1 Intro to Organisational Psychology

Question 1

Define organisational psychology?

Answer 1

The study of behaviour in work settings and the application of psychological principles to change work behaviour

Question 2

What does organisational psychology look at?

Answer 2

human behaviour in the workplace and how we can make it more productive/efficient and enjoyable

(it may NOT be a field in itself, but defines the types of questions being addressed and the context of studying behaviour)

Question 3

What were the beginnings of the history of organisational psychology

Answer 3

Walter Dill Scott: first to apply psychology to advertising, employee selection and management issues

Hugo Musterburg: advocated the use of psychological tests in the selection

Question 4

How did WW1 and the testing movement impact the history of organisational psychology?

Answer 4

U.S army commissioned psychologists to devise two intelligence tests for the placement of army recruits

Post-war, the test was adapted for civilian use and new ones were designed for a variety of situations

Question 5

How did The Hawthorne Studies and Motivational Issues impact the history of organisational psychology?

Answer 5

Simply being studied or paying attention to workers increases their productivity - didn’t matter what they changed they always increased

BUT: further research has debunked the original studies as problematic (people chose their groups, people were removed from the sample and one lady worked extraordinary amounts)

Question 6

How did World War II impact the history of organisational psychology

Answer 6

Psychologists called to improve the selection and placement of military personnel

Question 7

What are the later developments of the history in organisational psychology

Answer 7

• Dramatic growth in field corresponding with growth in U.S business and technical enterprise
• New technologies meant that employees needed training programs
• Organisational issues also assumed greater important (e.g. human relations skills)

Question 8

Define job analysis

Answer 8

The procedure for determining the duties and skills requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for it

Question 9

Define job descriptions

Answer 9

A list of what the job entails

Question 10

Define Job specifications

Answer 10

a list of a job’s human requirements, or what kind of people to hire for this job

Question 11

What is the information obtained by the job analysis used for?

Answer 11

The information obtained is then used for developing job descriptions and job specifications

Question 12

What is the purpose of job analysis?

Answer 12

Job Analysis plays an important role in recruitment and selection, job evaluation, job designing, deciding compensation and benefits packages, performance appraisal, analyzing training and development needs, assessing the worth of a job and increasing personnel as well as organizational productivity

Question 13

What are the main steps in a Job Analysis Project?

Answer 13

1. Identify purpose
2. Who to Include*
3. What methods to choose*
4. Communicate the project
5. Collect all relevant materials
6. Analyse the job
7. Write up and integrate the data
8. Review
9. Feedback outcomes

Question 14

What are the sources of job information?

Answer 14

The job incumbent, supervisor and trained job analyst

In general, incumbents and supervisors are the best sources of descriptive job information, and job analysts are better qualified for comparisons among a set of jobs

Question 15

What are subject matter experts (SME)?

Answer 15

A person who has direct, up to date experience with the job for a long enough time to be familiar with all of its tasks

Question 16

What are the methods to collect Job Analysis Information?

Answer 16

1. Review Written Materials
2. Standardised measures
3. Job Participation
4. Interviews
5. Job diaries/Activity logs
6. Observations*
7. Survey questionnaires*
8. Focus groups*

*case study

Multiple methods are preferred but select the most appropriate for the purpose

Question 17

What is involved in reviewing written materials in collecting job analysis information

Answer 17

E.g., previous job descriptions, O*NET

Existing material should always be checked to ensure that it is contemporary and relevant

Always check the information is suitable for the region (relevant)

Make sure it’s contemporary - things are always changing so may have different requirements for the job

Question 18

What are standardised measures in collecting job analysis information?

Answer 18

e.g. Position analysis questionnaire (PAQ): a structured questionnaire that analyses various jobs in terms of almost 200 job elements that are arranged into six categories
 Information input 
 Mental processes 
 Work output 
 Relationships with other persons 
 Job context 
 Other job characteristics

No need to make a questionnaire that already exists

Question 19

What is job participation in collecting job analysis information

Answer 19

• A job analyst performs a particular job or job operation to get a first-hand understanding of how the job is performed
• A whole lot of information when you’re actually doing the job yourself compared to seeing someone do them

Question 20

What do interviews entail in collecting job analysis information

Answer 20

Ask SME’s about: the major duties of the position; the education, experience and skill required; the physical and mental demands etc.

