“If you want to understand something, try to change it.” — Kurt Lewin
H&O Psychology
Human and Organizational (H&O) psychology is both the study of behavior in organized settings and the application of the methods, facts, and principles of psychology to individuals and groups within organizational settings. H&O psychologists are versatile behavioral scientists specializing in human behavior in organized environments.
H&O psychology recognize the interdependence of individuals, organizations, and society, and they recognize the impact of factors such as increasing government influences, growing consumer awareness, skill shortages, and the changing nature of the workforce.
H&O psychology facilitate responses to issues and problems involving people at work by serving as advisors and catalysts for business, industry, labor, public, academic, community, and health organizations. They are:
- Scientists who derive principles of individual, group, and organizational behavior through research;
- Consultants and staff psychologists who develop scientific knowledge and apply it to the solution of problems at work; and
- Individuals who train students in the research and application of Industrial-Organizational Psychology
The following parameters differentiate the H&O specialty from others.
Populations: The focus of H&O psychology is on human behavior in organized settings. The populations affected by the practice of H&O psychology include individuals in and applicants to business, industry, labor, public (including non-profit), academic, community, and health organizations.
Problems: H&O psychology deal with problems or issues that can be classified as both applied and basic in nature. Basic problems are quite variable, following the investigator’s interests. Applied problems and activities are oriented around scientific solutions to human problems at work which include but are not limited to:
Recruitment, Selection and Placement: Analyzing jobs and work, developing recruitment procedures, developing selection procedures, validating tests, optimizing placement of personnel, and identifying management potential
Training, Development and Counseling: Identifying training and development needs, formulating and implementing training programs, coaching employees, evaluating the effectiveness of training and development programs, and planning careers, as well resolving individual barriers to personal success.
Performance Measurement: Developing criteria, determining the economic utility of performance, and evaluating organizational effectiveness.
Motivation and Reward Systems: Developing, implementing, and evaluating motivation and reward programs such as goal setting programs or pay-for-performance plans.
Organizational Development: Analyzing organizational structures and climates, maximizing the satisfaction and effectiveness of individuals and work groups, and facilitating organizational change.
Quality of Work Life: Identifying factors associated with job attitudes, designing and implementing programs to reduce work stress and strain, developing programs that promote safe work behavior and the prevention of accidents, illnesses, and injuries, and designing programs that enhance work/family life.
Consumer Behavior: Assessing consumer preferences, evaluating customer satisfaction with products and services, and developing market segmentation strategies.
The Structure of Work and Human Factors: Designing jobs and work, optimizing person-machine effectiveness, and developing systems technologies.
Procedures and techniques: A variety of procedures, tools, techniques and guidance documents have been developed to assist H&O psychologists in effectively addressing the above types of issues and problems.
H&O psychology develops both standardized and more situational-specific procedures and techniques for assessing the three primary elements in a work system the worker, the work itself, and the work context. In regard to the assessment of worker characteristics, these procedures would include tests and other means for evaluating more stable individual differences such as cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, values, and physical abilities and more transient characteristics or work behaviors.
In addition, H&O psychology focuses on the development of procedures for addressing important statistical/methodological issues and problems such as the extent to which employment test validity coefficients generalize across situations, procedures for aggregating individual-level data to the group- and organization-level, and procedures for translating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions into estimates of economic utility.
Theoretical and scientific knowledge required for the specialty
H&O psychology require knowledge of ethical and legal issues associated with practice in organizations.
Overview Of The Required Knowledge And Practice Activities For Seven Core Professional Practice Domains
Assessment: Knowledge and skills to assess jobs and work, performance, and people. For assessing jobs and work, knowledge of alternative methods for describing work and the human attributes necessary to perform the work is needed.
Representative practice activities:
1. Assessing the content of work via job analysis procedures for the purpose of developing performance appraisal procedures.
2. Assessing the human requirements of work via job analysis procedures for the purpose of developing or identifying personnel selection procedures.
3. Assessing individual characteristics via psychological tests, interviews, work samples, and other means for selecting individuals into jobs and career development.
4. Assessing employee knowledge, skill or work performance via a host of evaluation procedures for the purpose of identifying training needs.
5. Assessing employee perceptions of work environment characteristics via survey procedures for the purpose of managing an organizations climate.
Intervention: Design and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions directed at individuals in groups such as goal setting and feedback interventions, personnel training programs, and workplace interventions to prevent stress-related illness.
