Group rites and trainer wrongs in employee experiences of job change

Abstract

This paper investigates how group-controlled transition rites in an air traffic control organization are experienced by job changers and those responsible for socializing newcomers on behalf of the work group and unit. Contrary to earlier functionalist accounts, these admission rites were neither fully understood as intended nor accepted as legitimate by job changers. The findings indicate that shared meanings between newcomers and ''lders' may not be necessary if such rites are to be accepted as an essential feature of the process of granting or withholding membership of the unit. More crucial to their acceptability is whether or not job changers believe that elders are fully acting in the interests of the group and unit. We show that the legitimacy of such socialization practices is subject to decay from organization-wide restructuring which weakens units' social coherence and gives rise to doubts about the integrity of those members who assume an elder role. The implication of these findings is that group-controlled transition rites emerge where management has no choice but to delegate features of work control to the group. Equally, if the legitimacy of such group-level practices is undermined by organizational changes, it is unlikely that this form of socialization can be rectified by management intervention.