Attraction - Selection - Attrition - ASA Theory 🔎📝

-

Attraction - Selection - Attrition - ASA Theory

Ben Schneider proposed the ASA framework in a landmark 1987 article. The framework states that an organization seeks out and chooses individuals who share its values, personality, and attitudes (Schneider, Goldstein, & Smith, 1995). Individuals who don't fit in will eventually leave the organization. The process then produces a limited and thus more homogeneous range of people sharing similar attributes that produce similar kinds of behavior through the cycles of attraction, selection, and attrition. 

In simple terms the theory explains the encompassing three stages in an organization, attraction, selection and attrition. It is a cycle that shows why people become attracted to an organization, why they are preferably selected for an organization and how over time they may leave if they see it no longer fitting their personal needs.



Attraction

Individual preferences for particular organizations are determined by an inbuilt assessment of how closely those organizations resemble their personal traits (Schneider, Goldstein, Smith, 1995). Values, interests, and other characteristics are the most important of these similarities. People are drawn to certain organizations because their members are like them; as a result, they find this organization "attractive," or a place where they could see themselves working.  This cycle's attraction section reveals that similar individuals ending up at the same company is not a coincidence.

Selection

The hiring and recruitment periods for companies are addressed in the second step of the model. According to the ASA model, organizations are more likely to choose individuals with similar knowledge, skills, and abilities as their current members. In this scenario, candidates and an organization choose one another based on how well they fulfill one another's needs (Ployhart, Weekley, Baughman, 2006).

Attrition

Those who do not fit in with the organization will eventually leave, according to the model's third step. As an individual begins to grow, so will the organization they are a part of. An individual must leave the organization if they feel their needs are no longer being met because they are no longer similar to one another.

Application of ASA theory

According to ASA, the cycle's three steps can produce people with distinct personalities for an organization, and it's these personalities that can result in the development of distinctive cultures and processes that help define strong organizations (Schneider, 1995, p. 753). 
Fitting the individual's personality with the organization's modal personality is a crucial component that affects the relationship between the individual and the organizational culture. (Stevens, 2010, p.108). 



References :

Ployhart, R. E., Weekley, J. A., & Baughman, K.. (2006). The Structure and Function of Human Capital Emergence: A Multilevel Examination of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition Model. The Academy of Management Journal, 49(4), 661–677. http://doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.2307/20159791

Schneider, B., Goldstein, H. W., & Smith, D. B. (1995). The ASA framework: An update. Personnel Psychology, 48(4), 747-773.

Schneider, B., Smith, D. B., and Goldstein, H. W. (1995). An update on the ASA framework. 48(4) Personnel Psychology, 747–747

Stevens, C. Szmerekovsky, J. G. (2010). Attraction to employment advertisements: advertisement wording and personality characteristics. Journal of Managerial Issues, 22(1), 107–126

Comments

  1. Oshada Vinod RanasingheDecember 14, 2023 at 10:27 AM

    Indeed, The dynamic relationship between people and organizations may be clearly understood through the lens of ASA theory, which also highlights the importance of personal preferences and values in the hiring and retention process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Piyumi Wickramasinghe December 15, 2023 at 6:40 PM

      Agree. Understanding and applying ASA theory is crucial for organizations as it can impact employee satisfaction, performance, and overall organizational effectiveness. It emphasizes the role of organizational culture in attracting, selecting, and retaining individuals, thereby shaping the character and identity of the workplace.

      Delete
    2. JasothanDecember 19, 2023 at 11:27 AM

      Agreed. Individuals and companies both see whether they fit within an organization's culture. If the fit does not work for both, neither organization will recruit the potential candidate, nor the candidate work in the company for the long term. For this ASA theory is a practical model to apply and very relevant for the context.

      Delete
  2. Nishadhi PintoDecember 20, 2023 at 5:35 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nishadhi PintoDecember 20, 2023 at 5:38 AM

    Yes, B. Schneider (1987) developed the ASA model, which shows how organizations are headed toward member homogeneity as a result of people being drawn to, chosen from, and remaining members of groups that fit their unique personal traits. Members that emerge from this process with particular qualities "thus define the organization's nature, its structures, procedures, and culture." ( Jones et al, 1998) Great article.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Types of Organizational Culture 🤝🏨

-
Image
Types of Organizational Culture   There are four primary types of workplace cultures. according to University of Michigan academics Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron. The researchers classified it based on competing values as 1. Flexibility vs stability & 2. Internal vs external. (Cameron & Quinn, 2006)   All organizations have a unique combination of these four types of organizational cultures, with one type usually dominating. The likelihood that there are multiple cultures within an organization increases with its size. This could be beneficial to the company, but it could also be disadvantageous when trying to create a cohesive culture in a geographically and globally spread organization.                  The Adhocracy Culture   Also known as create culture. This workplace is vibrant and innovative. Employees take risks. People view leaders as risk-takers and innovators. Innovation and expe...
Read more

Categories of artifacts through which corporate culture is deciphered.🌐⚛️

-
Image
Four categories of artifacts through which corporate culture is deciphered.     Source : Authors own Employees at Galvanize frequently use the expression "put the moose on the table," which denotes the need to talk about an uncomfortable but important topic. Even moose artifacts are kept by the Vancouver-based software company to raise awareness of this crucial practice.  (Laurie,2020) The continuous expression of a company's values via its artifacts is called organizational culture .  Any lasting event or object made by an organizational member is considered an artifact.   Certain company artifacts are tangible, like the design of a building, a placard in the lobby, or bean bag chairs. A benefit policy, a logo, corporate legend about an action taken by the CEO, or a culture movie are just a few examples of artifacts that lack a tangible form.           ...
Read more

Importance of Organizational culture 📌🎯

-
Image
Why is organizational culture important? Part 1 Organizational culture affects how employees experience an organization , and consists of the values, behaviors, beliefs, expectations, and communication style that go along with it. Understanding one’s own workplace culture can reveal the level of employee engagement, opportunities to attract new talent and improve retention . How does it feel to be a part of a great organization? Organizational culture can answer that, as it affects every aspect of one’s perception of an organization .      Employee engagement   The level of commitment, motivation, and satisfaction that employees have with their work and work environment is known as employee engagement. Although there are many factors that affect it, organizational culture is one of the most significant ones. For employees who share the same vision and mission, it fosters a sense of identity and belonging. It creates an environment of mutual respect and trust be...
Read more