Organizational Psychology - Vol. VI, Part III

The Advocacy Foundation
Professional Development Series
1 Corinthians 14:40
Evidence-Based Programming
Continuing Professional Development
Part III
Organizational Psychology
†
“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities
Achieve Their Full Potential”
Vol. VI
John C Johnson III, CEO

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The Advocacy Foundation, Inc.
Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities
Achieve Their Full Potential
Professional Development Series
Evidence-Based Programming
Organizational Psychology
“Helping Individuals, Organizations & Communities
Achieve Their Full Potential
1735 Market Street, Suite 3750 | 100 Edgewood Avenue, Suite 1690
Philadelphia, PA 19102 Atlanta, GA 30303
John C Johnson III
Founder & CEO
(878) 222-0450
Voice | Fax | SMS
www.TheAdvocacyFoundation.org
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Biblical Authority
______
1 Corinthians 14:40 (NIV)
40
But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly (A) way.
______
1 Corinthians 14:40 (MSG)
39-40
Three things, then, to sum this up: When you speak forth God’s truth, speak
your heart out. Don’t tell people how they should or shouldn’t pray when they’re
praying in tongues that you don’t understand. Be courteous and considerate in
everything.
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Table of Contents
Evidence-Based Programming
Organizational Psychology
______
I. Introduction
Biblical Authority
II.
III.
IV.
Areas of Discipline in I-O Psychology
Applied Psychology
Organizational Socialization
V. I-O Consultancy
VI.
Behavioral Risk Management
VII. Occupational Stress
VIII. Systems Psychology
IX.
Narcissism
X. Machiavellianism
XI.
Psychopathy
XII. References
Copyright © 2015 The Advocacy Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Introduction
Industrial and organizational psychology (also known as I–O psychology, occupational
psychology, work psychology, WO psychology, IWO psychology and business psychology)
is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and
principles to organizations.
I-O psychologists are trained in the scientist–practitioner model. I-O psychologists contribute to
an organization's success by improving the performance, satisfaction, safety, health and wellbeing
of its employees. An I–O psychologist conducts research on employee behaviors and
attitudes, and how these can be improved through hiring practices, training programs, feedback,
and management systems. I–O psychologists also help organizations and their employees
transition among periods of change and organization development.
I-O psychology is one of the 14 recognized specialties and proficiencies in professional
psychology in the United States and is represented by Division 14 of the American Psychological
Association (APA), known formally as the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology
(SIOP).
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In the UK, industrial and organizational psychologists are referred to as occupational
psychologists and one of 7 'protected titles' and specializations in psychology regulated by the
Health and Care Professions Council.
In Australia, the title organizational psychologist is also protected by law and is regulated by the
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). Organizational psychology is one
of nine areas of specialist endorsement for psychology practice in Australia. Graduate programs
at both the Masters and Doctorate level are offered worldwide.
In the UK graduate degrees are accredited by the British Psychological Society and required as
part of the process to become an occupational psychologist.
In Europe someone with a specialist EuroPsy Certificate in Work and Organisational Psychology
is a fully qualified psychologist and an expert in the work psychology field with further
advanced education and training.
Historical Overview
The historical development of I–O psychology had parallel developments in the United States
and other countries, such as the UK, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and eastern European
countries such as Romania. However, many foreign countries do not have a published English
language account of their development of I–O psychology. The roots of I-O psychology trace
back nearly to the beginning of psychology as a science, when Wilhelm Wundt founded one of
the first psychological laboratories in 1876 in Leipzig, Germany. In the mid 1880s, Wundt
trained two psychologists who had a major influence on the eventual emergence of I–O
Psychology: Hugo Münsterberg and James McKeen Cattell. Instead of viewing differences as
―errors‖, Cattell was one of the first to recognize the importance of these differences among
individuals as a way of predicting and better understanding their behavior. Walter Dill Scott,
who was a contemporary of Cattell, was elected President of the American Psychological
Association (APA) in 1919, was arguably the most prominent I–O psychologist of his time.
Scott, along with Walter Van Dyke Bingham worked at the Carnegie Institute of Technology,
developing methods for selecting and training sales personnel
The "industrial" side of I–O psychology has its historical origins in research on individual
differences, assessment, and the prediction of work performance. This branch crystallized during
World War I, in response to the need to rapidly assign new troops to duty stations. Scott and
Bingham volunteered to help with the testing and placement of more than a million army
recruits. In 1917, together, along with other prominent psychologists, adapted a well-known
intelligence test, (the Stanford-Binet test, designed for testing one individual at a time) to make it
suitable for mass group testing. This new test form was called the Army Alpha. After the War,
the growing industrial base in the US added impetus to I–O psychology. The private industry set
out to emulate the successful testing of army personnel, and mental ability testing soon became a
commonplace in the work setting. Industrial psychology began to gain prominence when Elton
Mayo arrived in the United States in 1924. Mayo was fascinated by not the efficiency of
workers, but their emotions and how work may cause workers to act in particular pathological
ways. These observations of workers’ thoughts and emotions were studied to see how prone
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employees would be to resist management attempts to increase productivity and how
sympathetic to labor unions they would become. These studies are known as Hawthorne studies.
The results of these studies ushered in a radically new movement known as the Human Relations
Movement. This movement was interested in the more complicated theories of motivation, the
emotional world of the worker, job satisfaction, and interviews with workers.
World War II brought in new problems that led to I–O Psychology's continued development. The
war brought renewed interest in ability testing (to accurately place recruits in these new
technologically advanced military jobs), the introduction of the assessment center, concern with
morale and fatigue of war industry workers, and military intelligence. Post-Second World War
years were a boom time for industry with many jobs to be filled and applicants to be tested.
Interestingly, however, when the war ended and the soldiers came back to work, there was an
increasing trend towards labor unrest with rising numbers of authorized and unauthorized work
stoppages staged by unions and workers. This caused management to grow concern about work
productivity and worker attitude surveys became of much interest in the field. Following
Industrial Organizational Psychology's admission into Division 14 of the American
Psychological Association, there continued to be an influx of new tests for selection,
productivity, and workforce stability. This influx continued unabated until the passage of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. Section, Title VII dealt with employment discrimination and required
employers to justify and show relevance for the use of tests for selection.
The mid-1960s seemed to mark a line of demarcation between "classic" and "modern" thinking.
During this period, the name changed from just industrial psychology to industrial and
organizational psychology. The earlier periods addressed work behavior from the individual
perspective, examining performance and attitudes of individual workers. Although this was a
valuable approach, it became clear that there were other, broader influences not only on
individual, but also on group behavior in the work place. Thus, in 1973, "organizational" was
added to the name to emphasize the fact that when an individual joins an organization (e.g., the
organization that hired him or her), he or she will be exposed to a common goal and a common
set of operating procedures.
In the 1970s in the United Kingdom, references to occupational psychology became more
common than I-O psychology. Rigor and methods of psychology are applied to issues of critical
relevance to business, including talent management, coaching, assessment, selection, training,
organizational development, performance, well-being and work-life balance. During the 1990s
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eferences to "business psychology" became increasingly common. Business psychology is
defined as the study and practice of improving working life. It combines an understanding of the
science of human behavior with experience of the world of work to attain effective and
sustainable performance for both individuals and organizations.
Research Methods
As described above, I–O psychologists are trained in the scientist–practitioner model. I–O
psychologists rely on a variety of methods to conduct organizational research. Study designs
employed by I–O psychologists include surveys, experiments, quasi-experiments, and
observational studies. I–O psychologists rely on diverse data sources including human
judgments, historical databases, objective measures of work performance (e.g., sales volume),
and questionnaires and surveys.
I–O researchers employ both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative
methods used in I–O psychology include both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (e.g.,
correlation, multiple regression, and analysis of variance). More advanced statistical methods
employed by some I–O psychologists include logistic regression, multivariate analysis of
variance, structural equation modeling, and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; also known as
multilevel modeling). HLM is particularly applicable to research on team- and organization-level
effects on individuals. I–O psychologists also employ psychometric methods including methods
associated with classical test theory (CTT), generalizability theory, and item response theory
(IRT). In the 1990s, a growing body of empirical research in I–O psychology was influential in
the application of meta-analysis, particularly in the area of the stability of research findings
across contexts. The most well-known meta-analytic approaches are those associated with
Hunter & Schmidt, Rosenthal, and Hedges & Olkin. With the help of meta-analysis, Hunter &
Schmidt advanced the idea of validity generalization, which suggests that some performance
predictors, specifically cognitive ability tests (see especially Hunter [1986] and Hunter &
Schmidt [1996]) have a relatively stable and positive relation to job performance across all jobs.
Although not unchallenged, validity generalization has broad acceptance with regard to many
selection instruments (e.g. cognitive ability tests, job knowledge tests, work samples, and
structured interviews) across a broad range of jobs.
Qualitative methods employed in I–O psychology include content analysis, focus groups,
interviews, case studies, and several other observational techniques. I–O research on
organizational culture research has employed ethnographic techniques and participant
observation to collect data. One well-known qualitative technique employed in I–O psychology
is John Flanagan's Critical Incident Technique, which requires "qualified observers" (e.g., pilots
in studies of aviation, construction workers in studies of construction projects) to describe a work
situation that resulted in a good or bad outcome. Objectivity is ensured when multiple observers
identify the same incidents. The observers are also asked to provide information about what the
actor in the situation could have done differently to influence the outcome. This technique is then
used to describe the critical elements of performance in certain jobs and how worker behavior
relates to outcomes. Most notably, this technique has been employed to improve performance
among aircraft crews and surgical teams, literally saving thousands of lives since its introduction.
An application of the technique in research on coping with job stress comes from O'Driscoll &
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Cooper. The resistance to qualitative research resulted from viewing it too excessively
subjective. This concern, however, is misplaced due to all methods of research, either qualitative
or quantitative, ultimately requiring some sort of interpretation. When a researcher is developing
and researching a phenomenon, all information available should be used, regardless of its form.
The key is triangulation, which is an approach looking for converging information from different
sources to develop that theory.
I–O psychologists sometimes use quantitative and qualitative methods in concert. The two are
not mutually exclusive. For example, when constructing behaviorally-anchored rating scales
(BARS), a job analyst may use qualitative methods, such as critical incidents interviews and
focus groups to collect data bearing on performance. Then the analyst would have SMEs rate
those examples on a Likert scale and compute inter-rater agreement statistics to judge the
adequacy of each item. Each potential item would additionally be correlated with an external
criterion in order to evaluate its usefulness if it were to be selected to be included in a BARS
metric. As a simpler example, consider an extended observation of a worker, which might
include videotaped episodes of performance - a qualitative measure. The qualitative video could
easily be used to develop a frequency count of a particular behavior - a quantitative measure.
Ethics
In the consulting field, it is important for the consultant to maintain high ethical standards in all
aspects of relationships: consultant to client, consultant to consultant, and client to consultant.
After all, all decisions made and actions taken by the consultant will reflect what kind of
consultant he or she is. Although ethical situations can be more intricate in the business world,
American Psychology Association (APA)’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
Conduct can be applied to I–O consultants as well. For example, the consultant should only
accept projects for which he or she is qualified; the consultant should also avoid all conflicts of
interest and being in multiple relationships with those he or she is working with. On the other
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hand, some might disagree that it is the consultant’s responsibility to actively promote the
application of moral and ethical standards in the consultation and examine ethical issues in
organizational decisions and policies. It is an ongoing controversial issue in the consulting field.
In addition, as more and more organizations are becoming global, it is imperative for consultants
working abroad to quickly become aware of rules, regulations, and cultures of the organizations
and countries they are in as well as not to ignore ethical standards and codes just because they
are abroad.
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Areas of Discipline
in I-O Psychology
Job Analysis
Job analysis has a few different methods but it primarily involves the systematic collection of
information about a job. The task-oriented job analysis, involves an examination of the duties,
tasks, and/or competencies required by a job, whereas a worker-oriented job analysis, involves
an examination of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) required to
successfully perform the work. Job analysis information is used for many purposes, including the
creation of job-relevant selection procedures, performance appraisals and criteria, or training
programs. Position analysis questionnaire is a particular analysis that is used to determined an
individuals job characteristics and relates them to human characteristics.
Personnel Recruitment and Selection
I–O psychologists typically work with HR specialists to design (a) recruitment processes and (b)
personnel selection systems. Personnel recruitment is the process of identifying qualified
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candidates in the workforce and getting them to apply for jobs within an organization. Personnel
recruitment processes include developing job announcements, placing ads, defining key
qualifications for applicants, and screening out unqualified applicants.
Personnel selection is the systematic process of hiring and promoting personnel. Personnel
selection systems employ evidence-based practices to determine the most qualified candidates.
Personnel selection involves both the newly hired and individuals who can be promoted from
within the organization. Common selection tools include ability tests (e.g., cognitive, physical, or
psycho-motor), knowledge tests, personality tests, structured interviews, the systematic
collection of biographical data, and work samples. I–O psychologists must evaluate evidence
regarding the extent to which selection tools predict job performance, evidence that bears on the
validity of selection tools.
Personnel selection procedures are usually validated, i.e., shown to be job relevant, using one or
more of the following types of validity: content validity, construct validity, and/or criterionrelated
validity. I–O psychologists adhere to professional standards, such as the Society for
Industrial and Organizational Psychology's (SIOP) Principles for Validation and Use of
Personnel Selection Procedures [30] and the Standards for Educational and Psychological
Testing. [31] The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Uniform Guidelines are also
influential in guiding personnel selection although they have been criticized as outdated when
compared to the current state of knowledge in I–O psychology.
I–O psychologists not only help in the selection and assessment of personnel for jobs, but also
assist in the selection of students for admission to colleges, universities, and graduate and
professional schools as well as the assessment of student achievement, student aptitude, and the
performance of teachers and K–12 schools. Increasingly, I–O psychologists are working for
educational assessment and testing organizations and divisions.
A meta-analysis of selection methods in personnel psychology found that general mental ability
was the best overall predictor of job performance and training performance.
Performance Appraisal/Management
Performance appraisal or performance evaluation is the process of measuring an individual's or a
group's work behaviors and outcomes against the expectations of the job. Performance appraisal
is frequently used in promotion and compensation decisions, to help design and validate
personnel selection procedures, and for performance management. Performance management is
the process of providing performance feedback relative to expectations and improvement
information (e.g., coaching, mentoring). Performance management may also include
documenting and tracking performance information for organization-level evaluation purposes.
An I–O psychologist would typically use information from the job analysis to determine a job's
performance dimensions, and then construct a rating scale to describe each level of performance
for the job. Often, the I–O psychologist would be responsible for training organizational
personnel how to use the performance appraisal instrument, including ways to minimize bias
when using the rating scale, and how to provide effective performance feedback. Additionally,
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the I–O psychologist may consult with the organization on ways to use the performance appraisal
information for broader performance management initiatives.
Individual Assessment and Psychometrics
Individual assessment involves the measurement of individual differences. I–O psychologists
perform individual assessments in order to evaluate differences among candidates for
employment as well as differences among employees. The constructs measured pertain to job
performance. With candidates for employment, individual assessment is often part of the
personnel selection process. These assessments can include written tests, aptitude tests, physical
tests, psycho-motor tests, personality tests, integrity and reliability tests, work samples,
simulation and assessment centres.
Psychometrics is the science of measuring psychological variables, such as knowledge, skills,
and abilities. I–O psychologists are generally well-trained in psychometric psychology.
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Occupational Health and Wellbeing
I/O psychologists and researchers are also concerned with occupational health and wellbeing.
Researchers have examined the effect of physical exercise, and staying vigorous at work.
Sonnentag and Niessen (2008) found that staying vigorous during working hours is important for
work-related behaviour, subjective well-being, and for effective functioning in the family
domain. Individuals high on their general level of vigour at work, benefited most from recovery
experienced over the course of several days. A 2010 study found positive relationships between
job satisfaction and life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and the absence of negative affect
and feelings of positive wellbeing. Other researchers have looked at the negative health impacts
of mature-aged unemployment. Another recent study conducted by Potocnik & Sonnentag
(2013) examined the impact of engaging in seven types of activities on depression and quality of
life in older workers over a period of 2 years, using a sample from the Survey of Health, Ageing
and Retirement in Europe. Results indicated that I/O psychologists should make attempts to
reduce physical demands over older employees at work, to help improve their health and wellbeing.
Practitioners should also design intervention programmes and preventive measures that
focus on how to stimulate older employees' engagement in community activities. I/O research
has also examined effects of job mobility and negative health effects, including burnout in
workers.
