Boosting Newcomer Integration in Public Service: A Diary Study on Microinterventions

The first months in a new organization are a sensitive phase for newcomers as their attitudes are not yet settled. However, public management research has paid limited attention to onboarding tactics that support newcomer integration. This study explores “microinterventions”—brief reflective tasks on the social impact of one’s work—as a novel onboarding tactic. In an eight-week diary study, 31 public management students (Level 2) in placements (194 weekly observations, Level 1) were randomly assigned to a reflection-task or control group. Multilevel analyses showed no significant main effect of reflection tasks on socialization, positive affect, negative affect, or career commitment and no significant interaction effect of reflection task and time. Descriptive means suggested a higher treatment-group level at the first wave, but this early difference did not persist. Findings indicate limited efficacy of reflection-based microinterventions for newcomer integration in this real-world public sector context, though the tactic appears low-risk. We discuss implications for public sector onboarding.