CONTEMPORARY WORKPLACE TOPICS IN ORGANISATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY
PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH
Industrial Organisational Psychologists (IPOs):
• They apply psychological knowledge, theories, principles & research in the work
context
• understand why and how people engage with their work tasks
• Ensure people have the best t – in terms of job, organisation, workplace, fair
treatment and practices of our sta
• highly motivated, loyal and productive employees
• care for the wellbeing of our people
IOPs propose solutions that are grounded in
empirical evidence, (valid and reliable), aligned
to current trends and developments, and are t
for purpose
General OP:
• The organisational as a system, integrate social psychology and organisational
behaviour
• Organisational theory and models, leadership, decision-making,
organisational design, organisational climate and culture, employee relations,
organisational change
Personnel OP:
• More HR focus
• Performance management and appraisals, recruitment and selection, promotion,
training and development, rewards, remuneration, leave, discipline
Work areas:
• Research:
- Uses scienti c inquiry to advance psychological knowledge about work related
human behaviour and processes
• Psychometrics/Psychological Assessment:
- Development and utilisation of assessment instruments to measure attributes
and behaviours
• Career Psychology & Counselling
- Career development, job choices, resolve career- development problems
(individual development)
• Employee Relations:
- Dealing with unions, negotiations, employment issues
fi fi ff fi
, • Employee Wellbeing:
- Occupational Health Psychology
- Employee assistance programmes, employee health – anything that promotes
optimal health – evaluating it and treatment/initiatives
• Ergonomics:
- Human engineering and human-factors psychology
- Interaction of the employee and their environment
Similarities in the areas:
• Research was the starting point – our foundational knowledge – knowing about
the topic, and it informed our actions - what we do
• Nothing in this world is stagnant – change is continuous, the seminal work was
necessary, it is referenced, referred to, etc., But we need to continue to
research to observe any changes, new theories, see how this foundational
knowledge applies in new eras, with new challenges, in di erent contexts, and
so on
IPO Trends:
1. Employee engagement and organisational commitment of remote workers
2. Inclusive environments and cultures
3. Managing the transition into post- pandemic work
4. Talent attraction and retention in a candidate-driven market
5. Caring for employee well-being
6. Stress and burnout
7. The great resignation
8. Creating e ective diversity, equity and inclusion interventions
9. Employer’s role in employees’ mental health
10.Enabling organisational culture in a changing workplace environment
Scienti c research:
• System of guidelines and procedures designed to obtain objective, accurate and
unbiased analysis of a problem/question at hand
Scientist:
• Produces knowledge through research
• Derives principles of individual, group and organisational behaviour
fi ff ff
,• Keeps abreast of current developments in work settings
• Examines current and updated solutions to individual, group and organisational
problems
• Employs a rigorous scienti c method
Practitioner:
• Applies theories, principles and research to work settings
• Uses knowledge to identify and solve individual, group and organisational
problems
• Creates new knowledge through interaction, re ection and evaluation
Symbiotic relationship:
• IOPs may be practitioners in their day-to-day tasks; but they use research,
principles, and theories in those functions
• Thus, there must be a symbiotic relationship between the two spheres – one
can’t exist without the other
• Science and practice are not viewed as independent activities
• They are parallel activities that continually inform the other, thereby blending
the role of scientist and practitioner
• Practitioners need research to inform their practice; researchers need
practitioners to identify problems and provide feedback on solutions to
workplace problems
fi fl
, SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Empirical Evidence:
• For any practice to be de ned as evidenced-based, it must be informed by
knowledge derived from empirical research
• Empirical research is research that is based on systematic (carefully organised)
observations and measurement
• Peer-reviewed articles are a trusted form of scienti c communication
• The Scienti c Method - empirical reasoning and scienti c thinking
4 Characteristics of the scienti c method:
• Falsi ability
• Objectivity
• Replicability
• Self-correction
Falsi ability:
• The most important characteristic of scienti c thinking
• For an idea to have scienti c value – it MUST be falsi able – in other words
empirical tests could allow researchers to show that the idea is either true or
false.
• There are some notions which are interesting but not scienti c. For example, the
notion of life after death. There is no empirical test that can demonstrate that
this particular notion is true or false. It falls beyond the reach of science.
Objectivity:
• A reliance on evidence that at least two researchers can independently verify
• Built by:
- providing operational de nitions for the phenomenon under study. Operational
de nitions therefore translate abstract theoretical concepts into the concrete
procedures that researcher plans to use.