Workplace Bullying, Aggression and Violence
I/O psychology and I/O psychologists are also concerned with the related topics of workplace
bullying, aggression and violence. This 2010 study investigated the impact of the larger
organizational context on bullying as well as the group-level processes that impact on the
incidence, and maintenance of bullying behaviour. The impact of engaging in certain thought
patterns after exposure to workplace violence has also been examined. This 2011 research
examines the detrimental effect that interpersonal aggressive behaviours may have on
dimensions of team effectiveness particularly team performance and team viability.
Remuneration and Compensation
Compensation includes wages or salary, bonuses, pension/retirement contributions, and
perquisites that can be converted to cash or replace living expenses. I–O psychologists may be
asked to conduct a job evaluation for the purpose of determining compensation levels and
ranges. I–O psychologists may also serve as expert witnesses in pay discrimination cases when
disparities in pay for similar work are alleged.
Training and Training Evaluation
Training is the systematic acquisition of skills, concepts, or attitudes that results in improved
performance in another environment. Most people hired for a job are not already versed in all the
tasks required to perform the job effectively. Evidence indicates that training is effective and that
these training expenditures are paying off in terms of higher net sales and gross profitability per
employee. Training can be beneficial for the organization and for employees in terms of
increasing their value to their organization as well as their employability in the broader
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marketplace. Many organizations are using training and development as a way to attract and
retain their most successful employees.
Similar to performance management (see above), an I–O psychologist would employ a job
analysis in concert with principles of instructional design to create an effective training program.
A training program is likely to include a summative evaluation at its conclusion in order to
ensure that trainees have met the training objectives and can perform the target work tasks at an
acceptable level. Training programs often include formative evaluations to assess the impact of
the training as the training proceeds. Formative evaluations can be used to locate problems in
training procedures and help I–O psychologists make corrective adjustments while the training is
ongoing.
The basic foundation for training
programs is learning. Learning
outcomes can be organized into
three broad categories: cognitive,
skill-based, and affective
outcomes. Cognitive is a type of
learning outcome that includes
declarative knowledge or the
knowledge of rules, facts, and
principles. An example is police
officers acquire declarative
knowledge about laws and court
procedures. Skill-based is a
learning outcome that concerns
procedural knowledge and the
development of motor and
technical skills. An example is
motor skills that involve the
coordination of physical
movements such as using a
special tool or flying a certain
aircraft, whereas technical skills
might include understanding a
certain software program, or
exhibiting effective customer relations behaviors. Affective is a type of learning outcome that
includes attitudes or beliefs that predispose a person to behave in a certain way. Attitudes can be
developed or changed through training programs. Examples of these attitudes are organizational
commitment and appreciation of diversity.
Before training design issues are considered, a careful needs analysis is required to develop a
systematic understanding of where training is needed, what needs to be taught or trained, and
who will be trained. Training needs analysis typically involves a three-step process that includes
organizational analysis, task analysis and person analysis. Organizational analysis examines
organizational goals, available resources, and the organizational environment to determine where
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training should be directed. This analysis identifies the training needs of different departments or
subunits and systematically assessing manager, peer, and technological support for transfer of
training. Organizational analysis also takes into account the climate of the organization and its
subunits. For example, if a climate for safety is emphasized throughout the organization or in
particular parts of the organization (e.g., production), then training needs will likely reflect this
emphasis. Task analysis uses the results from job analysis on determining what is needed for
successful job performance and then determines what the content of training should be. Task
analysis can consist of developing task statements, determining homogeneous task clusters, and
identifying KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, other characteristics) required for the job. With
organizations increasingly trying to identify "core competencies" that are required for all jobs,
task analysis can also include an assessment of competencies. Person analysis identifies which
individuals within an organization should receive training and what kind of instruction they need.
Employee needs can be assessed using a variety of methods that identify weaknesses that
training and development can address. The needs analysis makes it possible to identify the
training program's objectives, which in turn, represents the information for both the trainer and
trainee about what is to be learned for the benefit of the organization.
Therefore with any training program it is key to establish specify training objectives. Schultz &
Schultz (2010) states that need assessment is an analysis of corporate and individual goals
undertaken before designing a training program. Examples of need assessment are based on
organizational, task, and work analysis is conducted using job analysis critical incidents,
performance appraisal, and self-assessment techniques. (p164)
But with any training there are always challenges that one faces. Challenges which I–O
psychologists face: (p185)
To identify the abilities required to perform increasingly complex jobs.
To provide job opportunities for unskilled workers.
To assist supervisors in the management of an ethnically diverse workforce.
To retain workers displaced by changing economic, technological, and political forces.
To help organizations remain competitive in the international marketplace.
To conduct the necessary research to determine the effectiveness of training programs.
Motivation in the Workplace
Work motivation "is a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an
individual's being, to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction,
intensity, and duration" Understanding what motivates an organization's employees is central to
the study of I–O psychology. Motivation is a person's internal disposition to be concerned with
an approach positive incentives and avoid negative incentives. To further this, an incentive is the
anticipated reward or aversive event available in the environment. While motivation can often be
used as a tool to help predict behavior, it varies greatly among individuals and must often be
combined with ability and environmental factors to actually influence behavior and performance.
Because of motivation's role in influencing workplace behavior and performance, it is key for
organizations to understand and to structure the work environment to encourage productive
behaviors and discourage those that are unproductive.
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There is general consensus that motivation involves three psychological processes: arousal,
direction, and intensity. Arousal is what initiates action. It is fueled by a person's need or desire
for something that is missing from their lives at a given moment, either totally or partially.
Direction refers to the path employees take in accomplishing the goals they set for themselves.
Finally, intensity is the vigor and amount of energy employees put into this goal-directed work
performance. The level of intensity is based on the importance and difficulty of the goal. These
psychological processes result in four outcomes. First, motivation serves to direct attention,
focusing on particular issues, people, tasks, etc. It also serves to stimulate an employee to put
forth effort. Next, motivation results in persistence, preventing one from deviating from the goalseeking
behavior. Finally, motivation results in task strategies, which as defined by Mitchell &
Daniels, are "patterns of behavior produced to reach a particular goal."
Occupational Stress
I/O psychologists are involved
in the research and the practice
of occupational stress and
design of individual and
organizational interventions to
manage and reduce the stress
levels and increase
productivity, performance,
health and wellbeing.
Occupational stress is
concerned with physical and
psychosocial working
conditions (termed stressors)
that can elicit negative responses (termed strains) from employees. Occupational stress can have
implications for organizational performance because of the emotions job stress evokes. For
example, a job stressor such as conflict with a supervisor can precipitate anger that in turn
motivates counterproductive workplace behaviors. Job-related hindrance stressors are directly
(and challenge stressors inversely) related to turnover and turnover intentions. I/O research has
examined the relations among work stressors and workplace aggression, withdrawal, theft, and
substance abuse, strategies that individuals use to cope with work stress and prevent occupational
burnout, and the relation of work stress to depressive symptoms.
A number of models have been developed to explain the job stress process. Examples of models
that have influenced research include the person-environment fit model and the demand-control
model. Research has also examined the interaction among personality variables and stressors and
their effects on employee strains. I/O psychology is also concerned with the physical health
outcomes caused by occupational stress. For instance, researchers at the institute of work
psychology (IWP) examined the mediating role of psychological strain in relation to
musculoskeletal disorders.
Research has also examined occupational stress in specific occupations. For example, there has
been research on job stress in police, teachers, general practitioners, and dentists. Another
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concern has been the relation of occupational stress to family life. Other research has examined
gender differences in leadership style and job stress and strain in the context of male- and
female-dominated industries, burnout in the human services and other occupations, and
unemployment-related distress. I/O psychology is also concerned with the relation of
occupational stress to career advancement.
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational health and safety is concerned with how the work environment contributes to
illness and injury of workers. Of particular importance are psychosocial hazards or risk factors
that include fatigue, workplace violence, workplace bullying. Other factors important to
employee health and well-being include work schedules (e.g., night shifts), work/family conflict,
and burnout. Tools have been developed by I/O researchers and psychologists to measure these
psychosocial risk factors in the workplace and "stress audits" can be used to help organizations
remain compliant with various occupational health and safety regulations around the world.
Another area of concern is the high rate of occupational fatalities and injuries due to accidents.
There is also research interest in how psychosocial hazards affect physical ailments like
musculoskeletal disorder. A contributing psychosocial factor to accidents is safety climate, that
concerns organizational policies and practices concerning safe behavior at work. A related
concept that has to do with psychological well-being as opposed to accidents is psychosocial
safety climate (PSC). PSC refers to policies, practices, and procedures for the protection of
worker psychological health and safety. Safety leadership is another area of occupational health
and safety I/O psychology is concerned with, where specific leadership styles affect safety
compliance and safety participation.
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture can be described as a set of assumptions shared by the individuals in an
organization that directs interpretation and action by defining appropriate behavior for various
situations. There are three levels of organizational culture: artifacts, shared values, and basic
beliefs and assumptions. Artifacts comprise the physical components of the organization that
relay cultural meaning. Shared values are individuals' preferences regarding certain aspects of
the organization's culture (e.g., loyalty, customer service). Basic beliefs and assumptions include
individuals' impressions about the trustworthiness and supportiveness of an organization, and are
often deeply ingrained within the organization's culture.
In addition to an overall culture, organizations also have subcultures. Examples of subcultures
include corporate culture, departmental culture, local culture, and issue-related culture. While
there is no single "type" of organizational culture, some researchers have developed models to
describe different organizational cultures.
Organizational culture has been shown to have an impact on important organizational outcomes
such as performance, attraction, recruitment, retention, employee satisfaction, and employee
well-being. Also, organizations with an adaptive culture tend to perform better than
organizations with an maladaptive culture.
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Group Behavior
Group behavior is the interaction between individuals of a collective and the processes such as
opinions, attitudes, growth, feedback loops, and adaptations that occur and change as a result of
this interaction. The interactions serve to fulfill some need satisfaction of an individual who is
part of the collective and helps to provide a basis for his interaction with specific members of the
group.
A specific area of research in group behavior is the dynamics of teams. Team effectiveness refers
to the system of getting people in a company or institution to work together effectively. The idea
behind team effectiveness is that a group of people working together can achieve much more
than if the individuals of the team were working on their own.
Team Effectiveness
Organizations support the use of teams, because teams can accomplish a much greater amount of
work in a short period of time than can be accomplished by an individual contributor, and
because the collective results of a group of contributors can produce higher quality deliverables.
Five elements that are contributors to team effectiveness include:
1. team composition
2. task design
3. organizational resources
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4. team rewards
5. team goals.
I/O research has looked at the negative impacts of workplace aggression on team performance
and particularly team effectiveness as was evidenced in a recent study by Aube and Rousseau.
Team Composition
The composition of teams is initially decided during the selection of individual contributors that
are to be assigned to specific teams and has a direct bearing on the resulting effectiveness of
those teams. Aspects of team composition that should be considered during the team selection
process include team member: knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), personalities, and
attitudes.
As previously stated, one of the reasons organizations support the use of teams is the expectation
of the delivery of higher quality results. To achieve these types of results, highly skilled
members are more effective than teams built around those with lesser skills, and teams that
include a diversity of skills have improved team performance (Guzzo & Shea, 1992).
Additionally, increased average cognitive ability of team members has been shown to
consistently correlate to increased work group effectiveness (Sundstrom et al., 2000). Therefore,
organizations should seek to assign teams with team members that have a mix of KSAs. Teams
that are composed of members that have the same KSAs may prove to be ineffective in meeting
the team goals, no matter how talented the individual members are.
The personalities and attitudes of the individuals that are selected as team members are other
aspects that should be taken into consideration when composing teams, since these individual
traits have been found to be good indicators of team effectiveness. For example, a positive
relationship between the team-level traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness and the team
performance has been shown to exist (Van Vianen & De Dreu, 2001). Differing personalities of
individual team members can affect the team climate in a negative way as members may clash
and reduce team performance (Barrick, et al., 1998).
Task Design
A fundamental question in team task design is whether or not a task is even appropriate for a
team. Those tasks that require predominantly independent work are best left to individuals, and
team tasks should include those tasks that consist primarily of interdependent work. When a
given task is appropriate for a team, task design can play a key role in team effectiveness
(Sundstrom, et al., 2000).
The Job Characteristics Theory of motivation identifies core job dimensions that provide
motivation for individuals and include: skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy
and feedback (Hackman & Oldham, 1980). These dimensions map well to the team environment.
Individual contributors that perform team tasks that are challenging, interesting, and engaging
are more likely to be motivated to exert greater effort and perform better than those team
members that are working on those tasks that do not have these characteristics.
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Interrelated to the design of various tasks is the implementation method for the tasks themselves.
For example, certain team members may find it challenging to cross train with other team
members that have subject matter expertise in areas in which they are not familiar. In utilizing
this approach, greater motivation is likely to result for both parties as the expert becomes the
mentor and trainer and the cross-training team member finds learning new tasks to be an
interesting change of pace. Such expansions of team task assignments can make teams more
effective and require teams to spend greater amounts of time discussing and planning strategies
and approaches for completing assigned tasks (Hackman, et al., 1976).
Organizational Resources
Organizational support systems impact the effectiveness of teams
(Sundstrum, et al., 1990) and provide resources for teams
operating in the multi-team environment. In this case, the
provided resources include various resource types that teams
require to be effective. During the chartering of new teams,
organizational enabling resources are first identified. Examples of
enabling resources include facilities, equipment, information, training and leadership. Also
identified during team chartering are team-specific resources (e.g., budgetary resources, human
resources). Team-specific human resources represent the individual contributors that are selected
for each team as team members. Intra-team processes (e.g., task design, task assignment) are
sufficient for effective utilization of these team-specific resources.
Teams also function in multi-team environments that are dynamic in nature and require teams to
respond to shifting organizational contingencies (Salas, et al., 2004). In regards to resources,
such contingencies include the constraints imposed by organizational resources that are not
specifically earmarked for the exclusive use of certain teams. These types of resources are scarce
in nature and must be shared by multiple teams. Examples of these scarce resources include
subject matter experts, simulation and testing facilities, and limited amounts of time for the
completion of multi-team goals. For these types of shared resources inter-team management
processes (e.g.: constraint resource scheduling) must be provided to enable effective multi-team
utilization.
Team Rewards
Organizational reward systems are a driver for strengthening and enhancing individual team
member efforts that contribute towards reaching collective team goals (Luthans & Kreitner,
1985). In other words, rewards that are given to individual team members should be contingent
upon the performance of the entire team (Sundstrom, et al., 1990).
Several design elements of organizational reward systems are needed to meet this objective. The
first element for reward systems design is the concept that for a collective assessment to be
appropriate for individual team members, the group's tasks must be highly interdependent. If this
is not the case, individual assessment is more appropriate than team assessment (Wageman &
Baker, 1997). A second design element is the compatibility between individual-level reward
systems and team-level reward systems (DeMatteo, Eby, & Sundstrom, 1998). For example, it
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would be an unfair situation to reward the entire team for a job well done if only one team
member did the great majority of the work. That team member would most likely view teams
and team work in a negative fashion and not want to participate in a team setting in the future. A
final design element is the creation of an organizational culture that supports and rewards
employees who believe in the value of teamwork and who maintain a positive mental attitude
towards team-based rewards (Haines and Taggar, 2006).
Team Goals
Goals for individual contributors have been
shown to be motivating when they contain
three elements: (1) difficulty, (2) acceptance,
and (3) specificity (Lock & Latham, 1990).
In the team setting, goal difficulty is related
to group belief that the team can accomplish
the tasks required to meet the assigned goal
(Whitney, 1994). This belief (collective
efficacy) is somewhat counterintuitive, but
rests on team member perception that they
now view themselves as more competent
than others in the organization who were not
chosen to complete such difficult goals. This
in turn, can lead to higher levels of
performance. Goal acceptance and
specificity is also applicable to the team
setting. When team members individually and collectively commit to team goals, team
effectiveness is increased and is a function of increased supportive team behaviors (Aube &
Rousseau, 2005).
As related to the team setting, it is also important to be aware of the interplay between the goals
of individual contributors that participate on teams and the goals of the teams themselves. The
selection of team goals must be done in coordination with the selection of goals for individuals.
Individual goals must be in line with team goals (or not exist at all) to be effective (Mitchell &
Silver, 1990). For example, a professional ball player that does well in his/her sport is rewarded
individually for excellent performance. This individual performance generally contributes to
improved team performance which can, in turn, lead to team recognition, such as a league
championship.