Representative practice activities:
Implementing a form of programmed instruction, ranging from printed booklets to interactive videotapes to computer-assisted instruction programs, designed to develop employees declarative and procedural knowledge.
2. Conducting simulation training for the development of technical skills in controlled and safe environments.
3. Conducting frame of reference training for raters who appraise others, where the raters are given a common and consistent frame of reference on which to make judgments.
4. Implementing process improvements and job enrichment, efforts to expand a workers role in planning, improving, and performing their work.
5. Implementing team building and organizational development interventions with groups or teams. These interventions are designed to enhance team member morale, problem-solving skills, and team effectiveness.
Consultation: Knowledgeable of the roles and functions of others with whom they will interact on a professional basis. Given that organizations are open systems in continual interaction with multiple, dynamic environments, the form and level of consultation that an I/O psychologist has will vary from one setting to another and over time within any particular setting.
Representative practice activities:
1. Working with compensation specialists to establish organizational reward systems.
2. Participating with engineers in the planning, design, and testing of person-machine systems.
3. Obtaining the advice of legal professionals concerning the implications of court decisions for the validation and use of personnel selection procedures.
4. Consulting with mental health, public health, and medical personnel on the design and evaluation of workplace interventions intended to reduce work stress and strain.
5.Interacting with union personnel concerning the protection of union member rights when planning assessments and interventions.
Supervision: Knowledge required for supervision in both H&O and Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychology includes not only knowledge that is generic to all professional supervision, but also knowledge of general standards.
Representative practice activities:
1. Supervising the development of psychological tests.
2. Managing the administration of an employee survey.
3. Supervising the design of an employee performance appraisal system.
4. Leading an analysis to determine the solution to an organizational problem.
5. Managing the implementation of an organizational change effort, such as a new reward system for high performing employees or process improvements.
6. Supervising student research
Research and Inquiry: H&O psychology involves extensive knowledge of research strategies and research methodology as well as knowledge of psychometric analysis and statistics.
Representative practice activities:
1. Evaluating the effectiveness of an organizational intervention, such as job redesign intervention or process improvements.
2. Studying the transfer of training to the job.
3. Conducting a criterion-related validity study to determine the predictive effectiveness of a personnel selection procedure.
4. Estimating the economic impact of a personnel selection or training program.
5. Studying the relation between organizational commitment and turnover.
6. Conducting laboratory experiments, field experiments, or field studies
Consumer Protection: Knowledge of ethical principles of psychologists and the ethical practice of psychology in organizations.
Representative practice activities:
1.Communicating to clients the relevant legal and technical aspects of a selection program or some other I/O-psychology related program in terms the organizational representatives can understand.
2.Indicating to potential client organizations that assessment procedures will be developed only according to professionally acceptable standards.
3.Establishing clear rules as to how sensitive data (e.g., pre-employment drug test results) will be maintained and how results will be communicated to all parties.
4.Examining promotional materials for I/O psychology-related products and services and requesting the right of approval prior to distribution to the public.
5.Obtaining permission from a client organization prior to discussing consulting work in a public forum.
Professional Development: Continuing education to update knowledge and skills on a regular basis through participation in sponsored workshops, conferences and online learning opportunities.
Representative practice activities:
1.Attending conferences to learn about research and practice developments.
2.Participating in professional development workshops such as those conducted at Annual Conferences.
3.Reading APA and SIOP task force reports, journals, and books concerning research and practice developments (such as the books published in SIOPs Frontiers Series and SIOPs Professional Practice Series).
4.Reading SIOPs quarterly journal TIP (The Industrial/Organizational Psychologist) to update knowledge concerning the latest I/O psychology-relevant information on a variety of topics.
5.Participating in professional, scientific, and educational organizations whose mission is (in whole or part) to advance the knowledge and practice of industrial and organizational psychology.
Other Areas of H&O Specific Scientific Knowledge
Research Methods The domain of research methods includes the methods, procedures, techniques, and tools useful in the conduct of empirical research on phenomena of interest in H&O psychology.
Specific knowledge about relative strengths and weaknesses of different research strategies, an understanding of qualitative research methods, as well as a tolerant appreciation of the benefits of alternative strategies must be developed. Computer literacy has become increasingly important, and programming skills may be particularly useful. Finally, an understanding of the ethical standards that govern the conduct of all research involving human participants is essential.
