chapter 15 Flashcards
Defining Industrial / Organizational Psychology
study of behavior in work settings and the application of psychological principles to change work behavior; study of the ways we can help people be more productive at work.
Goals:
promote effective job performance
improve employee health, safety, and well-being
Attributes Necessary for Successful Job Performance
Knowledge
Skill
Ability
Other Personal Characteristics
Job-oriented approach
Determine the tasks involved in a job
Person-oriented approach
Determine the KSAOs required for the job
Personality-oriented approach
Determine the personality characteristics associated with success on a job
Methods of Job Analysis
Employees fill out questionnaires about their jobs
Trained job analysts observe people doing their jobs
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
O*NET
The ONET program is the nation’s primary source of occupational information. The ONET database contains information on hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors. ONET OnLine is an interactive application for exploring and searching occupations. ONET provides the basis for Career Exploration Tools, a set of valuable assessment instruments for workers and students looking to find or change careers.
Measuring Employee Characteristics: Individual Tests
Skill demonstrations
Standardized intelligence tests
Situational judgment tests (SJTs)
Tests of job-relevant knowledge
Personality tests
Integrity tests
Measuring Employee Characteristics: Interviews
Structured interviews
Use lists of specific topics or specifically worded questions
Unstructured interviews
Spontaneous, variable conversations
Structured interviews lead to better hiring decisions
Focus on job-related knowledge and skills
Reduce personal bias in hiring
Measuring Employee Characteristics: Assessment Centers
Two- to three days of exercises that simulate aspects of a job
In-basket exercises
Interpersonal skills simulations
Successfully predict performance in many jobs
e.g., teachers, police officers, pilots, managers
Problems:
Expensive and time-consuming
May add little information beyond interviews and tests
Measuring Job Performance: Criteria Used for Appraisal
Theoretical criteria:
General ideas of good or poor performance
Actual criteria:
What to measure to determine if the theoretical criteria are met
Measuring Job Performance:Objective Measures
get an unbiased assessment of job performance (a score or number)
Counting the frequency of particular behaviors or the results of those behaviors
Link theoretical and actual performance criteria
Not useful for all jobs
Some performance criteria cannot be evaluated by counting things
leniency error
rating a person’s performance too positively
halo effect
overall impression influences individual judgments
prejudice
negative assessment of particular people or groups
Validation studies determine…
how well these methods predict job performance
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
Steps organizations must take to ensure fairness
Personnel decisions must be based only on job-related criteria
Only validated tests and other assessment data may be used in personnel decisions
Training-level criteria
Employee impressions of the training
Trainee learning criteria
Tests of knowledge and skill development
Performance-level criteria
Transfer of training to the workplace
Existence, Relatedness,Growth (ERG) Theory Three categories of needs
Existence needs involve things needed for survival
Relatedness needs involve social contact
Growth needs involve personal development
Expectancy Theory
People will work hard when they believe it will be worth the effort
Expected results of their actions
Value they place on these results
Goal-Setting Theory
Employees will be motivated to choose, engage in, and persist at behaviors that take them closer to their goals
Arranging for employees to spend some time setting specific goals can lead to better job performance
Goals should be:
Chosen, or at least accepted, by the employees
Challenging but not impossible
Specific
Components of Job Satisfaction
Affective / Emotional
e.g., pride, excitement, boredom, anxiety
Behavioral
e.g., voluntarily working late, absenteeism
Cognitive
e.g., finding it challenging or too difficult
Measuring Job Satisfaction
Global approach
Overall feelings about the job
Facet approach
Attitudes about specific aspects of the job
Occupational Health Psychology:Physical Conditions Affecting Health
Design safety training programs
Preventing repetitive strain injuries
Work Schedules, Health, and Safety
Rotating shift work
Disrupts circadian rhythms
May result in physical and psychological difficulties
Long shifts and long weeks
May cause problems due to fatigue
Work Groups
Two or more people who interact as they perform the same or different tasks
Autonomous Work Groups
Self-managing
Group determines how best to achieve goals
Work together toward their goals
Each member rotates among jobs so everyone performs every task
Design and order their own tools
Conduct their own product inspections
Participate in hiring and firing decisions
Benefits of Autonomous Work Groups
Higher levels of job satisfaction
Productivity is as good or better than traditional arrangements
Less cost with fewer supervisors
Particularly effective in organizations that had previously suffered from an inefficient and unsatisfying work climate
Qualities of a Good Leader
Universal traits
Intelligence
Trustworthiness
Team-oriented style
Personality traits
Agreeableness
Emotional stability
Extraversion
Conscientiousness
Values of other traits depend on social, cultural, and situational factors