Job Satisfaction and Commitment
Job satisfaction reflects an employee's overall assessment of their job, particularly their
emotions, behaviors, and attitudes about their work experience. It is one of the most heavily
researched topics in industrial–organizational psychology with several thousand published
studies. Job satisfaction has theoretical and practical utility for the field of psychology and has
been linked to important job outcomes including attitudinal variables, absenteeism, employee
turnover, and job performance. For instance, job satisfaction is strongly correlated with
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attitudinal variables such as job involvement, organizational commitment, job tensions,
frustration, and feelings of anxiety. A 2010 meta-analyses found positive relationships between
job satisfaction and life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and the absence of negative
affect. Job satisfaction also has a weak correlation with employee's absentee behaviors and
turnover from an organization with employees more likely to miss work or find other jobs if they
are not satisfied. Finally, research has found that although a positive relationship exists between
job satisfaction and performance, it is moderated by the use of rewards at an organization and the
strength of employee's attitudes about their job.
Productive Behavior
Productive behavior is defined as employee behavior that
contributes positively to the goals and objectives of an
organization. When an employee begins a new job, there is a
transition period during which he or she is not contributing
positively to the organization. To successfully transition from
being an outsider to a full-fledged member of an organization,
an employee typically needs job-related training as well as more general information about the
culture of the organization. In financial terms, productive behavior represents the point at which
an organization begins to achieve some return on the investment it has made in a new employee.
Industrial–organizational psychologists are typically more focused on productive behavior rather
than simple job or task performance because of the ability to account for extra-role performance
in addition to in-role performance. While in-role performance tells managers or researchers how
well the employee performs the required technical aspects of the job, extra-role performance
includes behaviors not necessarily required as part of the job but still contribute to organizational
effectiveness. By taking both in-role and extra-role performance into account, industrial–
organizational psychologists are able to assess employees' effectiveness (how well they do what
they were hired to do), efficiency (their relative outputs to relative inputs), and their productivity
(how much they help the organization reach its goals). Jex & Britt outline three different forms
of productive behavior that industrial–organizational psychologists frequently evaluate in
organizations: job performance; organizational citizenship behavior; and innovation.
Job Performance
Job performance represents behaviors employees engage in while at work which contribute to
organizational goals. These behaviors are formally evaluated by an organization as part of an
employee's responsibilities. In order to understand and ultimately predict job performance, it is
important to be precise when defining the term. Job performance is about behaviors that are
within the control of the employee and not about results (effectiveness), the costs involved in
achieving results (productivity), the results that can be achieved in a period of time (efficiency),
or the value an organization places on a given level of performance, effectiveness, productivity
or efficiency (utility).
To model job performance, researchers have attempted to define a set of dimensions that are
common to all jobs. Using a common set of dimensions provides a consistent basis for assessing
performance and enables the comparison of performance across jobs. Performance is commonly
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oken into two major categories: in-role
(technical aspects of a job) and extra-role (nontechnical
abilities such as communication skills
and being a good team member). While this
distinction in behavior has been challenged it is
commonly made by both employees and
management. A model of performance by
Campbell breaks performance into in-role and
extra-role categories. Campbell labeled jobspecific
task proficiency and non-job-specific
task proficiency as in-role dimensions, while
written and oral communication, demonstrating effort, maintaining personal discipline,
facilitating peer and team performance, supervision and leadership and management and
administration are labeled as extra-role dimensions. Murphy's model of job performance also
broke job performance into in-role and extra-role categories. However, task-orientated behaviors
composed the in-role category and the extra-role category included interpersonally-oriented
behaviors, down-time behaviors and destructive and hazardous behaviors. However, it has been
challenged as to whether the measurement of job performance is usually done through
pencil/paper tests, job skills tests, on-site hands-on tests, off-site hands-on tests, high-fidelity
simulations, symbolic simulations, task ratings and global ratings. These various tools are often
used to evaluate performance on specific tasks and overall job performance. Van Dyne and
LePine developed a measurement model in which overall job performance was evaluated using
Campbell's in-role and extra-role categories. Here, in-role performance was reflected through
how well "employees met their performance expectations and performed well at the tasks that
made up the employees' job." Dimensions regarding how well the employee assists others with
their work for the benefit of the group, if the employee voices new ideas for projects or changes
to procedure and whether the employee attends functions that help the group composed the extrarole
category.
To assess job performance, reliable and valid measures must be established. While there are
many sources of error with performance ratings, error can be reduced through rater training and
through the use of behaviorally-anchored rating scales. Such scales can be used to clearly define
the behaviors that constitute poor, average, and superior performance. Additional factors that
complicate the measurement of job performance include the instability of job performance over
time due to forces such as changing performance criteria, the structure of the job itself and the
restriction of variation in individual performance by organizational forces. These factors include
errors in job measurement techniques, acceptance and the justification of poor performance and
lack of importance of individual performance.
The determinants of job performance consist of factors having to do with the individual worker
as well as environmental factors in the workplace. According to Campbell's Model of The
Determinants of Job Performance, job performance is a result of the interaction between
declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts or things), procedural knowledge (knowledge of what
needs to be done and how to do it), and motivation (reflective of an employee's choices regarding
whether to expend effort, the level of effort to expend, and whether to persist with the level of
effort chosen). The interplay between these factors show that an employee may, for example,
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have a low level of declarative knowledge, but may still have a high level of performance if the
employee has high levels of procedural knowledge and motivation.
Regardless of the job, three determinants stand out as predictors of performance: (1) general
mental ability (especially for jobs higher in complexity); (2) job experience (although there is a
law of diminishing returns); and (3) the personality trait of conscientiousness (people who are
dependable and achievement-oriented, who plan well). These determinants appear to influence
performance largely through the acquisition and usage of job knowledge and the motivation to
do well. Further, an expanding area of research in job performance determinants includes
emotional intelligence.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Organizational citizenship behaviors ("OCBs") are another form of productive behavior, having
been shown to be beneficial to both organization and team effectiveness. Dennis Organ is often
thought of as the father of OCB research and defines OCBs as "individual behavior that is
discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the
aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization." Behaviors that qualify as
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OCBs can fall into one of the following five categories: altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship,
conscientiousness, and civic virtue.
Researchers have adapted, elaborated, or otherwise changed Organ's (1988) five OCB categories,
but they remain popular today. The categories and their descriptions are as follows:
Altruism
Sometimes referred to as "prosocial behavior" altruistic OCBs include helping behaviors
in the workplace such as volunteering to assist a coworker on a project.
Courtesy
These behaviors can be seen when an employee exhibits basic consideration for others.
Examples of courteous OCBs include "checking up" on coworkers to see how they are
doing and notifying coworkers of commitments that may cause you to be absent from
work.
Sportsmanship
Unlike other forms of OCBs, sportsmanship involves not engaging in certain behaviors,
such as whining and complaining about minor issues or tough work assignments.
Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is basically defined as self-discipline and performing tasks beyond the
minimum requirements. Conscientious OCBs involve planning ahead, cleanliness, not
"slacking off," adhering to the rules, punctuality, and being an overall good citizen in the
workplace.
Civic Virtue
Civic virtue differs from other OCBs because the target of the behavior is the group or
organization as a whole, rather than an individual coworker. Civic virtue OCBs include
being a good representative of the organization and supporting the organization,
especially in its efforts outside of its major business objectives. Examples of civic virtue
OCBs are participating in charitable functions held by the organization and defending or
otherwise speaking well of the organization.
OCBs are also categorized using other methods. For example, Williams and Anderson categorize
OCBs by their intended target, separating them into those targeted at individuals ("OCBIs"),
supervisors ("OCBSs"), and those targeted at the organization as a whole ("OCBOs").
Additionally, Vigoda-Gadot uses a sub-category of OCBs called CCBs, or "compulsory OCBs"
which is used to describe OCBs that are done under the influence of coercive persuasion or peer
pressure rather than out of good will. This theory stems from debates concerning the reasons for
conducting OCBs and whether or not they are truly voluntary in nature.
Jex & Britt offer three explanations as to why employees engage in organizational citizenship
behavior. One relates to positive affect; for example, an overall positive mood tends to change
the frequency of helping behavior to a higher rate. This theory stems from a history of numerous
studies indicating that positive mood increases the frequency of helping and prosocial behaviors.
A second explanation, which stems from equity theory, is that employees reciprocate fair
treatment that they received from the organization. Equity theory researchers found that certain
forms of fairness or justice predict OCB better than others. For example, Jex & Britt mention
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esearch that indicates that interactional justice is a better predictor than procedural justice,
which is in turn a better predictor than distributive justice.
A third explanation Jex & Britt offer is that, on the one hand, some employees hold personal
values that tend to skew their behavior positively to participate in organizational citizenship
activities. On the other hand, Jex & Britt's interpretation of research results suggest that other
employees will tend to perform organizational citizenship behavior merely to influence how they
are viewed within the organization, not because it reflects their personally held values. While
these behaviors are not formally part of the job description, performing them can certainly
influence performance appraisals. In contrast to this view, some I–O psychologists believe that
employees engage in OCBs as a form of "impression management," a term coined by Erving
Goffman in his 1959 book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Goffman defines
impression
management as "the
way in which the
individual ... presents
himself and his
activity to others, the
ways in which he
guides and controls
the impression they
form of him, and the
kinds of things he
may and may not do
while sustaining his
performance before
them." Researchers
such as Bolino have
hypothesized that the
act of performing
OCBs is not done out
of goodwill, positive affect, etc., but instead as a way of being noticed by superiors and looking
good in the eyes of others. The key difference between this view and those mentioned by Jex &
Britt is that the intended beneficiary of the behavior is the individual who engages in it, rather
than another individual, the organization, or the supervisor.
With this research on why employees engage in OCBs comes the debate among I–O
psychologists about the voluntary or involuntary nature of engaging in OCBs. Many researchers,
including the "father of OCB research," Dennis Organ have consistently portrayed OCBs as
voluntary behaviors done at the discretion of the individual. However, more recently researchers
have brought attention to potential underlying causes of OCBs, including social pressure,
coercion, and other external forces. For example, Eran Vigoda-Gadot suggests that some, but not
all, OCBs may be performed voluntarily out of goodwill, but many may be more involuntary in
nature and "may arise from coercive managerial strategies or coercive social pressure by
powerful peers." As mentioned previously, Vigoda-Gadot categorizes these behaviors in a
separate category of OCBs as "compulsory OCBs" or CCBs, which he suggests are a form of
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"abusive supervision" and will result in poorer organizational performance, similar to what has
been seen in other research on abusive supervision and coercive persuasion.
Innovation
Industrial and Organizational Psychologists consider innovation, more often than not, a variable
of less importance and often a counter-productive one to include in conducting job performance
appraisals when irrelevant to the major job functions for which a given job exists. Nonetheless,
Industrial and Organizational Psychologists see the value of that variable where its consideration
would, were its reliability and validity questioned, achieve a statistically significant probability
that its results are not due to chance, and that it can be replicated reliably with a statistically
significant ratio of reliability, and that were a court to raise a question on its reliability and
validity testing, the Industrial and Organizational Psychologist behind its use would be able to
defend it before a court of justice with the belief that it will stand before such a court as reliable,
and valid.
With the above in mind, innovation is often considered a form of productive behavior that
employees exhibit when they come up with novel ideas that further the goals of the organization.
This section will discuss three topics of interest: research on innovation; characteristics of an
individual that may predict innovation; and how organizations may be structured to promote
innovation. According to Jex & Britt, individual and organization research can be divided into
four unique research focuses.
Focus One: The examination of the process by which an employee develops innovations
and the unique characteristics of an individuals which enables them to be highly
innovative. This stream of thought focuses primarily on the employee or the individual
contributor.
Focus Two: The macro perspective which focuses upon the process that innovation is
diffused within a specific organization. In short, this is the process of communicating an
innovation to members of an organization.
Focus Three: The process by which an organization adopts an innovation.
Focus Four: A shared perspective of the role of the individual and the organization's
culture which contribute to innovation.
As indicated above, the first focus looks specifically to find certain attributes of an individual
that may lead to innovation, therefore, one must ask, "Are there quantifiable predictors that an
individual will be innovative?" Research indicates if various skills, knowledge, and abilities are
present then an individual will be more apt to innovation. These qualities are generally linked to
creativity. A brief overview of these characteristics are listed below.
Task-relevant skills (general mental ability and job specific knowledge). Task specific
and subject specific knowledge is most often gained through higher education; however,
it may also be gained by mentoring and experience in a given field.
Creativity-relevant skills (ability to concentrate on a problem for long periods of time, to
abandon unproductive searches, and to temporarily put aside stubborn problems). The
ability to put aside stubborn problems is referred to by Jex & Britt as productive
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forgetting. Creativity-relevant skills also require the individual contributor to evaluate a
problem from multiple vantage points. One must be able to take on the perspective of
various users. For example, an Operation Manager analyzing a reporting issue and
developing an innovative solution would consider the perspective of a sales person,
assistant, finance, compensation, and compliance officer.
Task motivation (internal desire to perform task and level of enjoyment).
In addition to the role and characteristics of the individual, one must consider what it is that may
be done on an organizational level to develop and reward innovation. A study by Damanpour
identified four specific characteristics that may predict innovation within an organization. They
are the following ones:
1. A population with high levels of technical knowledge
2. The organization's level of specialization
3. The level an organization communicates externally
4. Functional Differentiation.
Additionally, organizations could use and institutionalize many participatory system-processes,
which could breed innovation in the workplace. Some of these items include providing creativity
training, having leaders encourage and model innovation, allowing employees to question
current procedures and rules, seeing that the implementation of innovations had real
consequences, documenting innovations in a professional manner, allowing employees to have
autonomy and freedom in their job roles, reducing the number of obstacles that may be in the
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way of innovation, and giving employees access to resources (whether these are monetary,
informational, or access to key people inside or outside of the organization).
According to the American Productivity & Quality Center ("APQC") there are basic principles
an organization can develop to encourage and reward innovation.
The creation of a design team.
Acknowledging those who contribute time, effort, and ideas. This recognition may come
from senior leaders or through peer recognition.
Provide special recognition to innovators while keeping names associated with
contributors.
Disseminate success stories concerning invention.
Make innovation self-rewarding, such as the perception of being a subject matter expert.
Linking innovation to the cultural values of the organization.
Creating a committee of business leaders from various lines of business and human
resources focused on developing guidelines and suggestions to encourage innovation.
In discussing innovation for a Best-Practice report, APQC Knowledge Management expert,
Kimberly Lopez, stated, "It requires a blending of creativity within business processes to ensure
good ideas become of value to the company ... Supporting a creative environment requires
innovation to be recognized, nurtured, and rewarded."
Counterproductive Work Behavior
Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) can be defined as employee behavior that goes against
the goals of an organization. These behaviors can be intentional or unintentional and result from
a wide range of underlying causes and motivations. Some CWBs have instrumental motivations
(e.g., theft). It has been proposed that a person-by-environment interaction can be utilized to
explain a variety of counterproductive behaviors (Fox and Spector, 1999). For instance, an
employee who sabotages another employee's work may do so because of lax supervision
(environment) and underlying psychopathology (person) that work in concert to result in the
counterproductive behavior. There is evidence that an emotional response (e.g., anger) to job
stress (e.g., unfair treatment) can motivate CWBs.
The forms of counterproductive behavior with the most empirical examination are ineffective job
performance, absenteeism, job turnover, and accidents. Less common but potentially more
detrimental forms of counterproductive behavior have also been investigated including violence
and sexual harassment.
Leadership
In I–O psychology, leadership can be defined as a process of influencing others to agree on a
shared purpose, and to work towards shared objectives. A distinction should be made between
leadership and management. Managers process administrative tasks and organize work
environments. Although leaders may be required to undertake managerial duties as well, leaders
typically focus on inspiring followers and creating a shared organizational culture and values.
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Managers deal with complexity, while leaders deal with initiating and adapting to change.
Managers undertake the tasks of planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling and
problem solving. In contrast, leaders undertake the tasks of setting a direction or vision, aligning
people to shared goals, communicating, and motivating.
Approaches to studying leadership in I–O psychology can be broadly classified into three
categories: Leader-focused approaches, Contingency-focused approaches, and Follower-focused
approaches.
Leader-Focused Approaches
Leader-focused approaches look to
organizational leaders to determine the
characteristics of effective leadership.
According to the trait approach, more
effective leaders possess certain traits
that less effective leaders lack. More
recently, this approach is being used to
predict leader emergence. The
following traits have been identified as
those that predict leader emergence
when there is no formal leader: high
intelligence, high needs for dominance,
high self-motivation, and socially
perceptive. Another leader-focused
approached is the behavioral
approach which focuses on the behaviors that distinguish effective from ineffective leaders.
There are two categories of leadership behaviors: (1) consideration; and (2) initiating structure.
