Society and Business Review

Purpose – Socialization is one of the fundamental processes that define how collectivities emerge. Socialization underpins the social structures that shape not only how social actors interact in community but also the boundaries of action and the rules of engagement. In the context of organizations, socialization is a process that significantly shapes organization in the way core practices shape how things are done and why they are done in particular ways. This emphasis on consistency within and between practices is seen to be greatly facilitated by specific practices like staff induction. The purpose of this paper is to review the current conceptual and empirical research on staff induction as a process of organizational socialization and outlines some of the areas for future research particularly if a social practice perspective is adopted.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a systematic review of the relevant literature on organizational socialization and staff induction and outlines themes to which the debate can usefully be extended.

Findings – This paper focuses on how staff induction practices provide valuable insights about how social agents (especially newcomers) get socialized in organizations.

Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a foundation for the various staff induction practices that other papers in this issue will be presenting. By outlining the current debate and insights from previous empirical research on staff induction, the objective is to extend the debate by outlining some new avenues for research that papers in the special issue both respond to and further explicate.

Originality/value – This paper explores staff induction and organizational socialization as a practice that can provide new insights into the dynamics of social interaction within organizations.