In the world of organizations, the trend in recent years is to sell and apply solutions to improve work processes without having diagnosed the real problem that the company is suffering.

This is a serious error, because at most it will offer, in some cases, a transitory improvement, not having intervened on the root of the dysfunction. It is very important to make a diagnosis that sheds light on what is not working in the company .

This simple idea is something that does not fit in with many company managers or team supervisors and even professionals who work in organizations, who see organizational psychology as a set of tools that can be applied simply to companies to improve their performance, just as a glass of water always quenches thirst in the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The importance of diagnosis in organizational psychology

Today there are solutions to improve any deficiency that may present the organization, using for this purpose from programs to improve communication skills, to initiatives to enhance the capacity for transformation, agility and other challenges that may arise. These solutions are valid in themselves, the problem is that they are offered and even implemented without knowing if this is the real need of the organization .

The fact is that the same symptom may be due to different causes, so that optimizing medium and long term results will only be possible by first identifying what is failing or what can be reinforced.

And this is precisely one of the functions of the organizational psychologist, a type of professional profile that goes far beyond the selection of personnel and whose work begins long before the measures necessary to improve organizational dynamics are implemented .

Because although it is true that in psychology there are certain basic principles and general and well studied patterns of behaviour, it is no less true that it is always necessary to see step by step what is wrong before offering a process of accompaniment that contributes to solving it.

What do organizational psychologists do?

The organizational psychologist is the professional expert in human behavior in a work environment . He or she has the knowledge and tools to observe, evaluate, diagnose and act on each situation in the context of work, and the group dynamics that arise in this process.

The functions of the psychologist in the framework of organizational psychology are:

1. Common welfare

To evaluate and increase the satisfaction of people in their work environment, understanding occupational health as a fundamental part of a person’s well-being .

2. Optimizing performance

Strategies must be implemented to strengthen teamwork, creating efficient teams in which personal satisfaction is linked to group satisfaction. Improve performance by considering the diversity and heterogeneity of the group as a key factor of success.

3. Analyzing the relationship between person and context

This function consists of increasing the functionality of behaviour not only at the individual level but also in the context of social relations.

4. Improve the selection, training, promotion and retention of talent

Knowing how to detect the necessary profiles that fit the needs of the teams that make up the organization, on the one hand, and having the capacity to make the workers feel comfortable and develop their potential , on the other, is fundamental.

5. Encouraging talent

Stimulate and favour the increase of productivity through the adequate person-task/organisation relationship.

6. Motivating towards collective goals

Getting people to do their work for the benefit of themselves and the organisation , not just for a personal purpose

Through the analysis of internal and external factors, psychology draws the situational map in which the person and the organization find themselves, as well as the needs of both. This is psychology’s way of ensuring balance between personal and organizational goals.

Understand what is wrong with the business so that it can be improved

Psychology, also in the organization, does not offer a solution without having diagnosed what the problem is. Once the diagnosis has been made, it has a wide repertoire of techniques for dealing with that specific situation. Thus, psychology achieves its objective, which is none other than to watch over people’s health, by attending to their cognitions, attitudes, aptitudes and behaviour , aligning them with the environment and the culture of the organisation.

In order to obtain an objective diagnosis of the initial situation that allows to define the objective situation to be achieved, psychology uses assessment, interview, and observation .
Once the problem has been defined and the nature of the problem analysed, the most appropriate techniques are chosen to achieve the objective.

The techniques available to psychology are of a different nature, and the choice of them will obey the purpose to be solved.

  • Objective techniques
  • Subjective techniques
  • Projective techniques
  • Self-reporting techniques
  • Observational techniques

The aim of the technique is to provide a starting point from which to solve the problem to be solved . To solve it, it is first necessary to diagnose it, since it is necessary to go to the root of what is hindering the functioning of the organisation or what is causing discomfort in the workers.

We will not have medium/long term results if we use techniques to improve social skills if there is no diagnosed deficit of these skills. We will not improve performance if we use motivation techniques without knowing if the real problem is motivation.

Conclusion

Organizational psychology provides solutions because it evaluates, diagnoses and applies the ideal technique to intervene in those behavioral functions that are negatively affecting the organization. It does not make sense to assume that there are magic recipes that simply have to be applied to companies so that they improve their productivity and well-being.

Every company is a world, it operates according to different logics and processes , and it is these logics and processes that may be leaving certain aspects of the work and organizational climate exposed and vulnerable.