Organizational Psychologist: Entering This Field

An Organizational Psychologist is someone who studies the behavior of people at work and in other professional settings to improve productivity, interpersonal communication, and management. The scope of this work covers topics including office design, organizational culture, leadership communication, and organizational change. This is what you need to know if you are considering entering this field. 

Getting Educated

An Organizational Psychologist will typically earn a degree in psychology or a related field like social and behavioral sciences with a specialization in business or human resources management before entering the workforce as a consultant or an employee at a large corporation.

An Industrial and Organizational Psychology degree is a great place to start because it offers a broad overview of the field.

Booming Industries for an Organizational Psychologist

Organizational psychologists work in almost every industry, from law to healthcare. Here are some possible career paths you can take after earning your degree:

• Employee Training and Development: You can improve performance by designing and implementing training programs for employees or focusing on educating senior leadership about organizational culture.
• Compensation and Benefits: In this position, you are responsible for creating benefits packages that will attract top talent and create a sense of fairness among the company’s employees.
• Employee Assessments: In this role, you will develop tests to help determine which positions within a company are suited best for each employee.

What Kinds of Skills Do You Need to Become An Organizational Psychologist?

Organizational psychologists are expected to be detailed, selfless, and honest employees. You also need to be trustworthy and reliable. 

Organizational psychologists may also need to be skilled in the following:

• Creativity

As an organizational psychologist, you may need to come up with new ideas for improving the workplace or evaluating a client’s employee training. Thinking outside the box is a major skill for any psychologist, but when it comes to working within organizational structures, this skill is even more important.

• Communication Skills

While communication skills are important for all professionals, organizational psychologists who work on recruitment and retention strategies must interview candidates to get detailed information about their personality type and job history.

Improving your communication skills will help you create and deliver training more effectively.

• Research Skills

In order to become an organizational psychologist, you need to show strong research skills. 

This will help you better understand why your clients are struggling with certain issues, and it will also allow you to make informed recommendations for improving the workplace.

• Computer Skills

Organizational psychologists must have sufficient computer skills to use office programs, including Microsoft Office Suite or similar software aimed at professionals requiring statistical or writing tools. 

These programs are critical for compiling reports and conducting data analysis. They also play a role in web conferencing, digital media design, and other tasks related to organizational psychology work.

The Business Benefits of Organizational Psychology

Businesses can benefit from the specialized knowledge of an organizational psychologist.

Many companies struggle with keeping their employees motivated, but an organizational psychologist can work to create a positive environment for employees to thrive in. This can help your company retain top talent and be more productive, as well. 

As an incentive management consultant, you might work with leadership teams to help design new incentive plans which will motivate and encourage employees throughout the company. Planning incentives can help you retain top talent while increasing productivity and profitability.