Why Should HR Managers Study Human Behavior and Psychology?

If you are studying HR management at school, you realize several aspects of your job will involve a deep connection with people. Human beings are complex, so the people at the workplace will not respond to the same manual. It helps when the person they interact with the most is able to read human behaviour to tell how they are individually talented, affected by politics at work, and what motivates them to give their best.

What is Organizational Behaviour?

It is the study of how people behave in groups, and it is essential while working with groups as you understand how they can effectively produce more together. This knowledge is a powerful management tool as it enables an HR manager to have better charge of employees. There is enough material on this topic online, including essays about abnormal psychology, that will open you up to a world of human behaviour. In this age of mental health issues from overwork, the pandemic, and other life occurrences, this study may help people in charge know how to deal better with people from various backgrounds. It is useful for familiarization when working with teams.

Research on this study is broken into three phases: leadership, personality, and politics. The studies on leadership recommend that it is either decision-based when a person is given a certain responsibility or inherently found in their personality. On personality, we are mainly products of our social interactions. These will determine how we relate to others and how we fit in the group dynamics of an organization. Politics is everywhere, so the interconnection between the politics of the workplace and the authority will determine cohesion and productivity. You will find more than one book on this topic at a physical or online library.

Background photo created by mindandi – www.freepik.com

Levels and Elements of Human Behavior  

The levels of organizational behaviour are broken down into individual, group, and organizational. At the individual level, HR wants to understand human behaviour and incentives to make one more productive. At the group level, you are looking at human interaction and group dynamics, while the top-level organization introduces organization theory and sociology where firms are not interacting. The four elements on the study of people involve people, structure, technology, and the external environment, which is why this study is academic and could even require a thorough dissertation when pursued at higher levels. Thus, we can confidently say OB is essential when you want to know how to manage people effectively.  

Why Learn Organizational Behavior as an HR Manager?

A lot happens during hiring that determines the type of employee a company ends up with. Having the knowledge that comes from learning psychology helps the HR manager deduce whether a person’s personality is a good fit for an organization or not. It also allows them to narrow down to an employee’s motivation. People work best when their needs are met, ranging from conducive working conditions to emotionally intelligent management and fair compensation. When you know what drives someone, you will deliver it to make their experience as good as possible and their contribution to the organization as valuable as can be.

Other areas that this study touches on include creativity and innovation, good customer care, and the relationship between management and the staff. The HR department acts as the go-between for management and employees, so having the right tools to handle these interactions is essential. One of the things an HR personnel may want to write down when working with new and existing employees is the workplace culture that is unique to every organization. You understand how new employees assimilate the culture when doing the interviews.

Conclusion

Even with the knowledge of human behaviour, it helps to remember that markets are continually changing, bringing in the competition that may not have been there a year ago, consequently changing the way employees work. Employers and HR managers want to take in these changes to know how to help employees adapt. They also need to listen to their workforces more to let them have a say in organizational culture change.