Why is it important to diagnose in Organizational Psychology?

It is a mistake to assume that Organizational Psychology offers the same solution for all cases.

In the world of organizations, the trend in recent years has been to sell and apply solutions to improve work processes without having diagnosed the real problem the company is suffering from.

This is a serious mistake, because in some cases it will only offer a transitory improvement, since the root cause of the dysfunctionality has not been addressed. It is very important to to carry out a diagnosis that sheds light on what is wrong with the company..

This simple idea is something that many company managers, team supervisors and even professionals involved in organizational intervention do not fully grasp. They see organizational psychology as a set of tools that can be simply applied to companies to improve their performance, just as a glass of water always quenches thirst in the same way. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The importance of diagnosis in organizational psychology

Today there are solutions to improve any deficiency that the organization may present, using for this purpose from programs to improve communication skills, to initiatives to enhance the capacity for transformation, agility and other challenges that may arise. These solutions are valid in and of themselves, the problem is that are offered and even implemented without knowing if this is the real need of the organization..

The fact is that the same symptom may be due to several causes, so that optimizing results in the medium and long term will only be possible by first identifying what is wrong or what can be reinforced.

And this is precisely one of the functions of the organizational psychologist, a type of professional profile that goes far beyond the selection of personnel and whose work begins long before the necessary measures to improve organizational dynamics are implemented..

Because while it is true that in psychology there are certain basic principles and general and well-studied behavioral patterns, it is no less true that it is always necessary to see, case by case, what is the best way to improve organizational dynamics. it is always necessary to see step by step what is going wrong before offering before offering an accompanying process to help solve it.

What do organizational psychologists do?

The organizational psychologist is the professional expert in human behavior in a work environment.. He/she has the knowledge and tools to observe, evaluate, diagnose and act in each situation in the work context, and the group dynamics that arise in this process.

The functions of the psychologist in the framework of organizational psychology are:

1. Common welfare

To evaluate and increase the satisfaction of people in their work environment, understanding occupational health as a fundamental part of the well-being of the person..

2. Optimizing performance

Strategies must be implemented to teamwork, creating efficient teams, in which personal satisfaction is linked to in which personal satisfaction is linked to group satisfaction. Improve performance by considering the diversity and heterogeneity of the group as a key factor for success.

3. Analyze the person/context relationship

This function consists of increasing the functionality of the behavior not only at the level of the individual but also in the context of the social relationship.

4. Improve the selection, training, promotion and retention of talent.

Knowing how to detect the necessary profiles that fit the needs of the teams that make up the organization, on the one hand, and having the ability to make workers feel comfortable with the organization, on the other. workers feel comfortable and develop their potential, on the other hand, is fundamental.on the other, is fundamental.

5. Encourage talent

Stimulate and encourage increased productivity through the right person-task relationship. by means of an appropriate person-task-organization relationship.

6. Motivate towards collective goals

To get people to perform their work for their own benefit and that of the organizationnot only looking for a personal goal

By analyzing internal and external factors, psychology draws the situational map in which the person and the organization find themselves, as well as the needs of both. This is psychology's way of ensuring a balance between personal and organizational objectives.

Understanding what is wrong in the company in order to be able to improve it.

Psychology, also in the organization, does not offer a solution without having diagnosed what the problem is. Once the diagnosis has been made, it has a wide repertoire of techniques to deal with the specific situation. Thus psychology achieves its objective, which is none other than to ensure the health of people, by attending to their cognitions, attitudes, aptitudes and behaviors, aligning them with the environment and the environment.aligning them with the environment and culture of the organization.

In order to obtain an objective diagnosis of the initial situation that allows the definition of the target situation to be achieved, psychology uses assessment, interview, and observation.. Once the problem has been defined and its nature has been analyzed, the most appropriate techniques are chosen to achieve the objective.

The techniques available in psychology are of different nature, and the choice of them will depend on the purpose to be solved.

• Objective techniques
• Subjective techniques
• Projective techniques
• Self-report techniques
• Observational techniques

The objective of the technique is to to offer a starting point from which to solve the problem to be solved.. To solve it, it must first be diagnosed, since it is necessary to go to the root of what is hindering the functioning of the organization or what is causing discomfort in workers.

We will not have results in the medium/long term if we use techniques to improve social skills if we have not diagnosed a deficit of these skills. We will not improve performance if we use motivational techniques without knowing if the real problem is motivation.

Conclusion

Organizational psychology provides solutions, because it evaluates, diagnoses and applies the ideal technique to intervene in those behavioral functions that are negatively affecting the organization. It does not make sense to assume that there are magic recipes that simply have to be applied to companies to improve their productivity and well-being.

Each company is different, operates according to different logics and processes, and it is these logics and processes that are the most important.It is these logics and processes that may be leaving certain aspects of work and the organizational climate exposed and vulnerable.