| Research on increasing employee retention tends to focus on three major themes: (a) how organizations socialize new members, (b) the influence of organizational culture and climate, and (c) why some employees are "assimilated" into an organizational culture while others are not. Within this context, this study examined (a) how the generational transmission of organizational inheritance affected the racial and gender make-up of a human resource department within a corporate environment, (b) how members of that department influenced one another's beliefs, and (c) how decisions were made to "manage out" individuals during a time of corporate downsizing. An additional theoretical construct, organizational osmosis (Gibson & Papa, 2000), was used to explain how members were socialized through a variety of experiences and significant interpersonal relationships (e.g., familial and communal) prior to developing a formal relationship with the department.;Generational transmission refers to the process of conveying a set of beliefs, values, and norms from generation to generation. Organizational inheritance refers to the processes through which some members of an organization are "pre-socialized"---i.e., included in the organization's "territorial lines"---prior to their actually joining the organization. And, organizational osmosis refers to the processes through which some members of an organization "just seem to fit in"---without effort, they appear to adopt the ideas, values, and culture of the organization.;The analysis of data revealed that some employees displayed higher levels of organizational commitment and loyalty than other employees. Furthermore, the organizational osmosis construct provided an explanation of retention and promotion practices within the department. The findings revealed that some members experienced high levels of intimate familial-based relationships, sponsored forms of mobility, inclusion/exclusion based on organizational capital, the use of norms and implicit contracts to affirm or negate organizational behavior, and values congruence as reflected in organizational "fit." While the findings validated much of what is known about socialization, they also clarified how extra-organizational factors such as gender and "difference" influence generational transmission and organizational inheritance. The study concludes with observations for modifying pre-formal familial, institutional, and relational socialization experiences (i.e., organizational osmosis) to increase the longevity and tenure of employees. |