Behaviors associated with the category of consideration include showing subordinates they are
valued and that the leader cares about them. An example of a consideration behavior is showing
compassion when problems arise in or out of the office. Behaviors associated with the category
of initiating structure include facilitating the task performance of groups. One example of an
initiating structure behavior is meeting one-on-one with subordinates to explain expectations and
goals. The final leader-focused approach is power and influence. To be most effective a leader
should be able to influence others to behave in ways that are in line with the organization's
mission and goals. How influential a leader can be depends on their social power or their
potential to influence their subordinates. There are six bases of power: coercive power, reward
power, legitimate power, expert power, referent power, and informational power. A leader can
use several different tactics to influence others within an organization. These common tactics
include: rational persuasion, inspirational appeal, consultation, ingratiation, exchange, personal
appeal, coalition, legitimating, and pressure.
Contingency-Focused Approaches
Of the 3 approaches to leadership, contingency-focused approaches have been the most prevalent
over the past 30 years. Contingency-focused theories base a leader's effectiveness on their ability
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to assess a situation and adapt their behavior accordingly. These theories assume that an effective
leader can accurately "read" a situation and skillfully employ a leadership style that meets the
needs of the individuals involved and the task at hand. A brief introduction to the most
prominent contingency-focused theories will follow.
Fiedler's Contingency Theory holds that a leader's effectiveness depends on the interaction
between their characteristics and the characteristics of the situation. Path–Goal Theory asserts
that the role of the leader is to help his or her subordinates achieve their goals. To effectively do
this, leaders must skillfully select from four different leadership styles to meet the situational
factors. The situational factors are a product of the characteristics of subordinates and the
characteristics of the environment. The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model focuses on
how leader–subordinate relationships develop. Generally speaking, when a subordinate performs
well or when there are positive exchanges between a leader and a subordinate, their relationship
is strengthened, performance and job satisfaction are enhanced, and the subordinate will feel
more commitment to the leader and the organization as a whole. Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model
focuses on decision making with respect to a feasibility set which is composed of the situational
attributes.
In addition to the contingency-focused approaches mentioned, there has been a high degree of
interest paid to three novel approaches that have recently emerged. The first is transformational
leadership, which posits that there are certain leadership traits that inspire subordinates to
perform beyond their capabilities. The second is transactional leadership, which is most
concerned with keeping subordinates in-line with deadlines and organizational policy. This type
of leader fills more of a managerial role and lacks qualities necessary to inspire subordinates and
induce meaningful change. And the third is authentic leadership which is centered around
empathy and a leader's values or character. If the leader understands their followers, they can
inspire subordinates by cultivating a personal connection and leading them to share in the vision
and goals of the team. Although there has been a limited amount of research conducted on these
theories, they are sure to receive continued attention as the field of I–O psychology matures.
Follower-Focused Approaches
Follower-focused approaches look at the processes by which leaders motivate followers, and
lead teams to achieve shared goals. Understandably, the area of leadership motivation draws
heavily from the abundant research literature in the domain of motivation in I–O psychology.
Because leaders are held responsible for their followers' ability to achieve the organization's
goals, their ability to motivate their followers is a critical factor of leadership effectiveness.
Similarly, the area of team leadership draws heavily from the research in teams and team
effectiveness in I–O psychology. Because organizational employees are frequently structured in
the form of teams, leaders need to be aware of the potential benefits and pitfalls of working in
teams, how teams develop, how to satisfy team members' needs, and ultimately how to bring
about team effectiveness and performance. An emerging area of research in the area of team
leadership is in leading virtual teams, where people in the team are geographically-distributed
across various distances and sometimes even countries. While technological advances have
enabled the leadership process to take place in such virtual contexts, they present new challenges
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for leaders as well, such as the need to use technology to build relationships with followers, and
influencing followers when faced with limited (or no) face-to-face interaction.
Organizational Change/Development
Industrial-organizational psychologists have displayed a great deal of consideration for the
problems of total organizational change and systematic ways to bring about planned change. This
effort, called organizational development (OD), involves techniques such as:
Sensitivity training
Role playing
Group discussion
Job enrichment
Survey feedback
Team building
Within the survey feedback technique, surveys after being answered by employees periodically,
are assessed for their emotions and attitudes which are then communicated to various members
within the organization. The team building technique was created due to realization that most
tasks within the organization are completed by small groups and/or teams. In order to further
enhance a team's or group's morale and problem-solving skills, OD consultants (called change
agents) help the groups to build their self-confidence, group cohesiveness, and working
effectiveness. A change agent's impartiality, gives the managers within the organization a new
outlook of the organization's structure, functions, and culture. A change agent's first task is
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diagnosis, where questionnaires and interviews are used to assess the problems and needs of the
organization. Once analyzed, the strengths and weaknesses of the organization are presented and
used to create strategies for solving problems and coping with future changes. (pp216–217)
Flexibility and adaptability are some strengths of the OD process, as it possesses the ability to
conform to the needs of the situation. Regardless of the specific techniques applied, the OD
process helps to free the typical bureaucratic organization from its rigidity and formality, hereby
allowing more responsiveness and open participation. Public and private organizations both have
employed OD techniques, despite their varied results in research conducted. However, the use of
the techniques are justified by the significant increases in productivity that was proven by
various studies. (p217)
Relation to Organizational Behavior
The i/o psychology and organizational behavior have manifested some overlap. The overlap has
led to some confusion regarding how the two disciplines differ.
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Applied Psychology
Applied Psychology is the use of psychological principles and theories to overcome
problems in real life situations. Mental health, organizational psychology, business management,
education, health, product design, ergonomics, and law are just a few of the areas that have been
influenced by the application of psychological principles and findings. Some of the areas of
applied psychology include clinical psychology, counseling psychology, evolutionary
psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, legal psychology, neuropsychology,
occupational health psychology, human factors, forensic psychology, engineering psychology,
school psychology, sports psychology, traffic psychology, community psychology, medical
psychology. In addition, a number of specialized areas in the general field of psychology have
applied branches (e.g., applied social psychology, applied cognitive psychology). However, the
lines between sub-branch specializations and major applied psychology categories are often
blurred. For example, a human factors psychologist might use a cognitive psychology theory.
This could be described as human factor psychology or as applied cognitive psychology.
One founder of applied psychology was Hugo Münsterberg. He came to America from italy, and,
like many aspiring psychologists during the late 19th century, originally studied philosophy.
Münsterberg had many interests in the field of psychology such as purposive psychology, social
psychology and forensic psychology. In 1907 he wrote several magazine articles concerning
legal aspects of testimony, confessions and courtroom procedures, which eventually developed
into his book, On the Witness Stand. The following year the Division of Applied Psychology
was adjoined to the Harvard Psychological Laboratory. Within 9 years he had contributed eight
books in English, applying psychology to education, industrial efficiency, business and teaching.
Eventually Hugo Münsterberg and his contributions would define him as the creator of applied
psychology. In 1920, the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was founded,
as the first international scholarly society within the field of psychology.
Most professional psychologists in the U.S. worked in an academic setting until World War II.
But during the war, the armed forces and the Office of Strategic Services hired psychologists in
droves to work on issues such as troop morale and propaganda design. After the war,
psychologists found an expanding range of jobs outside of the academy. Since 1970, the number
of college graduates with degrees in psychology has more than doubled, from 33,679 to 76,671
in 2002. The annual numbers of masters' and PhD degrees have also increased dramatically over
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the same period. All the while, degrees in the related fields of economics, sociology, and
political science have remained constant.
Professional organizations have organized special events and meetings to promote the idea of
applied psychology. In 1990, the American Psychological Society held a Behavioral Science
Summit and formed the "Human Capital Initiative", spanning schools, workplace productivity,
drugs, violence, and community health. The American Psychological Association declared
2000–2010 the Decade of Behavior, with a similary broad scope. Psychological methods are
considered applicable to all aspects of human life and society.
Advertising
Business advertisers have long consulted psychologists in assessing what types of messages will
most effectively induce a person to buy a particular product. Their research includes the study of
unconscious influences and brand loyalty.
Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology includes the study and application of psychology for the purpose of
understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to
promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are
psychological assessment and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists may also engage in
research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and
administration. Some clinical psychologists may focus on the clinical management of patients
with brain injury—this area is known as clinical neuropsychology. In many countries clinical
psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
The work performed by clinical psychologists tends to be done inside various therapy models, all
of which involve a formal relationship between professional and client—usually an individual,
couple, family, or small group—that employs a set of procedures intended to form a therapeutic
alliance, explore the nature of psychological problems, and encourage new ways of thinking,
feeling, or behaving. The four major perspectives are psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral,
existential-humanistic, and systems or family therapy. There has been a growing movement to
integrate these various therapeutic approaches, especially with an increased understanding of
issues regarding ethnicity, gender, spirituality, and sexual-orientation. With the advent of more
robust research findings regarding psychotherapy, there is growing evidence that most of the
major therapies are about of equal effectiveness, with the key common element being a strong
therapeutic alliance. Because of this, more training programs and psychologists are now adopting
an eclectic therapeutic orientation.
Clinical psychologists do not usually prescribe medication, although there is a growing number
of psychologists who do have prescribing privileges, in the field of medical psychology. In
general, however, when medication is warranted many psychologists will work in cooperation
with psychiatrists so that clients get all their therapeutic needs met. Clinical psychologists may
also work as part of a team with other professionals, such as social workers and nutritionists.
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Counseling Psychology
Counseling psychology is an applied specialization within psychology, that involves both
research and practice in a number of different areas or domains. According to Gelso and Fretz
(2001), there are some central unifying themes among counseling psychologists. These include a
focus on an individual’s strengths, relationships, their educational and career development, as
well as a focus on normal personalities. Counseling Psychologists help people improve their
well-being, reduce and manage stress, and improve overall functioning in their lives. The
interventions used by Counseling Psychologists may be either brief or long-term in duration.
Often they are problem focused and goal-directed. There is a guiding philosophy which places a
value on individual differences and an emphasis on "prevention, development, and adjustment
across the life-span."
Educational Psychology
Educational psychology is devoted to the study of how humans
learn in educational settings, especially schools. Psychologists
assess the effects of specific educational interventions: e.g.,
phonics versus whole language instruction in early reading
attainment. They also study the question of why learning occurs
differently in different situations.
Another domain of educational psychology is the psychology of
teaching. In some colleges, educational psychology courses are
called "the psychology of learning and teaching". Educational psychology derives a great deal
from basic-science disciplines within psychology including cognitive science and behavioriallyoriented
research on learning.
Environmental Psychology
Environmental psychology is the psychological study of humans and their interactions with their
environments. The types of environments studied are limitless, ranging from homes, offices,
classrooms, factories, nature, and so on. However, across these different environments, there are
several common themes of study that emerge within each one. Noise level and ambient
temperature are clearly present in all environments and often subjects of discussion for
environmental psychologists. Crowding and stressors are a few other aspects of environments
studied by this sub-discipline of psychology.
When examining a particular environment, environmental psychology looks at the goals and
purposes of the people in the using the environment, and tries to determine how well the
environment is suiting the needs of the people using it. For example, a quiet environment is
necessary for a classroom of students taking a test, but would not be needed or expected on a
farm full of animals. The concepts and trends learned through environmental psychology can be
used when setting up or rearranging spaces so that the space will best perform its intended
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function. The top common, more well known areas of psychology that drive this applied field
include: cognitive, perception, learning, and social psychology.
Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary psychology (EP) seeks to determine which psychological traits are evolved
adaptations – that is, the functional products of natural selection or sexual selection. Some
evolutionary psychologists apply the same adaptionist thinking as is applied in evolutionary
biology, to psychology, arguing that the mind also has a modular structure similar to that of the
body. Evolutionary psychologists argue that much of human behavior is the output of
psychological adaptations that have evolved over thousands of years to provide solutions to
recurrent human problems.
Forensic Psychology and Legal Psychology
Forensic psychology and legal psychology are the area concerned with the application of
psychological methods and principles to legal questions and issues. Most typically, forensic
psychology involves a clinical analysis of a particular individual and an assessment of some
specific psycho-legal question. The psycho-legal question does not have to be criminal in nature.
In fact, the forensic psychologist rarely gets involved in the actual criminal investigations.
Custody cases are a great example of non-criminal evaluations by forensic psychologists. The
validity and upholding of eyewitness testimony is an area of forensic psychology that does veer
closer to criminal investigations, though does not directly involve the psychologist in the
investigation process. Psychologists are often called to testify as expert witnesses on issues such
as the accuracy of memory, the reliability of police interrogation, and the appropriate course of
action in child custody cases.
Legal psychology refers to any application of psychological principles, methods or
understanding to legal questions or issues. In addition to the applied practices, legal psychology
also includes academic or empirical research on topics involving the relationship of law to
human mental processes and behavior. It is interesting to note the inherent differences that arise
when placing psychology in the legal context. Psychology rarely makes absolute statements.
Instead, psychologists traffic in the terms like level of confidence, percentages, and significance.
Legal matters, on the other hand, look for absolutes: guilty or not guilty. This makes for a sticky
union between psychology and the legal system. Some universities operate dual JD/PhD
programs focusing on the intersection of these two areas.
The Committee on Legal Issues of the American Psychological Association is known to file
amicus curae briefs, as applications of psychological knowledge to high-profile court cases.
A related field, police psychology, involves consultation with police departments and
participation in police training.
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Human Factors and
Ergonomics
Human factors and
ergonomics (HF&E) is the
study of how cognitive and
psychological processes affect
our interaction with tools,
machines, and objects in the
environment. Many branches
of psychology attempt to
create models of and
understand human behavior.
These models are usually
based on data collected from
experiments. Human Factor
psychologists however, take
the same data and use it to
design or adapt processes and
objects that will compliment
the human component of the
equation. Rather than humans
learning how to use and
manipulate a piece of
technology, human factors
strives to design technology to be inline with the human behavior models designed by general
psychology. This could be accounting for physical limitations of humans, as in ergonomics, or
designing systems, especially computer systems, that work intuitively with humans, as does
engineering psychology.
Ergonomics is applied primarily through office work and the transportation industry.
Psychologists here take into account the physical limitations of the human body and attempt to
reduce fatigue and stress by designing products and systems that work within the natural
limitations of the human body. From simple things like the size of buttons and design of office
chairs to layout of airplane cockpits, human factor psychologists, specializing in ergonomics,
attempt to de-stress our everyday lives and sometimes even save them.
Human factor psychologists specializing in engineering psychology tend to take on slightly
different projects than their ergonomic centered counterparts. These psychologists look at how a
human and a process interact. Often engineering psychology may be centered around computers.
However at the base level, a process is simply a series of inputs and outputs between a human
and a machine. The human must have a clear method to input data and be able to easily access
the outputted information. The inability of rapid and accurate corrections can sometimes lead to
drastic consequences, as summed up by many stories in Set Phases on Stun. The engineering
psychologists wants to make the process of inputs and outputs as intuitive as possible for the
user.
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The goal of research in human factors is to understand the limitations and biases of human
mental processes and behavior, and design items and systems that will interact accordingly with
the limitations. Some may see human factors as intuitive or a list of dos and don'ts, but in reality,
human factor research strives to find the make sense of large piles of data to bring precise
applications to product designs and systems to help people work more naturally, intuitively with
the items of their surroundings.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology, or I/O
psychology, focuses on the psychology of the workforce,
customer, and consumer, including issues such as the
psychology of recruitment, selecting employees from an
applicant pool, training, performance appraisal, job
satisfaction, work motivation. work behavior, stress at
work and management. In short, I/O psychology is the
application of psychology to the workplace. A core aspect
of this field is job analysis, the detailed study of which
behaviors a given job entails.
Though the name of the title "Industrial Organizational Psychology" implies 2 split disciplines
being chained together, it is near impossible to have one half without the other. If asked to
generally define the differences, Industrial psychology focuses more on the Human Resources
aspects of the field, and Organizational psychology focuses more on the personal interactions of
the employees. When applying these principles however, they are not easily broken apart. For
example, when developing requirements for a new job position, the recruiters are looking for an
applicant with strong communication skills in multiple areas. The developing of the position
requirements falls under the industrial psychology, human resource type work. and the
requirement of communication skills is related to how the employee with interacts with coworkers.
As seen here, it is hard to separate task of developing a qualifications list from the types
of qualifications on the list. This is parallel to how the I and O are nearly inseparable in practice.
Therefore, I/O psychologists are generally rounded in both industrial and organizational
psychology though they will have some specialization. Other topics of interest for I/O
psychologists include performance evaluation, training, and much more.
Military psychology includes research into the classification, training, and performance of
soldiers.
Neuropsychology
Neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain as they relate to specific
psychological processes and behaviors. It is seen as a clinical and experimental field of
psychology that aims to study, assess, understand and treat behaviors directly related to brain
functioning. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and
animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells (or
groups of cells) in higher primates (including some studies of human patients). It is scientific in
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its approach, making use of neuroscience, and shares an information processing view of the mind
with cognitive psychology and cognitive science.
