Understanding Business Psychology
Business psychology aims at applying professional psychology to confounding problems, that are faced by an organization, thereby optimizing business processes. Challenges with regard to achieving the desired objectives, the factors that are detracting a business from accomplishing the set goals and the patterns and the team building exercises that seem to send vibes of positive reinforcement, are examined from the psychological perspective. Although, it is a relatively new concept, the business world offers exciting opportunities for the application of professional psychology. It has been observed that businesses are increasingly relying on psychologists to help them resolve problems that are so characteristic of the present day multicultural work environment.
The Role of Business Psychologists
Business psychologists are trained to understand multicultural psychology and develop interpersonal skills that are necessary for effective communication. These skills are indispensable for psychologistswho need to function as mediators in an environment that may be charged with conflict. Business psychologists provide valuable employee assessments and may be called upon to create an environment wherein the importance of group participation and team building are suitably impressed upon the employees. The management also needs to understand business psychology on account of the following reasons.
The Importance of Psychology in Business
Understanding business psychology can help managers make the work environment enjoyable and free of conflict. This in turn will give a boost to creativity. Expediting the process of decision making can also be accomplished by analyzing the choke points that may have a psychological basis. Understanding factors that motivate workers to give their best is priceless since a manager, who is aware of the driving force that propels employees to achieve targets, is a definite asset to any organization. This in turn brings us to the psychological basis for employee motivation.
The Expectancy Theory of Motivation, that was developed by Victor Vroom of the Yale School of Management opines that motivation is a function of valence, expectancy and instrumentality. Valence deals with the satisfaction that a person hopes to feel on accomplishing the set targets. The expected level of satisfaction hinges on the psychological mindset of a person. This is because satisfaction is a very subjective term that depends entirely on a person's emotional orientation. To understand whether a person expects to be satisfied by receiving monetary rewards or whether job satisfactionholds the key to a person's happiness will help in analyzing whether the employee's perceived level of satisfaction is aligned with organizational goals.
A manager, who is well versed with business psychology, will be in a position to assess an employee's valence. Again, a person's confidence with regard to the ability to deliver or an individual's expectancy, has a very strong psychological basis. In fact, it has been observed that many a times high performers tend to suffer from low self esteem while people who exude confidence may not measure up to expectation. Employees who are not confident about achieving targets have a low expectancy. Confidence, that the management will live up to its end of the bargain, can be instrumental in motivating employees to achieve their targets. However, faith or the lack of it again has a strong psychological basis.
A manager, who has a good understanding of the psychological basis for perception, may be able to project an image that the management is more than willing to live up to its end of the bargain provided employees meet their targets. Thus, a manager who has an understanding of business psychology becomes instrumental in propelling employees whose psyche is attuned to meeting targets with the hope of being suitably compensated and satisfied in the long run.
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