How Being Second Choice Affects Your Sense of Belonging at Work

Hires who are not the first choice often feel disconnected at work. Wharton’s Samir Nurmohamed explains why that’s a problem and how managers can help.

No employee likes finding out they were the company’s second choice for a job. Not even Al Pacino.

In his memoir, the legendary actor writes about Paramount pushing back against director Francis Ford Coppola’s decision to hire him for the career-making role of Michael Corleone in “The Godfather.” Studio executives wanted Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, or Robert Redford, not some unknown guy from Broadway. Even after a week and a half of filming, Paramount was still “questioning whether I was the right actor for the part.”

Everything worked out for Pacino, but what about regular people? Wharton management professor Samir Nurmohamed explores that question in his latest research project, which looks at what happens when employees learn they were not the first pick in hiring. The answer has weighty implications for managers who want to build successful teams.

“What we found is that people feel less socially integrated in their work groups. They feel like they belong less, and this makes them feel more distant from their co-workers,” Nurmohamed said in an interview with Wharton Business Daily.

That discomfort makes second-choice workers reluctant to ask for guidance and feedback, which is critical to improving performance, especially in the beginning weeks and months of a job.

His paper, “Beyond the First Choice: The Impact of Being an Alternate Choice on Social Integration and Feedback Seeking,” was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. It was co-authored by Zoe Schwingel-Sauer, doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Nurmohamed, who studies adversity at work, said he wanted to understand the emotional fallout for an employee who is runner-up. Do they feel intimidated, inadequate, unwelcomed, rejected, judged? Does imposter syndrome set in, or do they distance themselves from the group?

“I have an interest in the topic of underdogs, this very idea of what happens when you’re not expected to succeed,” he said. “A lot of prior research says you’re not going to end up doing well.”

The Alternate Choice Effect

The authors set up three studies to test their theory. First, they recruited 499 full-time U.S. employees and randomly assigned them to think of a time when they were first choice or alternate choice for a role. Alternate choices reported significantly less social integration, which led them to solicit less feedback. The results held regardless of demographic factors such as race and age, or whether employees learned directly or indirectly that they were an alternate.

Next, the authors surveyed about 1,000 newly hired interns across a number of industries, asking them a series of questions before the internship began and six weeks after it started. Again, those who knew they were not the first choice for the role were more withdrawn from their peer group.

“We were finding this consistent effect, this consistent pattern, that employees who were the alternate choice felt less socially integrated and therefore seek less feedback,” Nurmohamed said. “We thought, if we’re seeing this, is there anything the organization can do, and in particular that the leader can do?”

For their final study, the authors turned the tables and focused on managers. They recruited 850 participants who were told they were either the first or alternate choice for a team. Those “employees” were then messaged by their team leader, who was either highly inclusive and asked for their ideas, or simply instructed the participant to submit work without input.

The results showed that when leaders were more inclusive, the alternate-choice employees were more engaged and proactive. The negative effects of being the alternate were weakened but not eradicated. Nurmohamed said that’s an important caveat.

“It didn’t totally eliminate the effect. It wasn’t enough, in our study,” he said.

Ensuring a Sense of Belonging for New Hires

Although inclusivity didn’t completely lift the emotional baggage of being second, it made a large enough impact that the scholars encourage managers to make new hires feel welcome. Nurmohamed said there are many opportunities for leaders to do so: Introduce the employee to the team by sharing the attributes or work experience that make them a good fit. Ask for their input and incorporate their ideas. Let others see that you trust and value the new hire. And share personal experiences, perhaps about also being an underdog, to build rapport.

“People think they are alone in this situation, but chances are there is someone on your team who has had it and been quite successful,” Nurmohamed said. “Sharing their stories and connecting with those individuals as mentors, for example, can be really valuable and let people know this doesn’t get in the way of their performance or motivation or how they are seen.”

What doesn’t work is trying to hide it, he said. Employees often find out they were not the first choice. Sometimes they are told directly by the hiring manager or human resources during hiring; sometimes they learn about it through gossip or idle talk.

“It’s really hard to keep a lid on it,” Nurmohamed said. “So, it’s not just a matter of ‘Don’t tell.’ The better way of addressing this is, ‘How are we going to reveal this, and how should we be talking about this? And how can we help people be onboarded?’”