The process of adaptation in any field cannot be called easy, because it is woven from various difficulties, tricks, surprises, makes people leave their comfort zone, which cannot be pleasant. You need to understand that this is an absolutely normal and natural process, and the occurrence of discomfort is evidence that everything is going according to plan. Labor adaptation is a complex and lengthy process that requires a responsible approach not only from the employee himself, but also from his environment.
Social Adjustment
Social adaptation is a very important point, as it predetermines the well-being of the individual. Getting used to people and society is not so easy, but the ability to adapt to changing conditions and new personalities depends on the psychological he alth of the individual.
Social adaptation can be seen as a one-actprocess, and multi-act. What does it mean? A person who has successfully infiltrated society will feel comfortable in any team if their values, rules of conduct and morality are approximately the same. If he changes teams, then here we will talk more about easy readaptation.
Let's imagine that a person grew up in a Russian village, studied at a rural school and worked all his life in the same environment. His values were formed under this environment, and his habits correspond to the rules of survival among people like him. If this subject decides to drop everything and go to New York, then an incredible number of surprises will await him here: a new language, a new mentality, a different rhythm, currency, values, prices, requirements, landscapes … All this provokes the development of completely new habits, manners, perception, immerses a person in extreme stressful conditions.
The concept of labor adaptation
Labor adaptation is a complex mutual process of adapting a person to the working environment and the same environment to the personality itself. When a new employee comes to work, he masters the norms, rules of conduct, the system of relations within the team. In parallel with this, he learns to work effectively, masters new skills, adapts to the regime.
Labor adaptation is a process, it combines social, professional, psychophysiological, organizational, economic, and cultural adaptation.
Some researchers consider labor adaptation as part of social adaptation.
Types of labor adaptation
Professional adaptation is the development of professional skills, the improvement of knowledge that is necessary to perform one's job in a particular organization. This type of adaptation includes the development of ethical and moral standards, the ability to solve complex professional dilemmas.
Social adaptation is the ability to form positive relationships with members of the work team, to establish external labor contacts.
Psychophysiological adaptation is getting used to physical activity, the convenience of the workplace and space, the remoteness of work from the place of residence and planning depending on this time, etc.
Organizational is getting used to the working regime and work schedule.
Economic adaptation is the familiarization of the employee with the economic mechanisms of the organization, getting used to the size and mode of remuneration of his labor.
Cultural adaptation is the participation of a new employee in various activities that are not included in his working hours and direct duties.
Stages of labor adaptation
The first stage is considered to be the familiarization of a new employee with the enterprise as a whole, with the norms of behavior, with how certain actions are evaluated.
The second stage is the adaptation of the new employee to the new internal laws of the organization and the team, but at this stage he is still guided by his personal or previously acquired attitudes and rules.
At the stage of assimilation, a newemployee to the team. A person at this stage already identifies with this group.
And the last stage is identification, which is characterized by the coincidence of the goals of the new employee and the organization.
How long does adaptation take?
There is no definite answer to this question, since there are different levels of complexity of the duties performed, different methods of adaptation of new employees in the organization itself, types of temperament of the employee himself, his psychotype, work experience and attitude to work.
Some companies are interested in the quick adaptation of a new employee, so they use various methods that help a person quickly integrate into the work process and work productively. These same organizations are least of all interested in staff turnover, therefore, they provide not only professional, but also personal growth, pay attention to the arrangement of the employee’s workspace, choose the most suitable schedule for him, etc. In such cases, the adaptation process is the least painful, it can last from two weeks to one month.
Public organizations are less likely to be interested in the quick adaptation of a new employee, and the process itself is the result of the interest of the team itself and the administration.
Directions of labor adaptation
Not only new employees adapt to the workplace, but also old ones when the enterprise is reorganized, the head is changed, the staff is replenished, etc.
Readaptation process (i.e. re-adaptationadaptation) is typical for workers who returned to the workplace after a vacation or a long sick leave.
