by Dr. Sunita Rai
Organisations are made up of vision, mission, strategy, people, processes and structure amongst others. At the heart of an organisation is people: bosses, staff, clients, vendors and customers. Does an organisation have it’s own psychology? Definitely. And it is a lot more complex than the psychology of an individual or a family as the organisation is the sum total of all minds.
Many of us spend about 8-10 hrs of our time at work. And another perhaps 8hrs sleeping. That leaves us about 6-8 hours to socialise, exercise, have family time and some personal time. We spend more time at work than anything else. Organisations cannot deny that its people, their lives and the organisation have a reciprocal relationship. Each affects the other. If an organisation had a deeper understanding of the psychology of their staff, their values, purpose and interest amongst others, the organization could better engage them towards the success of the organisation be it in terms of profits or gaining market share or even BAU.
On the other hand, if the staff could understand the psychology of the organisation such as what are the dreams and visions of the organisation, its culture and innovative stance amongst others, they would take greater accountability for their work and increased responsibility towards their self growth. The idea is that each needs to understand the other in order for the ‘whole’ to be successful. Working in silo or expecting one to bend for the other reduces the potential growth of both parties. If each were to focus on each other’s strength and recognised the interdependency in the relationship, then each would focus on ‘what works’ and how we (organisation and the individual) could together expand and ripple its effects.