Accounts may be biased, so job analysts may want to interview the job incumbent, the incumbent’s supervisor, the incumbents’ subordinates, and other people with the same job.

Question 21

What do job diaries/activity logs in collecting job analysis information?

Answer 21

• Job incumbents record their daily activities in a dairy
• Provides a detailed account of the worker’s job
• Can be quite time consuming
• Can spend more time writing or logging than actually doing the job

Question 22

what are the disadvantages of job analysis

Answer 22

Time-consuming, involves personal biasness, source of data is extremely small, involves lots of human efforts, job analyst may not possess appropriate skills and mental abilities cannot be directly observed

Question 23

Case Study Example: Frontline Police Officer Job Analysis

Answer 23

Purpose: To identify the “inherent requirements”
of frontline policing

When defending a claim, employers must draw
on objective and current evidence regarding
essential aspects of the role

Job analysis: observations, survey and focus groups

Question 24

What would the inherent requirements be?

Answer 24

• Actually performed on the job
• Universally required of all employees in that
  position
• A fundamental part of the job

Question 25

What is the purpose of job analysis: observations?

Answer 25

To validate previous police job descriptions and to enable the researchers to better understand the nature of the job

Almost 300 hours spent observing 36 frontline
police officers (9 female, 27 male) from rural
and metropolitan areas

Question 26

Explain the tests used for selection in WWI

Answer 26

Two intelligence tests for placement of Army recruits

• Alpha: recruits who could read and write
• Beta: recruits who could not read ad write

After the war, tests were adapted for civilian use

Question 27

Observation strengths & weaknesses

Answer 27

Strengths
• Provides detailed information about the job
• The observer can learn about culture and jargon

Weaknesses
• Costly and time consuming to get large
sample size
• Time sampling– the amount of time and
frequency of sampling
• Observed participants may behave differently
• Observers may not be able to determine
what was required to undertake the task
performed
• Critical/infrequent tasks not observed

Question 28

Job Analysis: Survey

Answer 28

• To address the considerations of the observations study
• To survey the frequency and importance of
  several abilities for police officers

Question 29

Survey strengths & weaknesses

Answer 29

Strengths
• Large, representative sample easier to obtain
• Can inform about infrequent events
• Anonymous

Weaknesses
• Response biases of a self-report measure
• Does not allow for qualitative assessment
•Information obtained is limited by the
questions asked. Cannot probe deeper

Question 30

Job Analysis: Focus Groups

Answer 30

To obtain a more qualitative assessment of
frontline officer’s own perceptions of the
skills and abilities required

To qualify information gained from the
questionnaire study

Question 31

Focus Groups strengths & weaknesses

Answer 31

Strengths
• Allowed for open-ended feedback from 
officers 
• Subjective information enhanced 
understanding of survey findings

Weaknesses
• Small sample size
• Influence of researchers or senior officers

Question 32

Job Analysis: Police Findings

Answer 32

Key characteristics often include: honesty,
reliability, sensitivity, communication
skills, motivation, problem solving skills,
and team work

Question 33

What are the issues with job analyses?

Answer 33

-Jobs change over time, so job analyses
should be conducted on a periodic basis

• The concept of a ‘job’ has been changing over the past few years.
• Organisations need to be flexible and responsive to compete in the global environment. Thus, jobs are less well defined now and tend not to have a clearly delineated set of responsibilities.

Question 34

What is organisational psychology?

Answer 34

Organisational psychology is the application of psychological principles

Question 35

when did research in organisational psychology begin?

Answer 35

20th century

Question 36

What is job analysis information used for?

Answer 36

Job analysis information can be used for developing job descriptions and job specifications, the starting point for many personnel functions

Question 37

Collection of job analysis information

Answer 37

Job analysis information can be collected in a number of different ways. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, so multiple approaches are preferred

Question 38

What is conducting a job analysis essential for?

Answer 38

recruiting and selection decisions, performance appraisal and promotion, job evaluation wage and salary decisions (compensation), training requirements

Question 39

What is the importance of conducting a job analysis

Answer 39

Job analysis is backing up legal requirements/guidelines for jobs