Abstract
Acculturation begins when people find themselves in a cultural setting other than theirs, and to demonstrate acceptable behaviors, one of two strategies is adopted: adapting to the new environment or retain one’s own culture. On the basis of these two, four strategies have been proposed. The current article examined the moderation effect of two of these acculturation strategies, integration and separation, on the relationship between newcomer adjustment, and work-related anxiety and turnover intentions. The study was in two folds, the first explored the moderation effect among new employees in general, notwithstanding their immediate past working experience; and the second part separated the sample based on two criteria: those prior to their current role were working in another firm (work-to-work employees) and those who just come directly from school (school-to-work employees). The sample was made up of 250 employees who had spent not less than 6 months and not more than 12 months in their current role, drawn from the private banking and insurance firms in Ghana. The PROCESS analysis of the data revealed that integration moderated the relationship between newcomer adjustment and work-related anxiety and turnover intentions among all samples. Separation moderated the relationships in all cases, but for the relationship between newcomer adjustment and turnover intentions in study 1 and among school-to-work employees. The evidence from this article points to the fact that the acculturation strategy that newcomers adopt has an effect on the relationship between their level of adjustment and some organizational outcomes; however, a slight difference exists if their immediate past engagement is considered.
Highlights
In today’s organizational environment, workers create their identity more by their skills rather than the organizations they work in
At the backdrop of this, the present study proposes that integration and separation as acculturation strategies will moderate the relationship between newcomer adjustment and employee behaviors such as work-related anxiety and turnover intentions
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between these variables among employees in general, notwithstanding their immediate past engagement
Summary
In today’s organizational environment, workers create their identity more by their skills rather than the organizations they work in. Acculturation Moderates Adjustment and Work-Related Outcomes with it employee movements within and between organizations. This further makes new employee socialization (onboarding) a key issue for firms and for newcomers. A number of studies have asserted that during the socialization process the new employees’ experiences at this stage could impact on work-related attitudes, performance, and the possibility of remaining or otherwise in the organization (Bauer et al, 2007; Saks et al, 2007). Substantial resources are invested to speed up their adjustment process (Goldstein and Ford, 2002) Examining this process has important theoretical and practical implications (Bauer and Elder, 2006)
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