Organizational psychology has been in existence for as long as the history of mankind. There are many other fields that have embraced the use of psychology in understanding and improving the various fields.
It involves the use of psychological principles to understand and transform practices in a given fields. Some of them include, educational, industrial, and clinical. Organizational leaders have been on the forefront in applying psychological perspectives, particularly when it comes to dealing with employees as well as in the recruitment of new ones.
This is because virtually all undertakings of an organization involve human beings and continued interaction. The need to understand the things that motivate and discourage them becomes of paramount importance. The achievement of organizational goals/mission and vision relies on how much the leaders interact with the employees right from the point of entry into the organization’s day to day activities (Sharma, 2007).
The paper discusses the recruitment process from an organizational and applicant perspective, explains how the principles of organizational psychology can be utilized in the recruitment process. It describes the concept of organizational socialization and how the process can be enhanced by applying the principles of organizational psychology. Commentaries about specific work experiences are also provided.
The Recruitment Process
Organizational psychology is mostly applied in the human resource development department since it is mainly concerned with human interaction. From an organization’s perspective, the organizational psychologists are critical when it comes to offering advice on who is the best to be hired by the organization (Flanagin & Waldeck, 2004). According to research findings, they guide in outlining the qualities desirable in a potential employee.
The leaders of an organization would be interested in knowing what group of people to recruit into their team depending on what they will contribute to the development of the organization. They will always strive to make their organization attractive to potential employees as well as other stakeholders.
During the recruitment process, they will be looking out for the individuals with desired characteristics for each job. Organizations may hire the services of a professional or do it within the organization.
Applicants, on the other hand, are introduced into a given organization long before they send their application for employment. Usually, they already have predetermined opinions about the organization and how they conduct their recruitment process (Sharma, 2007). This greatly influences how a potential employee perceives the organization. The applicants develop individual opinions through the various channels which an organization may choose in the recruitment process like the print or electronic media and internal recruitment.
The Principles of Organizational Psychology and the Recruitment Process
Organizational psychology relies on scientific methodology to try and explain the behavioral orientation of the people working in a given organizational setting. The way through which this knowledge may be used is elimination where unsuitable applicants are knocked out during the advertisements for job positions.
Specific qualities, character, educational achievement, and other skills help in reducing the number of applicants for any given position (Flanagin & Waldeck, 2004).
Employing the principles of organizational psychology in the recruitment process helps in ensuring that the best applicants for a specified position are recruited and the potential employee also gets the best organization to work for.
Organizational psychologists have found that potential employees are usually attracted to those organizations which promise compatibility in terms of their individual cultures, ethics, moral values, practices, as well as personalities (Jex & Britt, 2008). Researchers in this field have also found that workers are more comfortable in the company of those who are perceived to be at the same level in terms of education, skills, values, and beliefs.
Principles of organizational psychology facilitate a successful recruitment process by ensuring client satisfaction especially during interviews and assessment. It can be concluded from this discussion that for any meaningful recruitment process, appropriate principles of organizational psychology should be utilized for the good of the company and that of the prospective employee.
Organizational Psychology and Socialization Process
Once an applicant has been selected for employment, the challenge is to be integrated and co-exist with other members and deliver on the job for which one was employed (Ostroff & Tamkins, 2003). This calls for a process of organizational socialization. Here, a new employee has to learn the specific cultures, values, as well as the skills for the new job/responsibility. The learning of the new ways in the organization may be through colleagues, observation or subconsciously through the day to day activities and interactions.
The process of organizational socialization can be enhanced by applying the principles of organizational psychology. The process itself involves a number of stages right from the time an employee anticipates to join the organization to the point where the employee becomes fully integrated in the organization or even to retirement/point of exist (Jex & Britt, 2008).
In order to ensure that these stages are beneficial to both the applicant and the organization, the principles are quite crucial at each step.
Unfortunately, evaluation using the principles of organizational psychology may result in high employee turnover (Flanagin & Waldeck, 2004). However, this serves to ensure that the organization remains with the best performing workers. Nonperforming workers are a let down to the organization and usually lead to huge financial loses.
Through this process, therefore, we may say that organizational socialization helps organizations and employees to cope with the challenges/problems experienced in the day to day running of the organization. Employees are also made aware of the fact that their job security is not guaranteed by but depends on the quality of work done.
Conclusion
The research paper has explored the recruitment process from an organizational and applicant perspective, explained how the principles of organizational psychology may be used in the recruitment process.
It has also described the concept of organizational socialization and how the process can be enhanced by utilizing the principles of organizational psychology. Organizational psychology as a field, therefore, plays a significant role in ensuring the stability of an organization as well as employee’s job satisfaction.
References
Jex, S. M. & Britt, T. W. (2008). Organizational psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach (2nd ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishers
Flanagin, A, J., & Waldeck, J. H. (2004). Organizational newcomer socialization. Journal of Business Communication, 41(2), 137-165
Ostroff, C. & Tamkins, M. M. (2003). Understanding Organizational Culture and Socialization. Journal of Psychology: Industrial and Organizational Psychology [Peer reviewed], 12, 565-593. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons
Sharma, B. (2007). Organizational Recruitment and Socialization: Beyond Fitting New Employees into the Existing Culture. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations [Peer reviewed], 38 (1), p. 65