Essay Sample on Role of Psychology in the Workplace

Introduction

The use of psychology in the workplace is a common practice in the world today and it helps managers and other leaders to meet their targets by motivating, encouraging and predicting human behavior. Workplace psychology is the practice of applying the psychological principles and practices in the work environment and helps in training and making decisions in the workplace. The first role of workplace psychology is to improve the working environment by studying the best environments that support the workers. It also helps in increasing employee satisfaction because it involves studying the things they like and how to meet them. For example, it suggests the factors that motivate and increase employee satisfaction and reduces stress. Such findings are implemented and used to make decisions. The other role is in recruitment, whereby the managers use psychology to determine the best skills required in their employees, the qualifications and work experience and this helps in designing the job descriptions. The other role is identifying employee needs and how to make improvements. Employers can choose the training and development programs needed to meet the deficit observed in the employees. The other role is in performance appraisals, whereby the psychological principles are used to improve communication and foster better performance. Motivation and productivity are improved through the psychological principles that determine the contests, appraisals, rewards and other measures that motivate employees. Lastly, psychology helps to identify the vices that affect employees. For example, workplace bullying is common and affects employee performance (Verkuil, Atasayi & Molendijk, 2015). The roles differ with the industry and company where the psychology is applied.

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Google LLC

Google Limited Liability Company (LLC) is one of the world's largest multinational technology companies and it is based in California, United States. It was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and has grown at a fast rate since then. The company is popularly known for its search engine called Google but it has a wide range of products that include operating systems, smartphones and online products among others. The company offers many online solutions and it has revolutionized the communication and sharing of knowledge in the current generation. It works with many other companies like Apple and by the end of 2016, it had more than 70 offices across the world and had operations in 40 countries. Google is the most visited website in the world due to its wide range of information and ease of use. It has acquired several other companies like Deja News, Applied Semantics in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The company works with a number of many other companies and this explains why it is the most visited search engine in the world today (Memon et al., 2016). The company has more than 98,000 employees and this means it requires good workplace management procedures and psychology to maintain an effective workforce.

Job Analysis and Evaluation Methods

The company has many employees as stated above and it uses many methods to make sure the workforce is intact and effective. The company uses two methods in job analysis; work-oriented job analysis and worker-oriented job analysis. Work-oriented job analysis is the most common one in the jobs related to research, product design, and manufacturing. Worker-oriented job analysis is used in the roles that entail significant interpersonal skills and these include human resource management positions. The company has many diverse jobs and this needs a diversified analysis of the jobs. In the evaluation, the company uses summative and descriptive purpose methods. The summative purpose is meant to ensure there is an effective workforce and the descriptive purpose is to analyze the effectiveness of the training sessions offered to the employees. The use of job evaluation and analysis in high-tech companies helps the companies to meet their targets (Tsai et al., 2016). Google uses the analysis to determine the way to manage the workforce.

Employee Selection

The company recruits and employs new employees using different methods. The company uses internal and external sources to identify and retain the most qualified employees. The internal process includes retaining interns and promoting people who already work in the company while the external selection is done via ads on its website. The company also seeks for the most qualified people from the academic institutions, whereby they search for the people who can offer the services they need. The academic performance and ethical standards are some of the factors considered when selecting employees from academic institutions. Smartness, creativity, innovativeness, and drive for excellence are some of the common factors considered when selecting employees. The strategies are guided by the innovative and differentiation strategy of the company and work experience is not one of the main considerations they have. On-the-job tests for the interns and interviews for the external potential employees are some of the techniques used. The interviewing technique used in the company includes face-to-face and online interviews. Interviews help to identify the health of the potential employees and how they fit for the job (Kachan et al., 2017). The company relies on the outcomes of the interviews to choose the most qualified employees.

Performance Management and Employee Evaluation

The performance management of the company is guided by the diversification of the workforce, customer service, and innovation. For example, employees are analyzed in terms of their ability to solve problems and communicate effectively. Performance management and employee evaluation practices are linked to the aims of the company. For example, problem-solving abilities and diversity are linked to the status of the company to remain resilient and competitive. Performance interviews are also conducted to determine the skills of individuals and teams. Quality and work behaviors are a major concern in the company because of the nature of the work. The company forms teams to undertake specific roles.

Employee Training and Development

The employees training and development programs help companies to improve the performance of the workforce. Training and development affect employee loyalty and increases the retention rate (Hanaysha & Tahir, 2016). Google uses several strategies to determine the training needs in the company and these include cost-benefit analysis, organizational and work analysis. For example, the company uses organizational analysis to determine the effectiveness of the workforce in developing new products. The training programs are guided by the relational model and results-oriented model. The relational model ensures the employees are motivated to achieve the aims of the company and results-oriented model focuses on the outcomes of the training programs. On-the-job training is commonly used as well as simulations and discussions. The company offers adequate training and development opportunities for its employees.

Employee Motivation and Satisfaction

Working for Google LLC is one of the most prestigious jobs because the company has many ways of motivating the workforce. One motivational strategy is making employees feel safe and confident. The company ensures the employees do not feel psychologically insecure or embarrassed by supporting their ideas. The company also makes sure that team members are dependable by ensuring they are fully qualified to work in those teams. The company also makes sure there is a clear goal for everyone to achieve and that communication is efficient. Any disciplinary and rewards given are also done in a transparent way and the pay is also good. The company offers leaves, emergency services, and other employee benefits to maintain high motivation and commitment of the employees. According to Raziq and Maulabakhsh (2015), a good working environment motivates employees. The company ensures the work environment is conducive and friendly for the employees.

References

Hanaysha, J., & Tahir, P. R. (2016). Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee training on job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 219, 272-282.

Kachan, D., Olano, H., Tannenbaum, S. L., Annane, D. W., Mehta, A., Arheart, K. L., ... & Lee, D. J. (2017). Peer Reviewed: Prevalence of Mindfulness Practices in the US Workforce: National Health Interview Survey. Preventing chronic disease, 14.

Memon, M., Ginsberg, L., Simunovic, N., Ristevski, B., Bhandari, M., & Kleinlugtenbelt, Y. V. (2016). Quality of web-based information for the 10 most common fractures. Interactive journal of medical research, 5(2).

Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. (2015). Impact of working environment on job satisfaction. Procedia Economics and Finance, 23, 717-725.

Tsai, S. B., Huang, C. Y., Wang, C. K., Chen, Q., Pan, J., Wang, G., ... & Chang, L. C. (2016). Using a mixed model to evaluate job satisfaction in high-tech industries. Plos One, 11(5), e0154071.

Verkuil, B., Atasayi, S., & Molendijk, M. L. (2015). Workplace bullying and mental health: a meta-analysis on cross-sectional and longitudinal data. PloS one, 10(8), e0135225.