occupational psych Flashcards
Aims of OP
- ensure physical and mental wellbeing of employees
- understand human behaviour in the work place
- increase work place productivity
- improve organisational and individual performance
person job fit
how does their skills fit demands of job
person-organisation fit
How well does their personality and values fit job
KASO stands for
knowledge skills abilities and other characteristics
men tend to go for jobs that are advertised as what
greater masculine words such as leader, competitive and dominan
what is attraction selection attrition theory theory?
how the job and organization are described influences who will apply, people will choose environments that match their disposition.
what are they types of bias within recruitment selection?
beautyism
halo effect
horns effect
similar to me
stereotyping
what is halo effect?
Positive first impression influences their judgement
what is horns effect?
Positive first impression influences their judgement
what is strength based recruitment?
- increases employment engagement
- increases self esteem and decreasing percieved stress
- lower employee turnover
- make employees feel more supported and included when appraisals are strength based
strength-based interviewing?
Focus more on: what candidates strengths are, how effect they use them and how engaged/motivated they are.
what is systematic slsection?
techniques used to avoid bias and identify best candidate
- ability and aptitude tests, asses general mental ability (GMA) and cognitive tests are powerful in predicting performance
- personality tests—> interest values and motivations
what is general mental ability?
The path from the ability to do something to actually being able to complete it.
higher learning ability —> quicker knowledge acquisition —> steeper learning curve
more complex job means the better GMA predicts performance
Construct validity
does the test measure what it claims to?
face validity?
is it relevant to candidates
content validity
is it relevnant to the role
criterion validity
does it predict job perfomrance
what are the traits in the five factor model of personality?
openness
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness
neuroticism
what jobs are low neuroticism found in?
low = calm, self confident
found in –> construction and building
high neuroticism
anxious and pensive
buisness and public service positions
conscientiousness
organised
skilled trades and managerial positions
agreeableness
maintaining positive relations
personal care leisure and teaching
openness
creativity
media and sports, teaching or research
maslows hierachry of needs
self actualisation
esteem
love
safety
physiological needs
McClelland - Motivation as a trait
we have the same three needs but in different amounts and we will be picked by the one the employer wants the most.
what are McClellands three traits
- need for achievement - drive to do well and succeed
- need for affiliation - develop close and meaningful relationships
- need for power - control and influence others
Self-determination theory
self-determination is the ability to make your own choices and control your own life.
intrinsic motivation
doing a task for the inherent satisfaction and interest
extrinsic motivation
driven by external rewards
controlled motivation
external, reward
the more extrinsic reward there is there more likely intrinsic motivation will reduce.
what are our three psychological needs?
- autonomy; feeling of control
- competence: feeling you have necessary skills
- relatedness: good social relationships
what is the social envionment?
the idea that things around you can help or hinder the trhee psychological needs
social support
Support for autonomy promotes internalisation: most important factor for predicting identification and integration.
extrinsic rewards
Lower self-determination: the more controlled by rewards, the lower the autonomy, and internal motivation is reduced
feedback
Positive feedback increases self-determination
SDT in work place
- workplaces that aim to fulfill the three needs will enhance intrinsic motivation and lead to;
Persistence and maintained behaviour change
Effective performance
Job satisfaction
Positive work-related attitudes
Organisational citizenship behaviour
Psychological adjustment and well-being
equity theory
- work motivation comes from being treated fairly by your employer
- we decide how fairly we are being treated by assessing how much we put into our work and how much we get out of it. if we put loads in and don’t get much out of it we won’t be as motivated.
organisational justice
distribution of rewards and the process in which they are distributed by and the communication between employees and employers
distributive justice
do they feel rewarded compared to others
procedural justice
how are rewards distributed and are systems of reward fair
interpersonal justice
do people feel they are treated with respect and dignity
informational justice
relates to ways decisions/procedures are communicated and explained
what is goal setting theory?
goals influence behaviour
behaviour changed by goals
charectoristics of a goal
specificity and ifficultyt
measurable
possible
organisational change?
Action[s] by which a company/business alters a major component of it’s organisation
what are the two types of change?
episodic - infrequent
continuous - ongoing
what is the systems perspective?
suggests that organisations are a dynamic system of inter-related areas.
Nadler and Tushman (1997) suggests this consist of four different sub-systems:
The work: day-to-day activities
The people: KSAO’s of employees
The formal organisation: structure, system, policies
The informal organisation: power, influence, norms, values
If you’re making a change in one area you need to consider how this will impact all other areas too.
change management?
“[The] practice of applying a structured approach to transition an organization from a current state to a future state to achieve expected benefits.“
Psychological Theories of Change Management
Lewin’s Change Management Model
Kotter’s Eight-Step Change Model
Bridge’s transition Model
what are the stages of Lewin’s Change Management Model
- unfreeze
- change
- refreez
what is the unfreeze stage?
Recognise the need for change and accept it is necessary: create the motivation
What changes are needed and why?
Remain open to employee concerns
Provide strong support from management
what is the change stage?
Clear communication of the what and why: employees should understand how it will benefit them
Employees begin to embrace change and participate proactively
what is the refrezze stage?
Change is reinforced/stabilised
Integration and internalisation of change
Develop ways to sustain change
Celebrate success of change
evaluate lewins model
It’s simplicity means that it’s easy to understand, and therefore apply, for non-psychologists
However, some argue that it is too simple, and oversimplifies the way we respond to change.
