Psychology

Industrial organizational psychology is the application of psychological principles in the work place. Also known as IO psychology, this branch of psychology main intention is to increase the efficiency and productivity of an organization as well as improving the mental well being of the staff. Moreover, it contributes to a companys success by establishing how the attitudes of employees can be improved through training programs, recruiting practices and feedback systems. When industrial organization psychologists associate with employees, they carry out different activities that include analyzing employees attitudes, teaching leadership skills and analyzing a companys performance (Joel, 2003). This field has become essential in an organization for enhancing creative attitudes and rewarding workers who are innovative.
           
Many organizations hire IO psychologist to come and uplift various aspects in their firm. Currently, there is increased demand for companies to standardize wages and employment, and create a favorable working environment that is productive. IO practitioners carry out different research aimed at providing an organization with information on all sections of the firm. For example, they tend to study stigmas associated with weight, disability or religion sexual harassment law enforcement, and leadership skills. Industrial organizational psychology promotes human welfare by applying psychology in different organizations that deal with goods and services like commercial enterprises, manufacturing firms, labor organizations and public agencies.
           
IO psychology traces its roots back to the beginning of world war one. Organizational side of psychology can be traced back to non psychologists like Frederick Winslow Taylor, who came up with the principles of scientific management in 1911. Being a relatively recent branch of psychology, it started to gain prominence during the late 1920s. Prior to this period, differential psychology in organizations was slowly improving the working environment. On the other hand, experimental psychology tended to treat people in a similar manner and came up with laws which classified everyone in the same category but was not successful. Another idea was scientific management which assumed that there was only one method of performing a task effectively (Spector, 2008). It implied that money is the only motivator and neglected the issue of job satisfaction. Another concept that made IO psychology to gain momentum was the movement of human relations.
         
The main aim of the movement was to keep employees happy by motivating them and ensuring that they are satisfied with their jobs. The industrial base in America after the War added momentum to the development of IO psychology. Moreover, American Psychological Association (APA) was very influential, and organizational psychology which was initiated by Hawthorne studies, started to gain prominence after the World War Two. Western Electric Company conducted the study between 1972 and 1932 and its expert, Elton Mayo, concluded that a workplace should not only be a productive system but also a social system. In addition, he called for managers to involve their employees in decision making since the effectiveness of a person is influenced by complex factors.
       
Fifty years after APA was established, psychologist focusing on applied psychology requested APA to address their needs. This led to the creation of clinical psychology in 1919 whose aim was to drive the applied psychologist towards jobs that are clinically oriented. This psychologist and other APA staff realized that APA had no intention of advancing psychology as a science and the association will fail to acknowledge the applied field of psychology (Joel, 2003). During the 1940s, association of applied psychologist strived to advance industrial and organizational psychology by promoting high practicing standards in business, public service and related vocational fields. More research and were carried out and information was documented to enhance exchange of ideas and general advancement of this field of psychology.
       
Research and statistics in industrial organizational psychology enables psychologist to gather and analyze relevant data that is beneficial to a company. Research is essential for effective employee selection and management initiatives. It involves collecting information that is relevant to a specific job. Moreover, psychologists learn relevant skills and ideas of motivating workers as well as maintaining flexibility in a modern working environment. IO psychologists rely on research and statistics to develop skills of applying theories which concern employee motivation and also theories that intended for leaders of the organization (Spector, 2008).
         
Being a science, IO psychology is a complex field that require psychologist to acquire modern data and apply research findings which have the capacity to solve practical problems in a business setup. The most important role that research and statistics plays is that of saving money for the organization. This monetary role occurs when an organization experiences increased employee satisfaction, improved efficiency, less wastage and increased productivity. Moreover, research enables a person to listen carefully and critically analyze a situation in order to make an informed decision (Joel, 2003). In conclusion, a psychologist requires first hand knowledge of dealing with a specific organization, and the information can only be acquired through research and analyzing statistics that has been collected.