APA Ethical Standards in Relation to Organizational Psychology
Introduction
Organizational psychology is popularly known as the aspect of a business whereby the behaviors and attitudes or members of the organization are clearly understood to ensure smooth running of the entire workplace. Organizational psychologists are equivocal towards transforming the workplace to a homely environment where the psychological, physiological and career dimensions are well catered for by the employer. Achievement of this ideal workplace is enhanced by the APA ethical standards or moral philosophy of the workplace which are put in place to ensure that the overall wellbeing of various members is upheld. Almost all facets of the organization such as the competence of employees, their privacy, the credibility that is included in the advertisements relationships among the employees are concerned with ethical values
Discussion
1. Resolving ethical issues
Different organizational have different ways of resolving their ethical-based problems and other issues affecting one or more members of the workplace family. The organizational culture is essential in determining the nature of ethical issues, as well as, identifying the most relevant method through which the issue can be resolved. The ethical code in an organization is significant when identifying appropriate and inappropriate behavior in different scenarios of the issue at hand. The determination of the degree of issue is thus analyzed dependent on the shared values of the participants in the problem, as well as, cultural values as these may be contradicting hence it is important to obtain the opinion from both sides.
The other equally important facet of organizational culture in resolving ethical issues is depicted in the sub cultural aspect of the organization such as the corporate culture, departmental culture and issue-related culture as a combination of all these subcultures make up the entire culture. Similarly, the overall organizational culture is dependent on the values and norms that are evident at the grassroots level which is the departments in this case. Consequently, organizations which have been experiencing problems with ethical presentation of hiring staff should revamp their human resources departments as it is from this corner that the organization receives negativity. Hence resolutions of flawed outcomes in various projects should be analyzed from the very basic levels to increase chances of obtaining total solutions.
2. competence
Competence of employees in their responsibilities and duties is often regarded as the behaviors that are engaged by employees during their course of duty that result in achievement of the desired goals of an organization. Though not always, the competency of an employee depends on the resources available, the amount of time allocated the amount of skills that have been accrued in the course of duty, as well as, the combined organizational and personal goals. Thus, an employee has to perceive adequate support from the organization to prove their competency while the intrinsic motivation also plays a vital role at ensuring that the employee is able to perform at per always.
When analyzing the competence of a worker, it is important that the different methods used to measure the competency exhibit the degree of academic qualifications, in addition to, the distinct performance in specific areas of duty. This will provide ample opportunities to designate employee’s responsibilities which are within their level of skills to reduce chances of producing low quality goods and services. Hence the mental ability is vital when determining employee competence, in addition to, ensuring that emotional stability is maintained such that the quality of work may not be compromised by mental instability.
Employees on the other hand should be wary of tasks that are beyond their capability as it may turn up disastrous. This may be a compromise on their safety, as well as, that of clients and their colleagues as the ethical standards inhibits professionals from dealing with clients who have problems that are beyond their expertise.
3. Human relations
Human relation in organizational psychology refers to the interpersonal relationships that exist between people regardless of whether they are friends or just acquaintances. These relations are essential as in today’s world the aspect of team work in various scenarios such as employer-employee, employee-client and employee-employee are critical in determining the success of an organization (Truscott and Crook 2004).
Establishment of strong and sound relations among people who interact on almost daily basis is essential; to ensure that the teams are able to execute roles assigned to them effectively. This is attributed to the fact that the enhanced relations will ensure that members of the team who are not familiar with certain traditions and details o the task will be exposed to them hence increasing their efficiency. Similarly, there will be intense exchange of skills such the vital communication skills which deludes many conflicts regarding inter personal communication (Truscott 2004).
The employer-employee relations are significant at ensuring that the organization maintains a culture of open communications where leaders are able to resolve problems promptly. Similarly, the employee-client relations must be enhanced especially in the services as a way of ensuring that clients do not loose trust of their service providers hence walk away. The employee-employee relations when applied effectively instill a sense of team spirit among work mates who will be assured of their colleagues support hence the entire organizational psychology acquires a new tradition of valuing team spirit.
4. Privacy and confidentiality
Privacy and confidentiality of client and employee personal information is a vital APA ethical standard which is applicable in the organizational psychology where personal details are not divulged to anyone. In the services industry, client information should never be divulged to others except where legal authorities request for the same (Lehr, Lehr and Sumarah, 2007). Consequently, information regarding an employee should never be shared with other employees or individual without a legal consent authorizing for the sharing. These ethical standards are aimed at protecting the personal life of clients and employees from public ridicule as some people are known to use such information to blackmail others (Lehr, 2007).
The APA ethical standard protects the privacy of such details to prevent subsequent emotional trauma from having its toll on the client especially those possessing emotional problems. Similarly, employees often feel humiliated when they realize that their employer has used their personal details to discriminate against them especially in conflict resolution. The same prohibition applies to organizational psychologists who blacklist employees as less competent dependent on information that is aimed to be private such as affiliation to certain religions (Lehr, 2007).
