Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify extant training needs for preparing supervisors to support newcomers’ organizational socialization and to develop a research agenda concerning aspects that conduce to making supervisors efficacious in the process of organizational socialization. Design/methodology/approach A review of the literature on the development of socialization agents for organizational socialization generally indicates that relatively minimal research has been undertaken on this topic. Most articles have focused on the effects of organizational socialization on other variables – such as newcomers’ work outcomes, turnover intention and organizational commitment. The review was conducted in light of this phenomenon. It is based on the structured literature review method, per Rocco, Stein and Lee (2003). Findings Supervisor training is suggested as a means for enhancing organizational socialization. However, supervisor training is not often studied in organizational socialization research. Therefore, the verification of the impact of supervisor training on organizational socialization is required. Given the proposed research agenda, identifying the impact of supervisor training on different areas of organizational socialization domains and inspiring increased interest on supervisor training as an effective program for organizational socialization are logical outcomes. Research limitations/implications The concept of socialization is used in broad areas of research, such as education, military and engineering. However, it was reviewed here vis-à-vis human resource development (HRD). Therefore, the focus was on the notion of organizational socialization, which is appropriate for employee training development. The concept of organizational socialization in this paper, therefore, was delimited, as it failed to include all meanings of socialization. This paper sought to review all studies related to organizational socialization. However, some research was not considered and, thus, not discussed in this paper. This was because of time and resource constraints. The author sorted previous studies by personal standards and, thus, may have inadvertently included non-germane or excluded relevant citations. Practical implications Supervisory training for organizational socialization can be proposed as a potential area for leading to an effective organizational socialization program. So HRD professionals should study further about the topic and develop such programs. Increased attention on supervisor training for organizational socialization may increase the number and quality of supervisor training programs. Such studies would augment HRD professionals’ knowledge about organizational socialization and eventually enhance performance in organizations. Social implications This paper can expand the area in which social learning theory can be applied. According to Bandura and Walters (1977), the social learning theory posits that learning new behaviors can usually be acquired by observing and imitating others. This implies that newcomers emulate other organizational members to adapt to the organization and their assigned roles. In this process, supervisors can play a key role through showing them the appropriate behaviors, supporting their learning and providing appropriate feedback. Presumably, then, new employees may perform better if supervisors receive training on crucial socialization efforts. Originality/value Significantly, socialization agents are uniquely situated to greatly impact the organizational socialization process of newcomers. Among the socialization agents, supervisors garner enormous influence on newcomers’ organizational socialization. However, relatively few studies investigated the training of supervisors for organizational socialization.

This review of the literature focuses on an increasingly prevalent global phenomenon known as national occupational standards (NOSs). As the term suggests, NOSs present specific information describing the requirements for individuals’ qualifications to enter and perform successfully in a specific occupation. Many countries rely upon information from NOSs as part of their broader workforce development efforts. In spite of their prevalence, there remain critical questions about their eventual adoption by employers, a situation that HRD researchers could potentially help address based on the unique perspective of the HRD field. This paper seeks to review what is known about NOSs, to discuss the challenges related to their implementation at the organizational and national levels, and finally, to propose how HRD researchers, through their unique perspectives, might contribute to addressing the challenges most commonly encountered when implementing NOSs. It is expected that through this greater awareness, HRD professionals might be able to advance the effective use of this important global phenomenon.

Purpose This study aims to explore and classify the fragmentary findings of previous studies and improve understanding of the overall roles of supervisors in newcomer organizational socialization (NOS) and their relationships to NOS outcomes. Design/methodology/approach The study chiefly involves undertaking a literature review, with an emphasis on the perspective of human resource development (HRD). A structured literature review was conducted to identify and select articles through the Web of Science database. Findings Five important roles of supervisors during NOS – supporting training transfer, providing information, clarifying newcomers’ roles, facilitating sensemaking and providing feedback – were revealed from an examination of extant work. These roles markedly influence five different components of newcomers’ adjustment: task mastery, role clarification, organizational knowledge, social identification and social integration. Research limitations/implications Although the concept of NOS used in this paper did not include all meanings of organizational socialization, the findings proposed key areas that require further study to enhance the understanding of supervisors’ roles for NOS. Practical implications The literature review suggests key efforts that supervisors should pursue to enhance the efficacy of newcomers’ adjustment. HRD professionals can use this information to design supervisor training programs aimed at enhancing supervisors’ knowledge and skills for successful NOS. Originality/value Studies have reported that supervisors markedly impact NOS and ultimately a newcomer’s success or failure. Relatively little work, however, has investigated how supervisors’ roles in the NOS process can enhance newcomers’ successful NOS outcomes.