Introduction
The branch of industry, or industrial-organizational (I-O), psychology studies employee behavior in the workplace. According to Farndale et al. (2020), it shifts its focus towards studying a company’s culture and working processes to improve business performance and individual behavior. Labor interviews are an integral part of the employee selection process for most organizations. In this regard, applying the principles of I-O psychology can be beneficial in terms of improving job interviews and the overall recruitment process for companies. This paper aims to discuss the changes that industrial psychology brought into labor interviews and the effectiveness of such an approach to human resources management (HRM).
How did Industrial Psychology change this issue?
To begin with, the practice of conducting employment interviews needs to be considered. As Aamodt (2010) states, a job interview is a common method of selecting employees, which can be divided into two types: structured and unstructured. For structured interviews, HR uses specific job-related questions and a standardized evaluation procedure, which allows for conducting a job analysis and estimating whether an applicant is a good fit for the position. In turn, unstructured interviews do not require consistency and a planned set of questions, enabling an interviewer to evaluate applicants at their discretion. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages; however, structuring the process is viewed as superior and more difficult in terms of preparation (Aamodt, 2010). Overall, labor interviews are an efficient practice used to help a recruiter decide between hiring a candidate.
Globally, I-O psychology aims to improve the company’s performance based on employee productivity. As Lefkowitz (2017) states, industrial-organizational psychology deals with such processes as recruitment, training, performance management, employee motivation, and organizational development. The complexity of areas where it can be implemented indicates how effective the strategy is for companies. Applying psychological theories to employee behavior assessment helps a company identify issues and take measures for their correction.
Among other fields of application, the principles of industrial psychology changed the approach to labor interviews since they shifted focus to identifying whether an applicant’s characteristics match the job requirements. The estimation involves a job analysis and requires an accurate description of the tasks an employee will be performing. Industrial psychologists work to improve the company’s HR department and recruitment process (Langer et al., 2020). In particular, they can assist with defining the primary qualifications required for a job, creating job announcements, and developing selection assessments. Hence, it can be stated that industrial psychology is widely applied in labor interviews.
At the same time, I-O psychology can be applied to the onboarding and training of new employees, along with the evaluating of their performance along the way. In particular, job analyses need to be performed to establish the skills and abilities required. Then, the data can be used for the development of training programs and the evaluation of employees’ skills. Therefore, I-O psychology is efficient for different kinds of organizational practices.
What led us to this conclusion?
To understand how industrial psychology changed the method of labor interviews, one needs to have a closer look at the psychological perspective on the recruitment process. As Troth and Guest (2020) mention, “HRM inevitably draws on a range of disciplinary and subdisciplinary perspectives such as industrial relations, strategy, sociology, and economics as well as psychology and OB” (p. 34). Besides, thorough research is required to improve practices related to human resources. I-O psychology is known for its adoption of the scientific model that allows for hypothesis testing (Troth & Guest, 2020). However, it applies both deductive and inductive research methods, offering multiple stakeholders’ perspectives on the issue. As a result, the application of I-O psychology proves to significantly contribute to HRM research and, in turn, labor interviews conducted by companies.
Job specification allows the recruiter to plan employment interviews more efficiently. I-O psychologists are tasked with completing a job analysis and compelling a list of job-related responsibilities and characteristics required from a candidate to perform the job (Troth & Guest, 2020). With this approach, an HR manager is better prepared for interviewing applicants since both the interviewer and the interviewee have a clear understanding of each other’s expectations. According to Troth and Guest (2020), even though some criticism is directed at such a practice for its guitarist and decontextualization of HRM, research shows that I-O psychology helps improve managerial decision‐making. Therefore, a psychological theory has revolutionized employment interviews and the field of HRM.
Can you work well if you don’t use this concept?
Considering the positive effects of I-O psychology on labor interviews, a question arises whether efficient work is possible without the implementation of psychological principles. In this regard, one can compare research findings on automatically evaluated job interviews as opposed to the one assessed by a human rater. As Langer et al. (2020) report, a study was carried out where some participants tasked with answering interview questions were informed that their answers would be evaluated automatically. The findings of such an experiment are significant since they indicated that automatically evaluated interviews might influence the response behavior of interviewees (Langer et al., 2020). In particular, the participants gave shorter answers and felt limited in terms of their performance during the interview. Therefore, the study results indicate that labor interviews can be conducted without human participation; however, I-O psychology principles prove to be more efficient when selecting candidates.
Explain whether or not you agree with this concept and what the reason is
In my opinion, industrial psychology is a powerful tool for recruitment practice. I agree that applying psychological theories is beneficial for a company on all levels, from recruitment to overall organizational development. First of all, psychology is a study that can incorporate its knowledge of human behavior into other fields, including HRM. Besides, recruitment and associated research tend to be multidisciplinary and multilevel. In this regard, I-O psychology can offer a multi-stakeholder perspective on the issue (Troth & Guest, 2020). An effective selection of personnel can improve a company’s performance and corporate culture. Therefore, industrial psychology is widely applied in HRM as it is beneficial for organizational performance.
To summarize, industrial psychology has changed labor interviews and proven to be efficient in the field of HRM. It applies the knowledge of human behavior to various organizational processes such as labor interviews, employee training and motivation, performance management, and structural development. Such an approach is used when conducting job analyses, identifying key tasks and skills required, and creating a description of responsibilities. I-O psychology is concerned with human behavior in the workplace, and it allows for developing practices aimed to improve the company’s productivity and performance.
References
Aamodt, M. G. (2010). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Farndale, E., McDonnell, A., Scholarios, D., & Wilkinson, A. (2020). Human Resource Management Journal: A look to the past, present, and future of the journal and HRM scholarship. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 1-12.
Langer, M., König, C. J., & Hemsing, V. (2020). Is anybody listening? The impact of automatically evaluated job interviews on impression management and applicant reactions. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 35(4), 271-284.
Lefkowitz, J. (2017). Ethics and values in industrial-organizational psychology (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Troth, A. C., & Guest, D. E. (2020). The case for psychology in human resource management research. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 34-48. Web.