Work and organizational psychology: what is it?

Many students start the Degree in Psychology thinking of dedicating themselves to the Clinical psychologybut as the race progresses, they realize that it is increasingly difficult to dedicate themselves to this area of ​​psychology. At present, one of the fields with the greatest professional prospects is that of work and organizational psychology, in which many psychologists become part of the human resources department of a company.

Now, human resources and organizational psychology are not exactly the same, and To be a human resources professional, it is not an essential requirement to be a psychologist. On the other hand, an organizational psychologist, in addition to the one in the human resources department, can perform their functions at the management level or in the area of ​​commercial research and marketing and even production.

In today's article we are going to review the organizational psychologist functions and we are going to delve into the differences between the latter and the human resources professional.

What is a work or organization psychologist?

The work or organization psychologist, also known as industrial psychologist or business psychologist, is a professional who applies the principles of psychology in the organizational and work environment. To do this, he has studied mental processes and human behavior (both individual and group), and puts into practice his training for problem solving in the workplace. His general role encompasses the study, diagnosis, coordination, intervention and management of human behavior within organizations.

You can work as part of the company, that is, as an employee within the organization's own organizational chart (for example, in the recruitment and training department), although, in Sometimes, you can work as part of an external company outside the organization, performing functions of evaluation of performance, work environment and health of workers or offering services of coaching for employees or managers, among other functions. Some organizational psychologists choose to develop their professional careers as scientists or teachers.

On the other hand, this concept is closely related to that of work psychology, although there are some nuances that differentiate them. Organizational psychology, as its name suggests, focuses on the interactions between individuals, those who make up a team, a company, a department, etc. On the other hand, work psychology focuses its attention on work dynamics, that is, the application of strategies and behavior patterns to start from a series of resources available to obtain a concrete and objectively observable result: a product, a plan, a service, etc.

Functions of the work or organizational psychologist

Basically, the organizational or work psychologist has an important role in three main areas:

• Human Resources (training, training, etc)
• Marketing and Social and Commercial Research.
• Health and safety at work (Occupational Health Psychology)

But what are the functions that he performs? Some of the functions of this professional are the following:

• Plans, organizes or directs different functions within the organizationsuch as admission, evaluation, compensation, retention and development of people.
• Observe, describe, analyze, diagnose and resolve conflicts in human interactions. In this way, it ensures a good work environment and develops the organizational culture.
• Analyze and modify the physical, social and psychological elements that affect job performance and impact employee efficiency.
• Apply questionnaires and interviews for the correct diagnosis of the climate, productivity and occupational health, and carries out preventive actions to correct possible imbalances.
• Advises the scorecard when necessary, for example, in terms of collective bargaining, possible business strategies, improvement of corporate image, etc.
• Analyze and put into practice different psychological techniques to increase productivity, improve the organizational climate, avoid fatigue and anticipate accidents or occupational health problems, such as: burnout or the boreout.
• Provides knowledge of him as an expert in leadership styles, interpersonal relationships, emotional control, negotiation techniques, decision-making or correct planning.
• Use tools to detect talent and improve organizational development, and conducts studies on consumer needs.
• R **** ecommends, and if possible implements, actions to incentivize, compensate and remunerate personnel, as well as ensuring their well-being, safety and occupational health.
• He is in charge of the training area, and designs training programs for staff development, as well as career and promotion plans.
• Directs and executes personnel selection processes. To do this, you can use different psychological tests and questionnaires to detect the competencies of the candidates.
• Analyze staffing needs, the job and the organization.

Differences between the occupational psychologist and the human resources professional

It is common to refer to the organizational psychologist as the human resources professional, when they are different things. The organizational psychologist is a psychologist who has specialized in the field of organizations and work, while the human resources professional may not have training as a psychologist.

In Spain, for example, there is a university degree that receives the name of Degree in Sciences of the Labor and Human Resources (which replaces the old Labor Relations Degree), therefore what the professional profile of the latter is different from that of the organizational psychologist. Among the subjects taught in this career are occupational psychology subjects, but, In addition, other topics are taught such as labor and union law or taxation of people physical.

This occurs because the human resources department of a company not only performs personnel selection or training functions, but also collective bargaining or tasks such as payroll management can be carried out. The profile of the organizational psychologist fits into some areas of this human resources department, but not all.

Organizational psychologist training

If you are a psychologist and want to dedicate yourself to organizational psychology, you should know that an organizational psychologist, unlike the human resources professional, has completed a Degree in Psychology. Some psychologists finish their studies and then go on to work as recruiters or recruitment technicians. and, after knowing the world of human resources, they are trained to cover other areas of HR, such as personnel administration or labor law.

Others, on the other hand, after finishing the Degree in Psychology decide to do a master's degree. If that is your intention, you must choose between taking a Master in Human Resources Management or a Master in Organizational and Work Psychology. While the first one trains you in matters such as the budget, the payments and expenses of the personnel, the legislation labor, contracts, labor rights, worker safety systems (avoid accidents) selection and training. The second allows you to study the behavior of the individual within an organization and everything related to the motivation, the leadership, the stress (and other work-related illnesses) the work climate and culture or the influence of psychological variables on performance.

• If you want to know more about the Masters in Psychology, you can visit our post: "The 20 best Master's degrees in Psychology"

Bibliographic references:

• Drenth, P. J. D.; Thierry, H.; de Wolff, C. J. (1998). Handbook of work and organizational psychology. Hove: Psychology Press.
• Etkin, J. (2000). Politics, Government and Management of Organizations, Buenos Aires, Editorial Prentice Hall. (Chapter 3: The factors of complexity).
• Kopes, L. L. (2006). A brief history of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
• Lévy-Levoyer, C. (2000). Motivation in the company - Models and strategies Editorial Gestión 2000. (Part II From theory to practice - Chap 4; Chap 5 and Conclusions).
• Schlemenson, A. (2002). The Talent Strategy, Bs. As., Editorial Paidós. (Chapter 4 The meaning of work).
• Truxillo, D.M.; Bauer, T.N.; Erdogan, B. (2016). Psychology and Work: Perspectives on Industrial and Organizational Psychology. New York: Psychology Press / Taylor & Francis.
• Vázquez Beléndez, M. (2002). Work and Organization Psychology - Historical Approach. University of Alicante.