IOP3702 STUDY GUIDE

CONTENTS PART 1: MYUNISA .................................................................................................................... 1 PART 2: WHAT AND HOW TO STUDY FOR IOP3702 .............................................................. 17 PART 3: MODULE CONTENT ................................................................................................... 29 Learning unit 1: Chapter 1: Introduction: Personnel psychology in context ......................... 29 Learning unit 2: Chapter 2: Research methods in personnel psychology ............................. 40 Learning unit 3: Chapter 3: Introduction: The employment context and human resource planning ................................................................................................................... 56 Learning unit 4: Chapter 4: Job analysis and criterion development .................................... 66 Learning unit 5: Chapter 5: Psychological assessment: Predictors of human behaviour...... 80 Learning unit 6: Chapter 6: Recruitment and selection ......................................................... 89 IOP3702/MO001/4/2017 iv Dear IOP 3702 (Personnel Psychology: Organisational Entry) Student Welcome to this very exciting module. We know that you will find this module interesting and challenging, but also meaningful and enriching. The following definition of personnel psychology may serve as a point of departure and create a common frame of reference for the discussion that follows (Cascio 1998:3): “Personnel psychology is an applied discipline that focuses on individual differences in behaviour and job performance and on methods of measuring and predicting such differences.” As can be seen from the definition, the focus is on individual behaviour in the organisation. Therefore, our goal as industrial psychologists should be the effective functioning of both the employee and the organisation. You should take into consideration the fact that the organisational environment is becoming more and more competitive. As an industrial psychologist practising personnel psychology, you will have to be proactive and think on your feet to meet the challenges and the numerous changes that this competitive, turbulent environment brings. Customised “recipes” (such as traditional models and processes) do not necessarily meet the demands of the current organisational environment as they used to do. You will have to be receptive to and reflect on the impact which personnel psychology theories – such as those postulated in this module – are likely to have on the life of the working person. Personnel psychology will affect an employee’s life, as it is more than just theory; every decision taken in the organisation based on previous research in industrial psychology, or decisions taken regarding recruitment, selection and so on, have implications for the employee. A number of statistics are explained in this module, but the underlying principles behind these statistics are human values and the morality of personnel decisions. This means that organisations, including the personnel practitioners in the organisation, are not always free to do as they want to. Societal values will influence decisions made about personnel, such as whom to employ and what is considered to be fair treatment of employees. This document is divided into three parts: The first part of this document will inform you about myUnisa, the official learning management system of the University of South Africa (UNISA). The second part will guide you on what and how to study for this module. The third part consists of the content of the module and includes valuable activities that will assist you to practise and practically apply the knowledge that you have gained in this module.