A model of organizational adjustment for rehabilitation counselors: Incorporating the role of organizational socialization

The effects of high burnout and low organizational (affective) commitment can be detrimental to a rehabilitation counselor's organizational adjustment and ultimate job performance and tenure. The rehabilitation literature has examined the relatively small contribution of counselor and client factors to burnout and affective commitment but has overlooked the predictive potential of organizational factors such as organizational socialization, a process by which newly hired rehabilitation counselors learn their jobs. This survey study investigates the contribution of organizational socialization to burnout and affective commitment among a group of 168 newly hired rehabilitation counselors. Results indicate that rehabilitation counselors experience less burnout and more affective commitment to the job when (1) there is a higher level of formality in their socialization experiences during training and (2) when there is a clearer level of understanding about the job expectations and agency functions. Implications are discussed for both the rehabilitation administrator and the rehabilitation counselor.