Industrial Psychology

What is Psychology?

“Psychology is the science of behavior and mental Processes”.

- the sum or characteristics of the mental states and processes of a person or class of persons, - or of the mental states and processes involved in a field of activity: 

the psychology of a soldier; the psychology of politics.

What is Industry?Industry is the production of a goods or

services within an economy.The aggregate of manufacturing or technicall

y productive enterprises in a particular field, often named after its principal product: the automobile industry; the steel industry.

Commercial production and sale of goods.A specific branch of manufacture and

trade: the textile industry. The sector of an economy made up of

manufacturing enterprises

Industry

1. (Economics) organized economic activity concerned with manufacture, extraction and processing of raw materials, or construction.

2. (Business / Commerce) a branch of commercial enterprise concerned with the output of a specified product or service.

What is Industrial Psychology?“Industrial psychology is simply the

application or extension of psychological facts and principles to the problems concerning human beings operating within the context of business and industry.”

-M.L. BLUM

-J.C. NAYLOR

What is Industrial psychology?Textbook definition:

“Application of psychological principles and theories to the workplace”

In most people:“Study of how people get along at work and

are able to perform effectively”

Who are I/O psychologists?

Two general groupsPractitioners

HR and organizational specialists in consulting, private, and public organizations

Major activities Job analysis, diagnosis, surveying employees,

designing and administering selection & performance appraisal systems, training, developing psychological tests, implementing and evaluating, data analysis

“Other” category Research institutes, think tanks (e.g., RAND) research and development

What is a think tank?

It is generally acknowledged that the term “think tank” was first applied to the RAND Corporation in the 1960s. At the time, a think tank was a research institute that came up with new ideas that could influence public policy.

One important distinction to note is that while “think tanks” are commonly thought of as organizations with specific political or ideological agendas, RAND is strictly nonpartisan, and our focus is on facts and evidence.

The Industrial Psychologist

Industrial psychologists work for businesses, helping to improve the working conditions

and productivity of employees. They help companies hire, train, and manage

employees. They also advise companies on ways of

getting consumers interested in products and services.

SPECIFIC AREAS OF CONCERNRecruiting and selecting employees for jobsTraining employeesAssessing performanceDefining and analyzing jobsDetermining people feel about workDetermining why people act as they do at workEffects work has on peopleEffects people have on one anotherHow organizations are structured and functionDesigning workDesigning tools and equipmentEmployee Health and Safety

Six Key Areas of I-O PsychologyAccording to Muchinsky (2000), most industrial

organizational psychologists work in one of six major subject areas:

1. Training and development: Professional in this area often determine what type of skills are necessary to perform specific jobs as well as develop and evaluate employee training programs.

2. Employee Selection: This area involves developing employee selection assessments, such as screening tests to determine if job applicants are qualified for a particular position.

3. Ergonomics: The field of ergonomics involves designing procedures and equipment designed to maximize performance and minimize injury.

4. Performance Management: I-O psychologists who work in this area develop assessments and techniques to determine if employees are doing their jobs well.

5. Work Life: This area focuses on improving employee satisfaction and maximizing the productivity of the workforce. I-O psychologists in this area might work to find ways to make jobs more rewarding or design programs that improve the quality of life in the workplace.

6. Organizational Development: I-O psychologists who work in this area help improve organizations, often through increasing profits, redesigning products, and improving the organizational structure.

History of I/OBegan early 1900’ s World War I first mass testingBetween wars psychology helping business: I sideHawthorne studies impact of social aspects: O

side Western Electric’s  Hawthorne plant, near Chicago

World War II: Psychology and the war effortCivil rights movement: Job relevanceTechnological change

(Walter Dill Scott)

Leading Historical FiguresHugo Munsterberg: Psychology and Industrial

EfficiencyWalter Dill Scott: The Theory of AdvertisingFrederick Winslow Taylor: Scientific

ManagementRobert Yerkes: Army Alpha and Beta testsLillian Gilbreth: Time and motion; Human factorsBruce V. Moore: First I/O PhD?Roethlisberger & Dickson: Hawthorne Studies

Prospects for I/O FieldRapidly growing

New areas/topicsAttracting more graduate studentsMore graduate programsMore psychologists in the world

Job market strong: Academic and appliedArea of psychology making an impact on the

worldRelevant to anyone who works

Interdisciplinary connectionsBusiness, engineering, health fields, other areas of

psychology

Top 15 Objectives of Industrial Psychology

Industrial psychology tries to find out how a proper individual can be selected to perform particular task, if this can be done, then the work gets the right worker while himself gets the work he can do best.

1. Care of Worker’s Health: If the worker does not have good mental and

physical health the industry cannot progress steadily. His mental and physical health, is profoundly influenced by working conditions and by his relations with the management .

