Research has shown that the use of digital technologies in the personnel selection process can have both positive and negative effects on applicants’ attraction to an organization. We explain this contradiction by specifying its underlying mechanisms. Drawing on signaling theory, we build a conceptual model that applies two different theoretical lenses (instrumental-symbolic framework and justice theory) to suggest that perceptions of innovativeness and procedural justice explain the relationship between an organization’s use of digital selection methods and employer attractiveness perceptions. We test our model by utilizing two studies, namely one experimental vignette study among potential applicants (N = 475) and one retrospective field study among actual job applicants (N = 335). With the exception of the assessment stage in Study 1, the positive indirect effects found in both studies indicated that applicants perceive digital selection methods to be more innovative. While Study 1 also revealed a negative indirect effect, with potential applicants further perceiving digital selection methods as less fair than less digitalized methods in the interview stage, this effect was not significant for actual job applicants in Study 2. We discuss theoretical implications for the applicant reactions literature and offer recommendations for human resource managers to make use of positive signaling effects while reducing potential negative signaling effects linked to the use of digital selection methods.

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This study integrates research on newcomer socialization and work teams to examine how the team environment facilitates or hinders the translation of human capital into newcomer performance in professional sports teams. Using large, multiyear and multilevel data from the top five European professional football leagues, we examine how individual-level newcomer human capital and the teamlevel characteristics (prior team performance, number of newcomers) influence individual newcomer performance during two different socialization contexts (when more vs. less time for socialization is provided). We found that individual human capital was positively related to newcomer performance across socialization contexts while the direct relationships between team variables and performance were conditional on the socialization context. Prior team performance was positively related to newcomer performance when more time for socialization was provided, but prior team performance as well as the number of newcomers were negatively related to newcomer performance when less time for socialization was provided. Beyond the direct relationships, our results show that human capital was less positively related to newcomer performance when newcomers joined higher performing teams across socialization contexts. These findings extend our understanding of the complex relationships between individual human capital and the team's socialization environment on newcomer performance and advance new knowledge regarding conditions that facilitate the success of newcomers who join existing (operating) teams.

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