The Social Psychology Of Organizations: Diagnosing Toxicity And Intervening In The Workplace

Description

Healthy and successful organizations require the people who work within them to be happy, resilient and creative. Just as a human body is undermined if it suffers from sickness, so an organization can only function fully if the people who work within it feel engagement and well-being, and any toxic influences which shape or burden their working lives are resolved. This important new title provides a much-needed overview not only of what it means for an organization to be weakened by pervasive psychological influences within the working environment, but also how this dysfunction can be addressed through psychological interventions. The book is split into three core sections: • Toxicity and Dysfunction in the workplace, outlining structural, behavioural, emotional and cognitive sources of toxicity that undermine organizations • Principles of the healthy workplace, outlining core concepts of belonging, contribution and meaning from which organizations in turn benefit • Creating the healthy workplace, outlining a range of approaches to addressing organizational toxicity, including design thinking, positive psychology, and evidence-based approaches. Written by a practicing organizational psychologist, and including case studies to illustrate how toxicity at the micro level can impact upon wider organizational goals, the book draws on a wide range of literature to provide an accessible, focussed understanding of how the individual psychological experiences of working people can have wider consequences for an organization, and how interventions within that process can address these issues. It is ideal reading for students and researchers of occupational or organizational psychology, organizational behaviour, business and management and HRM. Front Cover HalfTitle Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements Introduction Intelligent activism and the social psychology of organizations Overview of the three parts of this text References PART I: Doing intelligent activism: the new social psychology of organizations Chapter 1: Knowledge translation for complex workplaces Introduction Translating knowledge for effective intervention A model of the phases of translation for ‘intelligent activism’ Conclusion Further reading References Chapter 2: Understanding client engagement dynamics Introduction The cry for help: establishing the client relationship Client preferences in accessing help Conclusion References Chapter 3: Ideas of intervention and change in organizations Introduction What is wrong with the idea of the consulting cycle? What is organizational intervention? Change programmes and change platforms: an exploration Conclusion References Chapter 4: Evidence and intervention methods as tools for practice Introduction Evidence-based practice (EBP) Positive deviance Design thinking Large group and dialogic methods for co-creation Appreciative inquiry (AI) Conclusion References Chapter 5: Ethical issues in practice Introduction Capabilities for ethical organizational practice Ethical themes in organizational intervention Conclusion Further reading References Part II: Building an integrated model of organizational toxicity Chapter 6: What we know about organizational toxicity Introduction Towards an integrated understanding of organizational toxicity What the literature tells us about organizational toxicity The integrated model of organizational toxicity Conclusion References Chapter 7: The macro sources of toxicity in organizations Introduction Structural sources of toxicity Cognitive sources of toxicity Behavioural sources of toxicity Symbolic or ritual sources of toxicity Integrating the macro sources Conclusion References Chapter 8: Psychosocial micro processes that mitigate or maximize toxicity in the workplace Introduction Accountability Compassion Appreciation Growth Conclusion References PART III: Learning from practice to intervene in toxic organizations Chapter 9: Diagnostic themes for examining the psychological environment Introduction Diagnosis as a practice capability Reflections on the diagnostic theme of contributing Reflections on the diagnostic theme of belonging Reflections on the diagnostic theme of meaning Conclusion References Chapter 10: How current performance management systems make workplaces toxic Introduction Performance management is individualistic and yet placed in a collaborative context Performance management is psychologically naïve Performance management is inherently unlawfully biased Performance management is decontextualized, culturally specific and potentially colonizing Performance management causes ill health Performance management is analytically weak Conclusion References Chapter 11: Re-designing belonging dynamics for an interconnected world of work Introduction Designing from the edge in the cabin crew world (case one) Coaching the ‘tempered radical’ in a career challenging ethnicity innovation (case two) Conclusion References Chapter 12: Measurement, silence and the mechanisms of compliance Introduction Resource distribution and equal pay: the role of measurement (case one) Bystanding, blowing the whistle and the dynamics of silence (case two) Conclusion References Conclusion Index