It is recommended that companies and associations have psychological counseling to cope with the working life of employees. Although many companies begin to opt for more automated processes, it is important for the well-being of society that people continue to be an active part of the development of the world. There is a strong link between professional and personal success and therefore companies need to be aware of this and take maximum care of employees. In this Online Psychology article we are going to talk to you about psychology applied to organizations and companies so that you understand the relationship between work and human beings.
Index
- Love and work, the two fundamental principles of mental health
- The relationship between work and our personal life
- Industrial psychology
- The actual situation
- The need to take care of people in the work environment
Love and work, the two fundamental principles of mental health.
A journalist conducted an interview with
The interviewer himself, influenced perhaps by stereotypes and prejudices regarding the fellow member, acknowledged that he expected a dense and long speech of the father of psychoanalysis in which he will lecture on the structure of the psyche and the fundamental principles of health mental. Freud simply responded with two terms: Love and work.
Although brief, the answer took into account two fundamental dimensions of human existence. On the one hand, affectivity, with all that it encompasses regarding emotions, human relationships, feelings, or sexuality, and therefore another, personal fulfillment, which includes creativity, carrying out tasks or projects, productivity, satisfaction or feeling Useful.
Despite the fact that almost seventy years have passed since the death of S. Freud, his answer has not been outdated.
The relationship between work and our personal life.
Both the human being himself, and its relationship with the work environment have become very important. A greater sensitivity is developing towards the recognition of the person as something essential and basic in any business project. For example, bearing in mind this perspective, it is not uncommon today that terms such as motivation, work team, leadership, communication, or that some organizations strive to offer alternatives that would previously be unimaginable. Thus, it is tried reconcile professional life and family life or enhance the flexibility of the working day. How have these approaches been arrived at?
It is often said that Psychology "has a short history but a long past." Although for many centuries there have been people interacting in groups and organizations, yet there are no it will be until the beginning of the 20th century when psychological principles are put in relation to the world professional. Why did the interest in Psychology arise at that time? It is evident that something is not tried to face until it is posed as a problem.
Precisely, it will be at the beginning of the last century when psychologists are asked for collaboration to solve some questions. For example, how do you select officers for the merchant marine after the Titanic disaster? How to recruit personnel with a certain probability of success to properly classify the troop? or how to design appropriate situations to carry out the work activity and be effective and productive?
Along the same lines, Psychology will not be applied directly to the environment of organizations until the work as such begins to raise certain questions.
Industrial psychology.
Thus, the first use of the term Industrial psychology it was made in a 1904 publication and was the result of a typographical error in transcription. A psychologist named W. Bryan wrote an article in which he spoke of the need for further research in "Psychology Individual "and lo and behold, a goof slipped in and wrote" industrial ", whose mistake was not even noticed.
Perhaps the unconscious played a trick on him since the author himself was one of the first to try approach the examination of everyday skills to carry out research on them psychological. Hence his studies of how professional telegraphers developed their Morse code skills.
The new times will make possible a different approach to the relationship with the work context. Let us not forget that for many centuries "good people" did not work, but dedicated themselves to the care of the arts or virtue. In short, his work was centered on the cultivation and occupation of "leisure". Precisely, it will be with the bourgeoisie when "business" arises as "non-leisure" or a set of tasks that deny it.
Throughout history, the human experience regarding the relationship with the world of work has changed significantly. A) Yes, work is no longer conceived as a burden and a burden - "you will earn your bread with the sweat of your brow" -, to experience as a certain punishment not being able to access him, with all the social and personal problems that situations of instability or unemployment. Work today occupies a key place in human existence.
It is a reality that we dedicate a very important portion of the cake of our time to its realization. Hence, it is not strange, that from the first investigations on the world of work, for example those carried out by E. May, the implications of the different states and personal situations in the execution of the tasks and vice versa will be highlighted. Therefore, the better we can develop this activity, the greater our professional performance and more satisfied and happy personally we'll meet.
The actual situation.
If we approach any publication related to the business environment, it is not uncommon to find terms like motivation, empathy, cooperation, communication, teamwork or leadership. In turn, if we read an interview with managers of different organizations, it is easy to discover expressions in which the importance of people is highlighted in order to carry out any business project. It seems that the variables related to Psychology are being highly valued. For example, in any bookstore it is normal to find specific sections on these topics, there are specialized newspapers and magazines, courses or seminars abound.
It is normal, that some questions are raised: Is there a change of direction in business management? Is it simply a fad? However, in practice it is again experienced that common sense is not always the most common of the senses. Experience shows that What an organization dispenses most quickly are people. Who gets hurt first when a crisis looms? There is a lot of talk about human relations but, is attention really paid in the training of future entrepreneurs or managers of organizations to this type of issue? In how many study plans of the different Spanish universities is there a subject of Work Psychology or Behavior in Organizations?
The expression "Like a drop of water" wants to reflect this situation: little by little, psychological concepts are "soaking up" the business environment and they begin to "pierce" the thick wall of overly technical organizational architectures or overly reductionist economic approaches. Whether we like it or not, a reality is imposed: we are people, we have to work with people and the result of our decision making will affect people. Hence, paying attention to the contributions of Psychology in the environment of organizations (lucrative or non-profit - Foundations, Associations, NGOs, etc.-) is something basic and fundamental.
The need to take care of people in the work environment.
We are aware that the importance of the development of people in organizations is not a matter of good words or intentions. "Works are loves and not good reasons." It is not only necessary to have the will but to put the means to put into practice properly what is formulated in the theory. Would we let a good friend operate on us if he wasn't a surgeon? Could you keep the accounts of a company only with good intention without having notions of what a balance sheet is? However, what happens to those variables related to human behaviors in work environments?
If we look around us we could see that reality, although progress has been made in recent years, leaves much to be desired. Are there Human Resources departments in most companies? What is your orientation? Interestingly, certain organizations that are taking these issues seriously are often the ones that get greater economic and social success. For example, the latest surveys of the best companies in Europe highlight precisely those that have innovative policies for the development of their staff.
Our goal is not "to surprise with magic recipes." Although "the Mediterranean has already been discovered", it is important to sensitize ourselves to its presence and recognize its value so as not to ignore or destroy it. The human being is the same in different contexts and hence the need to know his psychological characteristics in order to enhance your possibilities.
If we have something clear from our experience in the business world, it is that managing relationships is as important as designing the business strategy. We must consider the need to conceiving of people as "long-term assets" rather than as “resources or consumer goods” that are exchanged, sold or bought. We must be clear that people "are living beings" and not mere "passive entities or parts of a machine." We cannot forget that “resources” do not have rights, but only duties. People are and can build another reality.
For example, getting involved and making the project achieve its intended objective or uninhibited and causing it to collapse. As we stated in a previous article (Teamwork: talent and spirit), "the whole is more than the sum of the parts" and never better said two plus two not there are necessarily four, since when people come into play and mobilize positive or negative synergies, the result can be more than a hundred or less Two Hundred. Hence the need to offer means and tools to people to facilitate their full human, personal and professional development.
Many will think that carrying out this project may be utopian or impossible. However, there is no excuse to justify yourself for doing nothing under the cover of difficulties. Our human vocation requires us to carry out without delay ways of manage people who create enthusiasm and dynamize business projects.
We conclude by recalling the anecdote of the French general Liautey, who during one of his campaigns in North Africa got word that his soldiers had razed a cedar forest centenarians. His response was overwhelming: Let them begin to repopulate them. The officer replied surprised: It will take more than a hundred years to regain part of its current appearance! To which the marshal added: All the more reason to start the task as soon as possible.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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