Week 3, Blog #1

I found relevance in the socialization concept discussed in Chapter 5 as it relates to organizational communication. I appreciate how the authors break down socialization into three stages of learning: (1) anticipatory socialization; (2) organizational assimilation; and (3) organizational turning points or exits. It helps reinforce one lesson I learned in a graduate course on public management. My instructor made the point that most people who begin jobs are enthusiastic, motivated, and ready to learn about and contribute to the organization (akin to organizational anticipatory socialization). But over time, employees’ enthusiasm and motivation can wane or even disappear altogether, and often times it is the organization that has failed them. I believe this can occur if the “degree of balance” between discovering constraints and the transition toward assimilation tends toward a pattern of “resistance” or “exit” (Eisenberg et al., 2007, p. 149).