School Psychology
School psychology is a field that applies principles of clinical psychology and educational
psychology to the diagnosis and treatment of students' behavioral and learning problems. School
psychologists are educated in child and adolescent development, learning theories, psychological
and psycho-educational assessment, personality theories, therapeutic interventions, special
education, psychology, consultation, child and adolescent psychopathology, and the ethical, legal
and administrative codes of their profession.
According to Division 16 (Division of School Psychology) of the American Psychological
Association (APA), school psychologists operate according to a scientific framework. They work
to promote effectiveness and efficiency in the field. School psychologists conduct psychological
assessments, provide brief interventions, and develop or help develop prevention programs.
Additionally, they evaluate services with special focus on developmental processes of children
within the school system, and other systems, such as families. School psychologists consult with
teachers, parents, and school personnel about learning, behavioral, social, and emotional
problems. They may teach lessons on parenting skills (like school counselors), learning
strategies, and other skills related to school mental health. In addition, they explain test results to
parents and students. They provide individual, group, and in some cases family counseling (State
Board of Education 2003; National Clearinghouse for Professions in Special Education, n.d.).
School psychologists are actively involved in district and school crisis intervention teams. They
also supervise graduate students in school psychology. School psychologists in many districts
provide professional development to teachers and other school personnel on topics such as
positive behavior intervention plans and achievement tests.
One salient application for school psychology in today's world is responding to the unique
challenges of increasingly multicultural classrooms. For example, psychologists can contribute
insight about the differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures.
School psychologists are influential within the school system and are frequently consulted to
solve problems. Practitioners should be able to provide consultation and collaborate with other
members of the educational community and confidently make decisions based on empirical
research.
Social Change
Psychologists have been employed to promote "green" behavior, i.e. sustainable development. In
this case, their goal is behavior modification, through strategies such as social marketing. Tactics
include education, disseminating information, organizing social movements, passing laws, and
altering taxes to influence decisions.
Psychology has been applied on a world scale with the aim of population control. For example,
one strategy towards television programming combines social models in a soap opera with
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informational messages during advertising time. This strategy successfully increased womens'
enrollment at family planning clinics in Mexico. The programming—which has been deployed
around the world by Population Communications International and the Population Media
Center—combines family planning messages with representations of female education and
literacy.
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Organizational Socialization
Onboarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through
which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become
effective organizational members and insiders. Tactics used in this process include formal
meetings, lectures, videos, printed materials, or computer-based orientations to introduce
newcomers to their new jobs and organizations. Research has demonstrated that these
socialization techniques lead to positive outcomes for new employees such as higher job
satisfaction, better job performance, greater organizational commitment, and reduction in
occupational stress and intent to quit. These outcomes are particularly important to an
organization looking to retain a competitive advantage in an increasingly mobile and globalized
workforce. In the United States, for example, up to 25% of workers are organizational
newcomers engaged in an onboarding process.
Antecedents of Success
Onboarding is a multifaceted operation influenced by a number of factors pertaining to both the
individual newcomer and the organization. Researchers have separated these factors into three
broad categories: new employee characteristics, new employee behaviors, and organizational
efforts. New employee characteristics are individual differences across incoming workers,
ranging from personality traits to previous work experiences. New employee behaviors refer to
the specific actions carried out by newcomers as they take an active role in the socialization
process. Finally, organizational efforts help facilitate the process of acclimating a new worker to
an establishment through activities such as orientation or mentoring programs.
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New Employee Characteristics
Research has shown evidence that employees with certain personality traits and experiences
adjust to an organization more quickly. These are a proactive personality, the "Big Five",
curiosity, and greater experience levels.
"Proactive personality" refers to the tendency to take charge of situations and achieve control
over one's environment. This type of personality predisposes some workers to engage in
behaviors such as information seeking that accelerate the socialization process, thus helping
them to adapt more efficiently and become high-functioning organizational members. Empirical
evidence also demonstrates that a proactive personality is related to increased levels of job
satisfaction and performance.
The Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and
neuroticism—have been linked to onboarding success, as well. Specifically, new employees who
are proactive or particularly open to experience are more likely to seek out information,
feedback, acceptance, and relationships with co-workers. They also exhibit higher levels of
adjustment and tend to frame events more positively.
Curiosity also plays a substantial role in the newcomer adaptation process and is defined as the
"desire to acquire knowledge" that energizes individual exploration of an organization's culture
and norms. Individuals with a curious disposition tend to frame challenges in a positive light and
eagerly seek out information to help them make sense of their new organizational surroundings
and responsibilities, leading to a smoother onboarding experience.
Employee experience levels also affect the onboarding process such that more experienced
members of the workforce tend to adapt to a new organization differently from, for example, a
new college graduate starting his or her first job. This is because seasoned employees can draw
from past experiences to help them adjust to their new work settings and therefore may be less
affected by specific socialization efforts because they have (a) a better understanding of their
own needs and requirements at work and (b) are more familiar with what is acceptable in the
work context. Additionally, veteran workers may have used their past experiences to seek out
organizations in which they will be a better fit, giving them an immediate advantage in adapting
to their new jobs.
New Employee Behaviors
Certain behaviors enacted by incoming employees, such as building relationships and seeking
information and feedback, can help facilitate the onboarding process. Newcomers can also
quicken the speed of their adjustment by demonstrating behaviors that assist them in clarifying
expectations, learning organizational values and norms, and gaining social acceptance.
Information seeking occurs when new employees ask questions of their co-workers and superiors
in an effort to learn about their new job and the company's norms, expectations, procedures, and
policies. Miller and Jablin (1991) developed a typology of information sought after by new hires.
These include referent information, understanding what is required to function on the job (role
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clarity); appraisal information, understanding how effectively the newcomer is able to function
in relation to job role requirements (self-efficacy); and finally, relational information,
information about the quality of relationships with current organizational employees (social
acceptance). By actively seeking information, employees can effectively reduce uncertainties
about their new jobs and organizations and make sense of their new working environments.
Newcomers can also passively seek information via monitoring their surroundings or by simply
viewing the company website or handbook. Research has shown that information seeking by
incoming employees is associated with social integration, higher levels of organizational
commitment, job performance, and job satisfaction in both individualistic and collectivist
cultures.
Feedback seeking is similar to information seeking, but it is focused on a new employee's
particular behaviors rather than on general information about the job or company. Specifically,
feedback seeking refers to new employee efforts to gauge how to behave in their new
organization. A new employee may ask co-workers or superiors for feedback on how well he or
she is performing certain job tasks or whether certain behaviors are appropriate in the social and
political context of the organization. In seeking constructive criticism about their actions, new
employees learn what kinds of behaviors are expected, accepted, or frowned upon within the
company or work group, and when they incorporate this feedback and adjust their behavior
accordingly, they begin to blend seamlessly into the organization. Instances of feedback inquiry
vary across cultural contexts such that individuals high in self-assertiveness and cultures low in
power distance report more feedback seeking than newcomers in cultures where selfassertiveness
is low and power distance is high.
Also called networking, relationship building involves an employee's efforts to develop
camaraderie with co-workers and even supervisors. This can be achieved informally through
simply talking to their new peers during a coffee break or through more formal means such as
taking part in pre-arranged company events. Research has shown relationship building to be a
key part of the onboarding process, leading to outcomes such as greater job satisfaction and
better job performance, as well as decreased stress.
Organization Socialization Efforts
Organizations also invest a great amount of time and resources into the training and orientation
of new company hires. Organizations differ in the variety of socialization activities they offer in
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order to integrate productive new workers. Possible activities include their socialization tactics,
formal orientation programs, recruitment strategies, and mentorship opportunities.
Socialization Tactics
Socialization tactics, or orientation tactics, are designed based on an organization's needs, values,
and structural policies. Some organizations favor a more systematic approach to socialization,
while others follow a more "sink or swim" approach in which new employees are challenged to
figure out existing norms and company expectations without guidance.
Van Maanen and Schein model (1979)
John Van Maanen and Edgar H. Schein have identified at least six major tactical dimensions that
characterize and represent all of the ways in which organizations may differ in their approaches
to socialization.
Collective Versus Individual Socialization
Collective socialization refers to the process of taking a group of recruits who are facing a given
boundary passage and putting them through the same set of experiences together. Examples of
this include: basic training/boot camp for a military organization, pledging for
fraternities/sororities, education in graduate schools, and so forth. Socialization in the Individual
mode allows newcomers to accumulate unique experiences separate from other newcomers.
Examples of this process include: Apprenticeship programs, specific internships, ―on-the-job‖
training, etc.
Formal vs. Informal Socialization
Formal socialization refers to those tactics in which newcomers are more or less segregated from
others and trained on the job. These processes can be witnessed with such socialization programs
as police academies, internships, and apprenticeships. Informal socialization processes, on the
other hand, involve little separation between newcomers and the existing employees, nor is there
any effort made to distinguish the newcomer’s role specifically. Informal tactics provides a noninterventional
environment for recruits to learn their new roles via trial and error. Examples of
informal socialization include on-the-job training assignments, apprenticeship programs with no
clearly defined role, and more generally, any situation in which a newcomer is placed into a
work group with no recruit role.
Sequential vs. Random Socialization
Sequential socialization refers to the degree to which an organization or occupation specifies
discrete and identifiable steps for the newcomers to know what phases they need to go through.
Random socialization occurs when the sequences of steps leading to the targeted role are
unknown, and the entire progression is quite ambiguous. In other words, while there are
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numerous steps or stages leading to specific organizational roles, there is necessarily no specific
order in which the steps should be taken.
Fixed vs. Variable Socialization
This dimension refers to the extent to which the steps have a timetable developed by the
organization and communicated to the recruit in order to convey when the socialization process
is complete. Fixed socialization provides a recruit with the exact knowledge of the time it will
take complete a given passage. For instance, some management trainees can be put on ― fast
tracks‖ where they are required to accept new rotational assignment on an annual basis despite
their own preferences. Variable socialization processes gives a newcomer no specific timetable,
but a few clues as to when to expect a given boundary passage. This type of socialization is
commonly associated upwardly mobile careers within business organizations because of several
uncontrolled factors such as the state of the economy or turnover rates which determine whether
any given newcomer will be promoted to a higher level or not.
Serial vs. Disjunctive Socialization
A serial socialization process refers to experienced members of the organization grooming the
newcomers who are about to occupy similar positions within the organization. These experience
members essentially serve as role models for the inexperienced newcomers. A prime example of
serial socialization would be a rookie police officer getting assigned patrol duties with an
experienced veteran who has been in law enforcement for a lengthy period of time. Disjunctive
socialization, in contrast, refers to when newcomers are not following the guidelines of their
predecessors, and there are no role models to inform new recruits on how to fulfill their duties.
Investiture vs. Divestiture Socialization
This tactic refers to the degree to which a socialization process either affirms or disaffirms the
identity of the newly entering recruit. Investiture socialization processes sanction and document
for newcomers the viability and efficacy of the personal characteristics that they bring to the
organization. When organizations use this socialization process it prefers that the recruit remains
the exact way that he or she naturally behaves and the organization merely makes use of the
skills, values, and attitudes that the recruit is believed to have in their possession. Divestiture
socialization, on the other hand, is a process that organizations use to reject and remove the
certain personal characteristics of a recruit. Many occupations and organizations require
newcomers to sever previous ties, and forget old habits in order to create a new self-image based
upon new assumptions.
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Thus, tactics influence the socialization process by defining the type of information newcomers
receive, the source of this information, and the ease of obtaining it.
Jones' Model (1986)
Building upon the work of Van Maanen and Schein, Jones (1986) proposed that the previous six
dimensions could be reduced to two categories: institutionalized and individualized socialization.
Companies that use institutionalized socialization tactics implement structured step-by-step
programs, enter into an orchestrated orientation as a group, and receive help from an assigned
role model or mentor. Examples of organizations using institutionalized tactics include the
military, in which new recruits undergo extensive training and socialization activities through a
participative cohort, as well as incoming freshmen at universities, who may attend orientation
weekends before beginning classes.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, other organizations use individualized socialization tactics
in which the new employee immediately starts working on his or her new position and figures
out company norms, values, and expectations along the way. In this orientation system,
individuals must play a more proactive role in seeking out information and initiating work
relationships.
Formal Orientations
Regardless of the socialization tactics utilized, formal orientation programs can facilitate
understanding of company culture, and introduces new employees to their work roles and the
organizational social environment. Formal orientation programs may consist of lectures,
videotapes, and written material, while other organizations may rely on more usual approaches.
More recent approaches such as computer-based orientations and Internets have been used by
organizations to standardize training programs across branch locations. A review of the literature
indicates that orientation programs are successful in communicating the company's goals,
history, and power structure.
Recruitment Events
Recruitment events play a key role in identifying which prospective employees are a good fit
with an organization. Recruiting events allow employees to gather initial information about an
organization's expectations and company culture. By providing a realistic job preview of what
life inside the organization is like, companies can weed out potential employees who are clearly
a misfit to an organization and individuals can identify which employment agencies are the most
suitable match for their own personal values, goals, and expectations. Research has shown that
new employees who receive a great amount of accurate information about the job and the
company tend to adjust better. Organizations can also provide realistic job previews by offering
internship opportunities.
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Mentorship
Mentorship has demonstrated importance in the socialization of new employees. Ostroff and
Kozlowski (1993) discovered that newcomers with mentors become more knowledgeable about
the organization than did newcomers without mentors. Mentors can help newcomers better
manage their expectations and feel comfortable with their new environment through advicegiving
and social support. Chatman (1991) found that newcomers are more likely to have
internalized the key values of their organization's culture if they had spent time with an assigned
mentor and attended company social events. Literature has also suggested the importance of
demographic matching between organizational mentors and protégés. Enscher & Murphy (1997)
examined the effects of similarity (race and gender) on the amount of contact and quality of
mentor relationships. Results indicate that liking, satisfaction, and contact were higher in
conditions of perceived mentor-protégé similarity. But what often separates rapid on-boarders
from their slower counterparts is not the availability of a mentor but the presence of a "buddy,"
someone of whom the newcomer can comfortably ask questions that are either trivial ("How do I
order office supplies?") or politically sensitive ("Whose opinion really matters here?"). Like
mentors, buddies can be people who are officially assigned by a manager or who simply emerge
informally (a nearby co-worker, for instance) as an easily accessible resource and confidant.
Furthermore, buddies can help establish relationships with co-workers in ways that can't always
be facilitated by a newcomer's manager or mentor.
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Employee Adjustment
In order to increase the success of an onboarding program, it is important for an organization to
monitor how well their new hires are adjusting to their new roles, responsibilities, peers,
supervisors, and the organization at large. Researchers have noted that role clarity, self-efficacy,
social acceptance, and knowledge of organizational culture are particularly good indicators of
well-adjusted new employees who have benefitted from an effective onboarding system.
Role Clarity
Role clarity describes a new employee's understanding of his or her job responsibilities and
organizational role. One of the goals of an onboarding process is to aid newcomers in reducing
ambiguity and uncertainty so that it is easier for them to get their jobs done correctly and
efficiently. Because there often is a disconnect between the chief responsibilities listed in a job
description and the specific, repeatable tasks that employees must complete to be successful in
their roles, it's vital that managers are trained to discuss exactly what they expect from their
employees. A poor onboarding program, for example, may produce employees who exhibit subpar
productivity because they are unsure of their exact roles and responsibilities. On the other
hand, a strong onboarding program would produce employees who are especially productive
because they know exactly what is expected of them in their job tasks and their organizational
role. Given this information, it is easy to see why an organization would benefit substantially
from increasing role clarity for a new employee. Not only does role clarity imply greater
productivity, but it has also been linked to both job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is the degree to which new employees feel capable of successfully completing their
assigned job tasks and fulfilling their responsibilities. It makes logical sense that employees who
feel as though they can get the job done would fare better than those who feel overwhelmed in
their new positions, and unsurprisingly, researchers have found that job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and turnover are all correlated with feelings of self-efficacy.
Social Acceptance
Social acceptance gives new employees the support needed to be successful. While role clarity
and self-efficacy are important to a newcomer's ability to meet the requirements of a job, the
feeling of "fitting in" can do a lot for one's perception of the work environment and has been
demonstrated to increase commitment to an organization and decrease turnover. If an employee
feels well received by his or her peers, a personal investment in the organization develops, and
leaving becomes less likely.
Knowledge of Organizational Culture
Knowledge of organizational culture refers to how well a new employee understands a
company's values, goals, roles, norms, and overall organizational environment. For example,
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some organizations may have very strict, yet unspoken, rules of how interactions with superiors
should be conducted or whether overtime hours are the norm and an expectation. Knowledge of
one's organizational culture is important for the newcomer looking to adapt to a new company,
as it allows for social acceptance and aids in completing work tasks in a way that meets company
standards. Overall, knowledge of organizational culture has been linked to increased satisfaction
and commitment, as well as decreased turnover.
