Abstract

<bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Background:</i></b> Socialization challenges for employee onboarding are well-established in management studies. This study investigates awareness of proactive socialization tactics for newly hired technical communicators. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Literature review:</i></b> The review examines organizational socialization within management studies and technical communication. Literature reveals the relevance and some application of this theory to technical communicators and encourages further research. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Research questions:</i></b> Do experienced professionals recognize proactive socialization tactics as a means of successful onboarding? What proactive socialization tactics do experienced professionals mention as appropriate for new technical writers? <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Methodology:</i></b> Semistructured interviews were conducted with technical writers and their managers (n = 28), and transcripts were coded for instances of proactive socialization tactics (i.e., sensemaking, relationship building, and positive framing) mentioned as challenges faced by newly hired technical writers. <bold xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><i>Results and conclusion:</i></b> Participants overwhelmingly recognized proactive behaviors as valuable, mentioning sensemaking most frequently (n = 25) followed by relationship building (n = 10) and positive framing (n = 5). Results offer four actionable insights for new technical writers: 1. be proactive to move more quickly through stages of onboarding; 2. seek information and feedback by independent learning, asking questions, and volunteering; 3. build relationships through social activities; and 4. aim to frame new or less-desirable tasks positively. Research limitations included sample size, interview methodology, deductive coding, and the prominence of remote/hybrid participants. Future research could explicitly address proactive socialization tactics through surveys for a larger sample size and more generalizable findings and explore differences in tactics specific to onsite versus distributed work arrangements.