Organizational Psychology

University of Canterbury via edX MicroMasters

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Details

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Provider

edX MicroMasters
Pricing

$695.00
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Duration & workload

30 weeks, 6-8 hours a week

Found in

Overview

Organizational psychology is a quickly growing field due to the importance of work in people’s lives. Given the amount of time most of us spend at work, it is important to create workplaces that have a positive impact on employees, and support productivity. This MicroMasters introduces this exciting and dynamic field, by presenting topics that are relevant to anyone interested in understanding working life better through learning more about the psychology of work and organizations. You will learn about concepts and skills that can be directly apply to your own work situation.

This program will be useful for anyone with some background in psychology, human resource management, or related areas, or anyone who is working, perhaps in a team leader or managerial role, and want to add knowledge and skills to their toolbox.

The topics covered in this MicroMasters are selected to give an overview of the most salient processes that organizations deal with, from the perspective of how employees are affected by these processes and how they respond to them. Each course combines the latest research evidence with our own research on leadership and employee wellbeing, brought to life by examples from our own experience working with organizations. We are bringing selected parts of the University of Canterbury’s well established and trusted organizational psychology program to you.

Completing the five courses will give you a deeper understanding of people at work, and how organizations can get the best out of their people. These courses also give you solutions to common workplace issues; getting the right person and motivating staff, how to promote psychologically healthy workplaces and create an inclusive climate where people thrive.

To get the most out of these courses, we recommend that you complete all five, since the topics are linked to each other, and you will gain a deeper understanding, and be able to see how the different topics connect as you go through the courses.

First, we start by focusing on recruitment and selection. Our second course focuses on how we get the best out of employees. We explore contemporary challenges for organizations, starting with reviewing aspects of leadership and how leaders play an important role in shaping organizational success. Then we move onto the topic of recurring changes and how employees and organizations are best supported through initiatives to support innovation. Finally, we explore factors that promote psychologically healthy workplaces.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Recruiting and Selecting the Right Person

Learn to ensure that your organization has the right people in the right jobs, to support employee wellbeing and improve performance and organizational success as part of the UCx in Organizational Psychology MicroMasters.

Course 2: Performance and Motivation at Work

Learn what factors support high performance at work, including systems, processes, and interpersonal relationships, as part of the Organizational Psychology MicroMasters.

Course 3: Leadership for Contemporary Organizations

Learn about how leaders foster engagement, growth, and a sense of meaning at work in a changing and increasingly diverse environment as part of the UCx Organizational Psychology MicroMasters

Course 4: Supporting Employee Wellbeing

Learn the principles required to build psychologically healthy workplaces, as part of the UCx Organizational Psychology MicroMasters.

Course 5: Organizational Change & Innovation

Learn about the psychology and processes of organizational change, creativity, and innovation as part of the UCx Organizational Psychology MicroMasters

Courses

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6 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
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High performing employees is one of the most important contributors to successful organizations. But how can high performance be supported? In this course we will cover topics relating to managing for high performance, including motivating employees through goal setting and coaching, measuring performance accurately and fairly, and developing performance to support organizational goals.

We will start by defining performance. Students will be able to describe what performance is and key factors contributing to high performance.

We will then move on to exploring how employees can be motivated to perform – one of the cornerstones of high performance described in our first section. Students will learn about some key models of motivation and how these can be used to motivate employees. Students will be able to describe important factors for a motivating work environment.

Our next section will look at the key features of a good performance management system. Students will be able to describe what factors need to be in place, beyond motivation, and how organizations can design systems and processes to support performance. Students will also learn about the importance of leadership factors such as ongoing provision of feedback and coaching.

Then we will look at performance measurement. Students will be able to describe different approaches, such as measuring results and behavior, and they will be able to describe how criteria and standards are formulated to capture performance. They will also learn about the importance of accuracy (validity) and fairness in performance ratings.

