What is Industrial and Organisational IO Psychology

1
What is Industrial and Organisational (I/O)
Psychology?

• Industrial and Organisational Psychology is a
  specialist area that applies psychological
  knowledge and skills to the workplace, with the
  aim of improving organisational effectiveness and
  the quality of work life.

2
I/O Psychologists have knowledge and skills in
areas such as

• Selection and assessment
• Job analysis
• Training and development
• Career development and coaching
• Organisational development and change management
• Attitude surveys and research on workplace issues

• Performance development and review
• Wellbeing, conflict, stress and work adjustment
• Occupational health and safety
• Program evaluation
• Consumer behaviour and marketing
• Advisory and advocacy regarding workplace issues

3
I/O Psychology Career Destinations

• Human Resources/Organisational Development
• E.g. Department of Treasury and Finance, RAC, WA
  Police Service, BHPBilliton, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola
• General Management
• E.g. Department of Health, Wesfarmers
• Consulting
• E.g. Chandler MacLeod, Deloitte,
  PriceWaterhouseCoopers, SHL
• Academia

4
Salary expectations

• Depends very much on which area you enter
• In a recent Australian survey (n231)
• Median 2006 salary for current full time
  employees was 88,465 (range 22,000 - 400,000,
  mean106,530)
• Median 2006 graduate salary for those starting
  work in the last 2 years was 51,000 (range
  10,000-122,000)

5
Degree Offerings in I/O Psychology at UWA

• MSc (Applied Psychology)
• Master of Science (Industrial and Organisational
  Psychology)
• Master of Psychology (Industrial and
  Organisational Psychology)
• Combined MPsych/PhD (Industrial and
  Organisational Psychology)
• PhD

6
Master of Psychology (Industrial and
Organisational Psychology)

• Intake of around 12 a year
• Acceptance rate varies
• Generally 10-30 acceptance depending on the
  quality of applications
• Coursework
• Placements in Industry
• Thesis

7
Coursework units

• Selection and Assessment
• Psychology of Training
• Organisational Development Work Design
• Occupational Health, Safety and Well-being
• Professional Issues in I/O Psychology
• Statistics for Field Research
• Research Methods in Applied Settings
• 2 Elective units (UWA Business School) e.g.
  Organisational Behaviour, Accounting, Advanced
  Human Resource Management, Marketing Principles

8
Placements

• 125 days (1000 hours) in total divided into 3
  separate placements of 42 days each
• Individualised placements depending on career
  stage and interests
• Individual and group meetings within a peer
  coaching framework

9
2007/8 Example Placement Projects

• Development of internal communication strategy
  for a government agency
• Analysis of training needs and development of
  training options for a diversified corporate
• Selection and assessment for mining staff
• Organisational culture survey development,
  administration, analysis and report for various
  organisations
• Development of induction process for lateral
  hires for a large professional service firm
• Development and evaluation of induction program
  for overseas recruits in a state utility and
  resources sector client
• Analysis of exit interview data for a large
  retail client

10
2007/8 Example Placement Organisations

• BHPBilliton
• Chandler MacLeod
• ChevronTexaco
• Department of Consumer Employment Protection
• Department of Environment and Conservation
• Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor
• Department of Treasury and Finance

• IKEA
• ITS People Solutions
• Perth Transit Authority
• PriceWaterhouse Coopers
• Prime Psychology
• RAC
• Talent2
• Woolworths Distribution
• Wesfarmers Energy
• Western Power

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Research Thesis

• Example topics in 2007/8 include
• Employee burnout
• Flexible work arrangements
• Ethical codes
• Work stress
• Coaching
• Turnover intention
• Personality and intelligence
• Employee engagement

• Example participant organisations include
• ChevronTexaco
• Department of Environment and Conservation
• Main Roads WA
• Office of Public Sector Standards
• OSA Group
• Wesfarmers
• Western Australian Institute of Sport
• Woolworths

12
More information about I/O Psychology at UWA?

• Browse the Schools I/O Psychology web resources
• http//www.psychology.uwa.edu.au/for/prospective_p
  ostgraduates/I_and_O/welcome
• Visit the College of Organisational Psychologists
  WA (COPWA)
• http//www.groups.psychology.org.au/cop/committee/
  wa/
• Call or email Pamela Slobe in the School of
  Psychology
• 6488 3247
• pamela_at_psy.uwa.edu.au