Why It Is 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 the real problem that the company suffers.

This is a serious error, because at most it will offer, in some cases, a temporary improvement, by not having intervened on the root of the dysfunction. 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 resonate with many company managers or team supervisors and even professionals of intervention in organizations, who see in organizational psychology a set of tools that can be applied without further ado to companies to improve. its operation, just as a glass of water quenches thirst always in the same way. Nothing is further from reality.

The importance of diagnosis in organizational psychology

Today there are solutions to improve any shortcomings that the organization may present, using everything from programs to improve 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

The same symptom can be due to various causes, so optimizing results in the medium and long term will only be possible by first identifying what is failing 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 although 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 support process that helps solve it.

What do organizational psychologists do?

The organizational psychologist is the professional expert in human behavior in a work environment It 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 within the framework of organizational psychology are:

1. Common welfare

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

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 success factor.

3. Analyze the person/context relationship

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

4. Improve the selection, training, promotion and retention of talent

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, is essential.

5. Encourage talent

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

6. Motivate towards collective goals

Getting people to do their jobs for their own benefit and that of the organization not just seeking a personal goal

By analyzing internal and external factors, psychology draws the situational map in which the person and the organization find themselves, as well as the needs of both. This is psychology’s way of guaranteeing balance between personal and organizational objectives.

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

Psychology, also in the organization, does not offer a solution without having diagnosed what the problem is. Once the diagnosis is made, it has a wide repertoire of techniques to face that specific situation. Thus, psychology achieves its objective, which is none other than to ensure people’s health, taking into account their cognitions, attitudes, aptitudes and behaviors aligning them with the environment and 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 has been analyzed, the most appropriate techniques are chosen to achieve the objective.

The techniques that psychology has are of a different nature, and their choice will depend on the purpose to be resolved.

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 among workers.

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

Conclusion

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.