Business Psychologists: Roles And Functions

We tend to view psychologists as consulting professionals who care for people with different mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, or other disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia. However, its presence in the business world is also relevant (the most important resource of companies is human resources). Today we will see what business psychologists do and how they help these types of organizations.

Business psychologists can improve the climate and relationships between workers, thereby facilitating greater productivity and happiness at work. Studies tell us that, especially up to a certain level, the well-being of workers has a direct impact on their work motivation. But, in addition to this, business psychologists have much more specific roles and functions.

According to the study Funções do psicólogo na Empresa Moderno (Functions of the psychologist in modern companies), psychologists develop activities within companies that could be divided into

• Those destined to modify the external and environmental conditions of work to adapt them to human characteristics.
• Those that focus on staff selection and human performance evaluation, guiding and advising staff.

Business psychologists and personnel selection

Business psychologists often play a prominent role in personnel selection and job analysis. These professionals analyze the profiles of potential workers to find out whether or not they fit with what the company is looking for. To do this, they analyze their motivations, the experience they have, the type of personality they have and their concerns.

All this is important when it comes to occupying a job. Let’s imagine that the company needs a person to act as a leader. Business psychologists will conduct an analysis of the profile of each person to see if it is possible to meet these expectations.

However, at the same time that company psychologists are in charge of selecting personnel, they also often have the responsibility of firing those workers who are no longer productive for the company or who have committed some serious misconduct.

They work in the prevention of occupational risks

Business psychologists also work on the prevention of occupational hazards, because every organization knows that the health of workers is very important. In this regard, psychologists focus a lot on mental health. Are the employees stressed? Does anyone suffer from burnout syndrome?

When this happens, psychologists work to reduce all these problems. Although, it is necessary to say that they do not usually work alone. In most cases, they form a working group that includes sociologists and other professionals who come from other branches of knowledge.

In addition to all this, business psychologists also have a special presence in the marketing department to detect the needs of users. The contribution they can make can be of the utmost importance to the success of a marketing campaign.

Tools used by business psychologists

In order to carry out all the activities that we have mentioned, in addition to many others, business psychologists have a series of tools. Many of them we already know. They are questionnaires or interviews with workers that will allow them to measure their level of satisfaction, health and productivity.

However, they also use observation and pay close attention to everything that happens around them in case they have to intervene in a conflict. In addition, they can direct and organize how workers are carrying out responsibilities so that they can be as productive as possible and that everything flows.

With all the tools they can use, the presence of psychologists in many companies is significant in understanding how they work. However, some organizations do not have this type of professionals and this can be seen both in the work environment, in the satisfaction of workers and in the progress and advancement of the company itself.

Any company can benefit from psychologists, since they have a series of knowledge that other professionals do not have. In addition, for all those professionals who have just graduated in psychology, knowing this can open the possibility of practicing in positions that they were not aware of.