The last section will focus on some recent developments and challenges to performance management. Students will learn about some of the ongoing debates in this area and get an idea of what some have suggested is the future of high performance in organizations.
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6 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
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Ensuring that the right people are in the right jobs creates a platform for employee wellbeing and performance, and for organizational success. Understanding this is important for anyone working, but especially those in roles that can involve employee recruitment and selection, for example team leaders, managers, and human resource professionals.

In this course we will cover topics relating to recruitment and selection processes, including conducting a job analysis, developing recruitment and selection strategies, and welcoming new employees to an organization.

We will begin with a look at the history of employee selection, which also serves as a brief introduction to the background of industrial/organizational psychology.

Next, we will consider the steps that should be taken when preparing to hire new employees. Students will be able to explain the importance of job analysis and of forecasting staffing needs, including diversity considerations.

We will then move on to look at the purpose of recruitment. Students will be able to differentiate recruitment from selection processes. Students will learn how to develop effective and efficient recruitment strategies that reach target audiences without excluding potential candidates.

The next section will takes a close look at selection processes. Students will be able to explain the concepts of reliability and validity as they pertain to selection methods. Students will also be able to describe the different biases that can impact selection decisions, and how to prevent these from occurring.

In our final section of the course, we will focus on the importance of onboarding. Students will be able to describe the impact that an employee’s initial experience of their new organization has on early success and performance in their new role.

This course is part of the UCx Micromasters in Organizational Psychology, each teaching key topics that will increase your knowledge about this exciting field. In order to qualify for the Micro-Masters Credential you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the five courses
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6 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
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Leaders influence an organization’s strategic direction, culture, and day-to-day operations. In this course, we will highlight the complexity of leadership processes, and show that leader effectiveness is best understood by considering workplace dynamics and the organization’s external environment.

The course will cover some of the big questions related to leadership. Why do organizations need leaders? Is there one ideal way to lead? How do leaders and leadership development contribute to organizational development? Exploring these questions will be of value to anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of leadership and how to maximize its positive impact at work.

We begin with a brief overview of leadership history, from the ancient world to the present day, which explains how we arrived at contemporary mainstream leadership frameworks.

Our next section will focus on leadership traits and behaviors; students will learn about the traits and behaviors most commonly attributed to effective or ineffective leaders, and how context influences these relationships.

We will then question what is expected from leaders, and why people choose to pursue leadership roles. Students will learn about the role of leader identity and emotions in leadership processes and organizational outcomes.

Next, we will look at leadership development with a particular focus on coaching. Students will be able to explain the impact and limitations of coaching as a leadership development technique, and how to assess its effectiveness.

Our final section describes how leaders foster engagement and sense of meaningful work among employees.

This course is part of the UCx Micromasters in Organizational Psychology, and each key topic will increase your knowledge about this exciting field. In order to qualify for the MicroMasters Credential you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the five courses.
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6 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
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Psychologically healthy workplaces are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for high performance. But how can organizations create workplaces that support and promote wellbeing among employees? Using psychological theories and the latest research, this course explores factors which promote wellbeing and create inclusive workplaces, where employees are able to perform at their best.

We will start by defining wellbeing and how it links to other concepts that we’ve discussed in the course, like engagement. We’ll talk about what factors promote wellbeing at work and how organizations can ensure these factors are in place.

Another key topic in this course is how to prevent stress and burnout, and we’ll spend our next section learning about what these concepts mean, how they are related to each other and to wellbeing, and how they can be prevented.

The concept of work-life balance is often discussed in media as an important factor, and we’ll take a good look at what this is, how it relates to wellbeing, and how it can be supported by organizations.

Next, we move on to psychological safety and inclusion, two related and increasingly important topics in the workplace. We’ll look at how to create psychologically safe workplaces and how this supports inclusion, and performance.

Finally, we’ll spend some time exploring the role of meaningful work for wellbeing, how employees can be supported in feeling like their jobs matter, and what employees can do themselves to feel better about their work.

This course is part of the UCx Micromasters in Organisational Psychology, each teaching key topics that will increase your knowledge about this exciting field. In order to qualify for the MicroMasters Credential you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the five courses