN
Many of the newcomers reported being favorably impressed by ceremonial events that recognized the efforts of employees. An assistant club-operations manager felt his "hotel cares about its management staff and appreciates all of their hard work and dedication." That message came from experiencing a reception where various managers were honored. Respondents also reported a number of welcoming experiences, both negative and positive. Positive incidents involved new hires being made to feel welcome by fellow workers and managers who stopped by to say hello and greet the newcomer. Negative incidents involved co-workers who acted suspicious or resentful of the newcomer and apparently felt threatened. Many newcomers also said that their organizations were totally unprepared for their arrival, and some reported incidents of "baptism by fire." Others simply reported not feeling particularly welcome. For example, a junior consultant wrote: On my first day, at 8:00 AM , my boss took me to his office and gave me lots of work. Then he told me to pack for a three-day business trip with him. During all the hours we spent driving , he didn't say a word. On the second day he told me to meet him in the lobby at 8:00 the next morning. He called at 7:45 and asked me where I was and if I'd overslept. During the first three days he took me to all his major clients, didn't give me any background information, and made me take minutes and drive the company car all the way. The newcomer felt that her boss wanted to overwhelm her and that he did "not care about the feelings of a new employee. He does not make any effort to make somebody feel welcome." The category offamily or team climate included both positive bonding events, such as being made to feel like a member of the team, and
RESOURCES
Critical Incidents and Messages Here are some typical incidents from each of the 11 categories noted in Exhibit 1, in the respondents' own words.-C.A. Y. and eCL Supportlveness or care from others. "I had a meeting with my program coordinator. I meet with her once a month. During the meeting, she asked me the samequestions she'd askedlast month. It mademe feel as though she was meeting with me because it was her duty and not because she cared aboutmy progress." Message: "She didn't really care about my work or experiences; meelingwith me was just a formality." Appreciation. "The area vice president took our office (fourpeople) out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town. It was just a thank-you for all our hard work." Message: "Thearea vice president really appreciates us, and all our hard work isn't going unnoticed." Welcomeness. "I started working with this hotel during its preopening stage. My boss and I were the first two peopleto move onto the site, while the rest of the team were still off-site. Halfway through the day, my boss left for a meeting and left me alone in the office. Nobody else stopped by to welcome me." Message: "I needed to fend for myself. I wasn't very important to the company." Family or team climate. "WhenI first came here, the partner let me stay at his house while I apartment-hunted. The CEO let me use his car until I boughtone." Message: "This was a tight-knit organization-a family." Training. "Throughout my orientation period, my agenda was not planned. and whenI showed up, manypeopledidn't know that I was supposed to be there. Manymanagers didn't know what they were supposed to do with me. The HR directorwas not very organized or prepared for my 'training proqram." Message: "Not much emphasis was put on training new managers properly." Company policies or values. "A front-desk agent was checking someone in, and there wasn't a bellman immediately available. The front-desk agent hurriedaround to the lobby and carried the guest's bags upstairs. Our GM saw this, and he personally tipped the agent $5." Message: "Unusual guestservice is worthyof unusual praise. As a manager, I am expected to reward this excellence." Communication. "One of my duties is to relieve the receptionist for her lunchbreak. Through the grapevine I heardthat one of the vice presidents didn't like the way I was handling her calls. I actually overheard this-no one addressed the issue with me directly." Message: "Things are not handled in a straightforward manner, and I will not receive timelyor accurate feedback." Task assignment. "When I first started, no one had time to showme anything, and no one woulddelegate any work for me to do. So instead, I got two or three cursoryminutes of smalltalk each day for almosttwo weeksand was told to read old reports to learn about the company's style." Message: "I don't have time for you, and you can't do anything until I tell you." Competence. "Aftera few weeksthe boss called me in to his office and told me that one of my co-workers was basically incompetent, that he had screwed a report up, and that no one had time to fix it. He said, 'We'll use it as a training exercise for you:" Message: "Your co-workers aren't as good as their boss, and you probably aren't either." Politics or trust. "Thedepartment I was temporarily working in was blamed for a really bad mistakethat had nothing to do with us." Message: "Coveryourself beforethere is a problem-everyone is quickto point fingers." Job security. "Someone I respect very muchwas fired for no apparent reason. The company did not makean effort to explain what had transpired and why. My supervisor (whofired the manager) pretended nothing had happened. It appears to this day that there was no adequate reason for firing this person," Message: "There's a lack of respect for employees; job securityis in question; and employees are not important enough to be given explanations."
