Employee Socialization

Onboarding tools may teach a new hire everything about their job, but without proper Employee Socialization opportunities, they’ll never feel truly at home at the company.

• Why is Employee Socialization important?A job is much more than just typing words into a computer, giving a presentation, or hammering a nail – it’s being part of an organization full of people that need to work together and get along in order to achieve success. So when an employee isn’t given opportunities to engage with other members of the organization, get to know them as individuals, and learn all their skills, positive traits, and personality quirks, that employee is far more likely to struggle, work below their abilities, or leave the organization quickly. Employee Socialization seeks to engage all employees with each other and with the organizational culture in order to avoid poor performance and high turnover.
• Is Employee Socialization part of the onboarding process?Great employers often work hard to make Employee Socialization a part of their onboarding process, as they want a new hire to not only learn the job, but to integrate themselves into the organizational culture as effectively as possible. However, Employee Socialization isn’t strictly limited to the onboarding process – opportunities for Employee Socialization can be offered to all employees, regardless of tenure or career stage.
• How can my organization ensure proper Employee Socialization?Sometimes, Employee Socialization can take the form of structured activities scheduled by the organization. Sometimes, it can be small, organic interactions like water cooler talk, morning “hellos,” or chatter leading into a meeting. Regardless, the best way you can ensure Employee Socialization occurs is by simply allowing it to happen. While we do need to eventually buckle down and get work done, creating activities that are too-tightly structured to allow for genuine interpersonal engagement, chastising casual office conversation, and discouraging social interaction are all ways that an organization can inadvertently tamper down the positive effects of Employee Socialization.
• What are some Employee Socialization ideas?As discussed above, much of Employee Socialization will happen organically in those micro-interactions we have with coworkers every day. However, the best employers will find ways to actively encourage Employee Socialization with activities that can include holiday parties, corporate happy hours, company picnics, and more. Of course, these are just the cliché ideas – think outside the box and your organization can certainly come up with unique, fun, and genuinely positive team-building options that will surprise and delight.