Occupational Psychology - Short Course

Sneak Peek

Build a Better Workplace

Self Paced 20-hour course to help you understand more about industrial psychology.

Also known as industrial psychology, occupational psychology covers psychology that focusses on work behaviour. Work types are multidisciplinary, ranging from small business through to large industries, institutions, and even freelancers.

In this course, you'll study key areas of knowledge and practice, including recruitment, training and development, leadership, managing wellbeing, and workplace design. The principles covered in this course are useful for managers, business owners, marketing and psychology students, and more.

Our 20 hour courses are self paced and will help you understand a topic in a short amount of time. You can work through the course when you like- test yourself with mini-tests along the way. There are extra case studies or research you can undertake if you would really like to get into the topic. Once you have completed the lessons and self assessment tasks, there is a final exam undertaken online- you can then download your personalised certificate.

COURSE CONTENT

There are seven lessons in this course, as outlined below.

Lesson 1 Introduction to Occupational Psychology

• What is Occupational Psychology?
• Who is it useful for?
• Key areas of knowledge and practice
• Focus on the employee and the organisation
• Work roles

Lesson 2 Recruitment

• Choosing a career
• The recruitment process
• Steps in the job analysis
• Measuring the person-organisation fit

Lesson 3 Interviews and Selection

• What is an interview?
• Interview types
• The amount of interviewers
• The benefits of interviews
• Employee assessments
• Validity of tests
• Other components of personnel recruitment
• Employee selection

Lesson 4 Training of Staff

• The need for training
• Initial training
• Types of training
• Training needs analysis
• Individual training needs
• Checklist for training needs
• Training programs

Lesson 5 Employee Wellbeing

• Job performance
• Workplace factors which affect health and wellbeing
• Work groups
• Physical wellbeing and psychological wellbeing
• Stress at work
• Workplace aggression
• What can management do?

Lesson 6 Maintaining Staff Morale and Motivation

• Staff morale
• What is motivation?
• Other needs applied to work
• Theories of motivation
• Job satisfaction
• Motivation of work groups

Lesson 7 Other Applications

• Introduction
• Selecting Employees for Small Business and Start-Up Businesses
• How to choose a contractor for home or office improvements
• Choosing temporary workers, casual workers, or contractors
• Assessing individual qualities
• Assessing skills and qualifications
• Understanding body language
• Personality and work

Course Excerpt: Defining Leadership

Leaders are found and needed in all areas of daily life wherever people function as a group, as in the workplace, in school, in social clubs and in government. Good leadership enhances the effectiveness of group, improves efficiency, increases the likelihood of success and results in a higher level of satisfaction for all concerned. Good leadership contributes to order and improves productivity by influencing the way in which resources (human and material) are used. Poor leadership leads to ineffective use of those resources, lack of enthusiasm or commitment to a project or a group, even to counterproductive actions and attitudes, greatly reducing the likelihood of the group’s or organisation’s success.

So what is a leader?

Conservative definitions focus on the leader’s authority and ability to get things done – the leader as:

• authority - a person with the acknowledged power to direct and control others.
• achiever - a person who uses their power to set and achieve goals.
• manager - a person who directs others to achieve established goals.
• anyone who emerges as a leader and is accepted as such by the group, formally or informally.

Popular current concepts of leadership define the leader as:

• an enabler - a person who enables others to experience or achieve something).
• a motivator - a person who aspires to goals or ideals and inspires others to achieve them.
• an innovator - a person who inspires others to adapt, change directions, try new ideas, take risks.

These concepts create a picture of leadership based on the nature of the individual’s relationship and interactions with others, rather than on official or granted authority. Modern management theory questions the more conservative definitions of leader based on authority, explaining that in the business world, a leader may be the CEO (chief executive officer) of an organisation, a manager or a supervisor, but may also be an ordinary worker who is respected and followed by others. While a leader may manage, not all managers are leaders, and not all leaders are managers, despite their authority to establish rules and enforce orders.

How does this course work?