Week 2 Lecture - Industrial/organisation Psychology Flashcards
What is industrial/organisational psychology?
A branch of psychology that applies psychological principles to empirically research how organisations affect individual behaviour. Can be applies across any workplace.
What is industrial/organisational psychology useful for?
Useful for assuring with:
- recruitment and selection
- training and motivation
- job satisfaction/employee wellbeing
- fair treatment
- maximising productivity
What are the two branches of industrial/organisational psychology useful for?
Industrial:
Managing employees, policies and procedures
Organisational side: thinking about the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of people in the workplace
What are the mechanisms industrial/organisational psychology use?
Draws on statistics, theories and principles of learning, cognitive psychology, clinical and social psychology to increase our understanding of organisations and individuals in a workplace context.
What is the relevance of I-O psychology
It can find ways to measure certain things that are difficult to generally measure.
Relevant to human resource management
WHS/OHS management
Employment agency case management
Selection in businesses
Key to organisational success is the recruitment and development of competent staff
Selection procedures help to predict which applicants are going to be best suited to the job
Ensuring equal opportunity employment in decision making
Developing a selection program involves:
- job analysis
- identification of relevant job performance dimensions
- identify knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) necessary for the job
- develops or identify assessments to measure KSAOs
- validate assessment devices
- use assessment devices to process applications
What is job analysis and what does it involve?
The process of determining the important tasks of a job and developing a theory of the human attributes needed to perform these tasks successfully
- job description
- recruiting
- selection
- training
- compensation
- promotion
- job design
What is Biodata (autobiographical data)
helps looking at past experience to determine whether someone if fit for a job or not
Often involves application forms
What is the selection criteria for job application forms (biodata)?
- should be linked to KSAOs necessary to successfully fulfil the responsibilities and duties of the position
- address specific and observable behaviours
- concise, clear, free of jargon, free if discrimination, not exclusionary
- not excessive in number
Further testing/assessment when selecting someone for a job can involve:
Intelligence/cognitive ability tests
- “g” intelligence (isn’t necessarily useful for assessment when specific abilities are needed)
- specific cognitive abilities
- reason, plan, solve problems, learn quickly etc.
Personality tests
- “five factor or big 5 model”
- “functional personally at work” is a combination of these factors which predicts the way an individual will behave in a workplace setting
- conscientiousness
Integrity tests
-overt vs. covert
-meta- analytic evidence shows that they can be predictors of counterproductive and undesirable work behaviour
BUT what’re they actually testing?
Work samples
- being evaluated on tasks relevant to the position
Interviews
- structures interview (detailed examples, certain questions, more directed at specific abilities)
- unstructured interviews (more based on personality)
- impressions management
- biases (halo; contrast effect; rater bias)
What’re some physical/task stressors in the workplace?
Noise, job demands etc
What are some psychological stressors in the workplace?
Lack of control, interpersonal conflict, role-stressors, work-family conflict
Work/life balance
Devices: participants indicate that smartphone dependency can behave job performance, but can also be detrimental and distracting if dependency become addiction.
Consequences of stress
Behavioural
-information processing, performance, counterproductive work behaviour
Psychological
- burnout
Physiological
-heart conditions, immune functioning, headaches and insomnia
