Employees with strong connections to their companies adapt better for future job transitions

New research from Durham University Business School has revealed that employees who feel a strong connection to their company from the beginning are better at adapting to job changes.

The study, conducted by Yanjun Guan, Lanyue Fan, and Zehua Li, along with associates from Leeds University Business School in the UK and several Chinese universities, sought to determine how socialisation activities predicted new hires' capacity for flexibility during job transitions.

The researchers spoke with over 500 recent immigrants working for a Chinese IT company to determine how socialisation activities impacted their ability to handle career changes, such as developmental tasks, work traumas, and job transitions. Within the first six months after joining the organisation, newcomers were interviewed three times to learn more about the intense socialisation techniques they received from the company and their capacity to adapt to changes in their roles.

The study found that actively engaging in socialisation activities such as training, mentoring, and conversations about future possibilities increases adaptability and enables individuals to handle upcoming career adjustments successfully. However, employees with diverse backgrounds before joining the company did not benefit as much from those socialisation practices, as their varied experiences served as another significant source of learning, reducing their dependence on organisational arrangements to adapt to the new environment.

One of the researchers, Professor Yanjun Guan, highlighted the need for organisations to provide necessary and beneficial resources during a new employee's first few months with the company. He stressed the need for mentoring for appropriate leadership behaviours at work. This assists in addressing and making up for newcomers' resource losses when dealing with stress and uncertainty upon entering an organisation.

Guan continued: "Often it is thought that the ability to be adaptable comes from a person's characteristics, previous experiences or personality, but our research clearly shows that an effective onboarding strategy designed around key socialisation tactics can actually make new employees more adaptable to future transitions."

The researchers contend that a successful onboarding of newcomers can guarantee their career flexibility in terms of transitions, a factor that many previously regarded as being more closely tied to the employee's personality and traits. To maximise the advantages of their organisational socialisation procedures and guarantee their employees' career flexibility in terms of transitions, the researchers highlighted the need for organisations in industries with high turnover rates and ample mobility prospects to design their socialisation practices with retention strategies in mind.

According to a recent Career Guide article by Indeed, versatility is a major trait employees look for while hiring and retaining talents. Employers prize workers who can successfully handle changes at work irrespective of their age or experience. Nowadays, businesses are modifying their hiring strategies to attract, engage and retain young & versatile employees.

Additional reports show that organisational change can bring about stress and anxiety for many employees, affecting their job performance. For businesses to successfully make large-scale changes to remain competitive, they need to anticipate the types of reactions their employees may have so that they can reassure them and help them focus on the business's success.

The study's results indicate that an effective onboarding strategy designed around key socialisation tactics can make new employees more adaptable to future transitions. Companies that invest in their employees' socialisation and provide them with necessary and beneficial resources during their first few months with the company can guarantee their career flexibility in terms of job transitions, a factor that was previously believed to be more closely tied to the employee's personality and traits.