Week 3 Lecture PDF

Ethics Issues in Organisational Psychology EMMA-JANE HARRISON ENDORSED ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST About me Registered, Endorsed Organisational Psychologist Background in Consulting, Psych Assessment, OD Placement Manager & Course Coordinator/lecturer in MOP PhD candidate What...

Ethics Issues in Organisational Psychology EMMA-JANE HARRISON ENDORSED ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST About me Registered, Endorsed Organisational Psychologist Background in Consulting, Psych Assessment, OD Placement Manager & Course Coordinator/lecturer in MOP PhD candidate What is Organisational Psychology? “ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY IS THE ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS SPECIALISE SCIENCE OF PEOPLE AT WORK. IN ANALYSING ORGANISATIONS & THEIR PEOPLE, & DEVISING STRATEGIES TO RECRUIT, MOTIVATE, DEVELOP, CHANGE & INSPIRE.” (APS) What are the pathways to becoming an Organisational Psychologist? u Four-year APAC accredited Psychology Program u Higher degree pathway: 5th & 6th year Masters degree or combined Masters/PhD (APAC accredited) u Entry requirements u General registration u Endorsement > Organisational Psychologist  Areas of practice include: u Psychometric Assessment (for selection and development) u Organisational Change u Organisational Development u Training & Development u Coaching, Mentoring & Career Development u Health & Safety u Human Factors u Workplace research (e.g. Program evaluations; climate/culture surveys) When do ethical guidelines apply to Organisational Psychologists? u At work u Sporting teams u Social situations u *Public register What sorts of relationships might an organisational psychologist need to manage? Ø Clients (individual, group & organisational) Ø Supervisors Ø Colleagues from own profession Ø Other professionals Ø Candidates Ø Members of the public Ø Students & registrars Ethics: definition Oxford dictionary u NOUN moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity Intrinsic vs extrinsic framework?  “Ethics” in the Org Psych Context The accelerating concern for human rights has been progressed by: u Civil rights laws u Anti-discrimination cases u Union agreements/negotiations Concern for ethical behaviour in Organisational Psychology practice centres around psychologists’ obligations towards: u job applicants/candidates u employees u employers/client organisation u the public Duty of Care Ø Responsibility for ensuring individual needs are met/accommodated in a fair and ethical manner Ø Relevance to org psych: § Not discriminating (age, race, gender, disability etc) § Ensuring all applicants have fair & equal opportunity § Informed consent § Privacy & confidentiality § Ensuring the “safety” of the individual Ø Guiding principle is the same as clinical psychology: Do no harm  Risks? If ethical processes are not adhered to, risks include: u Negative impact the outcome of the process (eg selection) u Impact on the organisation’s performance & reputation u Impact on the individual’s well-being u Dispute or litigation u Loss of psychologist’s registration  Psychological Ethics Ø “A lack of awareness or misunderstanding of an ethical standard is not a defence to an allegation of unethical conduct.” (APS Code of Ethics) What codes, contracts or regulations apply? u The Australian Psychological Society (APS) u Employment Law u Organisational requirements Ø Code of Conduct Ø Any contractual agreements (scope of works etc)  APS Ethical Guidelines u The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is our national professional body u The APS has some detailed guidelines regarding: § Ethics in general - psychological practice § Ethics - specific to use of psych testing u Guidelines accessed via their website only if you are a member u Guidelines can be accessed on AHPRA website  Employment Law v Qld Anti-Discrimination Act (1991) u Promotes “fair treatment & equality of opportunity by protecting everyone from unfair discrimination, sexual harassment, and vilification in employment” u The Act has implications for recruitment and selection processes (regardless of whether you are a psychologist or other HR professional, manager etc) It is against the law to discriminate against people based on: u Family responsibilities u Sexuality u Gender identity u Relationship or parental status u Race u Age u Impairment u Religious belief or activity u Trade union activity u Lawful sexual activity u Pregnancy or breast-feeding  Anti-Discrimination Tribunal The Anti-Discrimination Tribunal Queensland was established under the Anti- Discrimination Act 1991: u to hear and determine complaints that the Act has been contravened u to grant exemptions from the Act u to provide opinions about the application of the Act  Anti-Discrimination Tribunal u Examples of exemptions from the Act? Legal & Ethical Issues in Selection Applies to all aspects of the selection process: u Job Analysis u Initial screening (resume, KSC’s) u Interviews (phone or face-to-face) u Psychological testing u Assessment centre u Final interviews u Medical u Reference checking  Relevance to R&S u Selection Criteria & PD’s must contain direct relevance to the knowledge, skills, & abilities of the job. Ø Emphasis must be on abilities rather than personal characteristics. u Job ads need to give the impression that ALL suitable applicants are welcome to apply and must u Avoid references to sex, relationship status, age, race etc. u Avoid irrelevant wording (e.g., glamorous, mature, youthful etc) u Clearly outline the job, rather than irrelevant personal attributes  Relevance to R&S u Applications – must be judged on skills & abilities u Personal matters are not relevant (unless directly related to ability/willingness to do the job)  Relevance to R&S Interviewers should: Ø ask comparable questions of each applicant § Structured interviewing processes § Behavioural interviews § This should be stated Ø provide equal opportunities for candidates  Relevance to R&S u Personal questions should NOT be asked unless SPECIFICALLY job-relevant Ø Do not ask personal questions on either application forms or during interviews (unless DIRECTLY job relevant) Ø Ask about criteria as opposed to asking about biased assumptions eg ask: “What is your availability each week for this work” DO