Study this industrial psychology course to learn more about human resources, occupational psychology and more.

• Learn Occupational Psychology theories.
• Understand the importance of workplace conditions.
• Understand the importance of social conditions.
• Learn motivational theories.
• Understand psychological factors in industrial psychology.
• Develop your skills to supervise staff or manage a workplace.
• Further your career opportunities in organisational and industrial psychology.

This course will be useful for anyone -

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Free Will versus Determinism, Developmental and Interactive Expressions of Behaviour, NATURE versus NURTURE, Influence of Environment on Learning Behaviour, Modelling and Conformity, Conditioning involves Certain Environmental Factors which Encourage Learning to Take Place, Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Reinforcement & Punishment
2. Understanding the Employees Thinking
   • Sensation and perception, thinking and day dreaming, the Gestalt approach, unconscious and conscious psychic elements. explaining behaviour, knowledge of brain processes, personal interpretation of a given situation, instinct.
   • Terminology including: Mating, Curiosity, Maternal, Acquiring, Repulsion, Constructiveness, Rivalry, Laughter, Fighting, Walking, Swallowing, Play, Imitation, Sleep, Modesty, Domineering, Religion, Self Asserting, Sneezing, Thirst, Cleanliness, Workmanship, Parenting, Food seeking, Flight, Collecting, Sympathy.
3. Personality & Temperament
   • Mature & immature temperaments (eg. Sanguine, Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic), emotional types, fear, intelligence, knowledge, deviation, etc
4. Psychological Testing
   • The Application Form; Psychological Test; The Interview; Intelligence Tests; Laws of Learning; Devising Tests; Selecting Appropriate Tests.
5. Management & Managers
   • Qualities of Managers, Understanding morale, discipline, training, etc
6. The Work Environment
   • Noise, Space, Light, Temperature, Speed of Work, etc. Accidents, Breakages, Fatigue etc.
7. Motivation and Incentives
   • Maslow's model of self actualisation,Security, Money, Ambition, Companionship, Social reinforcement, Labour wastage, etc
8. Recruitment
   • Ways of seeking applicants, types of interview, ways of selecting staff.
9. Social Considerations
   • Group Behaviour, Conformity, Industrial Groups, THE HAWTHORNE EFFECT
10. Abnormalities and Disorders
    • Psychosis Neurosis Personality Disorders, Variance, Partial Disability (eg. arm or leg injuries; epilepsy, digestive disorders etc), The Psycho Neurotic

Aims

• Discuss basic concepts that may be relevant to understanding industrial psychology.
• Identify similarities and differences that occur in the way different employees perceive their workplace.
• Discuss the effect of personality and temperament upon industrial psychology.
• Identify applications for psychological testing in industrial management.
• Discuss the psychology of management
• Identify ways that the work environment might impact upon the psychology of people in a workplace
• Explain how motivation influences work productivity.
• Discuss the application of psychology to recruitment.
• Explain the impact of social factors upon work productivity.
• Discuss the significance of psychological disorders or abnormalities in a workplace

Sample Course Notes - Does the Workplace Suit the Worker?

The person-organisation fit is considered to be “compatibility between people and organisations that occurs when at least one entity provides what the other needs or they share similar fundamental characteristics or both” (Kristoff-Brown et al., 2005). It is a match between the values, needs, goals and personal attributes of the employee with the equivalent values of the organisation. A better fit is usually an indicator that the potential employee will be less likely to leave the organisation, and more likely to perform well in their role.

It is quite difficult to assess an applicant's degree of fit with an organisation but there are some things which can help to make a more accurate judgement:

• Clearly define the values and culture of the organisation in the job description - this enables potential job applicants to decide whether or not they are in line with their own values. It also allows interviewers to screen out those who do not meet with the values of the organisation.
• Communicate the organisation's values in the recruitment process in terms of opportunities for training, company policies, culture of the organisation, and levels of responsibility. By promoting the sense of caring about employees it is possible to enhance perceived attraction for the company in candidates.
• Use of standard behavioural questions at interview to assess whether a candidate fits to the organisation's values.
• Use of standard behavioural questions at interview to assess whether a candidate's values fit with the organisation's values.
  
  

Organisation's Values and Ethics

All organisations have their own culture; a set of values and ethics which they uphold. These are typically reflected through the way that they train their employees, the way that they conduct their work, how they expect their staff to conduct themselves, and the image they wish to promote to their staff, as well as outsiders.

Organisations which operate in the public sector will train their staff in ways which adhere to the basic ethical codes and standards of public service.  The two key values in these organisations are impartiality and accountability. Others may include standards of excellence in service to the public, respect for the public, multicultural awareness, appreciation of individual differences, and so forth. In the private sector similar types of ethical values may also be emphasised.

An employer must consider how they will discuss their work philosophy with new recruits. They will need to impart their thoughts about flexibility, punctuality, presentation, good clear written work, politeness when interacting with outsiders, or whatever particular standards and ethics are considered most important.

Initial training might also include addressing an employee's or new recruit's needs for further training and what options there are to fulfil these needs.

Proper Training with Start an Employees Psychology in a Better Place

The training required by new, and existing, staff will often be very individual. It will be based on the employer, the employee and the employee’s role.  Some training will obviously be the same for all employees, whilst other training will focus on the specific requirements of the employee.    Training does not stop when a member of staff starts working for you. Training can be ongoing.  For example, a new computer system may require training for all staff.  Or a person may be promoted and require additional training and support to fulfil the role.  Some staff may come to the employer and state that they have training needs, whilst in other cases, the employer may recognise that they do need training in a particular area.

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