and the first interaction of a new employee with the firm, is recruiting.
Recruiting
In Passive Oboarding, organizations’ recruiting processes are unrelated
to new employee onboarding plans. Rather than viewing recruitment as a time to begin the onboarding process, it is seen as a separate function. In fact, the entire goal of recruitment should be to get candidates to the next step— selection—and then to help them fit into the organizational environment and get to know organizational insiders and stakeholders.36 The recruitment process provides information, but it also helps new employees form realistic expectations and engage coping mechanisms.37 In this way, the quality of recruitment practices relates to higher organizational commitment.38
Realistic Job Previews Organizations can provide employees with realistic job previews (RJPs)
regarding both the specific job to be done and the organizational culture. RJPs have advantages and
disadvantages. As an experiment, one firm randomly assigned prospective employees to either an RJP group or a non-RJP group. As expected, the RJP group was more likely to reject a job offer, but they had 50 percent less turnover than the non-RJP group.39 Realistic previews help to prevent new employees from suffering unmet expectations. Past research has found that new employees receiving large
amounts of accurate information about a company and their new job tend to adjust better than those who don’t acquire this information.40 RJPs can
be provided during recruitment and hiring or through more on-the-job experiences such as internships.
Orientations
Some 93 percent of organizations now use some type of new-employee orientation—either in person or online.41 Formal orientation programs