December 1996 • 31
negat ive event s, involving separation or conflict between departments, managers, and subordinates or between co-workers. A tour-operating newcomer noted that when he first joined his company, his manager put him up while he looked for an apartment, and the CEO lent his car to him until he bought one. To the newcomer, the incident conveyed the message that his company "was a tight-knit organization-a family." I3y contrast, another respondent, a new employee-services coordinator, felt that her "department was not 'in' on the social events of the company," because her department members hadn't been asked to sign the birthday card for the president. Other categories. Some of the incidents coded under training, a category that encompassed both formal and informal training and orientation activities, conveyed messages of haphazard training. Said one new employee, "T here was no formal training at my company. The first few weeks I basically paired up with another associate and learned as I went." She felt that her company, a consulting firm, was "DISORGANIZED!" (emphasis provided by the respondent). The company policies or values category included events that conveyed messages about service standards, rules of all kinds, and managerial or firm values. One trainee felt her company's values included tolerating or condoning racism and discrimination, because she had overheard the food-and-beverage director complaining to the room-service manager about the Chinese waiters and "how he couldn't stand them, and he said he would kill the next one who spoke in Chinese." Other incidents fell into these categories: communication, about feedback and intraorganizational communication; task assignment, about menial or challenging jobs; competence, about incidents that made
32
of employment, involved staff people, for example, the human-resources personnel. Close to half of the Number of respondents (24 of 49, or incidents Positive Negative 49 percent) experienced at Boss or supervisor 16 37 53 one critical incident least A group (co-workers, on the first day in the new bosses, other 45 29 16 departments) organization. Of those 24 Co-workers 4 9 5 first-day incidents, 17 were negative. The incidents Staff personnel 3 5 2 included: training and oriSubordinates 3 o 3 entation events that ranged Total 51 115 64 from lackadaisical to professionally impressive; meetings with supervisors or perthe newcomer feel competent and sonnel representatives that were valued; politics ortrust, about disusually ad-libbed; having to get right crimination, covering-up behavior, unethical activities, and finger point- to work with little guidance or without appropriate tools or work ing ; and job security, about the comspace; being assigned menial work or mitment of the organization to its being left alone for long periods of employees and short-time-frame time; and observing poor work by activities. (See the sidebar on the others. In two cases the newcomer's previous page.) presence was apparently not even Individuals involved. We asked expected. respondents to list the people inIncidents occurring on the first volved in the critical incidents by day of the job tended to provide specifying job titles or briefjob descriptions (see Exhibit 2). Of the 115 unfavorable views, and negative incidents, 46 percent involved either messages predominated throughout the first week (59 percent), the first the respondent's immediate boss or month (54 percent), and the first six another superior; 70 percent of those incidents involving supervisors months (56 percent) . In fact, messages that we interpreted as negative held negative messages for the rewere derived from 56 percent of all spondent (as interpreted by the researchers), and a third of those nega- incidents reported. tive messages from superiors were Managerial Implications of the Findings delivered on the first day. We expected the respondents to Thirty-nine percent of the incireport mo st frequently about oriendents involved a group of individutation and training programs since als, often a mixture of bosses, cosuch programs are typically the first workers, and people from other departments. Among those incidents, experience newcomers have with an organization. That was not the there were twice as many positive case, however, despite all the remessages as negative ones, and most sources employers commit to such involved ceremonial events. Just efforts. The types of incidents men8 percent of the reported incidents tioned most frequently involved were solely with co-workers, and supportiveness (or its lack), appreciathose were evenly divided between tion (or blame), being made to feel positive and negative incidents. A welcome (or unwelcome), and being handful of incidents (4 percent), all made to feel part of the family or of which occurred on the first day
Exhibit 2 Who was involved in criticalincidents
[II ~ ~ f.ll HOTEL AND RESTAURANT ADMINISTRATION QUARTERLY
HUMAN
