I-O psychologists deal with a wide range of topics concerning people in the workplace.
Job analysis Job analysis encompasses a number of different methods including, but not limited to, interviews, questionnaires, task analysis, and observation. A job analysis primarily involves the systematic collection of information about a job. A task-oriented job analysis involves an assessment of the duties, tasks, and/or competencies a job requires. By contrast, a worker-oriented job analysis involves an examination of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) required to successfully perform the work. Information obtained from job analyses are used for many purposes, including the creation of job-relevant selection procedures, the development of criteria for
performance appraisals, the conducting of performance appraisals, and the development and implementation of training programs.
Personnel recruitment and selection I-O psychologists design (a) recruitment processes and (b) personnel selection systems. Personnel
recruitment is the process of identifying qualified 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 employing I-O psychology methods use quantitative data to determine the most qualified candidates. This can involve the use of psychological tests,
Biographical Information Blanks,
interviews, work samples, and
assessment centers. Personnel selection procedures are usually validated, i.e., shown to be job relevant to personnel selection, using one or more of the following types of validity:
content validity,
construct validity, and/or
criterion-related validity. I-O psychologists must adhere to professional standards in personnel selection efforts. SIOP (e.g.,
Principles for validation and use of personnel selection procedures) and APA together with the
National Council on Measurement in Education (e.g.,
Standards for educational and psychological testing are sources of those standards. The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's
Uniform guidelines are also influential in guiding personnel selection decisions. A meta-analysis of selection methods found that
general mental ability (g factor) was the best overall predictor of job performance and attainment in training.
Performance appraisal/management Performance appraisal or
performance evaluation is the process in which an individual's or a group's work behaviors and outcomes are assessed against managers' and others' expectations for the job. Performance appraisal is used for a variety of purposes including alignment with organizational objectives, the basis for employment decisions (promotion, raises and termination), feedback to employees, and training needs assessment. Performance management is the process of providing performance feedback relative to expectations and information relevant to helping a worker improve their performance (e.g., coaching, mentoring). Performance management may also include documenting and tracking performance information for organizational evaluation purposes. 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,
simulations, and
assessment centres. 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. A number of prominent models of job stress have been developed to explain the job stress process, including the
person-environment (P-E) fit model, which was developed by University of Michigan social psychologists, and the
demand-control(-support) and
effort-reward imbalance models, which were developed by sociologists. Research has also examined occupational stress in specific occupations, including police, general practitioners, and dentists. Another concern has been the relation of occupational stress to family life. Other I-O researchers have examined gender differences in leadership style and job stress and strain in the context of male- and female-dominated industries, and unemployment-related distress. Occupational stress has also been linked to lack of fit between people and their jobs.
Occupational safety Accidents and safety in the workplace are important because of the serious injuries and fatalities that are all too common. Research has linked accidents to psychosocial factors in the workplace including overwork that leads to
fatigue,
workplace violence, and working night shifts. "Stress audits" can help organizations remain compliant with various occupational safety regulations. Psychosocial hazards can affect
musculoskeletal disorders. A psychosocial factor related to accident risk is safety climate, which refers to employees' perceptions of the extent to which their work organization prioritizes safety. By contrast,
psychosocial safety climate refers to management's "policies, practices, and procedures" aimed at protecting workers' psychological health. Research on safety leadership is also relevant to understanding employee safety performance. Research suggests that safety-oriented
transformational leadership is associated with a positive safety climate and safe worker practices.
Workplace bullying, aggression and violence I-O psychologists are concerned with the related topics of workplace bullying, aggression, and violence. For example, I-O research found that exposure to workplace violence elicited ruminative thinking. Ruminative thinking is associated with poor well-being. Research has found that interpersonal aggressive behaviour is associated with worse team performance.
Relation to occupational health psychology A new discipline,
occupational health psychology (OHP), emerged from both
health psychology and I-O psychology as well as
occupational medicine. OHP concerns itself with such topic areas as the impact of occupational stressors on mental and physical health, the health impact of
involuntary unemployment, violence and bullying in the workplace, psychosocial factors that influence accident risk and safety, work–family balance, and interventions designed to improve/protect worker health. Spector observed that one of the problems facing I-O psychologists in the late 20 century who were interested in the health of working people was resistance within the field to publishing papers on worker health. In the 21 century, OHP topics have become popular at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology conference.
Work design Work design concerns the "content and organisation of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities." Research has demonstrated that work design has important implications for individual employees (e.g., level of engagement, job strain, chance of injury), teams (e.g., how effectively teams co-ordinate their activities), organisations (e.g., productivity, safety, efficiency targets), and society (e.g., whether a nation utilises the skills of its population or promotes effective aging). I-O psychologists review job tasks, relationships, and an individual's way of thinking about their work to ensure that their roles are meaningful and motivating, thus creating greater productivity and job satisfaction. Deliberate interventions aimed at altering work design are sometimes referred to as
work redesign. Such interventions can be initiated by the management of an organization (e.g.,
job rotation,
job enlargement,
job enrichment) or by individual workers (e.g.,
job crafting, role innovation, idiosyncratic ideals).