NOT ask: “Do you have young children? Will this make you unavailable at certain times during the week?” Relevance to R&S Pre-employment tests & medicals are only appropriate when: u specifically job-relevant e.g. medicals given to train drivers, pilots, truck drivers etc. u relevance to the job is documented eg in job analysis/PD/job ad Ethics in Org Psych: Ø Case 1: Consent & Voluntary Participation I Ø Case 2: Consent & Voluntary Participation II Ø Case 3: Who is the Client? With whom does confidentiality lie? Ø Case 4: Discrimination Ø Case 5: Unintentional/Subtle/Indirect Discrimination Ø Case 6: Dual & Multiple Roles Ø Case 7: Code of Ethics vs Code of Friendship/Loyalty Consent & Voluntary Participation § You are working on an employee engagement and team development project at a highly successful public sector organisation. § As part of the process, you (the consultant) are conducting group development sessions with teams within the organisation. u Although you know that participation should be voluntary, you overhear a conversation between employees in the tea room that leads you to believe line managers at the organisation are making the group development sessions “Mandatory”. u What do you do? Consent & Voluntary Participation § You are a Psychologist administering psychometric assessments to candidates applying for a role at a client organisation. Candidates read and sign an information sheet to provide their informed consent before commencing the assessments. § One candidate laughs at the sentence: participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time. He says “Well, I can’t really agree with that, because if I don’t take these assessments, the organisation will not consider me for the job!” u How would you respond to the candidate? u If they sign the form, would you still consider it valid?  Who is the client? Confidentiality? § You are a consulting psychologist working on a leadership development project for a client. § You are tasked with providing feedback to senior leaders on their psychometric assessment results. During a one-on-one feedback session, a leader mentions some of his results relate to traumatic childhood experiences that occurred more than 20 years ago. He also mentions that these issues impact on his performance at work and he has been diagnosed with PTSD. u Your job is to prepare a development report based on the assessment results and this feedback session. The HR department, the participant and his direct supervisor will see the report. u What information do you think is appropriate to reveal in this report? u What other actions would you take? Discrimination § You are working on a selection and recruitment package for a managerial level role. Following short-listing, your client asks you to assess the applicants using personality profiling and cognitive ability testing, while the client conducts interviews. § At the conclusion of testing and interviews, you arrange a meeting with the client to feedback the results of the assessments. One candidate is considerably stronger than the others, both in terms of the selection criteria and fit to the company culture and values. § You are shocked when the Hiring Manager asks “Everyone knows that {insert any number of discriminatory comments here}!!”. u This is clearly a case of discrimination. What would you do? Unintentional Discrimination § You are an Organisational Psychologist in a private sector organisation. A number of employees are being considered for internal promotions and you have been asked to serve on the interview panel. § One member of the panel makes a comment to a candidate admiring her engagement and wedding rings. When the interview commences, the first set of questions ask about the candidate’s commitment and long term career aspirations within the company. u The candidate seems upset by these questions and following the interview, she requests a meeting with you. She mentions that she felt these questions were not appropriate. All candidates are asked the same standard set of questions and this is the only candidate with a complaint/issue. u Why might this be? What action would you take? Dual and Multiple Relationships § You are a psychologist working in a business with other members of your family. You regularly screen resumes, conduct psychometric assessments, short-list candidates and conduct job interviews. § As some of your siblings and cousins work in management at the same company, you often feedback candidate results to family members and sit on the same panel interviews with people you are related to. u In this way, a dual relationship exists, whereby your relationship with many of the managers is that of “client” and “family”. u What are some of the problems that may emerge? What steps could you take to minimise the problems related to dual or multiple relationships? Code of Loyalty? § You are working in Organisational Development in the construction industry. Due to economic/market forces, construction projects have dropped by 50% and senior management have to take action. You are placed on a workforce planning team responsible rolling out a large number of redundancies as part of a major restructure. § Your best friend also works at the same company. Like most, she is not aware of the plans to greatly reduce staff numbers and is about to make an offer to purchase a house. Your friend is going to be made redundant at the completion of the project she is working on and you realise she will not be able to afford this house if she loses her job. u As all details of the planned staff cuts are highly confidential, you have an obligation not to disclose the details to anyone. However, you could save your friend from losing her new home and potential bankruptcy if you let her know what is going on. u What would you do? Current issues in personnel selection u Requirement for non-traditional tests, eg., safety, leadership, emotional intelligence u Use of some newer tests sometimes not properly researched u Aging population & retaining x & y gens u Big data u Social media profiling u Gamification Future directions u What are the potential implications of COVID-19 for work? u Some potential issues: u whole offices working remotely u leading virtual teams u implementing new technology u Selection processes u Assessment centres u Interviews Questions