Why is it important to diagnose in Organizational Psychology

In the world of organizations, the trend in recent years is to sell and apply solutions to improve work processes without having diagnosed what the real problem is the company.

This is a serious mistake, because in some cases it will offer a temporary improvement at most, as it has not intervened at the root of the dysfunctionality. It's very important carry out a diagnosis that sheds light on what is not working in the company.

This simple idea is something that does not quite catch on in many company managers or team supervisors and even professionals of the intervention in organizations, who see in the Organizational psychology a set of tools that can be applied without further ado on companies to improve their operation, just like a glass of water always quenches the same thirst mode. Nothing is further from reality.

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The importance of diagnosis in organizational psychology

Today there are solutions to improve any deficiency that the organization may present, using for this from programs of improvement of communication skills, to initiatives to enhance the capacity for transformation, agility and other challenges that may arise. These solutions are valid in themselves, the problem is that

they are offered and even implemented without knowing if that is the real need of the organization.

And it is that the same symptom can be due to various causes so optimizing results in the middle and long-term will only be possible by first identifying what is wrong or what can be reinforced.

And this is precisely one of the functions of the organizational psychologist, a type of professional profile that goes far beyond the selection of personnel and whose work begins long before the necessary measures are implemented to improve organizational dynamics.

Because while it is true that in psychology there are certain basic principles and general and well-studied patterns of behavior, it is no less true that it is always necessary to see step by case what is wrong before offering a follow-up process to help solve it.

What do organizational psychologists do?

The organizational psychologist is the professional expert in human behavior in a work environment. He has the knowledge and tools to observe, evaluate, diagnose and act in each situation in the context of work, and the group dynamics that arise in this process.

The functions of the psychologist in the framework of organizational psychology are:

1. Common welfare

Evaluate and increase the satisfaction of people in their work environment, understanding occupational health as a fundamental part of the well-being of the person.

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2. Optimize performance

Strategies must be implemented to strengthen teamwork, creating efficient teams in which personal satisfaction is linked to group satisfaction. Improve performance by considering the diversity and heterogeneity of the group as a key factor for success.

3. Analyze the person / context relationship

This function consists of increasing the functionality of the behavior not only at the individual level but in the context of the social relationship.

4. Improve talent selection, training, promotion and retention

Knowing how to detect the necessary profiles that fit the needs of the teams that make up the organization, on the one hand, and having the ability to do that workers feel comfortable and develop their potential, on the other hand, it is fundamental.

5. Incentivize talent

Stimulate and promote increased productivity through the appropriate person-task-organization relationship.

6. Motivate towards collective goals

Get people to do their jobs for your own benefit and that of the organization, not just looking for a personal end

Through the analysis of internal and external factors, psychology draws the situational map in which the person and the organization are, as well as the needs of both. This is psychology's way of ensuring a balance between personal and organizational goals.

Understand what is wrong with the company in order to improve it

Psychology, also in the organization, offers no solution without having diagnosed what the problem is. Once the diagnosis is made, it has a wide repertoire of techniques to face this specific situation. Thus psychology achieves its objective, which is none other than to ensure the health of people, attending to their cognitions, attitudes, skills and behaviors, aligning them with the environment and the culture of the organization.

To obtain an objective diagnosis of the initial situation that allows defining the objective situation to be achieved, psychology uses evaluation, interview, and observation. Once the problem has been defined and its nature analyzed, it is when the most appropriate techniques are chosen to achieve the objective.

The techniques that psychology has are of a different nature, and the choice of them will obey the purpose to be solved.

• Objective techniques
• Subjective techniques
• Projective techniques
• Self-report techniques
• Observational techniques

The objective of the technique is offer a starting point from which to solve the problem to be solved. To solve it, you must first diagnose it, since it is necessary to go to the root of what is hindering the functioning of the organization or what is causing discomfort in the workers.

We will not have results in the medium / long term if we use techniques to improve social skills if deficits have not been diagnosed. We will not improve performance if we use motivation techniques without knowing if the real problem is motivation.

Conclution

Organizational psychology solves, because it evaluates, diagnoses and applies the ideal technique to intervene in those behavioral functions that are negatively affecting the organization. It makes no sense to assume that there are magic recipes that simply have to be applied to companies so that they improve productivity and well-being.

Each company is a world, it operates according to different logics and processes, and it is these logics and processes that may be leaving certain aspects of work and the organizational climate exposed and vulnerable.