Introduction
At the current time, the raised interest to organizational psychology can be said to be called by a vital necessity to solve problems in organizational settings through new ways of organizing economic activities. Industrial/organizational psychology is an applied sector of science, which studies the different aspects of human behavior in organizations and workplaces, using psychological methods to raise the effectiveness of their activity.
Among the problems that can be related to the problems of organization psychology are aspects related to employees’ selection, hiring, and placement in the right positions. In that regard, this paper analyzes the common problem of organizational psychology based on the example of the company “GTX, Inc”, an organization with 30 employees that specializes in providing internet services, such as designing, publishing and maintaining websites. The company decided recently to expand their staff, and hire new employees, and at the same time have a problem of work division due to the small number of existing employees, and thus the absence of distinct work positions. The paper analyzes the company’s situation based on a brief literature review in the field of industrial/organizational psychology.
Main Body
One of the concerns of the employees’ hiring process can be considered its costs, which according to estimates based on 1999 survey range between “costs per hire of $8,628 for exempt employees to $1,154 for nonexempt employees.” (Patterson, 2000, p. 77) In that regard, companies should avoid at all costs poor hiring decisions, where human resources professionals approach these decisions in a way that helps manages the budget more effectively. Similarly, “GTX” company cannot afford poor hiring decisions, and thus their efforts should start from acquiring good information through right tools, which in such cases can be implemented through targeted assessments.
The assessments can help the company not only through the selection process, distinguishing bad candidates from good, but also through the placement process, where the company would ensure that “new hires are matched to the right positions.” (Patterson, 2000, p. 78)
The tests can be used to measure several characteristics, among which the general mental ability, workplace skills, honesty/integrity, medical status and others. One of the systems that are used for the assessment process is Work Keys, “an integrated system of job analysis, assessment, and instructional guidance that can supply the information companies crave.”(Patterson, 2000, p. 83) Among the characteristics that this system checks to ensure generic employability skills, are eight foundational workplace skills, which are:
- Reading for information
- Listening
- Observation
- Locating information
- Applied mathematics
- Applied technology
- Writing and teamwork.
Although the focus on all the skills is not necessary, it can be seen that most of them fit into the context of the work setting of “GTX”. Accordingly, based on the results of the assessments, the company can solve another dilemma in addition to the selection, where it can use the information to determine where to place a person in the company.
Other tests might include Gallup’s Strengths-based Selection System, the Predictive Index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which can be considered more of screening tests for person’s personality traits. (Mullin, 2008)The main purpose of such tests is finding and focusing on the candidate’s true personality, an aspect which can be usually projected in an interview, and harder to do in a test. The importance of such tests can be seen through the way managers can use the personal traits of the employee, not only to the benefit of the company, but also to the benefit of employees themselves, managing, motivating and encouraging them through helping the managers setting them up to succeed. (Mullin, 2008)
An important aspect, in addition to characteristics of the employees, is Job Analysis (JA), which is the process of gathering, analyzing, and structuring information about a job’s components, characteristics, and job requirements. This aspect can be seen as the setting stage for the selection process during hiring, where “inaccurate JA information will presumably impair decision quality and reduce individual and organizational effectiveness and efficiency.” (Sanchez & Levine, 2000) This process can be seen of vital importance to “GTX”, especially considering their lack of outlined requirements of their existing job positions. In that regard, the issue of accuracy in JA has been paid considerable importance, acknowledging the fact that this data can be used in court, if the description of this data could not transfer the complexity of the work’s requirement, and thus led to organizational decisions. (Sanchez & Levine, 2000)
Conclusion
It can be seen that the importance of the process of hiring cannot be overrated in the context of organizations I general, and GTX in particular. The relation of organizational psychology to the field of HR in the organization can be seen through managing the issues of professional setting of the individual within the workplace, and the measurement of his/her level of readiness to particular professional activity. In that regard, it can be concluded that, the mentioned aspects can promote the awareness of the management toward such levels, both when hiring new employees and when placing them in the right position.
References
Mullin, C. (2008). Personality tests help peg the best workers; Before hiring and after, employers have plenty of tools to help put personnel in the right slots. Omaha World – Herald, p. D.1.
Patterson, M. (2000). Overcoming the hiring crunch: Tests deliver informed choices. Employment Relations Today, 27(3), 77-88.
Sanchez, J. I., & Levine, E. L. (2000). Accuracy or consequential validity: Which is the better standard for job analysis data? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(7), 809-818.