First, let`s put aside situations where a leader deliberately withholds facts and acts in secret because he has something to hide. The realization of a healthy psychological contract will not be an objective or a possibility for these employers. First of all, the psychological contract refers to the relationship between an employer and its employees and concerns in particular mutual expectations in terms of inputs and results. Left side of the iceberg = employee feedback (and employer needs). As mentioned earlier, the concept of “psychological contract” offers many opportunities for understanding and improving relationships outside of the traditional employer-employee context. In the psychological contract, many perceptions become an important part of reality. A traditional employer/leader of X theory may dismiss employee perceptions as not real or relevant. The traditional autocratic view is.” To run a business, we need to act in reality and not worry about perceptions. However, if the workforce believes (perceives) that leadership is heavy or greedy, negligent or unethical, then this is the reality that leadership must face, as such perceptions have a great impact on the psychological contract. Perceptions are part of reality and rejecting them does not make them disappear. Negative emotions are a very strong factor in the unnecessary needs and dependencies of employees at work. Unhappy workers find many things they may be dissatisfied with; they require more support and help; they need more management; They feel worse about themselves, their job, their boss, their employer, their salary and their life as a whole. They also moan with their colleagues, who often come back, and reinforce negative feelings.
Thus, disgruntled employees are emotionally unable to be very tolerant or flexible when their employer needs it, making it much more difficult to manage the psychological contract. In terms of change management, it can be disastrous for organizational performance, and in terms of psychological contract, it stinks because that`s how employees think about it. It is a “vicious circle”. In short, it can be concluded that change management is a complicated process and that if it is not properly planned and implemented, the organization can find itself in a problematic scenario. Effective change management therefore requires a carefully planned and coordinated effort with full involvement and a dedicated approach on the part of the employees involved. The psychological contract and research shared in this article can provide the functional HR department with a guide to implement HR best practices and people management best practices to achieve maximum success in implementing change initiatives across the organization. Interestingly, there are still many leaders (in business and in governance in the broad sense) whose notions of power and authority are much closer to the practices of early industrialization of labor than to the modern world. This is perhaps particularly the case in the UK, which is still shaped by old systems and attitudes of class and elitism. The signs suggest that much of this old thinking will be forced to change – and will be reflected in the psychological contract – as people become more empowered at the level of employees, followers, citizens, customers, etc. In his 1967 book on technical assistance, I`m OK – You`re OK, Thomas Harris says of the “contract” in Transactional Analysis: “. We use the word “contract” as an expression of mutual expectations.
A basic definition of psychological contract appears in Michael Armstrong`s excellent Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th edition, 2006): “. The employment relationship consists of a unique combination of beliefs of a person and their employer about what they expect from each other. Recent research shows that Gen X or Millennial employees prefer a sense of excitement, a sense of community or commitment, and a life outside of work. They expect to be respected and treated like human beings. According to Woodruffe (1999), his thesis indicates that employees essentially want their requirements to be met: in order to obtain a fairly balanced psychological contract, important factors must be understood and understood. The more employee awareness an employer shows, the more likely it becomes that a mutual agreement – and a healthy psychological contract – can be established and maintained. Transactional analysis recognizes that a good working relationship cannot exist without the therapist taking due account of the patient`s “frame of reference.” This means that an employer takes due account of the employee`s frame of reference. The frame of reference here refers to how someone sees themselves, their life, and their world, including their work and employer. Looking at the “before and after” grid above in relation to the psychological contract, the first reaction may be to focus on the erosion of traditional outputs (benefits, rewards, etc.) that go to workers, such as job and career security, pensions, etc.
Expanding these problems, the tendency is to imagine that the changing nature of the psychological contract is a greater challenge for workers. or poses a threat to employers. In management, economics and HR (human resources), the term “psychological contract” refers in a general and somewhat vague way to the real – but not written – expectations of an employee or a workforce towards the employer. The psychological contract represents in a fundamental sense the duties, rights, rewards, etc. that an employee believes is “owed” by his employer in exchange for his work and loyalty. Conversely, when an employee feels good and the self-image is strong, they tend to see the employer more positively. “I love my job (and my boss) because I feel good.” The Psychological Contract now smells of roses. When an employee feels bad, they tend to look for someone to blame. We all behave this way sometimes, especially when our emotional reserves and self-image are low. When an employee is looking for someone to blame, they tend to put the employer at the top of the list. The employer`s perception is deteriorating. The psychological contract stinks mainly because the employee feels bad.
Transparency makes it possible to set in motion a “virtuous circle” within the psychological contract and to give employees reliable facts about their situation. I repeat that the openness and transparency of leaders must not extend to leaders who free themselves from the worries and pressures that arise from the accountability of leaders. Openness mainly refers to the flow of honest constructive communication within an organization, especially to establish mutual trust and awareness between leaders/managers and followers (for whom the Johari window is a very relevant and useful model). vc = visible contract – the usual written obligations of both parties in relation to labour law, for remuneration or salary, usually also vacation, as well as other obligations of dismissal and due diligence of the employee to work safely and appropriately. A particular exception and example is the term “contract” in transactional analysis, which is specifically described in modern technical assistance theory. Most people still live for weekends and their annual holidays; Many hate their work and are not really connected or connected to their employer, which is often a bigger problem for the employer than for employees. Beyond a certain level of consultation and involvement, employees generally accept management`s decision-making. Employees have their own tasks to accomplish and (ideally) appreciate them; Many do not aspire to be leaders themselves or to do the work of a leader, and therefore like to assume that leaders make good decisions in good faith – especially when in turn there are essential elements of trust and fairness.
“. Since psychological contracts represent how people interpret promises and commitments, both parties to the same employment relationship may have different views. (DM Rousseau and KA Wade-Benzoni, 1994) The traditionally dominant and advantageous position of an employer in relation to its workforce (or any other authority in relation to its followers, “clients” or members, etc.) means that the quality of the psychological contract is determined by the organizational management and not by its followers. A single worker, or perhaps a rebellious working group, could potentially “break” or abuse the psychological contract, but workers and followers almost always depend on the organization`s management for the quality of the contract itself under normal circumstances. Right side of the iceberg = reward for examples and employee expectations. Mysteriously suspicious employees are extremely difficult to deal with. The organization has no real idea of what it wants, nor of its priorities and concerns. The employer may not even realize that a problem exists until it explodes into a major crisis. Training and development was an important aspect of employer control.
Workers depended on their employers to improve their learning and skills, and thus their value in the labour market. This is no longer the case today. Employees are increasingly able to control their own learning and development, again thanks to modern technology, and a new attitude of self-sufficiency is emerging that we have never seen before. The most enlightened and progressive leaders will now inevitably address the deeper issues of employee ownership and representative leadership. The psychological contract explains the important aspects that affect working relationships or human behavior in an organization. .
