Do Industrial Psychologists suffer from the same drawbacks as human resource employees as many of these psychologists work in Human Resources?

Hello,

As an industrial psychologist, the focus is on personnel psychology issues like employee motivation, training and development, productivity and work-life balance; the organizational psychologist focus is on organizational systems, leadership and management issues, team functioning and assessments. With the advance of technology, the functions of the I-O Psychologist are expanding to accommodate the changes that technology brings to the workplace. One of the advantages of this position is that it is free to institute groundbreaking methods or research and assessment. The disadvantage is that change is constant as new workplace projects and needs frequently shift. Adaptability is a mandatory requirement.

The scientific nature of the position includes doing a significant amount of research, designing measurement tools, developing metrics, benchmarking and analyzing data. To enjoy working as an Industrial Organizational Psychologist, it is necessary to like working with data, conducting studies and tests, and doing research. Some might find this aspect of the job a bit tedious.

Globalization and technology have created new opportunities, and this is an advantage of working in a profession that deals with workforce issues. Globalization presents unique challenges in areas of organizational diversity, culture development, training and development, teamwork, and hiring and retention. Technology has led to specialty areas like human-computer interaction and maintaining employee engagement in a global business. Overall, the main advantage of being an Industrial Organizational Psychologist is that it offers a large degree of variability in terms of responsibilities and interests. There are virtually no limits or preconceived notions to hem in the professional. This is a growing field of interest offering exciting possibilities to anyone interested in workplace management.

Read more in:

https://psychologyeducator.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/pros-and-cons-of-an-industrial-organizational-psychologist/

Good luck in your decision!

Your first question is a bit unclear to me...yes, some I-O psychologists work in HR Departments, but not all of them. So, which "drawbacks" are you referring to in your question?

I-O Psychology has many advantages, as the previous submission articulates quite well. It entails working with people AND working with data (specifically, doing statistical analyses with programs such as SPSS or SAS). Much of the work entails creative pursuits; for example, figuring out the best way to offer training from a distance and then determining the best way to evaluate how a new hire has assimilated adequate knowledge and skills to perform the job for which s/he was just hired and trained. I'm just scratching the surface here with two examples of what an I-O Psychologist might do. The setting, i.e., private business vs. government vs. academic (university) also has a tremendous influence on the activities performed by the incumbent I-O Psychologist.

In an academic setting, teaching is required...publications of research is required. Adding to the knowledge base of I-O Psychology is expected too: example: creating new theories about "job satisfaction" which is a very important concept in I-O Psychology. Theory building may not be expected of someone working for a business or in government or in the military (yes, I-O Psychologists work in the military). Training employees and teaching are not the same things, although there are some commonalities between them, i.e., the person doing the teaching/raining has to have well developed communication skills to present information in a coherent manner.

Someone working in the private sector (a business such as Home Depot or General Electric) may or may not be involved in training. It all depends on the particular employer's needs. Significant traveling might be expected of someone working for a business that has multiple sites scattered throughout the nation or through out the world. Some people might like traveling, and hence this would be an advantage...if you dislike always living out of a suitcase, so to speak, this would be a disadvantage.

In general, I-O Psychologists are better compensated than other sub-disciplines within the field of psychology. That's an advantage for someone who is drawn to a high income. In general, it's best to pursue an occupation for which you have a passion and well developed abilities than for which you hope to gain a lot of money. You'll do your best work if you love it and you are passionate about the actual work. That is, the work gives you a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning!

Every profession has advantages and disadvantages. Every job has advantages and disadvantages. Example: I started out as a School Psychologist when I had completed my doctorate. While I loved the work and had a great boss who mentored me very well, I lived in a small town in Arkansas. I was very unhappy living in a small town - it just wasn't for me! I grew up in a big city and love the excitement of big cities. So I left that great job and moved back home, which was over 1000 miles away. I had no job lined up. I reconfigured and found another position which allowed me to flourish as an I-O Psychologist (which was more closely aligned with my PhD) for almost 25 years. I then realized that my needs had changed and I wanted to teach. So, I became a faculty member teaching psychology for 10 years. I was making a lot less money as a faculty member - but that was just OK because I was passionate about teaching and had a sense of fulfillment/purpose.

Hope this information helps. The future is always unknown. Sometimes as we mature, we change careers too...or do a slight detour as my career path has done.
GOOD LUCK!!

I've only known a few Industrial Psychologist. The good news is that most of them started at a higher salary then Human Resource Professionals. But like HR professionals they had difficult time moving out of HR.

Hi Mounia,

Great question! Drawbacks occur in organizations for several reasons such as the examples I provided below. No matter the job title, drawbacks can possibly happen at any given time.

• Cutting Costs. The most common reason for being laid off is the company needing to cut costs in some way.
• Staff Reduction
• Relocation
• Mergers or Buyouts.

I hope this helps!