The Relationship between Career Aspiration and Organizational Socialization among Employees of General Offices of Sports and Youth in Northwest of Iran

Career aspirations are career paths which provide employee's career lives with maintenance, order and meaning. These aspirations are resources of self- knowledge and stability in career. Researches showed that career aspirations can influence the improvement of variables related to human resource management including organizational socialization which plays a vital role in the initial stages of employee's recruitment and career path. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between career aspirations and organizational socialization among the employees of general offices of Sports and Youth in northwest of Iran. The present study was descriptive and correlation conducted as a field study. The statistical population consisted of all male and female employees in general offices of Sports and Youth in northwest of Iran and 263 subjects were selected using non-random purposive sampling method as the sample of the study. In order to collect data, two standard questionnaires of career aspiration based on Bigliardi et al. (2005) model and organizational socialization according to Taormina (1997) model were used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient as well as multivariate regression) were used to analyze the data. The results indicated a significant and positive relationship between career aspirations and its features (Technical/functional competence, general managerial competence, organizational stability, entrepreneurial creativity, service or dedication, autonomy/independency, lifestyle and pure challenge) and organizational socialization and its dimensions (training, understanding, employee's support and future prospect of organization) (P<0.01). Meanwhile, general managerial competence and organizational stability can predict organizational socialization positively and significantly. So, employees’ career aspirations can play an effective role in facilitating their socialization.