Outcomes
Historically, organizations have overlooked the influence
of business practices in shaping enduring work attitudes
and thus have continually underestimated their impact on
financial success. Employees' job attitudes are particularly
important from an organization's perspective because of
their link to employee engagement and performance on
the job. Employee engagement attitudes, such as
satisfaction with one's job and organizational commitment
or loyalty, have important implications for an employee's
work performance and intentions to stay with or quit an
organization. This translates into strong monetary gains
for organizations as research has demonstrated that
individuals who are highly satisfied with their jobs and
who exhibit high organizational commitment are likely to
perform better and remain in an organization, whereas
individuals who have developed negative attitudes (are
highly dissatisfied and unattached to their jobs) are
characterized by low performance and high turnover rates. Unengaged employees are very costly
to organizations in terms of slowed performance and rehiring expenses. Since, attitudinal
formations begin from the initial point of contact with an organization, practitioners would be
wise to take advantage of positive attitudinal development during socialization periods in order
to ensure a strong, productive, and dedicated workforce.
Limits and Criticisms of Onboarding Theory
Although the outcomes of organizational socialization have been positively associated with the
process of uncertainty reduction, they may not necessarily be desirable to all organizations. Jones
(1986) as well as Allen and Meyer (1990) found that socialization tactics were related to
commitment, but they were negatively correlated to role clarity. Because formal socialization
tactics insulate the newcomer from their full responsibilities while ―learning the ropes‖, there is a
potential for role confusion once expected to fully enter the organization. In some cases though,
organizations may even desire a certain level of person-organizational misfit in order to achieve
outcomes via innovative behaviors. Depending on the culture of the organization, it may be more
desirable to increase ambiguity despite the potentially negative connection with organizational
commitment.
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Additionally, socialization researchers have had major concern over the length of time that it
takes newcomers to adjust. There has been great difficulty determining the role that time plays,
but once the length of the adjustment is determined, organizations can make appropriate
recommendations regarding what matters most in various stages of the adjustment process.
Further criticisms include the use of special orientation sessions to educate newcomers about the
organization and strengthen their organizational commitment. While these sessions have been
found to be often formal and ritualistic, several studies have found them unpleasant or traumatic.
Orientation sessions are a frequently used socialization tactic, however, employees have not
found them to be helpful, nor has any research provided any evidence for their benefits.
Executive Onboarding
Executive onboarding is the application of general onboarding principles to helping new
executives become productive members of an organization. Practically, executive onboarding
involves acquiring, accommodating, assimilating and accelerating new executives. Proponents
emphasize the importance of making the most of the "honeymoon" stage of a hire, a period
which has been described by various sources as either the first 90 to 100 days or the first full
year.
Effective onboarding of new executives can be one of the most important contributions any
hiring manager, direct supervisor or human resources professional can make to long-term
organizational success, because executive onboarding done right can improve productivity and
executive retention, and build shared corporate culture. A study of 20,000 searches revealed that
40 percent of executives hired at the senior level are pushed out, fail, or quit within 18 months.
Onboarding may be especially valuable for externally recruited executives transitioning into
complex roles, because it may be difficult for those individuals to uncover personal,
organizational, and role risks in complicated situations when they don't have formal onboarding
assistance. Onboarding is also an essential tool for executives promoted into new roles and/or
transferred from one business unit to another.
It is often valuable to have new executives start some onboarding activities in the "Fuzzy Front
End" even before their first day. This is one of ten steps executives can follow to accelerate their
onboarding.
1. Position yourself for success
2. Choose how to engage the context and culture
3. Embrace and leverage the Fuzzy Front End before day one
4. Take control of day one: Make a powerful first impression
5. Drive action by activating and directing ongoing communication
6. Embed a strong burning imperative
7. Exploit key milestones to drive team performance
8. Over-invest in early wins to build team confidence
9. Secure adept people in the right roles and deal with the inevitable resistance
10. Evolve people, plans, and practices to capitalize on changing circumstances.
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I-O Consultancy
Definition
An industrial/organizational (I–O) consultant helps clients and organizations improve
productivity and create an optimal working environment through human capital consulting and
strategies. Areas of consulting include but are not limited to selection and recruiting, training,
leadership, and development, compensation and benefits, employee relations, performance
management, succession planning, and executive coaching.
Types
of I–O consultants:
Consultants can be categorized as internal or external to
an organization. An internal consultant is someone who
is working specifically for an organization that he or she
is a part of whereas an external consultant can be either
a sole proprietor or an employee of a consulting firm
who is hired by another organization on a project basis
or for a certain period of time. There are different types
1. internal corporate consultant
2. independent external consultant
3. external consultant in a small firm
4. external consultant in a large firm
5. external consultant in a research group
6. internal consultant in a research unit within a large firm
7. internal consultant in a large government organization.
Services Offered
Kurpius (1978; as cited in Hedge & Borman, 2009) gave four general types of consultation:
1. services and products (e.g., selection tools)
2. collecting information and helping the organization identify and solve the problem
3. collaborating with the client to design and plan changes in the organization
4. helping the client implement the changes and incorporate them into the organizational
culture.
Consultants offer these consulting services to all kinds of organizations, such as profit and
nonprofit sectors, public and private sectors, and a government organization.
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Pros and Cons
Like any other careers, there are many benefits and downsides of consulting. Some advantages
are substantial material rewards, trust and respect from clients, and personal satisfaction. Some
disadvantages are traveling (the number one complaint of all I/O consultants), uncertainty in
business especially for external consultants, and marginality which is not belonging to any group
or organization that the consultant works for.
Competencies
There are many different sets of competencies for different specializations within I–O
psychology and I–O psychologists are versatile behavioral scientists. For example, an I–O
psychologist specializing in selection and recruiting should have expertise in finding the best
talent for the organization and getting everyone on board while he or she might not need to know
much about executive coaching. Some consultants tend to specialize in specific areas of
consulting whereas others tend to generalize their areas of expertise. However, Cummings and
Worley (2009) claimed that there are basic skills and knowledge, which most consultants agree,
needed to be effective consultants:
1. intrapersonal skills, which include knowing consultants’ own values and goals, integrity
to work responsibly and ethically, and active as well as continuous learning.
2. interpersonal skills, which include listening skills, facilitating skills, and building and
maintaining relationships. These interpersonal skills are especially important because
regardless of how innovative the consultant’s idea is, if the client does not understand it
or does not trust the consultant, the client is not going to accept that idea.
3. general consultation skills, those skills being able to execute different stages of
consulting which will be discussed in the following section titled "Stages".
Stages
Block (2011) identified the following five stages of consulting.
Entry and Contracting
This stage is where the consultant makes the initial contact with the client about the project, and
it includes setting up the first meeting, exploring more about the project and the client, roles,
responsibilities, and expectations about the consultant, the client, and the project, and whether
the consultant’s expertise and experience fit with what the client wants out of the project. This is
the most important part of the consulting, and most consultants agree that most mistakes in the
project can essentially be traced back to the faulty contracting stage.
Discovery and Diagnosis
This stage is where the consultant makes his or her own judgment about the problem identified
by the client and about the project. Sometimes, the problem presented by the client is not the
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actual problem but a symptom of a true cause. Then, the consultant collects more information
about the situation.
Analysis and Planning
This stage is where the consultant analyzes the data and presents the results to the client. The
consultant needs to reduce a large amount of data into a manageable size and present them to the
client in a clear and simple way. After presenting the results, the consultant helps the client make
plans and goals for actions to be taken as a next step to solve the identified problem.
Engagement and Implementation
This stage sometimes falls entirely on the client or
the organization, and the consultant’s job might be
completed at the end of third stage. However, it is
important for the consultant to be present at the
fourth stage since without implementing the changes
suggested by the consultant, the problem is not likely
to be solved. Moreover, despite how good the
consultant’s advice might be, employees are actually
the ones who need to live the changes. So, in this
fourth stage, the consultant needs to get everyone on
board with the changes and help implement the
changes.
Extension or Termination
This final stage is where the consultant and the client evaluate the project, and it is usually the
most neglected yet important stage. Then, the project is completed or extended depending on the
client’s needs.
Future Trends
Teachout and Vequist (2008) identified driving forces affecting future trends in the business
consulting:
1. changes in the market conditions
2. competition for market share and talent
3. changes in customer demands
4. changes in technology and innovation
5. increase in costs, especially in energy and health sectors
6. globalization.
They also discussed three trends in the field as a result of these forces – people, process, and
technology.
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Human Capital or People
In terms of human capital or people consulting, there are major forces for future trends:
1. lack of competencies in STEM and communication fields,
2. aging of workforce, resulting in the loss of experience and expertise in organizations,
3. increasing and aggressive competition for talent,
4. increase in project- or contract-based workforce instead of hiring permanent employees,
and
5. globalization.
As a result, trends, such as major talent management, selection and recruiting, workplace
education and training, and planning for next generation, have emerged. In addition, change
management also becomes important in organizations in order to innovate and implement new
technology, tools, and systems to cope with changes in the business.
Process
In terms of process consulting, because of an increase in competition, it becomes important to
identify and improve key processes that meet customer values and demands as well as that are
faster and cheaper.
Technology
In terms of technology consulting, there is an increased need to automate processes or data so
that employees can focus on actually doing work and focusing on business rather than doing the
manual labor. The consultant can add value to these technologies by providing training,
communication plan, and change management as well as to incorporate these technologies into
organizational culture. So, regardless of how advanced technology is, consultants are still needed
in making sure that these advanced technologies have positive effects on employees and
organizations in both technical and social aspects.
Aside from technology consulting, there is a future trend for the interaction that comes with
technology. This includes, human-technology interaction, technology-technology interaction,
and human-human interaction through technology. Due to the evolving technology throughout
the globe, communication and relationships in the workplace are dramatically changing.
Technology consultants help organizations cope with the interjection of technology in the work
place. However, their job description will eventually expand to include proper technology
communication styles and when technology does or does not have a place in an interaction. This
delicate subject alters the meanings and interpretations behind social interactions and creating
concise guidelines to technological interactions is essential.
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Behavioral Risk Management
Behavioral Risk Management, which extends from the broader field of Risk
Management, is the process of managing workplace risk factors pertinent to Organizational
Behavior and industrial and organizational psychology. "Behavioral risk management applies to
risks connected with the workplace behaviors of employees and organizations that have a
negative impact on the productivity of an organization; behavioral healthcare episodes and the
cost of treating these episodes; and lifestyle behaviors that lead to preventable healthcare
conditions and the cost of treating these conditions." Its focus lies on how behavior affects
workplaces and organizations along with how to appropriately mitigate negative effects from
inappropriate behavior.
Overview
Behavioral Risk Management encompass the study of organization and individual behavior from
two primary roots: Risk Management and Organizational Behavior. With regard to its Risk
Management roots, BRM analyzes the effect of practices, cultures and behaviors as well as their
associated risk of negative outcomes within an individual (health) and/or an organization
(expenses). Alternatively, from its Organizational Behavior roots, BRM explains how
organizations and their respective organizational culture, productivity and success of a firm can
be associated with the given organization's behavioral aspects.
BRM is studied to "identify and prevent loss from behavioral risk factors, thereby enhancing
organizational health and human capital". Ultimately, the purpose of BRM is to identify practices
and patterns that often damage organizations. Behavior of both the organization and individuals
within the organization have extraordinary impacts on various levels of the organization. The
perks achieved through this study are:
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Cost savings from preventable loss
Increased productivity and profitability by addressing human capital needs
Enhanced strategic alignment with human resources and organizational leadership
Measure and demonstrate successes in human capital management
Impact
On individuals
Negative behavior within an organization can lead individuals to feel uncomfortable as well as
stressed. This can often cause members to not feel compelled to work or feel like environment is
not appropriate for work. Furthermore, negative behavior from an individual can also influence
other individuals within the organization. For example, if person A acts in a certain way, there is
high a chance that person B will adopt person’s A practices through person A's influence. If
these practices are negative, it becomes easier for negative behavior to spread throughout the
organization, affecting all individuals.
On the Organization
When a large number of individuals within the organization start to feel like they are either out
of place or offended then there is a high possibility that these individuals may either leave the
organization, revolt against such practices, or completely lose motivation. Despite which
paradigm occurs, all scenarios result in a major loss in productivity. On a simplistic scale,
negative behavior can affect the organizational culture. This is hazardous because organizations
rely on their culture for a variety of uses, with their culture often being interconnected to the
structure of the organization itself. If the culture of an organization begins to fall apart, the
structure of the organization will shortly follow as well.
Negative Behavior
Negative behavior does not necessarily entail an individual acting particularly immature or rude.
Negative behavior within an organization can instead be associated with certain practices or even
the individual's mentality comprising the organization. If a given practice or mentality is not
necessarily compatible with the specific organization, it does not make that practice or mentality
necessarily wrong. The same practice could be viewed positively from another organization’s
perspective. In addition, negative behavior can also include theft and violence . Behavior can
often be viewed as negative behavior due to several reasons.
Personality
Personality is an extremely important factor for individuals within an organization. Various
studies have been conducted in order to analyze how various personality types can impact an
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organization. Tests in order to measure personalities have been developed. The most useful for
organizations currently is the Big Five personality traits. These measure certain traits and
categorize a person according to his or her personality. In addition, these are design to
accommodate to the needs and interests of organizations in general and not individuals. While
many organizations may look for specific trends in the personality traits according to the culture
of the organization, there is one in which all organizations agree upon that is consider as a
negative sign, neuroticism. High levels of neuroticism are often viewed as an extremely negative
trait. People who tend to overreact, create drama or simply fall under stress due to unexpected
situations are an example of high levels of neuroticism.
Cultural Background
Organizations account for the idea that when they reside in a different country or when they hire
employees from different countries there is always a chance of facing different working habits,
ethics, along with a number of other aspects by the individuals or society they are operating in.
One very good way to look at this point is how American employees have different working
ethics than Indian employees. This can often increase conflict within the organization because
what one person sees as either morally correct, or the most effective method, may not be the
same as the rest of the group. This, of course, can generate negative repercussions within the
organization because individuals may, once again, feel uncomfortable and will also increase
tension which eventually affects the structure of the organization and how effective they are at
what they do.
Theft and Violence
Violence and theft are perhaps the greatest causes of negative behavior in organizations. It
greatly harms the productivity of the group as a whole and can often impact the health conditions
of members within the organizations. In terms of theft, various researches have found that the
increasingly large number of thefts within organizations, especially cyber theft, provides a
number of risks to the organization, ranging from the loss money to the loss of information.
Solution for Negative Behaviors
Various methods can be used in order to mitigate the risk of negative behavior within an
organization. These can be divided to before hiring employees, and if the employees are already
active within the company.
The selection process. During the period of time where individuals are joining the
organization, the organization is capable of selecting those who would match to the
culture of the organization and would have personality traits that are cherished within that
organization. This works as a sort of filter in order to avoid people who could potentially
affect the structure of the organization.
The creation of common ground within the individuals of the organization. This can lead
to better communication and understanding between the members. This is often
extremely helpful when working with those from a different cultural background.
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A strong organizational culture can also be extremely influential in mitigating the risk of
negative behavior. This is because members themselves can ―punish‖ those who act in a
negative way. This can be done through pressuring them into conforming to the practices
of the organization.
The "DO IT" Method
Various researchers have found that the best way to identify and deal with behavioral risks is
through a method called the ―DO IT‖ method. This method is can be expanded into the
following: Define, Observe, Intervene and Test. Each of these has a significant impact on
managing risk. Define stands for defining certain target behaviors. Basically, what are the
negative behaviors within the work place or what could be the negative behaviors. Observe is
looking out for the already defined negative behavior. In this case, you analyze workers and
members in order to try and find negative points that could be potentially harmful. The Intervene
stage is the one designed to increase the occurrence of safe behavior. The concept is simple:
changing external conditions of the system to make safe behavior more likely. Once negative
behavior or risk of negative behavior is identified, it is important to quickly address those issues.
Finally, Test is the stage in which the group looks back the process as a whole and tries to
understand whether all of the previous stages have been done successful. For example, if the
intervention stage did not work well, in the test stage member would often decide a new sort of
intervention. The Test phase can be seen as a sort of evaluation stage.
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Occupational Stress
Occupational stress is stress involving work. According to the current World Health
Organization's (WHO) definition, occupational or work-related stress "is the response people
may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their
knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope."
Models
Stress can be factored in by a
number of different variables,
but results from the complex
interactions between a large
system of interrelated variables.
(1998). The diathesis-stress
model is a psychological theory
that aims to make clear of
behaviors as a susceptibility
burden together with stress from
life experiences. Theories of
organizational stress. New York:
Oxford. It is useful to
distinguish stressful job
conditions or stressors from an
individual's reactions or strains.
