Psychological Contract: What It Consists Of And What This Type Of Agreement Is For
When we begin an employment relationship, the first thing we do is formalize the situation, signing an employment contract.
However, there is another type of link that is also carried out, although it is neither on paper nor in an explicit way, but it has the same or even more importance. It’s about the psychological contract With this article we will know all the details about this agreement.
The psychological contract refers to all the commitments that the worker and the employer acquire when beginning an employment relationship , beyond what appears in the employment contract itself. It is a tacit agreement, which encompasses the expectations that the individual has about the organization in which he begins to work, but also the other way around, since it also includes what the company itself expects from the new team member in his position. work, and their contributions to the company.
The psychological contract is, therefore, a reciprocal exchange agreement between the employee and the employer, which may be more or less explicit In the first definitions of the concept, the weight was placed on the expectations of the worker, but in later revisions this definition was expanded to also include the vision of the company, since it is a bidirectional concept and therefore it is essential to consider both points. of sight.
This mental image of what each other mutually expect from the employment relationship includes, with respect to the worker, ideas about remuneration and compensation, job growth, recognition of achievements, a good relationship with new colleagues and superiors, etc. On the part of the company, the logical thing is to expect that the new team member adapts quickly to his position, contributes value to the company, is efficient in carrying out tasks and cordial with other people.
It must be taken into account that, as occurs in written contracts, a psychological contract may contain some abusive clauses For example, an employer may expect the employee to work more hours than his working day indicates, without receiving compensation for the overtime worked. Conversely, an employee could expect to take several long breaks each day, within his or her work hours. Both assumptions would constitute abusive clauses and in the long run would lead to a conflict.
Although a psychological contract encompasses a variety of “clauses” in itself, these can be very different in nature, depending on what they refer to. For this reason, it is convenient to distinguish the different types that we can find.
1. Balance
The first thing that both parties will expect when beginning their contractual relationship is that the compensation is in balance with what is offered. The worker will expect to be demanded based on his position, his qualifications and his remuneration. On the other hand, The company will expect that the new employee’s work contribution is in line with everything that the organization itself is offering in this new stage.
2. Transaction
Obviously, an employment relationship is an exchange, in which one party contributes their work and the other a salary, which can be only monetary, or monetary and in kind. The expectations of the psychological contract cause the employee to expect fair remuneration for his work, and the organization, in turn, will expect the worker to fulfill the functions assigned to him within the deadlines given for it. . If both parties comply, the transaction will be satisfactory.
3. Relationship
Not only is fair remuneration needed, but People want to feel valued and have growth prospects within the company and maintain good relationships with the rest of the team members. The company also expects that the employee knows how to take advantage of the promotion opportunities available and can contribute more and more to the development of the organization, progressively becoming a component of more and more value.
4. Change
When we get a new job, we also have expectations of improvement compared to our previous stage , whether because it was bumpy, it did not satisfy us, or we simply sought to grow and get better. Of course, team managers also expect the new member to be equal to or better than the previous worker who held that position, or to conform to expectations, if this is newly created and there is no standard with which to perform. the comparison.
One of the main effects of the psychological contract is motivation, and here we are focusing on the part corresponding to the worker’s vision of the company. All the expectations and hopes placed in your new employment relationship They will make you especially motivated and therefore provide good performance in your new position This will be maintained over time if these expectations are met and therefore reap the fruits you expected.
In the opposite case, if some of the expectations never materialize into a reality or at least not in the way expected, motivation may begin to decrease, and it will do so to a lesser or greater extent depending on the magnitude of the difference between the forecasts that he had in his psychological contract and the reality that he has encountered during that time, carrying out the usual tasks that his position in the new company implies.
On the contrary, if the forecasts have not only been met, but have been exceeded, finding a scenario much better than expected, the initial motivation can increase, since in some way the individual will feel that he is indebted to the company, and will try to give the best of itself at all times, because He will try to ensure that the expectations that the company had of himself are also met and they are equally overwhelmed, as has happened to him in the opposite direction.
We clearly see in this example that it is very useful for the company to fulfill its part of the psychological contract, since it is one of the most effective ways to obtain an employee who is fully motivated and ready to face all the challenges that appear in their workplace, since Considering himself a full member of the team, he will always seek to tackle them in the most efficient way possible. Therefore It is a feedback mechanism since the more one party offers, the more the opposite party returns.
Breach
When an employment contract is breached, this has a series of consequences that can lead to the breaking of said agreement. Exactly the same thing happens with the psychological contract.
It can happen (and in fact, it often happens) that the reality when starting a new career path does not correspond to the expectations that either the employee, the company, or both parties had initially made. If one of the parties, or both, thought that the relationship was going to be much more satisfactory and fruitful than it really is, a conflict arises that must be resolved.
It is possible to try to resolve it by explaining the disagreement observed with the opposite party For example, the employee can express his disagreement with that element or routine of the company that is contradicting what he expected, and try to resolve it so that it adjusts to what he originally expected. It is also possible that it is the person himself who readjusts his previous expectations and adapts them to the new reality, modifying what he expected from the company (or from the worker, in the opposite case).
The third way to resolve the conflict is the most radical but also the most effective, since it eliminates the problem from its source. This route would be the breaking of the psychological contract, but also that of the employment contract, and therefore the dissolution of the relationship between the worker and the company, either through resignation, if it is by the employee, or by the route of dismissal, if it is the company that decides to dispense with the services of the individual with whom the conflict existed.
Whichever route is chosen, what is evident is that The conflict cannot be prolonged over time, as it causes emotional discomfort in the parties involved , a considerable and even total decrease in motivation, as we saw in the previous point and, consequently, a significant drop in the employee’s performance. And it can even lead to sabotage behavior, to disrupt the good performance of the company, as a form of retaliation.
