Theme 1: Industrial Psych

• I-O psychology


  The SCIENTIFIC study of human behaviour in the work-place

  through the use of psychology theory and methodology

  for the purpose of ensuring optimal organisational performance.
• Difference between HR and I-O psychology


  • HRM more about application or management of personnel, business and administrative processes.

  I-O Psychologist is an expert in human behaviour and related influencing processes that inform the HRM processes.

  Different training and accreditation requirements.

  Both are critically important and complementary.
• organisational psychology


  deals with organisation as a system involving individuals and groups, and the structure and dynamics of the organisation

  aim to facilitate worker adjustment, satisfaction and productivity, as well as organisational efficiency
• personnel psychology


  a subfield of I/O psychology that focuses on employee recruitment, selection, placement, training, appraisal, and development
• career/ counselling psychology


  focus is on issues to do with nature of work, career, development, the nature of employment (and unemployment) and many other career related issues
• human factors and ergonomics


  'engineering and human factors psychology'

  -focus on the optimal fit and interaction between characteristics of employees and environment

  Human factors influence the design of things (e.g wrong type of chair, need back support) general health and safety
• Employment relations/ labour relations


  deals with the dynamics, communication processes and conflict resolution issues principally among three parties

  -employees(as individuals and/or as a group)

  -employers(management and organisations/industries)

  -government(directly or through legal mechanisms)
• auxiliary disciplines that developed out of the subfields:


  research methodology

  Employee and organisational well-being

  Human resource management
• Research Methodology


  I-O research is scientific in nature

  basic(develop/ test new theory)

  applied( utilize existing knowledge)
• Psychometrics


  study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

  validity and reliability

  measurements bias and fairness
• employee and organisational well-being


  the study of employee and organisational factors, conditions or behaviors that facilitate or hinder performance, effectiveness or wellbeing
• what issues does well-being deal with?


  work stress and conflict

  positive and disruptive employee and organisational behaviour

  work dysfunctions

  employee counseling
• Human resource management


  It entails the running and management of employees (human resources)

  
  

  Acquiring

  Training

  Appraising

  Motivating

  Rewarding

  Disciplining employees

  Providing and ensuring a safe, ethical and fair working environment for employees
• The importance of I-O psychology:


  the importance of I-O Psychology in Organisations

  organisations transform scarce production factors into goods and services

  To be sustainable, People play an important part in this (as a production factor, labour and by acting as entrepreneurs). I-O Psychology attempts to influence human behaviour to improve work performance.
• How to qualify as a psychometrist or counsellor?


  
  

  Honours + approved 6 months practicum + success in the board entrance examination
• How to qualify as a psychologist?


  Masters degree + one year approved internship + success in the board entrance examination
• Who were 3 important people in the development and measuring of intelligence and ability?

  -Gustav Fechner (psychological assessments)

  -Francis Galton( individual differences, psychometrics)

  -Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon (Binet- Simon IQ test)
• Theory X


  The assumption that employees dislike work, are lazy, dislike responsibility, and must be coerced to perform
• Theory Y


  The assumption that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and can exercise self-direction -intrinsic responsibility
• The hawthorne effect


  one of the pioneering research studies to identify the importance of the social or informal aspects of organisational behaviour

  
  

  changing one thing e.g)light, found employees perform better because they are being observed
• Contemporary challenges for industrial psychologists


  Environmental and social responsibility, and ethics

  Globalization and cross-cultural issues

  Technology/ The Fourth Industrial revolution

  Virtual/remote working
• Scientific Management


  The division of work processes into smaller parts, with workers focusing on more elementary tasks in order to be more efficient is a legacy of "Scientific Management".
• Frederick Taylor (1856–1915), known as the father of scientific management, believed that managers could increase productivity by breaking down jobs into their component parts and analyzing them systematically.
• Frederick Taylor developed the concept of Scientific Management, which involved breaking down jobs into small components and measuring their performance using time and motion studies.