Training and training evaluation Training involves the systematic teaching of skills, concepts, or attitudes that results in improved performance in another environment. Because many people hired for a job are not already versed in all the tasks the job requires, training may be needed to help the individual perform the job effectively. Evidence indicates that training is often effective, and that it succeeds in terms of higher net sales and gross profitability per employee. Similar to performance management (see above), an I-O psychologist would employ a
job analysis in concert with the application of the 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. Kirkpatrick describes four levels of criteria by which to evaluate training: :*Reactions are the extent to which trainees enjoyed the training and found it worthwhile. :*Learning is the knowledge and skill trainees acquired from the training. :*Behavior is the change in behavior trainees exhibit on the job after training, for example, did they perform trained tasks more quickly? :*Results are the effect of the change in knowledge or behavior on the job, for example, was overall productivity increased or costs decreased? Training programs often include
formative evaluations to assess the effect 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 training is ongoing. The foundation for training programs is
learning. Learning outcomes can be organized into three broad categories: cognitive, skill-based, and affective outcomes. Cognitive training is aimed at instilling declarative knowledge or the knowledge of rules, facts, and principles (e.g., police officer training covers laws and court procedures). Skill-based training aims to impart procedural knowledge (e.g., skills needed to use a special tool) or technical skills (e.g., understanding the workings of software program). Affective training concerns teaching individuals to develop specific attitudes or beliefs that predispose trainees to behave a certain way (e.g., show commitment to the organization, appreciate diversity). A
needs assessment, an analysis of corporate and individual goals, is often undertaken prior to the development of a training program. In addition, a careful
training needs analysis is required in order to develop a systematic understanding of where training is needed, what should be taught, and who will be trained. An organizational analysis is an examination of organizational goals and resources as well as the organizational environment. The results of an organizational analysis help to determine where training should be directed. The analysis identifies the training needs of different departments or subunits. It systematically assesses manager, peer, and technological support for
transfer of training. An 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 subunits of the organization (e.g., production), then training needs will likely reflect an emphasis on safety. A task analysis uses the results of a job analysis to determine what is needed for successful job performance, contributing to training content. With organizations increasingly trying to identify "core competencies" that are required for all jobs, task analysis can also include an assessment of competencies. A 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 can address.
Motivation in the workplace Work motivation reflects the energy an individual applies "to initiate work-related behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration" Understanding what motivates an organization's employees is central to I-O psychology.
Motivation is generally thought of as a theoretical construct that fuels behavior. An
incentive is an anticipated reward that is thought to incline a person to behave a certain way. Motivation varies among individuals. Studying its influence on behavior, it must be examined together with ability and environmental influences. Because of motivation's role in influencing workplace behavior and performance, many organizations structure the work environment to encourage productive behaviors and discourage unproductive behaviors. Motivation involves three psychological processes: arousal, direction, and intensity. Arousal is what initiates action. It is often fueled by a person's need or desire for something that is missing from their life, either totally or partially. Direction refers to the path employees take in accomplishing the goals they set for themselves. Intensity is the amount of energy employees put into goal-directed work performance. The level of intensity often reflects the importance and difficulty of the goal. These psychological processes involve four factors. First, motivation serves to direct attention, focusing on particular issues, people, tasks, etc. Second, it serves to stimulate effort. Third, motivation influences persistence. Finally, motivation influences the choice and application of task-related strategies. It can be assessed in individual employees (climate perceptions) or averaged across groups of employees within a department or organization (organizational climate). Climates are usually focused on specific employee outcomes, or what is called “climate for something”. There are more than a dozen types of climates that have been assessed and studied. Some of the more popular include: • Customer
service climate: The emphasis placed on providing good service. It has been shown to relate to employee service performance. • Diversity climate: The extent to which organizations value differences among employees and expect employees to treat everyone with respect. It has been linked to
job satisfaction. • Ethical climate: The extent to which organizations emphasize ethical practices. • Innovation climate: The extent to which organizations encourage employees to use new approaches. • Psychosocial safety climate: Organizations with such climates emphasize the importance of psychological health and well-being. •
Safety climate: Such organizations emphasize safety and have fewer accidents and injuries. Climate concerns organizational policies and practices that encourage or discourage specific behaviors by employees. Shared perceptions of what the organization emphasizes (organizational climate) is part of organizational culture.
Organizational culture While there is no universal definition for organizational culture, a collective understanding shares the following assumptions: Organizational culture has been shown to affect important organizational outcomes such as performance, attraction, recruitment, retention, employee satisfaction, and employee well-being. 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. Subcultures can be departmental (e.g. different work units) or defined by geographical distinction. The interactions are thought to fulfill some need satisfaction in an individual who is part of the collective.
