Testing the comparative effectiveness of three procedures aimed at facilitating newcomer orientation

Abstract

Realistic Job Previews (RJP’s) have grown into a common practice for organizations who are focused on facilitating newcomer adjustment and reducing the risk of early-tenure turnover. Despite their shortcomings, over the past 40 years RJP’s have repeatedly been linked to lower instances of turnover, higher job satisfaction, and stronger organizational commitment. In the past decade, new techniques aimed at either addressing RJP’s shortcomings or expanding their content have been introduced. The Expectation Lowering Procedure (ELP) and Realistic Orientation Program for New Employee Stress (ROPES) are two such strategies. This fills a void in the research by examining the effectiveness of these three procedures in a quasi-experimental study using a sample of students entering an undergraduate statistics course. Additionally the impact of a moderator, trait optimism, and the presence of a mediator, organizational trust, were evaluated. Results indicate that none of the orientation procedures had a significant effect on any of the outcomes and that, when collapsed into a single condition, the presence of an orientation program did not outperform a control condition. Results suggest that a “honeymoon phase” may exist in newcomers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.