Article by Charles Handler and Mark C. Healy( L v" L! G8 i/ ~5 I: h
Many ERE readers are aware that there are several different types of scientists who study the interaction between humans and the workplace. Among this small but illustrious group are several types of psychologists, including those of the industrial/organizational variety (i.e., I/O psychologists).
$ |3 W* c( r7 N5 G) B+ L9 mWhile many I/O psychologists still spend their time in ivory towers, things are changing and an increasing number of us are making very real and practical contributions that have an impact for companies of all types.
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Given the increasing interest in I/O psychology among staffing professionals, we thought it may be of interest to provide some background about who we are and what we can do. Although I/O psychology has many facets, this article focuses specifically on our role in the recruiting and staffing functions.
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The Science of HiringThe early years of formal I/O psychology only go back to the 1890s. The roots of the science of finding the best people to fill a job may be traced back to the Industrial Revolution and was central to questions around how to manage several thousand workers at once, 'round the clock, in many factories.
* j. a( x. Y, Z& @( H2 j7 W# cThe problems of the Industrial Revolution provided fertile ground for the grandparents of I/O psychology, who included Walter Dill Scott and Hugo Munsterberg.
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However, the well-known (or infamous, depending on your viewpoint) Frederick W. Taylor was the true impetus for the field, in the early 20th Century. Dubbed the "Enemy of the People," Taylor used painfully detailed observation and film to dissect the job tasks of the physical laborer. He showed that work could be systematically described and made much more efficient by redesigning each step of a task.
6 Z( o- X9 ]0 F Q8 BThis makes Taylor the father of job analysis, which is the bread and butter of I/O psychology, and a common and highly valued aspect of the work of I/Oers.
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The major focus of our fledgling field then shifted to the question of which people should be hired to perform all the new jobs created by the Industrial Revolution and its related societal changes.
2 j3 x" ~' P' {7 K7 C2 d" oThe U.S. military's quest to improve the assignment of recruits to specific roles led to the Army Alpha and Beta tests of World War I. These programs are the roots of all personnel testing and although these early versions of cognitive ability, psychomotor, and personality tests were never really validated or used in the war, their development rapidly advanced the science of hiring.
- c! ?1 f! X3 \5 @Despite the importance of earlier work, it was really World War II that ended up being I/O psychology's watershed moment.
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In WWI, the military was slow to realize that a much more effective method of determining who should pilot dangerous and critical combat missions was desperately needed. Interview-based evaluations of "courage" and early incarnations of IQ tests were not resulting in effective piloting of early, crash-prone fighter planes. The Aviation Psychology Program was born out of this problem.
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The most important contribution of this program was the decision to place John C. Flanagan in charge of implementing testing and other assessment tools to figure out who should fly planes for the military effort.
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This hectic yet methodical effort was nothing short of incredibly successful. In a short time, Flanagan's team changed the way things were done by:
$ ~! U1 ^1 u: f. j. A% q: X- Linking performance on realistic job simulations, an array of cognitive ability tests, carefully structured interviews, and personality profiles to performance in the field.
- Using a wealth of qualitative data and statistics about how teamwork and group cohesion improved the success of all aspects of aircraft maintenance and flight missions.
- Demonstrating how overall job fit and interest in aircraft contributed to the motivation of recruits.
- Dramatically improving the success of flight missions and the worldwide deployment of support roles for those missions.
- Training hundreds of future testing experts in the science of psychometrics, statistics, and human individual differences.
In fact, Flanagan and his team of over 1,000 professionals are unsung heroes of World War II. By ensuring that workers' strengths were matched to the right kind of hard work required by the war effort, the Aviation Psychology Program ensured the selection of the most motivated Air Corps workers and saved thousands of lives.
