Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to address the two research gaps in the literature between employee needs and organizational socialization; and organizational socialization and organizational culture by examining the relationships among four employee motivational needs (for achievement, affiliation, autonomy, and power), four organizational socialization content areas (training, understanding, coworker support, and future prospects), and three facets of organizational culture (bureaucratic, innovative, and supportive).

Design/methodology/approach - Questionnaire data of 156 full-time employees from a variety of organizations are analyzed by correlations, regressions, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings - Employee motivational needs explain significant variance for all socialization domains; whereas socialization explains significant variance for all organizational cultures (while needs explain little or no variance for culture). Regression and SEM analyses establish that organizational socialization links employee needs to organizational culture.

Research limitations/implications - Whereas socialization is confirmed as the link between the person and the organization, future studies could examine how the socialization content areas link persons to other organizational variables, such as leadership styles and political behavior.

Practical implications - Employee needs should be taken into account as regards the content domains of organizational socialization programs, and management should consider these domains as relevant to the socialization of employees in all types of organizational cultures.

Originality/value - This is the first empirical study on the interrelationships among employee needs, organizational socialization content areas, and facets of organizational culture.