Team composition Team composition, or the configuration of team member knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics, fundamentally influences teamwork. Team composition can be considered in the selection and management of teams to increase the likelihood of team success. To achieve high-quality results, teams built with members having higher skill levels are more likely to be effective than teams built around members having lesser skills; teams that include members with a diversity of skills are also likely to show improved team performance. Team members should also be compatible in terms of personality traits, values, and work styles. There is substantial evidence that personality traits and values can shape the nature of teamwork, and influence team performance.
Team 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.
Job characteristic theory identifies core job dimensions that affect motivation, satisfaction, performance, etc. These dimensions include skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. The dimensions map well to the team environment. Individual contributors who perform team tasks that are challenging, interesting, and engaging are more likely to be motivated to exert greater effort and perform better than team members who are working on tasks that lack those characteristics. and provide resources for teams operating in the multi-team environment. During the chartering of new teams, organizational enabling resources are first identified. Examples of enabling resources include facilities, equipment, information, training, and leadership. Teams also function in dynamic multi-team environments. Teams often must respond to shifting organizational contingencies.
Team rewards Organizational reward systems drive the strengthening and enhancing of individual team member efforts; such efforts contribute towards reaching team goals. In other words, rewards that are given to individual team members should be contingent upon the performance of the entire team. Second, individual-level reward systems and team-level reward systems must be compatible. For example, it would be unfair to reward the entire team for a job well done if only one team member did most of the work. That team member would most likely view teams and teamwork negatively, and would not want to work on a team in the future. Third, an organizational culture must be created such that it supports and rewards employees who believe in the value of teamwork and who maintain a positive attitude towards team-based rewards.
Team goals Goals potentially motivate team members when goals contain three elements: difficulty, acceptance, and specificity. Under difficult goal conditions, teams with more committed members tend to outperform teams with less committed members. When team members commit to team goals, team effectiveness is a function of how supportive members are with each other. The goals of individual team members and team goals interact. Team and individual goals must be coordinated. Individual goals must be consistent with team goals in order for a team to be effective.
Job satisfaction and commitment Job satisfaction is often thought to reflect the extent to which a worker likes their job, or individual aspects or facets of jobs. It is one of the most heavily researched topics in I-O psychology. Job satisfaction has theoretical and practical utility for the field. It has been linked to important job outcomes including absenteeism, accidents,
counterproductive work behavior, customer service,
cyberloafing, job performance,
organizational citizenship behavior, physical and psychological health, and turnover. A meta-analyses found job satisfaction to be related to life satisfaction, happiness, positive affect, and the absence of negative affect.
Productive behavior Productive behavior is defined as employee behavior that contributes positively to the goals and objectives of an organization. These behaviors are formally evaluated by an organization as part of an employee's responsibilities. 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 job-specific 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. 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. These various tools are often used to evaluate performance on specific tasks and overall job performance. 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 extra-role 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.
Organizational citizenship behavior Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are another form of workplace behavior that I-O psychologists are involved with. OCBs tend to be beneficial to both the organization and other workers. Dennis Organ (1988) 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 OCBs can fall into one of the following five categories: altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, conscientiousness, and civic virtue. OCBs have also been categorized in other ways too, for example, by their intended targets individuals, supervisors, and the organization as a whole. Other alternative ways of categorizing OCBs include "compulsory OCBs", which are engaged in owing to coercive persuasion or peer pressure rather than out of good will. The extent to which OCBs are voluntary has been the subject of some debate. Goffman defined 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. Some researchers have hypothesized that OCBs are not performed out of good will, positive affect, etc., but instead as a way of being noticed by others, including supervisors.
Innovation Four qualities are generally linked to creative and innovative behaviour by individuals: 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. 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 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:
consideration and 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 – their potential to influence their subordinates. There are six bases of power:
French and Raven's classic five bases of coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referent power, plus informational power. A leader can use several different tactics to influence others within an organization. These 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 to assess a situation and adapt their behavior accordingly. The
Fiedler contingency model 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 their 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 theory (LMX) 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. Work–nonwork interface An important topic in I-O is the connection between people’s working and nonworking lives. Two concepts are particularly relevant.
Work–family conflict is the incompatibility between the job and family life. Conflict can occur when stressful experiences in one domain spillover into the other, such as someone coming home in a bad mood after having a difficult day at work. It can also occur when there are time conflicts, such as having a work meeting at the same time as a child’s doctor’s appointment.
Work–family enrichment (also called work–family facilitation) occurs when one domain provides benefits to the other. For example, a spouse might assist with a work task or a supervisor might offer assistance with a family problem.
Relation to organizational behavior and human resource management I-O psychology and
organizational behavior researchers have sometimes investigated similar topics. The overlap has led to some confusion regarding how the two disciplines differ. Sometimes there has been confusion within organizations regarding the practical duties of I-O psychologists and
human resource management specialists. ==As an occupation==