Principles of Organizational Psychology in Organizational Recruitment

Introduction

Organizational psychology is the scientific study of the relationship between workers and their place of

work especially the relationships which are formed among workmates as well as between employees

and their employers. It is also referred to as the behavior of employees towards their duties and

responsibilities. Organizational psychology is essential during employee hiring and recruitment as it

helps in selection of candidates who are able to adapt faster in addition to better embracement of the

new working environment. Organizational socialization increases the rate at which newly hired workers

are able to adapt to a new environment and the way inn which they will be handling their issues both

personal as well as work related.

Discussion

Recruitment process from different perspectives

From the organizations perspective

Organizations which are carrying out recruitment usually apply specific designs and tools to identify an

ideal candidate for that specific job. Human characteristics and performance is gauged so that only the
individual with the ideal profile is selected. Therefore, the future performance of a potential candidate is

portrayed by the ability to meet the criteria and requirements that are put up by the organization during

the recruitment. Although there is no ideal candidate for any job, the procedures that are laid out during

recruitment by organizations are meant to identify a perfect worker. Rigorous procedures are put in

place so that candidates may be presented with a wide range of drills which will expose their

weaknesses and strength at one point or another (Cooper and Locke, 2000).

Recruitment process from the applicants view

Most candidates and job applicants consider recruitment procedures as drills meant to portray their

weakness while concealing their strength. Most of them especially view job interviews as examinations

hence they end up being confused and anxious (Field, 2002).

Principles of organizational psychology in the recruitment process

The recruitment process should incorporate aspects such as the qualifications of the candidate and the

job requirement such that only those candidates who meet the laid down specifications are considered

for the job. This not only reduces the expenses of the organization in the hiring process but it also

reduces a lot of embarrassment and humiliation often used by human resource managers to victimize

some candidates (Field, 2002). Alternatively, it gives the candidate a chance to gauge their competency

such that next time they will check on the specific requirements before placing their applications.

Similarly, an organization should include specific questions which are familiar to the candidate rather
than posing questions and scenarios which are unrelated thus mixing up the way of thinking of tensed

candidate (Cooper, 2000).Worker-oriented methods are used to analyze the behavior of candidates

other than concentrating on the academic as well as other professional qualifications. Some

organizations are known to recruit candidates depending on their non-professional qualifications based

on special aspects such as leadership qualities and the ability to adjust to new environments quite fast

(Field, 2002).

The concept of organizational socialization

Organizational socialization is an aspect of organizations which contributes to the feeling of oneness at

the work place. It creates a family like environment as a result of improving the organizational culture.

Most workers would like to wake up and proceed to a work place which conducive as the individual will

be among friends and people who are interested with each other. Organizational socialization creates a

sense of belonging and this is quite essential when new employees are being introduced into a place as

the other workers will be wiling to help them adjust (Anderson and Cooper-Thomas, 2006).The

experience which new employees encounter during the first few days of joining a new place play a key

role in determining future perceptions about the place. Cases of workers failing to turn up to work on

the second day after reporting are common due to presentation of a poor organizational culture and

social dimension. Employee commitment artwork is also dependent on the very first experiences as well

as the culture in that place.

No employee wants to work in a place where the colleagues are so busy with their responsibilities that

they can spare no time to show the new individual around. The willingness of employees and the

employers to dedicate their time to show new workers around is part of organizational socialization and

facilitates development of good relations as well as employee commitment to work (Field, 2002).The

amount of information regarding the organization is learnt during this time and incase there is no one to

answer the questions posed by the new employee; they may never have another chance of learning the

same thing. Some managers usually assign specific individuals to act as guides to new employees or

rather as mentors during orientation and training. Thus, it is upon the mentor to help the newcomer

around the organization and provide as much information as possible so that a good first impression is

created by the new employee (Anderson, 2006).

Principles of organizational psychology in organizational socialization

The goals and values of any given organization have a dependent on the organizational psychology and

socialization. This is because the performance of employees and their commitment at work is

determined by the nature of working environment as well as the involvement of all employees in all

organizational activities as partners (Kramer, 2010).Most organizations initiate the socialization process

during the interview and recruitment such that the interview is presented as a way of giving hints to

potential candidates on what to expect when they get that job in the organization. Candidates who are

presented with the actual situation at the organization will not be surprised when they realize that their

dream workplace has its equal share of problems and issues (Kramer, 2010).The organizational principle

of providing potential employees with all necessary information will also help in socialization as the urge
of newcomers to seek clarification about what they already know. This is quite different from those who

ask for information which lacks any solid base (Kramer, 2010).

References

Andreson,N. and Cooper-Thomas, (2006), organizational socialization : a new theoretical model and

reasons for future research and HRM practices in an organization. Journal of managerial psychology. Vol,

21. iss, 5 pp, 492-516

Cooper, C.L. and Locke, E.A. (2000), Industrial and organizational psychology: linking theory and practice.

Wiley-Blackwell

Field, R.H. (2002), Management and information science: culture and socialization. Retrieved on May 18,

2010 from: www.googlescholar.com

Kramer, M.(2010), organizational socialization: joining and leaving an organization. Polity publishers