Meaning and Purpose of Socialization | Human Resource Management

Meaning and Purpose of Socialization!

Meaning: The process by which individuals acquire knowledge, social skills and values to confirm to the values and norms of the organization is called socialization.

In organization, it refers to the process through which a new employees learns formal and informal power structure and explicit and implicit rules of the organization. It makes new employees familiar or acquainted to the new environment of the organization.

In the words of Decenzo and Robbins, "Socialization is the process of adoption that take places as individuals attempt to learn the values and norms of work rules."

In the words of Garry Desselr, "Socialization is the ongoing process of instilling in employees that attitudes, standard, values and patterns of behavior that the organization expects."

In short, socialization is the process by which new employees understand the company's policies, the internal culture, how the company hierarchy works and the way to function effectively in the organization. However, it is not confined to new employees and it is also different from induction, where induction is a part of socialization.

Purpose of Socialization

The main purpose of socialization process is to establish the best possible fit between the person and the position in the organization. Proper socialization becomes a significant factor influencing both employees actual job performance and how other people perceive it. The purpose of socialization are as follows:

1. To reduce anxiety

Some employees feel anxious while joining a new organization. They worry about how well they will perform on the new job. Effective socialization program reduce anxiety of new employees by giving them information on job environment and by introducing them to the co-workers. The new employees feel confident and dedication toward works.

2. To increase employees performance

Since socialization process increases confident to employees it help to boost the work performance as well. Socialization helps new employees to understand and accept organizations culture. The acceptance of socialization activities by the new employees can result in job satisfaction, which leads to better performance. Socialization helps employees to understand right way to do a job.

3. To screen out unsuitable employees

Socialization process not only creates the acceptable environment but also eliminates the unfit employees from the organization. During the socialization process a manager can learn about the acceptable and unacceptable behavior of new employees selected in his department. Generally, new employees who are on probation period and of working type can be screened out. Such employees are not productive for the organization.

4. To increase organizational stability

Socialization is the essential as the newcomers may feel insecure and disturbing. This also leads to instability and turnover. Therefore, the effective socialization activities provide favourable impression about the job and the organization. The newcomers always expect opportunities for advancement and creative work environment. They become the real resources of the organization and they start contributing higher to the organization. The stability of employees and the organization is also increased through socialization process.