Work Psychology Summary done by SL
LECTURE 1
1. New systems of work organization and workers’ health
THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK
Increased Internalization and Competition
Internalization (globalization refers to economic activity without borders. ICT made it possible to operate
on a global scale. Our economic period has been termed “hypercompetition” in which today’s companies
can compete all over the world.
New Technology
Work is no longer spatially, temporally and socially distinct from nonwork, another consequence is that
the traditional boundaries between work and nonwork have largely disappeared.
Changed Configuration of the Workforce
Changes in demographic profile of the workforce have led to greater diversity at work. However,
women’s work and men’s work are not interchangeable identities, as the labor market is still
characterized by gender segregation. Globalization is also reflected in increased migration and a greater
cultural diversity on the work floor.
Flexibility and new organizational practices
The high-performance concept stands for the objective to manufacture a product or to render a service
with an optimal cost-benefit ratio: high quality and low costs. Minimizing costs and maximizing
productivity and profits is the adagium. Here, I concentrate on the second feature, flexibility, which
refers to a more lenient, more versatile use of employees, time, and means. Structured flexibility is
introduced by, either together or in isolation, by flatter hierarchies and horizontal coordination between
units. Functional flexibility is introduced by work practices that enable effective responses to chances in
demand, supply and workload. Numerical flexibility is introduced through the use of part-time and
temporary employees, overtime work or outsourcing. Geographical flexibility refers to work where it
can be done most effectively. Job-based flexibility is introduced by (re)designing jobs with better
psychosocial characteristics so that employees can control variances and deal with problems as they rise.
A more basic distinction is that between quantitative and qualitative flexibility. Examples of the
quantitative flexibility are overtime work, part-time contracts, shift works, and so on. Examples of
qualitative flexibility are job rotation, job enlargement and enrichment, and the multiskilling of
employees.
CHANGES IN WORK CHARACTERISTICS
Increased Internalization and Competition
Global competition has resulted in increased downsizing and restructuring of organizations. At the same
time, nontraditional employment practices that depend on temporary workers and contract labor have
become more prevalent. Effects of downsizing and restructuring led to an increase in job insecurity.
Negative effects are not only found among the victims, but also among the survivors, and the managers
who implemented these measures. Organizational downsizing may increase sickness absence and the
risk of death from cardiovascular disease among employees who keep their jobs. Much of this risk
appeared to be attributable to an increase in physical demands, but a reduction in skill discretion and job
,insecurity also contributed to this risk. Contingent workers (temporary and occasionally part-time
employment) often contracted from outside agencies or independents, have less job security, as many
organizations do not consider these workers as an intrinsic part of the organization. Such contingent
workers seem to be a risk group for occupational stress.
New Technology
Technology facilitates the rapid diffusion of information and knowledge. It can increase comfort, speed
and performance. On the other hand, ICT can have an adverse impact on the psychosocial work
environment and therefore amplify existing problems or create new problems. The introduction of new
technology was associated with an increase in cognitive demands and a decrease in the level of special
knowledge required to carry out work tasks (deskilling). This trend appeared to be most notable among
low-status groups with less skilled task requirements. A more common problem is the “information
overflow” that characterizes current ICT usage. ICT and computer work may also increase static load, as
work is more and more sedentary. This trend bears the risk of “movement poverty”. Furthermore, e-mail
contributes negatively to social intercourse at the workplace because e-mail is an impersonal, low-
threshold medium. E-mail disputes easily escalate because it may cause people to write things that they
would prefer not to mention face-to-face.
Modern ICT-based and flexible office concepts, through working in open workplaces, reduces privacy and
job satisfaction. New technology also influences human resource policies, especially the style of
leadership. Time management may fail and so the emphasis may shift to performance management:
management based on results.
Work-Home Interaction (due to Changes in the Workforce)
Work-home interaction is “a process whereby one’s function (and behavior) in one domain is influenced
by (quantitative and qualitative) demands from the other domain.” Negative influence from work is the
most prevalent form of interaction and this interference is reported more often by workers who are
confronted with relatively high job pressure and relatively low levels of job control and job support. To
enable employees to coordinate their work and domestic obligations better, many companies have
introduced “work-home arrangements”. Work-home arrangements can be categorized into flexible
work-home arrangements enlarging workers’ temporal and spatial flexibility at work and into
dependent-care work-home arrangements that make it possible for workers to combine their work and
caring responsibilities. Employees who have more access to flexible work arrangements are sig. more
satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their company.
New Organizational Practices: The Call-Center Example
Call centers may be conceptualized as a socio-technical system. “Technically” the increase in call centers
is mainly attributable to technologies that combine call management systems with networking
information technologies. “Socially” call centers are being implemented because companies want to
minimize labor costs, improve customer service, or sell new products or services. Call-center
technologies can be used in different ways. One way of cutting costs is to employ cheaper, less skilled
staff. At this “Taylor-end” of the continuum, jobs are unskilled, repetitive and monotonous. Individual
performance is monitored closely.
