What Is Work Psychology? Characteristics And Areas Of Work
Beyond the field of care for patients with psychological problems, there are many other branches of psychology that can be applied to very diverse contexts. In fact, one of those with the most job opportunities has only an indirect relationship with the world of disorders: it is work psychology, linked to the world of organizations and business.
Throughout this article We will see a brief summary about what occupational psychology is (also called “work psychology) and what are its areas of intervention.
As its name indicates, work psychology is that which is responsible for studying behavior in the workplace and implementing behavior modification programs in this.
Normally, it focuses on work associated with the context of professions and trades, that is, work that is divided into specialists and that is part of people’s work history, allowing them to obtain something in return (although that “something” does not is reduced to a salary or economic income).
On the other hand, work psychology understands that work is almost always carried out in a social context, so It also takes into account team dynamics, leadership processes, and everything that happens within companies and commercial relationships.
That is why this branch of psychology overlaps a lot with the psychology of organizations to the point that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them when forming the same field of research and psychological intervention.
These are the main thematic areas in which work psychology works.
1. Motivation
Motivation is key both in companies and in one-person professional projects.
Sometimes, the idea is good, the material resources are available, the necessary knowledge is available, but the desire to participate in the work project is lacking. In these cases, It is necessary for a specialist to analyze the case and propose changes to generate a work context in which motivation arises finally and everything starts to work smoothly.
2. Leadership
Something as simple as knowing how to lead can make a difference both in the performance obtained and in the feelings that working in a certain institution produces (and, consequently, in the incentives to stay there). For this reason, work psychology also works to propose changes in the way of communicating, of managing incidents, of proposing incentives, of setting an example etc.
3. Personnel selection
Personnel selection is essential for a group of workers to function well, given that some parts of the organization depend on others. Therefore, experts in work psychology can work both by carrying out these filtering processes and by defining the job position to be filled
4. Training of workers
Many times, workers do not have to be trained in areas of specialization that they already master, but in other skills that are necessary to perform well but are not “the core” of what they do on a daily basis, which defines their position. and distinguishes it from the rest. For example: managing emotions, learning safety protocols, communication skills, etc. To avoid decompensations in these areas, many entities promote courses or workshops so that workers can learn and train new knowledge and skills
This is one of the most important areas of intervention in work psychology: knowing how to promote programs to enhance performance is key in many aspects and this can determine whether a project will be viable in the medium or long term or not.
This is where incentives, equipment configuration, the ability to correct defects in the workflow, the degree to which workers know how to manage stress in some situations, and even the design of workspaces and tools come into play. used for work.
6. Internal communication
Internal communication is also part of the job, since you have to know how to coordinate and, at the same time, be clear about the general way in which you work in the entity you are in. Knowing how to create the routes through which the flow of communication will go is complex, because it requires taking into account many variables, and many of them are not technical, but psychological.
7. Work environment
The work environment defines the type of attitudes and feelings that the work context gives off , both from the facilities in which we work, as well as from the way of working and the type of people who make up the team. Therefore, it is an important factor that in practice is essential to the company’s values.
Are you interested in training in this area of ​​psychology?
If you are considering training and professionalizing yourself in this field of work, you may be interested in the Own University Master’s Degree in Talent Selection and Management organized by the University of Malaga
This post-university training program is made up of internships in leading companies in its sector and two blocks of theoretical-practical learning that can also be taken as postgraduate degrees individually: University Expert in Talent Selection and University Expert in Training, Development Personal and Organizational. In total, the entire Master’s degree consists of 75 ECT credits.
By having a teaching team made up of experts in the world of business and work and organizational psychology, in the Master it is possible to learn about aspects as varied as personnel selection, talent acquisition and retention processes. in the workforce, the development of training plans for workers, the use of new technologies in Human Resources, team leadership, and more. For all these reasons, it is not surprising that 80% of graduated students obtain paid extracurricular internships.
To see more information about the Master, as well as its contact information, access this page.