It works best for long term and permanent change
It can also be seen as antagonistic: it creates an “us vs them” scenario in which people are for or against the change (think social categorisation theory)
It ignores the emotional impact of change on employees
what is kotters 8 step model
Builds on Lewin’s model
Kotter began by listing common mistakes made by managers trying to initiate change. These included:
Inability to create sense of urgency
Absence of a vision for change
Lack of communication
Failure to remove obstacles
Failure to provide short and long-term achievable goals
He then used these to create eight sequential steps to address these issues
what are the 8 steps in kotters model
1: establish a sense of urgency: inspire people to act with passion and purpose. Build momentum and motivation.
2: form a coalition to lead change: You need a solid group of people who are supporting the change to act as strategic facilitators throughout the process, and who have the power to lead the change
3: create a new vision : make it clear how the change will look: how is it going to be different?
4: communicate new vision:
5: enable action by removing barriers: empowers others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risk-taking and creative problem solving
6: create a short-term win: plan, create, and rewards short-term wins that move the organisation closer to the new vision and help maintain motivation.
7: make change a continuous process: consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments
8: anchor changes in corporate culture to strengthen change: reinforce the changes by demonstrating the positive relationships between the new behaviours and organisational success
evaluate kotters model
Less simple than Lewin’s model, but still a simplification: it lacks detail
Though this again means it is easy to use and to implement!
It can also be applied to a wide variety of changes and contexts.
Focuses on behaviour and employee involvement, does not consider organisational culture, systems, or strategy.
However, this focus on engaging and empowering employees is important: it is employee attitudes and beliefs that are the biggest contributing factor to the success of change
what is bridges tranitional model
- endings
- neutral zone
- new begginings
endings
Identify loss
Learn how to manage this
What had ended, what will they keep?
neutral zone
Time between old and new
Create new processes and learning new roles
May feel confusion and distress
new begginings
Fresh identity
Understanding of purpose, contribution, and effective participation
what is organisational change often meyt with
street and resistance and anxiety
low employee health
change = job insecurity = stress
How successful is organisational change?
Literature suggests more than two-thirds of attempts to implement change fails, with a key part of this relating to employees’ attitudes and beliefs (Rehman et al., 2021).
This is often referred to as resistance to change (RTC) and is argued by some to be the biggest challenge for organisations.
what will make OC more succseful?
changing employees reaction to change
improving communication about change, sell the nee for change
what are the types of organisational commitement
organisational commitment:
Affective commitment: emotional attachment to organisation and belief in values
Continuance commitment: the perceived economic value in remaining
Normative commitment: an obligation to stay for moral/ethical reasons.
what is linked to higher acceptence of change?
higher perception of organisational justice
employee commitement
higher peception of organisational support
being treated well by your boss an higher staff
what leadership stile is most effect in getting support for OC?
Generally, the most effective way to facilitate organisational change as a leader is to adopt a mixed leadership style.
transformational leadership
Inspiring and motivating people to work towards a clear vision
Providing clear and consistent communication: everyone understands the change and their role
Forming relationships based on trust and respect
transactional leaders
They’re good at setting clear goals and expectations: clarity helps employees understand what they need to do during the change
They reward completion of short-term goals
Feedback and performance monitoring provides a structured way to monitor change process
The focus on structure, clear communication, and short-term tasks provides stability for employees.
HOWEVER
Works best as an addition to other more motivating and inspiring leadership styles (like transformational or visionary styles)
It has a negative impact on long term change appraisal
laiissez faire leaders
They provide no sense of direction, meaning employees can feel uncertain about their role/future
They don’t get very involved and provide minimal support
A lack of clear guidance can lead to confusion and chaos!
A lack of support and communication may increase resistance to change.
performance management
A continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning performance with the strategic goals of the organisation.” (Aguinis, 2009 p. 2, cited by Woods & West, 2021)
goal setting theory
- ## goals need to be in line with the goals and strategies of the organisation
goal charectoristics
specificity an difficulty
measurable - this allows feedback
possible - attainable and time bound
moderating factors in the goal setting performance
Goal commitment: the goal is thought to be achievable and the person wants to do it: the more committed the better
Feedback on achievement: required to track performance and achievement
Task characteristics/complexity: how difficult are the tasks required to meet the goal?
Self-efficacy: the person’s belief in their ability/capacity to execute behaviours that produce specific performance attainments. The higher your self efficacy, the more confidence you have in your
National culture: setting different, difficult goals may have different effects in different cultures.
what are the two types of goals?
performabce goals
learning goals
what is a performance goal?
performance goal orientated (PGO) individuals are motivated to achieve a standard
what is a learning goal ?
learning goal orientated (LGO) individuals are motivated to learn and understand.
in what ways do goals effect performance?
Direction of behaviour: goals direct behaviour towards activities that are relevant to the goals and away from those that are irrelevant.
Energising of behaviour: goals lead people to put in more effort on relevant activities
Persistence: harder goals lead people to prolong their effort in order to achieve these goals
Development: goals lead people to develop new strategies for achievement and performance, learning new (relevant) skills in the process.
what are two forms of assesing job perfromabce behaviour?
task perfromance
organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB)
competency apprach to performance
- most common
- ## combined kkowledge an skills that underlie effective performance
components of OCB
poersonal support
organisation support
conscientiousness initative - carry on in hard times
great 8 competencies
Leading and deciding
Supporting and cooperating
Interacting and presenting
Analysing and interpreting
Creating and conceptualising
Organising and executing
Adapting and coping
Enterprising and performing
