The Social Psychology of Organizations

Book excerpt: 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.