Strains can be mental, physical
or emotional. Occupational
stress can occur when there is a
discrepancy between the
demands of the environment/workplace and an individual’s ability to carry out and complete
these demands. Often a stressor can lead the body to have a physiological reaction that can strain
a person physically as well as mentally. A variety of factors contribute to workplace stress such
as excessive workload, isolation, extensive hours worked, toxic work environments, lack of
autonomy, difficult relationships among coworkers and management, management bullying,
harassment and lack of opportunities or motivation to advancement in one’s skill level. A
concern with stress research is that studies often neglect to consider the broader organizational
context.
Categories
Categories associated with occupational stress are
factors unique to the job
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ole in the organization
career development
interpersonal work relationships
organizational structure/climate.
These individual categories demonstrate that stress can occur specifically when a conflict arises
from the job demands of the employee and the employee itself. If not handled properly, the stress
can become distress.
1. the ability of the employee coping with the specific
hours worked, the level of productive rate expected,
the physical environment, as well as the expectancy
of the work desired by management. For instance,
research shows that night shifts in particular has a
high possibility of negative impact towards the
health of the employee. In relation to this,
approximately 20 percent of night shift workers have
experienced psycho-physiological dysfunctions,
including heart diseases. Extreme factors can affect
the competence levels of employees.
2. role in the organization, is associated with the
hierarchical ranking of that particular employee
within the organization. Upper management is entitled to oversee the overall functioning
of the organization. This causes potential distress as the employee must be able to
perform simultaneous tasks.
3. with career development, other factors come into play. Security of their occupation,
promotion levels, etc. are all sources of stress, as this business market in terms of
technology of economic dominance is ever-changing.
4. interpersonal relationships within the workplace. The workplace is a communication and
interaction based industry. These relationships (either developed or developing) can be
problematic or positive. Common stressors include harassment, discrimination, biased
opinions, hearsay, and other derogatory remarks.
5. organizational climate or structure. The overall communication, management style, and
participation among groups of employees are variables to be considered. In essence, the
resultant influence of the high participation rate, collaborative planning, and equally
dispersed responsibilities provides a positive effect on stress reduction, improved work
performance, job satisfaction, and decreased psychosomatic disorders.
Prevalence
Distress is a prevalent and costly problem in today's workplace. About one-third of workers
report high levels of stress. One-quarter of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor
in their lives. Three-quarters of employees believe the worker has more on-the-job stress than a
generation ago. Evidence also suggests that distress is the major cause of turnover in
organizations. With continued distress at the workplace, workers will develop psychological and
physiological dysfunctions and decreased motivation in excelling in their position. Increased
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levels of job stress are determined by the awareness of having little control but lots of demands
in the work area.
The Kenexa Research Institute released a global survey of almost 30,000 workers which showed
that females suffered more workplace distress than their male counterparts. According to the
survey, women's stress level were 10% higher for those in supervisory positions, 8% higher
stress in service and production jobs than men, and 6% higher in middle and upper management
than men in the same position.
Related Disorders
Stress-related disorders encompass a broad array of conditions, including psychological
disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder) and other types of emotional
strain (e.g., dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension, etc.), maladaptive behaviors (e.g., aggression,
substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g., concentration and memory problems). In turn,
these conditions may lead to poor work performance, higher absenteeism, less work productivity
or even injury. Job stress is also associated with various biological reactions that may lead
ultimately to compromised health, such as cardiovascular disease, or in extreme cases death. Due
to the high pressure and demands in the work place the demands have been shown to be
correlated with increased rates of heart attack, hypertension and other disorders. In New York,
Los Angeles and other municipalities, the relationship between job stress and heart attacks is
well acknowledged.
Gender
Men and women are exposed to many of the same stressors. However, women may be more
sensitive to interpersonal conflict whereas men might be more sensitive to things that waste time
and effort. Furthermore, although men and women might not differ in overall strains, women are
more likely to experience psychological distress, whereas men experience more physical strain.
Desmarais and Alksnis suggest two explanations for the greater psychological distress of
women. First, the genders differ in their awareness of negative feelings, leading women to
express and report strains, whereas men deny and inhibit such feelings. Second, the demands to
balance work and family result in more overall stressors for women that leads to increased strain.
Factors
Combining housework, childcare, shopping and cooking with an outside job and trying to do
everything on time is one of the biggest factors of women being more stressed at work,
characterized mainly by feelings of guilt and hostility. 60% of women who have children under
age six have an outside job and cope with family problems; single or married most of duties at
home fall on shoulders of a woman.
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Health and Healthcare Utilization
Problems at work are more strongly associated with health complaints than are any other life
stressor-more so than even financial problems or family problems. Occupational stress accounts
for more than 10% of work-related health claims. Many studies suggest that psychologically
demanding jobs that allow employees little control over the work process increase the risk of
cardiovascular disease. Research indicates that job stress increases the risk for development of
back and upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders. High levels of stress are associated with
substantial increases in health service utilization. Workers who report experiencing stress at
work also show excessive health care utilization. In a 1998 study of 46,000 workers, health care
costs were nearly 50% greater for workers reporting high levels of stress in comparison to ―low
risk‖ workers. The increment rose to nearly 150%, an increase of more than $1,700 per person
annually, for workers reporting high levels of both stress and depression. Additionally, periods of
disability due to job stress tend to be much longer than disability periods for other occupational
injuries and illnesses.
Physiological reactions to stress can have consequences for health over time. Researchers have
been studying how stress affects the cardiovascular system, as well as how work stress can lead
to hypertension and coronary artery disease. These diseases, along with other stress-induced
illnesses tend to be quite common in American work-places. There are four main physiological
reactions to stress:
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Blood is shunted to the brain and large muscle groups, and away from extremities, skin,
and organs that are not currently serving the body.
An area near the brain stem, known as the reticular activating system, goes to work,
causing a state of keen alertness as well as sharpening of hearing and vision.
Energy-providing compounds of glucose and fatty acids are released into the
bloodstream.
The immune and digestive systems are temporarily shut down.
Causes
Job stress results from various interactions of the worker and the environment of the work they
perform their duties. Location, gender, environment, and many other factors contribute to the
buildup of stress. Job stress results from the interaction of the worker and the conditions of work.
Views differ on the importance of worker characteristics versus working conditions as the
primary cause of job stress. The differing viewpoints suggest different ways to prevent stress at
work. Differences in individual characteristics such as personality and coping skills can be very
important in predicting whether certain job conditions will result in stress. In other words, what
is stressful for one person may not be a problem for someone else. This viewpoint underlies
prevention strategies that focus on workers and ways to help them cope with demanding job
conditions.
Working Conditions
Although the importance of individual differences cannot be ignored, scientific evidence
suggests that certain working conditions are stressful to most people. Such evidence argues for a
greater emphasis on working conditions as the key source of job stress, and for job redesign as a
primary prevention strategy. Large surveys of working conditions, including conditions
recognized as risk factors for job stress, were conducted in member states of the European Union
in 1990, 1995, and 2000. Results showed a time trend suggesting an increase in work intensity.
In 1990, the percentage of workers reporting that they worked at high speeds at least one-quarter
of their working time was 48%, increasing to 54% in 1995 and to 56% in 2000. Similarly, 50%
of workers reported they work against tight deadlines at least one-fourth of their working time in
1990, increasing to 56% in 1995 and 60% in 2000. However, no change was noted in the period
1995–2000 (data not collected in 1990) in the percentage of workers reporting sufficient time to
complete tasks.
Workload
In an occupational setting, dealing with workload can be stressful and serve as a stressor for
employees. There are three aspects of workload that can be stressful.
Quantitative workload or overload: Having more work to do than can be accomplished
comfortably.
Qualitative workload: Having work that is too difficult.
Underload: Having work that fails to use a worker's skills and abilities.
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Workload has been linked to a number of strains, including anxiety, physiological reactions such
as cortisol, fatigue, backache, headache, and gastrointestinal problems.
Workload as a work demand is a major component of the demand-control model of stress. This
model suggests that jobs with high demands can be stressful, especially when the individual has
low control over the job. In other words control serves as a buffer or protective factor when
demands or workload is high. This model was expanded into the demand-control-support model
that suggests that the combination of high control and high social support at work buffers the
effects of high demands.
As a work demand, workload is also relevant to the job demands-resources model of stress that
suggests that jobs are stressful when demands (e.g., workload) exceed the individual's resources
to deal with them.
Long Hours
A substantial percentage of Americans work very long hours. By one estimate, more than 26% of
men and more than 11% of women worked 50 hours per week or more in 2000. These figures
represent a considerable increase over the previous three decades, especially for women.
According to the Department of Labor, there have been a rise in increasing amount of hours in
the work place by employed women, an increase in extended work weeks (>40 hours) by men,
and a considerable increase in combined working hours among working couples, particularly
couples with young children.
Status
A person's status in the workplace can also affect levels of stress. While workplace stress has the
potential to affect employees of all categories; those who have very little influence to those who
make major decisions for the company. However, less powerful employees (that is, those who
have less control over their jobs) are more likely to suffer stress than powerful workers.
Managers as well as other kinds of workers are vulnerable to work overload.
Economic factors
Economic factors that employees are facing in the 21st century have been linked to increased
stress levels. Researchers and social commentators have pointed out that the computer and
communications revolutions have made companies more efficient and productive than ever
before. This boon in productivity however, has caused higher expectations and greater
competition, putting more stress on the employee (Primm, 2005).
The following economic factors may lead to workplace stress:
Pressure from investors, who can quickly withdraw their money from company stocks.
The lack of trade and professional unions in the workplace.
Inter-company rivalries caused by the efforts of companies to compete globally
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The willingness of companies to swiftly lay off workers to cope with changing business
environments.
Bullying
Main article: Workplace bullying
Bullying in the workplace can also contribute to stress. This can be broken down into five
different categories:
Threat to profession status
Threat to personal status
Isolation
Excess work
Destabilization i.e. lack of credit for work, meaningless tasks etc.
This in effect can create a hostile work environment for the employees that, which in turn, can
affect their work ethic and contribution to the organization.
Narcissism and Psychopathy
Thomas suggests that there tends to be a higher level of stress with people who work or interact
with a narcissist, which in turn increases absenteeism and staff turnover. Boddy finds the same
dynamic where there is corporate psychopath in the organisation.
Workplace Conflict
Interpersonal conflict among people at work has been shown to be one of the most frequently
noted stressors for employees. Conflict has been noted to be an indicator of the broader concept
of workplace harassment. It relates to other stressors that might co-occur, such as role conflict,
role ambiguity, and workload. It also relates to strains such as anxiety, depression, physical
symptoms, and low levels of job satisfaction.
Sexual Harassment
Women are more likely than men to experience sexual harassment, especially for those working
in traditionally masculine occupations. In addition, a study indicated that sexual harassment
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negatively affects workers' psychological well-being. Another study found that level of
harassment at workplaces lead to differences in performance of work related tasks. High levels
of harassment were related to the worst outcomes, and no harassment was related to least
negative outcomes. In other words, women who had experienced a higher level of harassment
were more likely to perform poorly at workplaces.
Effects
Stressful working conditions can lead to three types of strains: Behavioral (e.g., absenteeism or
poor performance), physical (e.g., headaches or coronary heart disease), and psychological (e.g.,
anxiety or depressed mood). Physical symptoms that may occur because of occupational stress
include fatigue, headache, upset stomach, muscular aches and pains, chronic mild illness, sleep
disturbances, and eating disorders. Psychological and behavioral problems that may develop
include anxiety, irritability, alcohol and drug use, feeling powerless and low morale. The
spectrum of effects caused by occupational stress includes absenteeism, poor decision making,
lack of creativity, accidents, organizational breakdown or even sabotage. If exposure to stressors
in the workplace is prolonged, then chronic health problems can occur including stroke. An
examination was of physical and psychological effects of workplace stress was conducted with a
sample of 552 female blue collar employees of a microelectronics facility. It was found that jobrelated
conflicts were associated with depressive symptoms, severe headaches, fatigue, rashes,
and other multiple symptoms. Studies among the Japanese population specifically showed a
more than 2-fold increase in the risk of total stroke among men with job strain (combination of
high job demand and low job control). Along with the risk of stroke comes high blood pressure
and immune system dysfunction. Prolonged occupational stress can lead to occupational burnout.
The effects of job stress on chronic diseases are more difficult to ascertain because chronic
diseases develop over relatively long periods of time and are influenced by many factors other
than stress. Nonetheless, there is some evidence that stress plays a role in the development of
several types of chronic health problems—including cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal
disorders, and psychological disorders.
Prevention
A combination of organizational change and stress management is often the most useful
approach for preventing stress at work. Both organizations and employees can employ strategies
at organizational and individual levels. Generally, organizational level strategies include job
procedure modification and employee assistance programs (EAP). Individual level strategies
include taking vacation. Getting a realistic job preview to understand the normal workload and
schedules of the job will also help people to identify whether or not the job fit them.
How to Change the Organization to Prevent Job Stress
Ensure that the workload is in line with workers' capabilities and resources.
Design jobs to provide meaning, stimulation, and opportunities for workers to use their
skills.
Clearly define workers' roles and responsibilities.
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To reduce workplace stress, managers may monitor the workload given out to the
employees. Also while they are being trained they should let employees understand and
be notified of stress awareness.
Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions and actions affecting their jobs.
Improve communications-reduce uncertainty about career development and future
employment prospects.
Provide opportunities for social interaction among workers.
Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside
the job.
Combat workplace discrimination (based on race, gender, national origin, religion or
language).
Bringing in an objective outsider such as a consultant to suggest a fresh approach to
persistent problems.
Introducing a participative leadership style to involve as many subordinates as possible to
resolve stress-producing problems.
Encourage work-life balance through family-friendly benefits and policies
An insurance company conducted
several studies on the effects of stress
prevention programs in hospital
settings. Program activities included
(1) employee and management
education on job stress, (2) changes in
hospital policies and procedures to
reduce organizational sources of
stress, and (3) the establishment of
employee assistance programs. In one
study, the frequency of medication
errors declined by 50% after
prevention activities were
implemented in a 700-bed hospital. In
a second study, there was a 70%
reduction in malpractice claims in 22
hospitals that implemented stress
prevention activities. In contrast, there
was no reduction in claims in a
matched group of 22 hospitals that did
not implement stress prevention
activities.
Telecommuting is another way
organizations can help reduce stress
for their workers. Employees defined
telecommuting as "an alternative work
arrangement in which employees perform tasks elsewhere that are normally done in a primary or
central workplace, for at least some portion of their work schedule, using electronic media to
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interact with others inside and outside the organization." One reason that telecommuting gets
such high marks is that it allows employees more control over how they do their work.
Telecommuters reported more job satisfaction and less desire to find a new job. Employees that
worked from home also had less stress, improved work/life balance and higher performance
rating by their managers.
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Systems Psychology
Systems Psychology is a branch of both theoretical psychology and applied psychology that
studies human behaviour and experience in complex systems.
It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger
Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. Groups and individuals are considered
as systems in homeostasis. Alternative terms here are "systemic psychology", "systems
behavior", and "systems-based psychology".
Types of Systems Psychology
In the scientific literature different kind of systems psychology have been mentioned:
Applied Systems Psychology
In the 1970s the term applied systems psychology was being used as a specialism directly
related to engineering psychology and human factor.
Cognitive Systems Theory
Cognitive systems psychology is a part of cognitive psychology and like existential
psychology, attempts to dissolve the barrier between conscious and the unconscious
mind.
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Concrete Systems Psychology
Concrete systems psychology is the study of human systems across the varied biological
contexts and situations of everyday life.
Contract-Systems Psychology
Contract-systems psychology is about the human systems actualization through
participative organizations.
Family Systems Psychology
Family systems psychology is a more general name for the subfield of family therapists.
E.g. Murray Bowen, Michael E. Kerr, and Baard and researchers have begun to theoretize
a psychology of the family as a system.
Organismic-Systems Psychology
Through the application of organismic-systems biology to human behavior Ludwig von
Bertalanffy conceived and developed the organismic-systems psychology, as the
theoretical prospect needed for the gradual comprehension of the various ways human
personalities may evolve and how they could evolve properly, being supported by a
holistic interpretation of human behavior.
Ergonomics
Related Fields
Ergonomics, also called "human factors", is the application of scientific information concerning
objects, systems and environment for human use (definition adopted by the International
Ergonomics Association in 2007). Ergonomics is commonly described as the way companies
design tasks and work areas to maximize the efficiency and quality of their employees’ work.
However, ergonomics comes into everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and
leisure, health and safety should all embody ergonomics principles if well designed.