Statistical Methods/Data Analysis This domain has to do with the various statistical techniques that are used in the analysis of data generated by empirical research. The domain includes both descriptive and inferential statistical methods; it spans both parametric and non-parametric statistical methods.
Attitude Theory, Measurement, and Change Attitudes, opinions and beliefs are extremely important in organizational settings. They are important in their own right because of humanitarian concerns for the quality of working life of those who are employed in organizations.
Career Development Theory and research regarding career development are concerned with the interplay between individuals and environments and attempt to describe the nature of the patterns of positions held and resultant experiences during an individual’s lifespan.
Consumer Behavior The focus of this area is the systematic study of the relationship between the producers (or distributors) and consumers (actual or potential recipients) of goods and services.
Criterion Theory and Development most applications of H&O psychology (e.g., selection, human resources planning, leadership, performance appraisal, organization design, organization diagnosis and development, training) involve measurements against criteria (standards) that indicate effectiveness on the part of individuals, groups, and/or organizations. The selection of criteria is not a simple issue and represents a significant area of concern within H&O and I/O psychology.
Health and Stress in Organizations Job performance and effective organizational functioning can be affected by health and safety factors in the work place which result in sub-optimal working conditions and reduced productivity.
Human Performance/Human Factors Human Performance is the study of limitations and capabilities in human skilled behavior. Skill is broadly construed to include perceptual, motor, memory, and cognitive activities, and the integration of these into more complex behavior.
Individual Assessment This domain refers to a set of skills that are needed for assessing, interpreting, and communicating distinguishing characteristics of individuals for a variety of work-related purposes. The two primary purposes of individual assessment can be defined broadly as selection (e.g., hiring, promotion, placement) and development (e.g., career planning, skill and competency building, rehabilitation, employee counseling).
Job Evaluation and Compensation This competency area focuses on determining the appropriate compensation level for skills, tasks, and/or jobs. Job evaluation is a processes by which the relative value of jobs is determined and then linked to commensurate compensation. Job evaluation is closely tied to and usually predicated upon sound job/task analyses.
Job/Task Analysis and Classification This domain encompasses the theory and techniques used to generate information about what is involved in performing a job or task, the physical and social context of this performance, and the attributes needed by an incumbent for such performance.
Judgment and Decision Making Judgment and decision making encompasses an area of research and knowledge that is both prescriptive and normative in its emphases.
A knowledge of these approaches and an ability to integrate across the different approaches are indicative of breadth as well as depth of training in judgment and decision theory.
Leadership and Management. Management and leadership can be approached at different levels. The study of management and leadership at the macro level involves the influences senior level individuals have in the larger organizational context-setting strategy, directing change, influencing values.
Organization Development This domain encompasses theory and research relevant to changing individuals, groups, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. This body of theory and research draws from such related fields as social psychology, counseling psychology, educational psychology, vocational psychology, engineering psychology, and organizational theory.
Organization Theory It is well accepted that the structure, function, processes, and other organizational-level constructs have an impact upon the behavior of individuals in organizations.
Performance Appraisal and Feedback Performance appraisal and feedback have both a knowledge and a skill base. This area centers on the methods of measuring and evaluating individuals as they perform organizational tasks and on taking action (administrative and/or developmental) with individuals on the basis of such appraisals.
Also, skill in designing a complete performance appraisal and feedback system which meets organizational needs while maintaining and/or enhancing worker motivation and/or performance is required.
Personnel Recruitment, Selection, and Placement This domain consists of the theory and techniques involved in the effective matching of individual needs, preferences, skills, and abilities with the needs and preferences of organizations. An organization’s needs are defined by the jobs assigned to positions in the organization.
Small Group Theory and Team Processes Much of human activity in organizations takes place in the presence of other people. This is particularly true of work behavior. The pervasiveness of interpersonal and task interdependence in organizations demands a good understanding of the behavior of people in work groups. Though the labels “group” and “team” are often used interchangeably, it is also critical to have a familiarity with the growing teamwork literature.
Training: Theory, Program Design, and Evaluation This domain includes theory and techniques used to design, conduct, and evaluate instructional programs. The instructional process begins with a needs assessment, including organizational, job and task, and person analyses, to determine the goals and constraints of the organization and the characteristics of the job and trainees.
Work Motivation Work motivation refers to the conditions within the individual and his or her environment that influence the direction, strength, and persistence of relevant individual behaviors in organizations when individual abilities and organizational constraints are held constant. For more information on I/O Psychology see link below.
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