User:Catwilliams

Industrial/Organizational Psychology has two approaches on how to increase productivity and the well being of employees. The industrial approach (the 'I") which determines the employees needs to perform, staffing and improving through training. Whereas the organizational approach (the "O") is to create structure to motivate employees to do well by providing necessary information including a safe and enjoyable working environment.  There are three major subfields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology (I/O): personnel psychology, organizational psychology, and [human factors]. Personnel psychology deals with the selection of personnel, performance appraisals, job analysis (backbone of I/O psychology) as well as the training. They focus more specifically on the hiring, assignment, and promotion of employees to match up with jobs, by identifying and placing well-suited candidates. Organizational psychology deals with leadership, how work environments and management styles influence workers motivation, satisfaction, and productivity. They modify jobs and supervision in ways that boost morale and productivity. [Thomas Wright] in his article in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, argues that management and organizational studies should focus on cost-benefit analysis from a human asset perspective, on issues such as positive emotional states of employees, and on employee strengths rather than weaknesses. Human factors psychology explores how machines and environments can be optimally designed to fit human abilities and expectations. It helps to design appliances, machines, and websites and work settings. Human Factors is a science that adds the human into the equation to make life easier, safer and more enjoyable by utilizing research, theory and thought applied toward factoring in the HUMAN and applying the knowledge of human behavior, capabilities, and limitations.

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