- subjecting the research to peer review, whereby experts scrutinise the validity
of the knowledge claims and determine if the research is useful to the scienti c
community
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fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi
PSYCHOLOGY
PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH
Industrial Organisational Psychologists (IPOs):
• They apply psychological knowledge, theories, principles & research in the work
context
• understand why and how people engage with their work tasks
• Ensure people have the best t – in terms of job, organisation, workplace, fair
treatment and practices of our sta
• highly motivated, loyal and productive employees
• care for the wellbeing of our people
IOPs propose solutions that are grounded in
empirical evidence, (valid and reliable), aligned
to current trends and developments, and are t
for purpose
General OP:
• The organisational as a system, integrate social psychology and organisational
behaviour
• Organisational theory and models, leadership, decision-making,
organisational design, organisational climate and culture, employee relations,
organisational change
Personnel OP:
• More HR focus
• Performance management and appraisals, recruitment and selection, promotion,
training and development, rewards, remuneration, leave, discipline
Work areas:
• Research:
- Uses scienti c inquiry to advance psychological knowledge about work related
human behaviour and processes
• Psychometrics/Psychological Assessment:
- Development and utilisation of assessment instruments to measure attributes
and behaviours
• Career Psychology & Counselling
- Career development, job choices, resolve career- development problems
(individual development)
• Employee Relations:
- Dealing with unions, negotiations, employment issues
fi fi ff fi
, • Employee Wellbeing:
- Occupational Health Psychology
- Employee assistance programmes, employee health – anything that promotes
optimal health – evaluating it and treatment/initiatives
• Ergonomics:
- Human engineering and human-factors psychology
- Interaction of the employee and their environment
Similarities in the areas:
• Research was the starting point – our foundational knowledge – knowing about
the topic, and it informed our actions - what we do
• Nothing in this world is stagnant – change is continuous, the seminal work was
necessary, it is referenced, referred to, etc., But we need to continue to
research to observe any changes, new theories, see how this foundational
knowledge applies in new eras, with new challenges, in di erent contexts, and
so on
IPO Trends:
1. Employee engagement and organisational commitment of remote workers
2. Inclusive environments and cultures
3. Managing the transition into post- pandemic work
4. Talent attraction and retention in a candidate-driven market
5. Caring for employee well-being
6. Stress and burnout
7. The great resignation
8. Creating e ective diversity, equity and inclusion interventions
9. Employer’s role in employees’ mental health
10.Enabling organisational culture in a changing workplace environment
Scienti c research:
• System of guidelines and procedures designed to obtain objective, accurate and
unbiased analysis of a problem/question at hand
Scientist:
• Produces knowledge through research
• Derives principles of individual, group and organisational behaviour
fi ff ff
,• Keeps abreast of current developments in work settings
• Examines current and updated solutions to individual, group and organisational
problems
• Employs a rigorous scienti c method
Practitioner:
• Applies theories, principles and research to work settings
• Uses knowledge to identify and solve individual, group and organisational
problems
• Creates new knowledge through interaction, re ection and evaluation
Symbiotic relationship:
• IOPs may be practitioners in their day-to-day tasks; but they use research,
principles, and theories in those functions
• Thus, there must be a symbiotic relationship between the two spheres – one
can’t exist without the other
• Science and practice are not viewed as independent activities
• They are parallel activities that continually inform the other, thereby blending
the role of scientist and practitioner
• Practitioners need research to inform their practice; researchers need
practitioners to identify problems and provide feedback on solutions to
workplace problems
fi fl
, SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Empirical Evidence:
• For any practice to be de ned as evidenced-based, it must be informed by
knowledge derived from empirical research
• Empirical research is research that is based on systematic (carefully organised)
observations and measurement
• Peer-reviewed articles are a trusted form of scienti c communication
• The Scienti c Method - empirical reasoning and scienti c thinking
4 Characteristics of the scienti c method:
• Falsi ability
• Objectivity
• Replicability
• Self-correction
Falsi ability:
• The most important characteristic of scienti c thinking
• For an idea to have scienti c value – it MUST be falsi able – in other words
empirical tests could allow researchers to show that the idea is either true or
false.
• There are some notions which are interesting but not scienti c. For example, the
notion of life after death. There is no empirical test that can demonstrate that
this particular notion is true or false. It falls beyond the reach of science.
Objectivity:
• A reliance on evidence that at least two researchers can independently verify
• Built by:
- providing operational de nitions for the phenomenon under study. Operational
de nitions therefore translate abstract theoretical concepts into the concrete
procedures that researcher plans to use.
- subjecting the research to peer review, whereby experts scrutinise the validity
of the knowledge claims and determine if the research is useful to the scienti c
community
fi fifi
fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi
