4 Ways Work Psychologists Improve Workplace Performance

"Doing business is a risky enterprise. Whether it's renting a mover's truck to transport customers' belongings from the West Coast to the East Coast, trading stocks at the Stock Exchange, running an online market front, flying passengers from one country to another, managing a hospital, or overseeing the affairs of an academic institution-the struggle is real. One of the reasons why conducting a business is challenging is because people are involved."

"In the United States, only 33 percent of workers are engaged and aligned with their employer for high productivity. Behavioral experts can be crucial in an organization for understanding and correcting such misalignment. Industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists, also known as work or business psychologists, are trained to study human behaviors in the workplace and translate those behaviors into data for the purposes of humanizing the work environment and increasing job satisfaction, work engagement, and, ultimately, performance and productivity."

Business involves risk because people introduce potential conflicts. Low worker engagement, estimated at 33 percent in the United States, undermines productivity. Industrial-organizational psychologists study workplace behavior and translate it into data to humanize work environments, increase job satisfaction and engagement, and raise performance and productivity. I-O practitioners use advanced analytical techniques to forecast workforce outcomes and help businesses plan and position themselves for efficient operations. Hiring employees who fit the organizational culture reduces turnover risk and supports effective management. Identifying emotions as workplace data and managing stress improves decision-making, collaboration, and organizational outcomes for everyone.

Read at Psychology Today