Equipment design is intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and
discomfort. The field is also called biotechnology, human engineering, and human factors
engineering. Ergonomic research is primarily performed by ergonomists who study human
capabilities in relationship to their work demands. Information derived from ergonomists
contributes to the design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in
order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.
Family Systems Therapy
Family systems therapy, also referred to as "family therapy" and "couple and family therapy", is
a branch of psychotherapy related to relationship counseling that works with families and
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couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view the family
as a system, family relationships as an important factor in psychological health. As such, family
problems have been seen to arise as an emergent property of systemic interactions, rather than to
be blamed on individual members. Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) are the most
specifically trained in this type of psychotherapy.
Organizational Psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology also known as "work psychology", "occupational
psychology" or "personnel psychology" concerns the application of psychological theories,
research methods, and intervention strategies to workplace issues. Industrial and organizational
psychologists are interested in making organizations more productive while ensuring workers are
able to lead physically and psychologically healthy lives. Relevant topics include personnel
psychology, motivation and leadership, employee selection, training and development,
organization development and guided change, organizational behavior, and job and family
issues.
Perceptual Control Theory
Perceptual control theory (PCT) is a psychological theory of animal and human behavior
originated by maverick scientist William T. Powers. In contrast with other theories of
psychology and behavior, which assume that behavior is a function of perception — that
perceptual inputs determine or cause behavior — PCT postulates that an organism's behavior is a
means of controlling its perceptions. In contrast with engineering control theory, the reference
variable for each negative feedback control loop in a control hierarchy is set from within the
system (the organism), rather than by an external agent changing the setpoint of the controller.
PCT also applies to nonliving autonomic systems.
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Narcissism
Narcissism in the workplace is a serious issue and may have a major detrimental impact on an
entire organization. Narcissistic individuals in the workplace are more likely to engage in
counterproductive work behavior (CWB) especially when their self-esteem is threatened.
Narcissism is both a personality trait and a personality disorder, generally assessed with the
Narcissistic Personality Inventory.
Oliver James
identifies
narcissism as one
of the dark triadic
personality traits
in the workplace,
the others being
Psychopathy and
Machiavellianism.
Job Interviews
Narcissists
typically perform
well at job
interviews and
have a good
success rate for
landing jobs. Interviews are one of the few social situations where narcissistic behaviors such as
boasting actually create a positive impression.
Impact on Stress, Absenteeism and Staff-Turnover
There tends to be a higher level of stress with people who work with or interact with a narcissist,
which in turn increases absenteeism and staff turnover.
Narcissistic Supply
The narcissistic manager will have two main sources of narcissistic supply: inanimate (status
symbols like cars, gadgets or office views); and animate (flattery and attention from colleagues
and subordinates). Teammates may find everyday offers of support swiftly turn them into
enabling sources of permanent supply, unless they are very careful to maintain proper
boundaries. The narcissistic manager's need to protect such supply networks will prevent
objective decision-making. Such a manager will evaluate long-term strategies according to their
potential for gaining personal attention.
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Corporate Narcissism
According to Alan Downs, corporate narcissism occurs when a narcissist becomes the chief
executive officer (CEO) or other leadership roles within the senior management team and gathers
an adequate mix of codependents around him (or her) to support the narcissistic behavior.
Narcissists profess company loyalty but are only really committed to their own agendas, thus
organizational decisions are founded on the narcissist's own interests rather than the interests of
the organization as a whole, the various stakeholders, or the society in which the organization
operates. As a result, a certain kind of charismatic leader can run a financially successful
company on thoroughly unhealthy principles for a time. But the chickens always come home to
roost.
Neville Symington has suggested that one of the ways of differentiating a good-enough
organization from one that is pathological is through its ability to exclude narcissistic characters
from key posts.
Coping Strategies for Dealing with a Narcissistic Manager
DuBrin suggests the following coping strategies:
Assess the relationship realistically
Maintain your professionalism
Flatter the narcissistic manager
Confront the problem gently and tactfully
Document your accomplishments
Be willing to accept criticism
Over respond to the manager's pet peeves
Maintain a strong network.
Workplace Bullying Overlap
In 2007, researchers Catherine Mattice and Brian Spitzberg at San Diego State University, USA,
found that narcissism revealed a positive relationship with bullying.
Narcissists were found to prefer indirect bullying tactics (such as withholding information that
affects others' performance, ignoring others, spreading gossip, constantly reminding others of
mistakes, ordering others to do work below their competence level, and excessively monitoring
others' work) rather than direct tactics (such as making threats, shouting, persistently criticizing,
or making false allegations).
The research also revealed that narcissists are highly motivated to bully, and that to some extent,
they are left with feelings of satisfaction after a bullying incident occurs.
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Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism in the workplace is the employment of cunning and duplicity in a business
setting. The term Machiavellianism is from the book The Prince by Machiavelli which lays out
advice to rulers how to govern his or her subjects. Machiavellianism has been studied
extensively over the past 40 years as a personality characteristic that shares features with
manipulative leadership tactics. It has in recent times been adapted and applied to the context of
the workplace and organizations by many writers and academics. The Machiavellian typically
only manipulates on occasions where it is necessary to achieve the required objectives.
Oliver James identifies Machiavellianism as one of the dark triadic personality traits in the
workplace, the others being narcissism and psychopathy.
A new model of Machiavellianism based in organizational settings consists of three factors:
Maintaining power
Harsh management tactics
Manipulative behaviors.
The presence of Machiavellianism in an organisation has been positively correlated with
counterproductive workplace behaviour and workplace deviance.
Workplace Bullying Overlap
According to Namie, Machiavellians
manipulate and exploit others to
advance their perceived personal
agendas but he emphasizes that they are
not mentally ill. They do not have a
personality disorder, schizophrenia and
neither are they psychopaths.
Machiavellianism represents the core of
workplace bullying.
The following are the guiding principles
of Machiavellianism:
Never show humility
Arrogance is far more effective
when dealing with others.
Morality and ethics are for the weak: Powerful people feel free to lie, cheat and deceive
others when it suits them.
It is much better to be feared than loved.
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High Machiavellians may be expected to do the following:
Neglect to share important information.
Find subtle ways of making another person look bad to management.
Fail to meet their obligations.
Spread false rumors about another person.
In studies there was a positive correlation between Machiavellianism and workplace bullying.
Machiavellianism predicted involvement in bullying others. The groups of bullies and bullyvictims
had a higher Machiavellianism level compared to the groups of victims and persons noninvolved
in bullying. The results showed that being bullied was negatively related to the
perceptions of clan and adhocracy cultures and positively related to the perceptions of hierarchy
culture. The results of a moderated regression analysis demonstrated that Machiavellianism was
a significant moderator of the relationships between the perceptions of adhocracy and hierarchy
cultures and being bullied.
In research, Machiavellianism was positively associated with subordinate perceptions of abusive
supervision (an overlapping concept with workplace bullying).
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Psychopathy
Psychopathy in the workplace is a serious issue as, although psychopaths typically represent
only a small percentage of the staff, they are most common at higher levels of corporate
organizations and their actions often cause a ripple effect throughout an organization, setting the
tone for an entire corporate culture. Examples of detrimental effects are increased bullying,
conflict, stress, staff turnover and absenteeism; reduction in productivity and social
responsibility. Ethical standards of entire organizations can be badly damaged if a corporate
psychopath is in charge.
Academics refer to psychopaths in the
workplace individually variously as workplace
psychopaths, executive psychopaths, corporate
psychopaths, business psychopaths, successful
psychopaths, office psychopaths, white collar
psychopaths, industrial psychopaths,
organizational psychopaths or occupational
psychopaths.
Hare reports that about one per cent (1%) of the
general population meets the clinical criteria for
psychopathy. Hare further claims that the
prevalence of corporate psychopaths is higher in
the business world than in the general
population. Figures of around 3-4% have been
cited for more senior positions in business.
Unfortunately, even with this small percentage,
corporate psychopaths can do enormous damage when they are positioned in senior management
roles.
General
Oliver James identifies psychopathy as one of the dark triadic personality traits in the workplace,
the others being narcissism and Machiavellianism.
Workplace psychopaths are often charming to staff above their level in the workplace hierarchy
but abusive to staff below their level.
Hare considers newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell to have been a strong candidate as a corporate
psychopath.
Differentiation is made between:
Successful Psychopaths - corporate high climbers who tend to have had a relatively
privileged background with little risk of legal penalties
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Unsuccessful Psychopaths - involved in regular crime who tend to have had less
privileged backgrounds and much higher risk of legal penalties.
The Organizational Psychopath
The organizational psychopath craves a god-like feeling of power and control over other people.
They prefer to work at the very highest levels of their organizations, allowing them to control the
greatest number of people. Psychopaths who are political leaders, managers, and CEOs fall into
this category.
Organizational psychopaths are generally intelligent, powerful, charming, witty and entertaining
communicators.
They quickly assess what people want to hear and then create stories that fit those expectations.
They will con people into doing their work for them, take credit for other people's work and
assign their work to junior staff members.
They have low patience when dealing with others, display shallow emotions, are unpredictable,
undependable and fail to take responsibility if something goes wrong that is their fault.
Careers with Highest Proportion of Psychopaths
According to Dutton, the ten careers that have the highest proportion of psychopaths are:
1. CEO
2. Lawyer
3. Media (TV/Radio)
4. Salesperson
5. Surgeon
6. Journalist
7. Police Officer
8. Clergyperson
9. Chef
10. Civil Servant
11. Teacher
Behavioral Patterns
The workplace psychopath may show a high number of the following behavioral patterns. The
individual behaviors themselves are not exclusive to the workplace psychopath; though the
higher number of patterns exhibited the more likely he or she will conform to the psychopath's
characteristic profile:
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Public humiliation of others (high propensity of having temper tantrums or ridiculing
work performance)
Malicious spreading of lies (intentionally deceitful)
Remorseless or devoid of guilt
Frequently lies to push his/her point
Rapidly shifts between emotions - used to manipulate people or cause high anxiety
Intentionally isolates persons from organizational resources
Quick to blame others for mistakes or for incomplete work even though he/she is guilty
Encourages co-workers to torment, alienate, harass and/or humiliate other peers
Takes credit for other peoples accomplishments
Steals and/or sabotages other person's work
Refuses to take responsibility for misjudgements and/or errors
Threatens any perceived enemy with job loss and/or discipline in order to taint employee
file
Sets unrealistic and unachievable job expectations to set employees up for failure
Refuses or is reluctant to attend meetings with more than one person
Refuses to provide adequate training and/or instructions to singled out victim
Invades personal privacy of others
Has multiple sexual encounters with junior and/or senior employees
Develops new ideas without real follow through
Very self-centered and extremely egotistical (often conversation revolves around them -
great deal of self-importance)
Often borrows money and/or other materials objects without any intentions of giving it
back
Will do whatever it takes to close the deal (no regards for ethics or legality)
How a Typical Workplace Psychopath
Climbs to and Maintains Power
The authors of the book Snakes in Suits: When
Psychopaths Go to Work, describe a five phase model
of how a typical workplace psychopath climbs to and
maintains power:
1. Entry - psychopaths may use highly developed
social skills and charm to obtain employment
into an organization. At this stage it will be difficult to spot anything which is indicative
of psychopathic behavior, and as a new employee one might perceive the psychopath to
be helpful and even benevolent.
2. Assessment - psychopaths will weigh one up according to one's usefulness, and one
could be recognized as either a pawn (who has some informal influence and will be easily
manipulated) or a patron (who has formal power and will be used by the psychopath to
protect against attacks)
3. Manipulation - psychopath will create a scenario of ―psychopathic fiction‖ where
positive information about themselves and negative disinformation about others will be
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created, where one's role as a part of a network of pawns or patrons will be utilized and
will be groomed into accepting the psychopath's agenda.
4. Confrontation - the psychopath will use techniques of character assassination to
maintain their agenda, and one will be either discarded as a pawn or used as a patron
5. Ascension - one's role as a patron in the psychopath's quest for power will be discarded,
and the psychopath will take for himself/herself a position of power and prestige from
anyone who once supported them.
Why Psychopaths Readily Get Hired
Leading commentators on psychopathy have said that companies inadvertently attract employees
who are psychopaths because of the wording of their job advertisements and their desire to
engage people who are prepared to do whatever it takes to be successful in business. Corporate
psychopaths are thus recruited into organizations because they make a distinctly positive
impression on first meeting. They appear to be alert, friendly and easy to get along with and talk
to. They look like they are of good ability, emotionally well adjusted and reasonable, and these
traits make them attractive to those in charge of hiring staff within organizations. Other
researchers confirm that psychopaths can present themselves as likeable and personally
attractive. Companies often rely on interview performance alone and do not conduct other checks
such as taking references. Being accomplished liars helps psychopaths obtain the jobs they want.
Why Psychopaths Readily Get Promoted
Corporate psychopaths within organizations may be singled out for rapid promotion because of
their polish, charm, and cool decisiveness. They are also helped by their manipulative and
bullying skills. They create confusion around them (divide and rule etc.) using instrumental
bullying to promote their own agenda.
Bad Consequences
Boddy identifies the following bad consequences of workplace psychopathy (with additional
cites in some cases):
Workplace bullying of employees
Employees lose their jobs
Legal liabilities
Shareholders lose their investments
Capitalism loses some of its credibility
Wasted employee time
Suboptimal employee performance
Increased workload
Difficult working conditions
Poor levels of job satisfaction
Lower perceived levels of corporate social responsibility
Raised staff turnover
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Absenteeism
Heightened level of workplace conflict - arguments, yelling, rudeness, divide and
conquer
Counterproductive work behavior
Counterproductive Work Behavior
Boddy suggests that because of abusive supervision by corporate psychopaths, large amounts of
anti-corporate feeling will be generated among the employees of the organizations that corporate
psychopaths work in. This should result in high levels of counterproductive behavior as
employees give vent to their anger with the corporation, which they perceive to be acting through
its corporate psychopathic managers in a way that is eminently unfair to them.
Screening
Corporate Psychopath Theory
of The Global Financial Crisis
Boddy makes the case that corporate
psychopaths were instrumental in
causing the 2007-08 global financial
crisis. He claims that the same
corporate psychopaths who probably
caused the crisis by self-seeking greed
and avarice are now advising
government on how to get out of the
crisis.
Psychologist Oliver James has
described the credit crunch as a ―mass
outbreak of corporate psychopathy
which resulted in something that very
nearly crashed the whole world
economy.‖
From an organizational perspective, organizations can insulate themselves from the
organizational psychopath by taking the following steps when recruiting:
Conduct behavioral type interview
Verify information contained in the curriculum vitae
Conduct reference checks
Obtain work samples
Carry out criminal reference checks.
The following tests could be used to screen psychopaths:
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Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
Psychopathy Measure - Management Research Version (PM-MRV)
Business-Scan (B-SCAN) test.
There have been anecdotal reports that at least one UK bank was using a psychopathy measure to
actively recruit psychopaths.
Workplace Bullying Overlap
Narcissism, lack of self-regulation, lack of remorse and lack of conscience have been identified
as traits displayed by bullies. These traits are shared with psychopaths, indicating that there is
some theoretical cross-over between bullies and psychopaths. Bullying is used by corporate
psychopaths as a tactic to humiliate subordinates. Bullying is also used as a tactic to scare,
confuse and disorient those who may be a threat to the activities of the corporate psychopath
Using meta data analysis on hundreds of UK research papers, Boddy concluded that 36% of
bullying incidents was caused by the presence of corporate psychopaths. According to Boddy
there are two types of bullying:
Predatory Bullying - the bully just enjoys bullying and tormenting vulnerable people for
the sake of it
Instrumental Bullying - the bullying is for a purpose, helping the bully achieve his or
her goals.
A corporate psychopath uses instrumental bullying to further his goals of promotion and power
as the result of causing confusion and divide and rule.
People with high scores on a psychopathy rating scale are more likely to engage in bullying,
crime and drug use than other people. Hare and Babiak noted that about 29 per cent of corporate
psychopaths are also bullies. Other research has also shown that people with high scores on a
psychopathy rating scale were more likely to engage in bullying, again indicating that
psychopaths tend to be bullies in the workplace.
A workplace bully or abuser will often have issues with social functioning. These types of people
often have psychopathic traits that are difficult to identify in the hiring and promotion process.
These individuals often lack anger management skills and have a distorted sense of reality.
Consequently, when confronted with the accusation of abuse, the abuser is not aware that any
harm was done.
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References
______
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychology
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_psychology
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onboarding
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_risk_management
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_stress
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_psychology
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_in_the_workplace
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machiavellianism_in_the_workplace
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_in_the_workplace
10. kin3188x_ch13lr
11. https://www.nelsonbrain.com/content/9781133791942.pdf
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