Socializing employees into a culture of health

• Date: 01 May 2023
• Pages: 222-237
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-04-2022-0057
• Published date: 01 May 2023
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare
• Author: Natalie Martin,Maria Brann,Elizabeth Goering

Socializing employees into

a culture of health

Natalie Martin, Maria Brann and Elizabeth Goering

Department of Communication Studies,

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Abstract

Purpose –A culture of health within an organization offers benefits such as managing healthcare costs and

supporting employees in becoming and staying healthy. This study aims to identify successful organization’s

strategies utilized to socialize employees into a culture of health.

Design/methodology/approach –In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 representatives from

organizations recognized for their successin creating a culture of health. Grounded theory analysis of collected

data was used to identify themes related to the goals of this study.

Findings –New employees are socialized into the culture of health during the recruitment process, at new

employee orientation and throughout the early employment period. Existing employees are also continually

socialized using a variety of on-going communication strategies. This process is consistent with Jablin’s

organizational assimilation model, and this study offers the opportunity to use this model to help understand

organizational health.

Practical implications –Organizations desiring to create a culture of health can support this culture by

incorporating socialization strategies into the recruitment, hiring and new employee on-boarding process.

Originality/value –Though strategies have been shown to be helpful in socializing new employees into

organizations, limited research has explored the relationship between socialization and a culture of health.

Results from this study offer insight into how organizations that have been recognized for their success in

creating a culture of health socialize new and existing employees to create and maintain a culture that supports

health and well-being. Also, this study applies socialization theories to health within the workplace, offering

new insights both theoretically and practically.

Keywords Culture of health, Employee socialization, Organizational well-being, Workplace wellness,

New employee socialization

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Nearly half of worksites in the USA offer health promotion initiatives aimed at supporting the

well-being of employees (Linnan et al., 2019). This is largely the result of organizations

financing a significant amount of health care costs and because good health can increase

productivity and increase the likelihood of living a fulfilled life. On average, employees

working five days a week spend more than 2,000 h at work per year (Department of Labor,

2020), making employees a potentially influenceable and relatively stable sub-population,

offering the opportunity for public health action. Organizations have unique intentional and

IJWHM

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Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or

not-for-profit sectors.

Contributor acknowledgments: All authors contributed to the conceptualization, data analysis,

writing, and revision of the study and manuscript. The lead author conducted all of the interviews. All

authors agree to its publication.

Clinical trial registration: N/A.

Ethical approval: The Indiana University institutional review board granted exempt status to this

project (protocol #11089).

Informed consent: Participants read an information study sheet prior to scheduling their interview

and were informed that by scheduling an interview they were agreeing to participate.

Conflict of interest: There are no conflicts of interest to report.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8351.htm

Received 14 September 2022

Revised 2 January 2023

6 March 2023

Accepted 3 April 2023

InternationalJournal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 16 No. 2/3, 2023

pp. 222-237

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-04-2022-0057

unintentional communication channels, allowing many people to be reached over an extended

period of time (Lunenburg, 2010). Therefore, opportunities exist for organizations to foster a

culture of health, defined as a culture that purposefully nurtures health (Health Enhancement

Research Organization [HERO], 2016), to benefit both members and the organization.

For a culture of health to be effective, employees must buy-in to the notion that individual

health and the health of the organization are valuable. This can lead to engagement in

organizational health-promoting activities. To foster culture of health buy-in, organizational

members need to be socialized to engage in health activities and adopt desired healthful

behaviors. Socialization, as discussed related to American organizations, involves teaching

newcomers “the norms and values of organizational culture that guide behavior and enhance

the newcomer’s performance”(Anakew and Greenhaus, 1999, p. 316). As Ashforth and Saks

(1996) stated, “socialization facilitates the adjustment of newcomers to organizations”(p. 149).

Socialization scholarship largely focuses on job satisfaction and other job-specific

components. For example, researchers have explored the relationship between commitment

in the workplaceand socialization(Cohen and Veled- Hecht, 2010) andco-worker socializingand

employeeengagement at work (Al-Hawariet al., 2019). Limited research,however, has explored

the relationship between socialization andhealth, and instead has primarily focused onwork–

life balance (e.g. Riforgiate and Kramer, 2021). Though important, this approach to

investigating health as it relates to work is not the same as exploring how employees are

socialized into an organization’s culture of health. One such study (Burke et al., 2017)to

investigate this topic involved exploration of the association between health-related

communication, socialization and health behaviors. Results indicated that social influence

and social support within the organization positively affect health behaviors. This was also

shown in a studyspecifically assessingwhy faculty and staff utilize(or do not) free on-campus

fitness facilities, which are oftenone resource available in organizations that fostera culture of

health (Brown et al., 2014). Researchers discoveredthat not only was social support important

but so too was the “motivational climate”(i.e. feeling valued and welcomed), which they

suggested should be further explored because of their belief that this could be cultivated.

Because increased organizational socialization has been associated with healthful behaviors

(Burke et al., 2017), it is importantto understand how to do this effectively.

Though limited socialization and health research exists, two theoretical concepts offer

perspectives for understanding the processes through which employees are socialized into a

culture of health within organizations: organizational assimilation and the theory of

organizational socialization.

Organizational assimilation

The stages of socialization that occur in organizations have been outlined in a model termed

organizational assimilation (Jablin, 2001). This dynamic process socializes both new and

existing members of an organization and involves four phases: anticipatory socialization,

organizational encounter, metamorphosis and exit.

In the anticipatory phase, newcomers shape their expectations of the organization based

on gathered information from sources such as friends, media, or job postings. Organizational

encounter involves an employee entering the organization and tactics such as observing and

asking questions assimilating them to norms and values. Metamorphosis eventually occurs,

in which the employee adjusts expectations, develops their own role, and resolves

organizational conflicts. The final phase, exit, is when the employee leaves the

organization (Mumby and Kuhn, 2019).

Socialization into a culture of health might occur during multiple organizational

assimilation phases. In the anticipatory phase, a newcomer may learn about an organization’s

health initiatives and culture through individuals the organization currently employs,

Socializing

employees into

culture of

health

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