The Role of Organizational Socialization on Job Satisfaction and Commitment of Fee-for-Service Mental Health Clinicians

Abstract

Increases in Americans' mental health needs, coupled with growing shortages of trained mental health clinicians, concern public and private mental health organizations. Increasing job satisfaction and staff commitment is crucial to reducing turnover as agencies compete to hire and retain staff. Currently, there is limited research about organizational socialization practices, job satisfaction, and affective commitment for fee-for-service clinicians working within outpatient mental health clinics. Fee-for-service organizations that want to attract new staff and sustain their existing workforce must examine their organizational socialization practices. With fee-forservice practice, clinicians are compensated based on their billable hours. In the absence of salaries, staff are hired and immediately given caseloads to generate revenue. Often overlooked is the failure to provide resources and skills to mitigate no-shows, cancellations, and time management challenges. This research explored the role of organizational socialization on job satisfaction and the affective commitment of fee-for-services clinicians. It also identified job satisfaction factors that lead to commitment. Eighty-one fee-for-service clinicians completed an online survey of standardized questions to capture data on organizational socialization, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. Data were analyzed using path analysis to examine relationships. The findings revealed a statistically significant correlation between organizational socialization, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. Moreover, job satisfaction had a statistically significant influence on affective commitment.