2. Protection Worker’s Economic Interests:

Mental health cannot be maintained unless a person’s economic interests are secured. Besides, the worker cannot be boosted to give his best if he is uncertain about his economic conditions.

3. Search of Proper Method of Work: One main reason of accidents and mishaps in

factories is the improper methods of work. Improper working also gives rise to fatigue and boredom. Hence the other objectives of industrial psychology are to find out the proper methods of work so that accidents are prevented, and fatigue and boredom is reduced to the minimum.

4. Removing Maladjustment: Another important factor which induces the

industrial conflicts is the lack of adjustment between the worker and his circumstances and working conditions. This maladjustment is primarily psychological in nature. It is the task of industrial psychologist to find out the cause of maladjustment and to suggest means of rectifying it.

5. Reform of Working Conditions: It is the task of the industrial psychologists to

find out the ideal conditions in which the maximum efficiency can be attained and the worker maintained at the peak of mental and physical health. The most important working conditions are arrangements for required and proper lighting, proper ventilation, absence of noise, provision for periodical rest, normal convenience for the male and female employees etc.

6. Reform in Machines: The work and the machine are equally

responsible for the number of accidents and extent of fatigue induced in worker. Prevention of accidents and reduction in fatigue can be achieved by proper designing of machines. Industrial psychologist give useful suggestions for the reformations.

7. Reform in Human Relationships: In order to maintain a proper atmosphere

and high degree of morale among the workers in an industry it is necessary to have good and cordial human relation between the workers and the management. One motive of the industrial psychologist is to suggest means of improving human relations.

8. Humanistic Approach in Industry: Psychological studies have shown that human

relations in industry cannot be good unless a humanistic approach is adopted. Therefore the relations existing between the management and the various levels of workers should be improved and the barriers between them removed.

9. Study of Aptitudes: Irrespective of quality and nature of the

physical conditions prevailing in a factory, it depends upon the workers aptitudes to make the best use of them. If the worker has a favorable attitude towards the work it will get done but if his aptitude is not proper than even the best conditions cannot force the worker to work. The study and the measurement of aptitude is the subject of psychology.

10. Creating Proper Leadership: The study of leadership is the responsibility of

social psychology. In the sphere of industry the supervisor must not only be an official but also capable leader because otherwise he cannot direct the workers properly and encourage them to work hard.

Social psychology can help in the field of industry by pointing out the qualities that are necessary for leadership and by explaining how such qualities can be developed. It can also tell the industrialist about the human being who has such qualities or who is capable of developing them.

11. Aid in Industrial Training: It is now realized that the efficiency of a

worker can be considerably improved by the proper kind of training and that the expense involved in training is paid off double fold.

Trained people can avoid accidents while the quality and quantity of their production is such higher than that of untrained people. Hence, different kinds of training programmes for different jobs are now called for. Such training programmes can be devised only by the psychologist, who can locate the basis of such training and the various methods employed in it.

12. Motion and Time Studies: Different people take varying amounts of

time to complete a specific job because they work at different rates. Today time and motion studies are conducted to find out the efficiency of individual and even of machines. Psychologists help in the space redesign, posture of sitting and positions in which worker should work etc.

13. Vocational Guidance: Vocational guidance involves the finding out

of an individual’s capabilities through psychological tests and suggesting the task for which the individual is best suited.

14. Advertisement and Selling: Industrial psychology is concerned with the

ways of suggesting of advertisement and selling. Advertisement is based on the psychology of appeal. It then gives suggestion about the subject matter and the layout of the advertisement so that it can attract the attention of the maximum number of people.

15. Maintaining Morale: In order to maintain a proper level of

production and to improve the quality of production it is necessary in each industry and profession to maintain a high level morale among the workers. Psychologists, after having studied the factors affecting morale can give suggestions for improving the morale.

Importance of Studying Industrial PsychologyAs Industrial Psychology is mainly concerned with

studying different aspects of human behavior in the work environment.

1. Understanding Human Relations: By understanding the relations and group behavior

existing between the individuals working in industrial organizations, it is possible to develop concepts and techniques of supervision, effective leadership, motivation etc. This knowledge can be applied in industrial management to increase efficiency of management.

2. Human Engineering: Industrial Psychology is very important for

understanding the work environment and human performance Human engineering or Engineering psychology or Human factor engineering is not possible without studying industrial psychology.

This is because human engineering in the study of man in his work environment, his work methods, the machine design, i.e., design of the equipment and tools used by him and the effect of work environmental conditions on his efficiency. Improving the work environment as advised by industrial psychologists leads to improvement in productivity and job satisfaction.

