The socialisation of new recruits by their line managers in the civil service of Ghana

The early learning process of new recruits into an organisation—known as organisational socialisation—has been shown to influence their motivation, attitudes, and behaviours. In public organisations, line managers can play an important role in shaping the socialisation of newly recruited civil servants. Yet there is very little evidence on how line managers of public organisations socialise recruits into their teams. The objective of this project is to explore this crucial but often neglected role of line managers in new recruits’ socialisation and investigate its consequences in the context of Ghana’s civil service.

Using qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey in Ghana’s core civil service, this study will examine how line managers influence recruits’ learning and work attitudes. The project will test findings from qualitative interviews with the entire population of recruits into Ghana’s civil service in 2020 and 2021, focusing on the prevalence of various managerial practices with respect to recruits’ socialisation and their influence on recruits’ work attitudes.

Expected findings include specific managerial practices with regards to recruits’ socialisation that influence their learning and work attitudes, including organisational commitment and job satisfaction. In Ghana, findings can contribute to strategic decisions by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service (OHCS) and HR departments of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) related to recruits’ onboarding processes. Findings can also contribute to strengthening the performance appraisal process of line managers by considering their influence on recruits’ successful integration as a key performance indicator. Finally, they have the potential to shed light on how line managers play a role in the reproduction of organisational cultures and how they can influence cultural changes.