Career Possibilities

Ill post the discussion posts to respond to below

1. When first introduced to the concept of industrial and occupational psychology, I was not confident of what it would pertain to.  When confirming which positions would be available in the field of psychology, I came across an opportunity for an occupational psychologist.  I did not read the description, but I imagine it to be someone that is utilized to help people find their ideal field of work, as well as partner alongside human resources to evaluate employee feedback and help identify gaps in the culture for employee experience.  I was reassured when I read the American Psychological Association’s definition of an industrial-organizational psychologist.  It identifies the following as specific areas that this field specializes in, “The specialty of Industrial Organizational Psychology addresses issues of recruitment, selection and placement, training and development, performance measurement, workplace motivation and reward systems, quality of work life, structure of work and human factors, organizational development and consumer behavior.” (American Psychological Association, 2008).  This area of psychology is relevant to not just human resource professionals, but to anyone that has the responsibility of leading a team or organization.

I am extremely interested in the areas that I/O Psychology addresses within the workplace; however I find it particularly appealing that one of the approaches that it uses is Positive Organizational Behavior.  The behavior focuses on the positive behavior of the individual to contribute to an overall happy and healthy workplace. (Youssef-Morgan, 2017) This key fundamental will help revolutionize the American workforce if implemented correctly, especially in a time where millions of Americans are refusing to go back to work.

My current career goal is to become an Organizational Psychologist, not only does this subject directly coincide with my future goal, but it also equips me to be a more effective people leader by focusing my attention to be engages around how people feel at work as well as doing my part to create a thriving culture in any organization.

One theory that I found to be relevant was the Discrepancy theory, which states that, “Job satisfaction requires certain employee values, expectations, and needs to be met. When not addressed, employee satisfaction suffers.” (Sutton, 2022) This theory could relate to mine and other’s future success because it states that individuals perform better at work when the employer seeks to satisfy the holistic individual rather than expecting that meeting one area, such as reasonable pay, will keep the workforce happy.  Increasing my understanding of this concept will empower me to remain flexible and agile with the workforce and company culture.

Thank you,

2. Discuss your previous knowledge about the potential for careers associated with I/O Psychology.

Prior to reading about I/O psychology this week I would not have been able to explain what it is. However, upon reading I found myself familiar with the general idea of it. I once took an assessment for a class that told me I would be good at reviewed data collected. I find that after reading some of the material that I can relate to this finding. My greatest asset is process improvement. I enjoy seeing how things are done, collecting data, making changes, and reassessing the process for further data. Reviewing the google search for jobs associated with I/O psychology I found many jobs related to HR, coaching, management, staffing and recruiting and more. Many of my job duties currently touch all points of these careers.

Does any of the information you read about sound like an area of psychology that may be of interest to you?

Yes, this sounds of great interest to me. As I stated above, I thoroughly enjoy process improvements, I enjoy reviewing a process, doing time studies, suggest changes, tracking data, etc.  According to our text, there are many jobs that would align with my interests, including project management (Youssef-Morgan & Noon, 2017). I hesitate going into project management only as I enjoy being part of the leadership team for my company.

Discuss your identified career goals for the future and how the skills associated with I/O psychology.

While I have never had a set career goal regarding a job title I have always wanted to be involved in change. Recently, I have had discussions with the leaders on my team to map out my future. I was upfront that I needed to have meaningful, fulfilling work explain that strongest skill set is reviewing processes and suggesting changes. I struggle with moving out of the leadership role though. After reviewing the video and realizing the impact that change can have on companies I may strongly consider moving towards my strengths and taking the leap to become more involved in projects that result in positive change.

Identify and share a theory associated with I/O psychology, explaining it to your peers

One theory is from one of my colleagues that I work with. Adam Bowman states that “system theory theorizes that each individual part of an organization is interconnected and contributes and ultimately creates the whole (Bowman, PsyD, PHR, SHRM-CP, 2019)”. That the unit is one moving system and changes made in one area will impact another.  That the actions of people will influence the behavior of other people. I must add that I have always been in amazement of Adam. I have worked in the same building with him for nearly 20 years and it was not until he obtained his degrees that he started training within our company. He is a great example of working towards goals and I enjoy working with him.