team (or experiencing conflict and separation) . All four of those categories speak to feelings newcomers experienced. Earlier researchers reported that many new hires find the experience of socialization to be "a time of loneliness, social isolation, and performance anxieties," and the incidents reported in this study lend support to that notion." Respondents who reported incidents involving recognition or blame may have done so because they were highly sensitive to their performance and looking for assurance. The loneliness these newcomers felt may have contributed to their focusing on those incidents involving care-giving and concern. Incidents involving family, teamwork, and welcoming experiences may speak to the social isolation felt by the newcomers when surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and yet wanting desperately to belong. Because those were the most frequently mentioned types of incidents, they lend strong support to loneliness, social isolation, and performance anxiety's being an inherent part of newcomers' socialization. The process of socialization can affect a newcomer's performance, satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and his or her intention to leave the organization. The costs associated with employee turnover underscore the need to understand the socialization process of newcomers, and we believe this study has introduced data that contribute to that understanding. Newcomers are like sponges; they pick up on everything around them. But unlike sponges, which simply absorb the material, organizational newcomers interpret the information and infer meaning. Managers who are ignorant of newcomers' sense-making processes are probably unaware of the messages they are I"
Nelson and Quick. p. 543.
RESOURCES
Positive and Negative Messages Based on the comments we received duringthe study'sinterviews, the respondents reported practically all the incidents in emotional terms. Usingthe 11 categories described in the text and listed in Exhibit 1, we coded respondents' messages as positive, neutral, or negative basedon our interpretation of how they may have felt about the reported incident. All but one message was either positive or negative in tone. Overall, we classified 43 percent of the incidents as positive and 56 percentas negative.-e.A. Y. and C.C.L. Positive. Some of the newcomers' messages that we interpreted as positive were: • "My boss wanted to includeme and to let me know she trustedme enough and thought enough about me to let me meet a major client." • "Everyone seemed to really like each other and our company. I felt really welcome and happyto be a part of the wholething." • "New employees are made to feel important-an asset to the company." • "Thearea VP really appreciates us, and all our hard work isn't going unnoticed." • "This was a professional management team that cared about their entire staff. They seemed to value every individual on the staff.I felt I was going to work for a quality operation." Negative. Someof the newcomers' messages that we interpreted as negative were: • "The little peopledon't count. The bottom line and avoiding workers' compensation are all that's important." • "There is no commitment; there is no security; there is no truth." • "I felt like I was not particularly wanted." • "Utterchaos, unpreparedness, lack of care for employees, baptism by fire, sink or swim, utter shock." • "My supervisor had little interestin gettingto know me. Maybe she didn't even want to have a new hire in the first place. Whatever the case, I was hurt by this slight." • "Nobody cares."
sending to those newcomers and the impact those messages are having on the new employees. Although it is unrealistic to think that an organization can manage and control every moment and interaction with a newcomer, our study shows that managers need to be aware of the types of information to which newcomers are sensitive. Newcomers are barraged with all sorts of information and stimuli that need to be deciphered. In an attempt to reduce the uncertainty and anxiety associated with the challenge of mastering new tasks, playing new roles, and forming new relationships, they hunt for clues and are easily influenced. Managers need to be aware of the strong, and often negative, impact they can have on newcomers. The first day appears to be one of the most critical days for newcomers, when anxiety appears to be at its highest level. Most negative firstday incidents for newcomers involve not being made to feel welcome
and not feeling that their managers and co-workers care about the , . newcomer s anxiousness. Although orientation and training programs can be effective in socializing new employees, organizations need to focus on what is most critical to the newcomers, not to the organization. Orientation and training programs held on the first day should make the newcomers feel welcome and provide emotional support. On the following days the programs can expand to include making the newcomer feel like a part of the family or team and demonstrating the organization's appreciation for the hard work of its employees. Regardless of the means used to socialize employees, organizations should be aware of and sensitive to the sense-making process of newcomers and provide them with the information most useful to them for alleviating the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the new-employees' entry process. CO
December 1996 • 33