Recruitment and selection as part of the socialization process: a case study in an ngo

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze how the recruitment and selection process works as part of the socialization process of the members of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) of voluntary work. The socialization process is important because of the absence of contractual and financial incentives in the process of retaining its members, which may result in problems of high turnover. The recruitment and selection process of NGO members and their adaptation through socialization are essential to understand the member-organization relationship (Hashi-Leventhal and Bargal, 2008; Motta, 1993, Van Maanen, 1996). Therefore, we conducted a case study in an international organization of students in which we analyzed the recruitment and selection process conducted by three local committees (LC) during the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. It was seen that the recruitment and selection process, in its formal and informal part, emphasizes the socialization of prospective members through dichotomous socialization strategies, occurring in a complementary manner. The description of this process helps to understand the dynamics of the integration of new members, especially when the relationship between the member and the organization is not financially mediated. The theoretical contribution of the paper is to present a more complex picture of the relationship between organizational practices and socialization than the picture usually found in current literature, showing how the discretion of the members at the time of the selection process ultimately influence the outcome of organizational socialization.

Key words: socialization, recruitment, voluntary work.