Organizational Psychology is the science of psychology applied to work and organizations. It is a field of enquiry that spans more than a century and covers and increasingly diverse range of topics as the nature of work continues to evolve.
The Field of Organizational Psychology focuses on increasing workplace productivity and related issues such as the physical and mental well being of employees. Organizational psychologists perform a wide variety of tasks, including studying organizational culture, employee attitudes and behaviour, organization effectiveness, individual performance management, employee well-being and conducting leadership and Team Development programme. The overall goal of this field is to study and understand human behaviour in the workplace.
There are two elements to Organizational Psychology. The first element is often referred to as personnel psychology, which involves looking at how to best match individuals to specific job roles. Work in this area might include assessing employee characteristics and then matching these individuals to jobs in which they are likely to perform well. Other work would include training employees, developing job performance standards, and measuring job performance.
The second element of Organizational Psychology is the organizational and is more focused on understanding how organizations affect individual behaviour. Organizational structures, social norms, management styles, and role expectations are all factors that can influence how people behaviour within an organization. By understanding such factors it is possible to improve individual performance and health while at the same time benefiting the organization as a whole.
Organizational psychology is an applied field, but basic theoretical research is also essential. With roots in experimental psychology, Organizational psychology has a number of different sub-areas such as human-computer interaction, personnel psychology, and human factors covering six main subject areas;
- Learning and development: – determine what type of skills are necessary to perform specific jobs as well as develop and evaluate employee training programs.
- Employee Selection: – developing employee selection assessments, such as screening tests to determine if job applicants are qualified for a particular position.
- Ergonomics: – designing procedures and equipment designed to maximize performance and minimize injury.
- Performance Management: – developing assessments and techniques to determine if employees are doing their jobs well.
- Work Life: – improving employee satisfaction and maximizing the productivity of the workforce, finding ways to make jobs more rewarding or design programs that improve the quality of life in the workplace.
- Organizational Development: – help improve organizations, often through increasing profits, redesigning products, and improving the organizational structure.
Theory and Principles of Organizational Psychology
- The Nature of Organizational Psychology
- Uncovering Causality
- Multivariate Dynamics in Organizational Science
- Individual Differences: Challenging our Assumptions
- Behaviour, Performance and Effectiveness
- Recruitment and Competitive Advantage: A Brand Equity Perspective
- Personnel Selection
- Work Design
- Performance Management
- Organizational Justice
- Work Motivation
- Learning, Training and Development
- Person-Environment Fit
- Dynamic Performance
- Organizational Socialization
- Organizational Culture and Organizational Climate
- A Social Network Perspective