14710: Newcomer Help-Seeking in the Age of AI: Unpacking Socialization Mechanisms for Different Resources

Facing the dual challenge of mastering their work tasks and establishing a positive social reputation, newcomers often engage in help-seeking behaviors to become "insiders" within their organization. However, there is a lack of focus on the relationship between the help seeker and giver in the existing literature. With the increasing prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT) in the workplace, employees are increasingly turning to AI for assistance with work-related problems. While seeking help from AI may boost efficiency and alleviate threats to the help-seeker's public competency (due to absence of social cues), it could also hinder newcomers from integrating socially into their organizations. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study examines the motivations behind help-seeking from different sources (colleagues vs. AI) and their relationship with newcomers' socialization outcomes. On the basis of results obtained from time-lagged surveys conducted with 366 newcomers, we find that communal goal orientation positively influences social integration through the mediating effect of help-seeking from colleague. Performance-avoidance orientation, which is generally considered detrimental for newcomers, positively influences work goal progress through the mediating effect of help-seeking from AI, with such effect being strengthened when the competitive climate in organization is high. Our findings suggest a compensatory mechanism in help-seeking from varied sources and offers insights on facilitating newcomer socialization.

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