An “empowered job” is filled by a semi-professional customer service representative who has special
knowledge and expertise with more control over the work approach and who provides a customized
service Such employees deal with a variety of calls and handle problems at their source. Calls are longer
and non-standardized, often except for the opening and closing remarks. This latter type of center has
also been termed high commitment service.
,Overtime Work
Overtime work is an example of quantitative flexibility. The main motive is to adjust labor capacity
flexibly to an increase in demand for products and services. Long workhours are associated with adverse
health. Extreme overtime has negative health consequences. Studies on “moderate” overtime suggest
that working overtime may also be related to work motivation.
DISCUSSION
Changes in the economical, political, technological and social landscape have changed the world.
Accordingly, the world of work has changed. Some practices are new; others have already been utilized
for many years or are extensions of old principles and ideas. Many organizations utilize combinations of
these practices. The most striking development is the changing nature of work itself, from physical to
mental. This change implies that interpersonal skills (communication) and cognitive skills (e.g. decision
making) will be increasingly important in modern organizations. At the same time, job and work security
has decreased.
2. Introduction: People at Work
1.1. What We Talk About When We Talk About Work Psychology
The term work is about performing activities to achieve a particular objective, and these activities are
conducted to obtain some form of income. Work can be defined as a set of coordinated and goal-
directed activities that are conducted in exchange for something else. Three key elements are:
1. Work consists of a set of goal-directed activities, that is, actions at work are intended to bring a
particular previously specified result.
2. Work consist of a set of coordinated activities. It requires that workers execute a series of interrelated
activities following particular work routines, procedures and guidelines, and often using tools and
machinery especially devised to bring about the intended goal.
3. Work is conducted in exchange for something else.
Contemporary work psychology aims to promote what might be called sustainable performance,
maximizing work performance as well as worker health and well-being. Work psychology is about the
tasks that are carried out at work, that is, the specific activities that are conducted to achieve a particular
goal.
1.2. Who Do We Mean When We Talk About Workers?
Three World’s Workforce
There are three different work sectors: agriculture, industry and service.
Selection bias in contemporary work psychology
Does contemporary work psychology really focus on the work of all employed workers around the
world? No. One of the major drawbacks of contemporary work psychology is a narrow scope. Work
psychological research is predominantly conducted in Western oriented economies. Nowadays. It is
more common to focus on middle and highly educated workers: these groups are easier to gain access
to, response rates are higher and researchers are spared the difficulties of translating instruments and
establishing their cultural equivalence.
1.3. The Meaning of Working
, Working means not just working for money, but work serves many other functions as well. Studies
comparing the quality of life of unemployed and employed people shows that the latter are usually
considerably happier than the former. The relation between unemployment and health runs both ways:
whereas lack of health increases the chances of becoming unemployed, unemployment also contributes
to the emergence of health problems. Having a job contributes positively to people’s health and well-
being. According to the Relative Deprivation Model, apart from providing an income, having
employment also provides five classes of social benefits: time structure, opportunities for social contact,
sharing of a common purpose, social identity of status, and regular activity. Without work, people are
deprived of all five benefits, accounting form any of the adverse consequences of unemployment for
health and well-being.
1.4. The Roots of Work Psychology
Systematic Thinking about the Organization of Work
Far before this era, scholars had already considered how particular tasks should be conducted. The
Hipporatic collection is basically a collection of routines and guidelines prescribing how the tasks of a
medical doctor should be accomplished.
Work Psychology, 1850-1930
From a work psychological perspective, the nature of the tasks conducted in this new era was different
from the pre-industrial time preceding it. The important issues in this era therefore became how can
workers be motivated to work hard and how can they be made more productive. The science of
psychotechnics or applied psychology promised to provide answers to these issues.
Scientific management
The scientific management approach (or Taylorism) is concentrating on the task itself, especially by
simplifying it to such a degree that any worker would be able to do it. It rested on two basic
assumptions: workers are both lazy and stupid. The stupidity issue is countered by:
1. Simplifying tasks
2. Examining the best way to conduct these tasks
3.Training workers in the “one best way”
4. Separating the planning of tasks from their execution
5. Selecting workers for particular tasks
The laziness issue was addressed by introducing high levels of control and supervisions, as well as by
introducing pay-for-performance systems. Taylorism has standardization and efficiency as its core
concepts.
Work Psychology, 1930-Present
Scientific management approaches at work often resulted in repetitive, boring and physically demanding
jobs. This affected worker moral negatively and tended to stimulate conflicts between managers and
workers, resulting in the strengthening of the position of labor unions and recurring strikers.
The human relations movement
The human relations movement was to fit the job to the worker, paying special attention to the human
side of working.
Contemporary work psychology
Work psychology aims to improve production by optimizing the organization of work, work methods and
job characteristics, but at the same time strives towards maximization of worker health and well-being. It
