What do Industrial-Organisational Psychologists do at work?

Indeed, the science and art of psychology is broad in its application to all areas of life and work in societies. Broadly speaking, people tend to have a better idea of what clinical, educational and counselling psychology entail. These are more commonly known subfields of psychology and are often aspired to by many students seeking to embark on a career in psychology without realising the breadth of applied psychology.

There are other ways in which psychology can be practiced such as research psychology which provides a professional training opportunity to become a psychologist in South Africa. In addition, there are options to train and work as a psychometrist or registered counsellor also under the Health Professions Council of South  Africa (HPCSA). Furthermore, forensic psychology and neuropsychology are emerging categories, with the HPCSA preparing guidelines on training and registration as these fields become formalised in South Africa.

In this article, the focus will be on another subfield of psychology which is that of industrial-organisational psychology, sometimes referred to as just industrial psychology or organisational psychology and even, management psychology in some countries. 

“HRM can be viewed as a people management field with a variety of roles and a field that requires formal training as competency development is key in the HRM field.”

Ashley Motene, Industrial Psychologist

The Relevance of Industrial-Organisational Psychology

The relevance of applied psychology in the workplace should not be surprising,  considering the complexities linked to our experience of work-related needs and expectations. In addition, the extent to which we give of ourselves, our time and energy to working in our societies creates an interdependent context that requires guided facilitation.

It is a continuous exchange of skills across workplaces, applying work-related experiences, crafting careers and people working together in response to socio-economic human needs.

The Link Between HRM and Industrial-Organisational Psychology

Industrial-organisational psychology is often misguidedly confused with or alienated from human resource management (HRM). The two disciplines are aligned and practiced closely in workplaces but apply different insights to the same work contexts.

• In many instances, there are industrial-organisational psychologists who work in HRM roles.
• There are many individuals who have studied industrial psychology but chosen to work in the HRM field or other fields for that matter.
• Some people have a related undergraduate career but do not want to pursue a career as an industrial psychologist.

Work opportunities in both disciplines can be within an organisation (i.e. job position) or through consulting services offered to organisations across all industries.

The Role of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management can be viewed as a people management field with a variety of roles and a field that requires formal training as competency development is key in the HRM field. HR practitioners can be seen as process drivers who facilitate people-related practices that are aligned to HRM and business strategies. HRM work is guided by models and approaches which allow for the stakeholder promise to be fulfilled by and to workers, teams, leaders, business units, shareholders, the organisation, the government and the community in which organisations operate. Essentially, employees are a key stakeholder. 

The Role of Industrial-Organisational Psychologists

As guided by the practices and process driving of HRM teams, industrial-organisational psychologists

• Explore the behavioural aspects of work and the deeper underlying psychological dynamics.
• Identify evidence-based misalignments that hinder people engagement, performance, development or flow at work.
• Bring psychological insights of work to co-create people-focussed solutions that lead to individuals, teams and organisations working well together to each achieve their potential.

Whether researching, diagnosing, designing, implementing, facilitating development or measuring growth, the application of psychology at work requires competent and ethical professional practice as expected by the HPCSA’s ethical code of conduct, scope of practice for industrial psychologists, Bill of Rights, Mental Health Act, Employment Equity Act, Labour Relations Act and all other related acts. 

What Work Do Industrial-Organisational Psychologists Do?

Industrial-organisational psychology focuses on understanding people in their work context and responding supportively. Areas of work include:

Career psychology

• Provision of individual or group career counselling
• Personal or leadership development; mentoring
• Coaching guided by career assessments (psychometric and qualitative) and workshops.

Wellness and Wellbeing

• Mental health advocacy
• Organisational wellness and worker wellbeing
• Diversity, inclusion and equality support
• Addressing workplace bullying or violence
• Stress and burnout-related support
• Work-life integration assistance
• Psychoeducation focused on psychosocial health (e.g. disability, HIV/Aids, occupational injuries, safety behaviour)
• Collaboration with other psychology professionals on psychopathology (e.g. performance anxiety, depression)

Organisational psychology:

• Designing learning programmes
• Organisation structures and ergonomics
• Enhancing group or team functioning (high-performance prep, conflict resolution, strategy)
• Organisational change, development and effectiveness (OD)
• Employee engagement, climate and culture improvement

HR Psychology

• Supporting job analysis, recruitment, and selection
• Psychological insights for performance management and people development
• Diagnostics and interventions for assessment of potential and fit

Psychometric Testing and Psychological assessment

• Competency-based job profiling
• Assessment process design
• Psychometric test administration
• Competency-based assessment, training and interviewing
• Interpretation of results
• Integrated report writing
• Verbal feedback of psychometric assessment results

How to Become an Industrial-Organisational Psychologist in South Africa

Whilst there aren’t specific high school subjects that you must have done to study industrial psychology, the minimum entrance requirements of the institution you want to study with will be used as a requirement to study a bachelor degree or qualification that will lead to graduating with an NQF level 7 (equivalent of a 3 year degree). 

• Include industrial psychology as a major in your undergraduate studies.
• Obtain a Master’s degree specialising in Industrial or organisational psychology.
• Complete coursework and research dissertation at a Masters level (NQF level 9)
• complete a 12-month supervised internship in an organisational setting working as an intern industrial psychologist.
• Completing your internship, you will be required to write the HPCSA board exam which has a 70% pass mark
• Finally, you must register with the HPCSA as an Industrial Psychologist if you want to practice in South Africa. 

The broader community of practice

There are various bodies providing professional support, networking and continuous development opportunities with other industrial-organisational psychologists.

• Internationally, one such body is the SIOP.
• South Africa, Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology in South Africa (SIOPSA) provides professional support to industrial-organisational psychologists in ways that contribute to the growth of the subfield in their communities.

Whilst it is not possible to become an industrial psychologist in South Africa if you have only studied HRM or a psychology degree only, there are options to work in related contexts. Furthermore industrial psychology is classified and sometimes applied differently depending on the country you choose to work in. HRM and Coaching are sound alternatives if you do not want to become an industrial-organisational psychologist. You can learn more about the future of working in HRM is likely to entail in an article that I wrote about How 4IR is changing the teaching and practice of HR. 

SACAP offers a variety of management and leadership programmes in:

• Human Resource Management: Bachelor of Applied Social Science in Psychology & HRM or the Bachelor of Applied Social Science Honours in HRM 
• Coaching: Intro to Coaching and Coaching Skills for Managers, both short learning programmes as well as our Coach Practitioner Programme, Advanced Coach Practitioner Programme and the Postgraduate Diploma in Coaching
• Business Management: Bachelor of Applied Social Science in Psychology & BM and the Bachelor of Applied Social Science Honours in Business Management

This blog was written by Ashley Motene an Industrial Psychologist working at SACAP