Signs of an adapted employee
People often call the process of labor adaptation the understandable word "joined": joined the team, joined the work. When a person performs his direct duties without much difficulty, and being in a team does not cause him discomfort, it can be argued that he is adapted.
What does "without much difficulty" mean? There are professions and positions where the result is impossible without a lot of effort. There are situations that are far from the template, and their implementation requires a creative approach… concepts of the solution path).
A sign of social adaptation in a team is not the complete absence of conflicts, but the ability to solve them constructively. Productive activity should be accompanied by disputes, discussions, but not turn into confrontation. A socially adapted employee knows how to defend his point of view, including if it does not coincide with the opinion of the masses, but at the same time maintain friendly and positive relations with group members.
Work activity as the main way of adaptation
If you think about it, the process of introducing a person into any society occurs through labor activity. Be itmental or physical skills, without them a person cannot be an effective unit in a given society.
The learning process can also be safely equated with labor activity, as it requires significant mental and sometimes physical effort of a person. Having a certain amount of knowledge and skills, a person speaks the language of the profession. Adaptation in the workplace is one of the most effective ways to integrate into society.
A few tips for a new employee
- Don't be afraid to make mistakes. During the period of acquaintance with one's profession in the workplace, small and large gaps should occur. Make an effort to quickly master the skills you need, but don't try to do everything primly perfect. Why? Everything is very simple. First, by showing the maximum of your capabilities in the early days, you set a high bar for yourself, lowering which even by a millimeter, you will seem like a loser or an emotionally burnt out employee.
- Don't try to please every member of the team and everyone will like it. Many new employees experience stress in their first days in the workplace, to drown it out, they try to get a support group. One of the most effective ways is to help everyone. After two weeks, people will get used to your services and any refusal will be perceived as an act of protest. There can be no talk of any full-fledged adaptation of the employee in the future.
- The other extreme is to show your character and climb on the rampage because of every trifle. Such a personality immediately acquiresmyths and hostility from employees. If a new employee causes fear or discomfort in the rest, then sooner or later measures will be taken to remove this "foreign body" from the organization.
Labor adaptation in prisons
Many researchers call labor adaptation of an employee at an enterprise one of the types of social adaptation. It is noted that this is a two-way process, as a consensus is sought between the person and the organization in order to reduce the adaptation process to a minimum. The more successful the adaptation, the sooner the employee will begin to act fruitfully. The goal is to get a product or service quickly.
The centers for labor adaptation of convicts pursue somewhat different goals. Of course, the process is accompanied by both social and psychophysiological adaptation, since the individual has to merge into the society of convicts and get used to a very strict regime. Labor adaptation in places of deprivation of liberty is of a corrective nature. It would not be entirely correct to use the expression "successful adaptation of prisoners", since a person should not adapt to such conditions, he is only obliged to change himself, learn a lesson.
If we talk about the example of the film "The Shawshank Redemption", you can see that the successful adaptation of prisoners still exists. This requires not two weeks or two years, but decades. The thing is that with age, a person’s ability to adapt decreases, and any change in conditions for better or worse requires flexibility of the psyche andperception.
Career Guidance
Vocational guidance and labor adaptation are two interrelated concepts. The first is aimed at young people and those who are looking for a job, in order to make clear the following: what kind of work is suitable for them, what kind of load they can withstand, to determine areas of interest and areas of competence.
If a person does not have the ability or desire to do some work, then adaptation will take place sluggishly and for a long time. An employee can perform another type of activity at a high level, but this work may turn out to be too energy-intensive or morally difficult for this person, which will lead to rapid burnout.
Career guidance is also necessary for a person to soberly assess his abilities, since everyone can cross-stitch, but not everyone can endure this monotonous work 8 hours a day.
There are individuals who manifest themselves in monotonous work, and there are those who are effective in diversity. Each new activity inspires them with enthusiasm and a desire to bring rational suggestions.
