Interview

Socialization

“All marriages are happy. It’s the living together afterward that caused all the trouble”  (Raymond Hull)

In organization people should know and accept behaviour that the organization views as desirable. So every individual should act and react as per the organizational requirement. This phenomenon is called socialization. In other work, socialization is the process of learning the organizational culture and how to live or adapt within it.

According to Whrther and Davis, “Socialization is the ongoing process through which an employee beings to understand and accept the values, norms and beliefs held by others in the organization.”

Thus, socialization is the process of understanding and reacting in organizational environment as per the expectation of organizational settings.

Purpose of socialization

The purposes of socialization are as follows:

a.  To familiarize an individual in organizational settings: Organization has their own culture, rule and regulation and practices which distinguish form one another. New employee should understand these factors to become a member and act as per the requirements. Thus to familiarize an individual in an organizational setting socialization is a crucial task.

b.  To reduce anxiety: New employees may suffer from serious anxiety while joining an organization. It is due to fear of new environment, personal expectation etc. Socialization helps to reduce the worry by providing information about the new job situation, role to be played and proper instruction.

c.  To increase employee performance and satisfaction: Once the person is socialize in the organizational setting it is believed that an individual will performed better and continuously increase the degree o f satisfaction. This further enhances the creativity and imagination. Thus, socialization helps to improve the individual performance level.

d.  To identify the employees behaviour: Socialization not only help to familiarize but also helps to find out whether an individual in accepting or rejecting the organizational culture and practice. Thus, to identify the deviants and norms-rejecting employees socialization is vital in any organization.

Process of socialization

1. Pre-arrival stage
2. Encounter stage
3. Metamorphosis stage

Process of Socialization

a. Pre-arrival Stage: Every individual make a prior image of a job performance and job environment while entering into a job. It is outlined form the previous education, work experiences recruitment and selection process. Thus, success of socialization depends upon the degree to which the selected member has correctly anticipated the expectation and desires of those in the organization.

b. Encounter Stage: In this stage, the individual confronts the possible difference between the work reality and his/her expectation. If expectation proves to have been more or less accurate, the encounter stage just validates the prior perception. However, in the case of deviation, the new employ must undergo socialization, which detach him/her from the previous assumption and replace these with the organization’s basic standard. Usually, effective recruitment and selection process reduces such deviation in individual’s expectation and workplace reality of an organization.

c. Metamorphosis Stage: The new member must suit in the organizational setting. This means going through the change as per the organizational requirement, which is also called metamorphosis. Under this stage, the new member becomes comfortable with the organization and their job .She/he has internalized the norms of the organization and their work groups. He/she feels accepted by the peers as trusted and valued individuals. He/she is self confident and has competence to complete the jobs successfully. Successful metamorphosis should have a positive impact on the new employees’ productivity and their commitment to the organization and reduce their propensity to leave the organization.