Benefits Of And Use Of Business Psychology

In the business world, it is important to know the work environment in and out, in addition to all the different factors that play a role in it. Therefore, it is essential to be aware of both the capabilities of the team and the possible problems that may arise. These and other problems are addressed through the use of business psychology. This is a branch of psychology that focuses on human behavior in the workplace.

This area of ​​psychology specializes in all the factors that can have an influence on the development of work tasks. It can either be at an individual level or at a group level. The goal is to define all possible outcomes correctly in order to improve workers’ performance. Let’s take a closer look at this.

The origins of the use of business psychology

The first definition of business psychology arose under the name of industrial psychology . This area mostly dealt with scientific work in Europe in the late 16th century.

In fact, you can find all the details about how this area of ​​research started in the book The Examination of the Ingenuities for the Sciences , published by Juan Huarte San Juan in 1575. Experts consider this to be the first work that took for use of business psychology in an effective way.

Centuries later, World War II, as well as the ensuing financial crisis that spread throughout the world, gave rise to a new interest in the use of business psychology. The biggest reason was the obvious need for many companies to recover from these world-changing events. This was due to the consequences experienced at both financial and organizational level.

Let us take the Armed Forces as an example. During the war, there was a great need for new recruits for training camps for the development of advanced tasks at the technological level. All these people were assigned specific positions with this in mind.

Use of business psychology after the war

But when the war ended, all these former soldiers had to return to other jobs. Problems related to rehabilitation gave new impetus to growing psychological stress and a higher unemployment rate. 

To solve these worker crises, the research that had been carried out in those years helped the concept of industrial psychology to develop into the field that we know today as business psychology. This was due to the fact that their research and use spread to all areas of the work environment, and not just to the industrial ones.

One specific change was how the use of industrial psychology went from analyzing workers’ behavior on an individual level to studying their behavior in groups. It is in the environment of a company that one can perform these group studies effectively.

The differences between business psychology and HRM

The field of business psychology should not be confused with HRM (from English Human Resources Management) in any organization. The former is a branch of psychology, and to practice it you need adequate training.

It is true that business psychology can include work related to HRM, but it also addresses factors such as motivation, stress and culture. 

It is not strictly necessary to have a psychology education to work in HR. To work with this, you mainly need to deal with the preparation and analysis of budgets, staff costs, contracts or legal issues. Therefore, the knowledge required is more related to economics and law than psychology.

Functions and use of business psychology

With that said, business psychology can fulfill many functions within a business organization. To illustrate these tasks in more detail, we have broken them down into the following areas:

• Orientation of staff. This may be the most important area within this branch of psychology. The main goal is to plan the working group’s tasks and to clarify their goals.
• Staff development. Another goal of business psychology is to become familiar with the needs of workers related to their education. In addition to this, one will have to use the best solution so that the company’s employees can acquire the necessary knowledge to perform their work tasks correctly. It will also help them in the progression of their roles and in developing new skills.

• Marketing. This area involves conducting research and working with group dynamics. In addition, it conducts research on the products or the company’s image and the level of acceptance by potential consumers.
• The management. Finally, business psychology handles management and administrative tasks when it comes to company guidelines. This includes the management of staff and the definition of the responsibilities involved in each position. This branch of psychology aims in particular to help companies effectively manage the working groups within the company.