3. Recruitment, Selection and Placement:

Industrial psychology facilitates the appropriate matching of the requirements of a job, with the abilities of a prospective employee. This considerably reduces the cost of hiring, supervision and ultimately, production. By using psychological tests, candidates can be properly screened before recruitment. Accurate job analysis and standardized application forms also aid in recruiting the right personnel for a job.

4. Development and Training of Personnel: Industrial psychology provides knowledge of

individual behaviour and individual differences. This knowledge can be measured for use in training of personnel to bring them up to a certain expected level of efficiency.

The techniques and principle of industrial psychology can be applied to train both workers as well as supervisors so that problems of supervision do not affect productive efficiency. Delegation, communication, motivation and leadership training imparted to managers increases their capabilities.

5. Accident Prevention: It has been observed from various surveys

that majority of the industrial accidents are preventable. Personal factors such as fatigue, monotony and boredom play an important role in accident prevention. Time and Motion studies conducted by F.W. Taylor are immensely helpful if used in safety programmes for accident prevention.

Thus Industrial psychology cannot only help in identifying accident prove people but can also help in finding solutions to prevent accidents in industrial organizations.

6. Promotional Schemes and Wage and Salary Administration:

Based on the abilities performance and seniority of personnel, the management decides to promote, demote, transfer or discharge personnel employed in their organizations. Industrial psychology technique of Performance Appraisal brings out those abilities of personnel that aid the management in promotional schemes. It is no longer considered right in considering seniority as the guiding principle for promotion of personnel.

Job evaluation and Merit Rating techniques of Industrial Psychology are the scientific techniques for evaluating the worth of a job and the individual respectively. Based on these, the salary and wage-rates are fixed in the industry.

7. Motivation, Attitude and Morale:Industrial psychology recognizes that needs or

motives drive an individual to behave in a particular manner i.e., they are the causes of differences in human behavior. Industrial psychology plays an important role in determining the financial and non-financial incentives that can be used by industrial managements for motivating the personnel into working willingly and to his best ability in order to increase productivity.

Industrial psychological studies establish the relation between the attitudes of the employees and their performance. It is clear that industrial psychology is very important for the purpose of improving management styles to yield maximum benefits.

Scope of Industrial Psychology(by McCollom 1959)Mc Collom (1959) actually interviewed 75

psychologists in 20 different cities, having each one describe his own activities and the activities of other psychologists working in industry with whom they were familiar. He found that the activities of these people could be grouped into the following general activities:

Scope of Industrial Psychology(by McCollom 1959)

Personnel selection:-Selection and assessment of employees

and executives.Personnel development:

-Performance appraisal,-Attitude measurement,-Management development-Employee counseling

Human engineering :

-Equipment and product designProductivity study:

-Worker’s fatigue (tiredness), lightingManagement:

-Activities involving administrative skillsOther: Accidents and safety, labor relations

Problems of Industrial PsychologySome of the major problems faced by industrial

psychology are as follows: 1. The Consultant and the Staff Psychologist 2. Communication 3. Resistance to Change.

1. The Consultant and the Staff Psychologist: The industrial psychologist is likely to obtain his

liveli hood through one of three major sources of employment. He is either a consultant, an employee of a company or the government, or a university teacher. Very often he combines two of the three roles, but whether he does or not depends upon his interests, opportunities, degree of identification, and tempo.

A psychologist directly employed full time by a company or by a government agency is often refined to as a “staff” psychologist. Generally speaking, the duties and tasks of the consultant and the staff psychologist overlap. There is no clear-cut difference insofar as type of assignment is concerned. The major difference is that the consultant may be concurrently working for a number of clients or employers, whereas the staff psychologist fills a more specific role in the organization chart for a single employer.

2. Communication: One of the difficulties of any profession is that

its language and technique some times become so involved that the outsider is really left out. If industrial psychology is to gain an important place in industry, psychologists must learn to talk and write in a fashion that is clearly understandable to others who are equally interested in the mutual problems and who sometimes have an even greater stake in a solution. Not only must the industrial psychologist learn to communicate adequately with the non-psychologist, but even the problem of communication within the field itself is becoming a problem.

3. Resistance to Change: Research findings as well as research itself can

ordinarily be expected to meet with resistance on the part of employees and, in many instances, employers. The successful practitioner of industrial psychology must be immediately and forever aware of this phenomenon. It would be purely academic if one anticipated that industry is waiting with open arms to apply the knowledge of industrial psychology.

Resistance comes not only from the employee but from all levels of management and the employer. The naive employer often wants research to prove his point or position. Such a guarantee is not possible. The conclusions of research depend upon the data and cannot be established by manipulation of data to conform to a pre-established outcome.