This article examines the impact of the field of psychology on Human Resource Management, which is an important aspect in business enterprises and organizations. This analysis begins with a discussion of the development of Human Resource Management in light of the influence of psychology. The other elements discussed in the paper include the use of psychological concepts in the HRM field and the future use of psychology in this department.
¶ … Psychology and Human Resource Management:
The field of Human Resource Management has developed to become an important part of the business sector or world to an extent that no business enterprise or corporation can operate without it. This development is fueled by the fact that Human Resource continues to progress into a complete science due to the strong influence of the field of psychology (Kumar par, 1). The field of psychology plays a crucial role in the beginning of the entire process of human resource management, especially with regards to selection, recruitment, and training of workers. Actually, psychology helps the human resource managers and personnel in choosing the suitable employee through providing various tools to examine the employees' attitude, intelligence, and way of thinking. As a result of the influence of the field of psychology, there has been an emergence of Human Resource Development Psychologists who are helping organizations to choose suitable employees and employ them at the appropriate place and time (Kumar par, 3). The field of Human Resource Management has continued to develop into an absolute science due to the strong influence of psychology.
Development of Human Resource Management:
Human Resource Management is a field that has developed from the old concept of Personnel Management. In this case, HRM has emerged from the technical era of Wage Administration in the 1900s and trade unionism (Kuulshrestha, p.1). During this period of development, the field of Human Resource Management has not only grown but also expanded in gigantic proportion. Notably, in the past few years, the human resource function continues to develop into an absolute science that has been influenced strongly by the field of psychology. This growth and expansion has been characterized by increased dependence of skilled employee resource by business enterprises and organizations in order to work at the best possible level and high performance expectations.
Generally, Human Resource Management can be regarded as the responsibility of all personnel who manage individuals and the definition of people who are employed as specialists (Rasim par, 1). Human Resource Management is an aspect of organizational management that incorporates planning for the needs of human resource like employee selection, recruitment, and training and development. This aspect of management also includes wage and salary administration, employee welfare and safety, collective bargaining, and addressing significant elements of industrial relations.
Link between Psychology and HRM:
The integration between the field of psychology and Human Resource Management is considered as the major factor that distinguishes the HRM theory and practice from the old concept of Personnel Management. In this case, the link between the two fields is evident in the emergence of the psychology of management in which successful management is dependent on the person rather than the recruitment process or work. The psychology of management basically means the impact of the mind in directing the selection process and the effect of the process on the mind of the employee.
As a result, the human factor is the most integral element in the psychology of management, as the core and essence of this concept. Through linking the field of psychology and HRM, the human resource personnel and managers study the psychology of the person and his/her activity. This enables the personnel to identify the influence of the person's mentality on activity as well as the role of activity on the psychology and behavior of the individual (Rasim par, 3). Through engaging in studying the individual based on the conditions of the solid practical aspects of psychology, HR managers and personnel usually face difficulties that require professional development and individual development.
The link between the field of psychology and human resource management can also be understood based on the concept of organizational psychology. Organizational psychology is a concept that applies the principles of psychology into people's work (Wong, p.1). This concept basically promotes the improvement of people's efficiency and organizational effectiveness through working with the human aspects of the working environment and knowledge on human functioning.
Organizational psychologists are unique professionals who work with a diverse range of areas that are linked to individual's daily work life. In relation to Human Resource Management, these professionals focus on knowledge foundation, with an increased emphasis on the scientific rather than practical aspect of business. Since most of their work is heavily dependent on science, the work of organizational psychologists must be supported by scientific statistics and evidence.
Organizational psychology acts as an important aspect in Human Resource Management because of its increased focus on science. Actually, human resource managers and personnel will be unable to enjoy scientific and more effective products without the various human resource process and tools developed by organizational psychologists (Wong, p.2). However, human resource also plays a critical function in the role of organizational psychology by enabling these professionals to apply their work in a wide range of people.
Organizational psychologists offer various things to human resource personnel because of their expertise in evaluating human characteristics and knowledge regarding human performance. First, these professionals provide help in selection because of their understanding of job requirements and required characteristics. Secondly, organizational psychologists make significant contributions to training in the human resource field. Third, organizational psychology professionals provide some advisory and consultancy services to HR personnel.
Use of Psychological Concepts in HRM:
As previously mentioned, the development of the field of Human Resource Management into an absolute science is strongly linked to the heavy influence of Psychology. The strong influence of psychology is evident in the use of various psychological concepts in Human Resource Management. Some of the major psychological concepts used in Human Resource Management include & #8230;
The Concept of Psychological Contract:
While the concept of psychological contract does not originate from the HRM field, it has become an important aspect in promoting and explaining Human Resource Management (Cullinane & Dundon, p.2). As a result, this concept has attracted huge interest from academics and practitioners, especially in relation to its impact on sustained employee motivation and commitment. In the Human Resource Management field, the concept of psychology contract has resulted in the emergence of psychological work contract that is used to describe an establishment of the perception power and values held by the individual and organization to the employment relationship.
The use of the concept of psychological contract in HRM has provided an alternative understanding of the employment relationship outside the narrow legalistic reference scope (Cullinane & Dundon, p.21). This concept in turn expresses the one-sided and indefinite aspects of employment relationship and Human Resource Management. The psychological contract concept is also developing slowly to become a practical framework for understanding the complex and irregular social relations of employer and employee.
Selective Hiring:
The other aspect in which psychological concepts are used in Human Resource Management is on selective hiring of employees. The selective hiring process not only involves recruiting the suitable technical person for the job but it also incorporates the consideration of the individual characteristics of the potential employee (Covella par, 2). This enables the human resource personnel to hire individuals who fit in the organizational culture. The use of psychological concepts in this process is evident in the fact that the human resource personnel give applicants personality and psychological tests to determine the suitability of these individuals. Generally, the candidates are given such tests in order to identify whether they fit the organization's philosophy and interview the candidates with the goal of determining their attitudes and ways of relating to others.
In most cases, the field of psychology and management is most closely intertwined through the selection of personnel or employees. The psychology of individuals as solid participants in the management process is at the fore front and provides the basis for the high significance of psychological concepts and factors in management (Rasim par, 8).
Reasons for the Link between Psychology and HRM:
The link between the field of psychology and Human Resource Management has been fueled by various factors including & #8230;
Growth of Service Sector:
The growth of the service sector has been one of the major factors contributing to the development of Human Resource Management as an absolute science through the influence of psychology. Since this tremendous growth has resulted in the provision of employment opportunities, human resource management needs to have an in-depth understanding of human psychology in order to promote employee growth and motivation for challenging tasks (Kumar par, 5).
Changes in Human Behavioral Patterns:
The second contributing factor to the development of Human Resource Management is the changing human behavioral patterns. As the present generation is inclined to being dominated and following its path, there is a huge impact on the functioning of organizations. Actually, there is an increased need for coaching and mentoring these workers, which requires the use of psychological tools and concepts (Kuulshrestha, p. 2).
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