Industrial-organizational psychology is the study of how human behavior affects the everyday aspects of running a business or organization. This field is also called I/O psychology. To get started you will need to earn an online Bachelor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology degree.
Through this important bachelor’s degree program, you will learn how to address problems in the workplace, optimize job training, instruct employees, and create guidelines for evaluating employee performance. Also, you will specialize in human behavior within the workplace, as well as, how to keep employees motivated and rewarded. To properly maximize production and profits, the mental and physical well-being of each employee is promoted.
As you know, the field of psychology can be intense and to fully understand the realm of the specialty, you must also earn a master’s and doctoral degree, in addition to, gaining state licensure. As a psychology student in industrial-organization, you will quickly realize that there are two components to this field, such as the “industrial” aspect of psychology and then the “organizational” side of psychology.
The “industrial” aspect of this critical field relates primarily to the personal qualities that a person exhibits to do a specific job. As an I/O psychologist, you will be tasked with matching the two, in hopes of giving the employee a job that they enjoy, that they are good at, and that will keep them interested and perhaps, that they can grow from by accepting promotions with higher paying salaries.
The “organizational” portion of the I/O psychologist’s job description involves understanding the operations of a company or organization and how said activities affect human behavior. As people tend to react to how they are treated, an I/O psychologist should be trained to assess how a company’s management team and organizational structure helps (or hurts) a group’s production and ability to get a job done well, without strife and discord. If a company’s employees are unhappy and at odds all the time, perhaps the organization should assess their own practices.
There are six critical areas within the field of industrial-organizational psychology that clearly identifies the various aspects of I/O, which are each extremely important. Through your online Bachelor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology degree program, you will learn about these different topic areas. Also, in this field, you may wish to choose to work in them all or select a concentration that interests you.
The area of employee selection is very crucial to the success of a company. In this specialty, you will provide screening assessment tests to see which job is right for the applicant, where their strengths are, as well as, their weaknesses.
Once hired, the training and development process begins. Proper programs in this area must be developed by the I/O professional to train individuals for the job they need to perform adequately.
Performance management professionals are hired to assess an employee’s job performance. They develop techniques that upper management uses to evaluate how well an employee is progressing, and if they’re ready for advancement.
As productivity is of utmost importance, rest assured that an I/O psychologist who specializes in ergonomics is interested in the bottom line. They oversee production and the equipment being used to confirm every machine is running correctly. They are focused on increased productivity and profits, as well as, employee safety.
Through organizational development, you can expect to concentrate on a company’s products and the organization’s structure. This combination is designed to increase profits and improve the company’s overall productivity.
Perhaps most importantly, the quality of work life is key to a successful business. As an industrial-organizational psychologist in this area, you can improve employee/employer relations to maximize productivity and minimize losses. You’ll be hired to design ways of encouraging employees, such as through awards, bonuses, and other innovative programs and incentives.
In whichever concentration you choose, your work in this field will be rewarding and fulfilling as you help employees increase their earnings, as well as, organizations reach their production goals. If you would like to learn more, please see our selections for the Best Online Schools for Bachelor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology degree programs.