Humour as an indicator of workplace socialisation

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Abstract

As a consequence of frequent changes in employers and workplaces, professionals are often faced with the challenge of having to learn “how to do things” in their new workplaces and “how to become fully integrated members”. Learning how to communicate appropriately is an important aspect of this socialisation process (Wenger, 1998). We look at one of the particularly interesting discursive strategies in this context, namely humor.

Drawing on more than nine hours of authentic discourse collected in three workplaces in Hong Kong supplemented by over 15 interviews with newcomers, this paper contributes to research on the role of humor in the socialisation process. In particular, we employ the community of practice framework to illustrate how newcomers in different workplaces actually learn (and at times resist) to use humor appropriately in ways that characterise the discursive repertoire negotiated among members in their new work environment.

Findings illustrate that for newcomers, humor is a double edged sword, which may be an advantage as well as a handicap: it enables them to participate without being fully responsible for the consequences, but it may also exclude them from participation marking them as outsiders. For researchers, however, investigating humor is an excellent way of gaining insights into workplace socialisation.

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