How can we understand the relationship between employer and employee? What determines the give and take of such relationships and what happens when they go wrong? This text is a comprehensive overview of what is now the major way of trying to understand the employment relationship - the concept of the psychological contract.
Bringing together a wide range of theory from social and cognitive psychology, organizational behaviour, organizational learning and the management of change, this text draws useful conclusions about important psychological processes.
What is the psychological contract? How do the psychological contracts of professional workers change over time? Do professional workers feel more committed to their profession or to their employing organization? Can psychological contracts be 'managed'? These are some of the key questions addressed by this book in its examination of the role played by the psychological contract in the developing careers of professional workers. The book seeks to make sense of the organizational experiences of the professional worker by drawing on several areas of research, including the psychological contract, social identity theory, theories of career development and retention. The author uses real-life examples and short case studies to situate psychological theory within organizations. Beginning with an introduction of the history and concept of the psychological contract, the book provides an overview of the major areas of research. However it goes beyond a simple description to focus on the careers of professional workers, from factors influencing the entrance into a profession, to the process of developing professional identities and career progression. The developing professional career may involve a progression to managerial responsibilities which can lead to organizational conflict. The book offers insights into the influence of the psychological contract when it comes to critical career decisions, including a discussion of the consequences of psychological contract violation. Finally the role of HR is examined with reference to the 'management' of the psychological contract and the retention of key professional workers within organizations. The book is key reading for all psychology students, especially those specializing in occupational, organizational, work and business psychology. It will also be of interest to HR students and HR professionals, business students and health professionals.
Contains 15 essays which discuss from diverse national perspectives obligations workers owe their employers and those owed by employers to their employees.
How can we understand the relationship between employer and employee? What determines the give and take of such relationships and what happens when they go wrong? This book is the first to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of what is now the major way of trying to understand the employment relationship - the concept of the psychological contract. Written contracts often specify very little in terms of the important details about what we are prepared to do for our employer and what we want back in return. The psychological contract considers these implicit or unwritten aspects of the employment relationship. What do employees really expect from work? What happens when the contract, or 'the deal', with their employer is broken? How well does the psychological contract help us understand what happens at work between an employee and their employer? Is the idea of practical value in managing employees? How can our understanding of this important concept be developed in the future? Starting with a history of the concept, from its emergence in the 1960s through to it finding wider acceptance in the 1990s, the authors trace the conflicting and changing definitions of the psychological contract. The shifting meaning of the concept allows possible methodological and conceptual weaknesses of the psychological contract to be explored, such as the conceptual emphasis on process within the employment relationship, which has so far been neglected by researchers. The authors start to address this issue by considering whether employees and employers can use what is known about the psychological contract to better manage the employment relationship. Written to provide a comprehensive yet critical introduction to the topic, Understanding Psychological Contracts at Work will be key reading for advanced students, lecturers, and researchers in Organizational Psychology, Organization Studies, Management Studies, Human Resource Management, Occupational Psychology; and professionals and practitioners in Occupational Psychology, Management Consultancy, Human Resource Management, Careers and Career Management, Career Counselling, Workplace Training.
The psychological contract is considered a critical construct in organizational behavior literature because it informs employee emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in the workplace. Although the psychological contract has been explored extensively over the last 50 years, numerous theoretical, conceptual, empirical, methodological, and analytical changes have pushed the field forward. As such, it is time to take stock and move forward. The contributors to this Handbook explore in detail this important component of modern management thinking.
This is the first book which shows how the psychological contract can be used in practice. Michael Wellin reinterprets the psychological contract as something very tangible that exists between people at work and indicates how it can be used to increase business performance, improve employee commitment, and enable employees to realise their potential. Throughout the book, the author combines the latest organisation behaviour research findings, including those on the psychological contract, with his own and colleagues' experiences, to provide an important and extremely readable book for human resource specialists and all those concerned with the performance of their organisation and its people.
During the last fifteen years, researchers have shown increasing interest in the exchange relationship between the employee and employer. Until now, the literatures examining the employment relationships have tended to operate either from the employer or the employee perspectives and have typically approached the topic from a single discipline be it psychology, sociology, human resource management, organizational behavior, industrial relations, law or economics. Failure to consider multiple perspectives has created a fragmented understanding of the employment relationship. This volume incorporates social exchange, economics, industrial relations, legal, and justice theory perspectives. In addition, chapters have been written by authors that reflect the full international body of research on the employment relationship and provide information about legislation, governance, and cultural differences across nations. The conceptual and empirical foundations for understanding theemployment relationship from these different theoretical perspectives facilitates the establishment of the convergent and discriminant validity of the psychological contract and the investments-contributions models of the employment relationship in relation to related exchange constructs such as perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange. The interdisciplinary and international nature of the employment relationship literature reviewed and integrated in this volume provides arichness that is rarely available in studies of the workplace, and many new and provocative ideas are presented in this volume. Bringing these perspectives together provides greater comprehensiveness, clarity, synthesis and understanding of the employment relationship. This volume is designed to promote the thinking of scholars in the employment relationship area. It will also have relevance to practitioners primarily through the implications of this multi-disciplinary perspective. The volume offers implications of a holistic, multi-disciplinary, international, conceptualization of the employment relationship for theory development, empirical research and measurement, and policy.
This book introduces the psychological contract as a multi-level contextual construct and closes some of the knowledge gaps on the nature of the digital era psychological contract. The digital era psychological contract gives rise to a new type of employer-employee relationship manifesting at the nexus between people and technology in a post-COVID-19 world. The book volume provides promising new approaches for psychological contract research, offering a rich compendium of reflections on the shifts in employer-employee expectations and obligations, as well as suggestions for future research and practice. Chapter contributions are divided into four main sections: The Digital Era: Contextual Issues and the Psychological Contract Managing the Psychological Contract in the Digital Era: Issues for Organisational Practice Managing the Psychological Contract in the Digital Era: Issues of Diversity Integration and Conclusion Redefining the Psychological Contract in the Digital Era is an insightful examination of the evolving nature of the psychological contract, presenting novel insights into the antecedents, consequences, and facets of the new multi-level contextual digital era psychological contract. The primary audience for this book volume is advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in industrial and organisational psychology and human resource management, as well as scholars in both academic and applied work settings. Human resource managers and professionals will also have an interest in this book volume.
The psychological contract lies at the heart of your relationship with the organisation you work for. It is the deal you make with your employer and colleagues at work; it is about your mutual expectations and their fulfilment. Too often this contract is implicit and left to chance, resulting in misunderstanding, stress, lower commitment and performance. The author demonstrates how to use the psychological contract to raise the business game and increase personal fulfilment. Managing the Psychological Contract is the first book which shows how the psychological contract can be used in practice. In it Michael Wellin advocates going beyond the traditional static view of the psychological contract between the organisation and its employees. He shows how to create unique and dynamic customised Personal Deals between people and teams. He does this by showing how to make personal deals explicit and mutual, and provides practical tips for leaders, employees and HR professionals. Separate chapters are devoted to leadership, culture change and strategic HR management. There is also a chapter of practical ideas for individuals who want to change their personal deal at work. The author's ideas are based on his own research and consultancy experience as well as the latest business school research. The book has a number of case studies showing how different organisations use the psychological contract. This is an important and extremely readable book for all those concerned with the improved performance of people and organisations.
