Employees' Adaptation as a Critical Element of Human Resources Management – A Case Study

Human resources management (HRM) constitutes an area which is widely discussed in the literature of the subject. However, when analyzing research results, the fact that the issue of newcomers’ adaptation is not as popular as other HRM aspects, can be observed. On the other hand, it is stressed that proper adaptation contributes to newcomers’ entering work environment and taking over their duties more effectively, facilitates communication in organizations, reduces stress associated with a change of the workplace, boosts employees’ engagement, and as a consequence, provides companies with tangible financial gains. The subject matter of the present paper pertains to employees’ adaptation in organizations. The objective of the paper was to identify factors influencing employees’ adaptation, and evaluate the process in a selected company. The literature of the subject highlights that employees’ adaptation exerts a significant impact upon proper human resources management. However, in business practice of many organizations, adaptation is managed spontaneously, and even disregarded altogether. Therefore, the present study aims at establishing answers to questions on the need for the realization of adaptation, its course, and effectiveness of adaptive actions in the assessed company. While searching for answers to such questions, a review of literature and an empirical study were conducted. In order to carry out the empirical study, a case study method was employed, which constitutes a fundamental method of qualitative studies. Research results indicate that there is applied controlled adaptation in the present company. It resulted from benefits for the newcomer and the organization as well. It was observed that both the owners and the management of the assessed company devote particular attention to supporting newcomers in swift and positive adaptation.