Clients and employees will always be at peace knowing that the information that is shared with members of an organization that is meant to be private will not be shared with others. The same case applies for employers who divulge organizational secrets way before they are implemented. This makes the other employees to feel disillusioned as they may get to learn about the impending project or change from third parties rather than from their leaders. This is a big blow to management as employees may loose their trust and level of commitment as they may feel alienated from the normal running of an organization (Viens and Singer, 2008).
5. Advertisemnst and other public statements
Advertisements and other public statements refer to the revelation to the public of the status of an organization, as well as, impending organizational activities that involve the public’s interests. These include product/services marketing, awareness programs and job adverts.
The APA ethics standards dictate that information that is included in the various public informatory media should be nothing less than the truth. The same case applies for marketing projects which are aimed at introducing new goods and services to consumers. It is popular among marketers to include false details concerning the service or product in their advertisements woe consumers to buy their products. The false information that is included in the advertisements often misleads the consumers by making them purchase items through impulse buying or else purchase substandard goods. Similarly, the services may be flawed but through application of high level marketing skills, the consumers end up buying the services only to realize that they were shortchanged.
The other critical ethical issue regarding public statements is the realization of how much the public should know about the financial performance of the organization. This information is important for potential investors, as well as, the stakeholders who may be in dire need of identifying the progress of their organization. Over the years, most organizations have indulged into series of lies regarding their performance as a way of maintaining the reputation and image. Similarly, the issue of maintaining constant suppliers and obtaining credit services from financial institutions may lead to presentation of false reports to the public. This does not auger well with the APA ethics standard which calls for every statement aimed for the public’s scrutiny to be made up of pure truth.
Consequently, job vacancy information that is aimed at benefiting members of a society should be clear and concise such that no contradicting information is presented to avoid inconveniences on the job seekers side. Therefore, organizations credibility can be analyzed by the reliability and weight that is incorporated in the public statements, as well as, in discerning the degree of trust that will be bestowed on the employees and their services or products.
6. Record keeping and fees
Record keeping entails the procedures that are involved in ensuring that data that is captured from the field and in the line of duty is kept well. This does not necessarily entail use of complex record keeping skills but rather whether information extracted from consumers and suppliers is kept safely(American Psychological Association Council of Editors 2009)
The APA ethics standard emphasizes on the effective keeping of records for all transactions and interviews that are conducted on clients and employees. These entail records of past counseling session’s, form of treatment used and degree of patient involvement in the course of treatment. Consequently, records of employees which should include level of education, area of specialty and number of years for which the individual has practiced in the field. Such information regarding the employee is vital especially when anomalies occur in the course of duty which may require the organization to produce proof of their employee’s competence.
Fees are charged in relation to the amount and nature of services that are offered to clients such that is not ethical to charge exorbitant fees yet the client has just received basic therapy or services. Similarly, organizational psychology deems all fees and prices charged for goods and services as being proportional to the nature of products sold to clients. This protocol reduces chances of consumer exploitation which is common in the service market as at times it is difficult to measure the amount of services in relation to available fee rates.
7. Education and training
Education refers to the academic level that is attained by the employee prior to gaining employment at the organization. Depending on the level of operation and task an employee should have attained minimum qualifications in the relevant field so that the degree of efficiency may be enhanced. Similarly, employee competence and performance is largely influenced by the level of formal training for the employee.
Some organizations have developed strategies and programs that incorporate advanced training procedures for their employees to ensure that they carry on with their education. The training programs may involve areas which are not necessarily psychological or based on the employees areas of specialization but they are aimed at enhancing the ability to solve multi-faceted problems. Psychology being a wide field incorporates diverse areas such as understanding the physiological, social, cultural and financial dimensions of life such that emotional problems among employees may be caused by factors that are not anatomical. Therefore, when the psychologist or employee obtains an insight on the various causes of emotional instability hence clients presenting a combination of symptoms are easily diagnosed and relevant treatment procedures accorded to them.
This is a clear indication that employees in organizational psychology should be exposed to appropriate training procedures regardless of their area of specialty as a way of increasing their productivity and also in reducing the possible errors which may result from lack of relevant expertise.
8. Research and publication
Research based on the cases of clients or that which includes employee information should only be conducted after the participants consent has being obtained. This is also important for the publications as most of them are often based on the cases presented by clients and consumers who benefit directly from the organization. Most research articles and publications often acknowledge participants, as well as, providing a list of their manes hence it would be unethical for an organization to carry out research on clients yet exclude them in the final publication. Similarly, it is unethical to disclose the names of clients in the body of research finding as this is equivalent to breaching their privacy (American Psychological Association2007).
Consequently, research findings and publications should be comprehensive and reliable such that the information presented should be valid as a way of portraying the level of credibility of the organizational, as well as, the researchers. This is attributed to the fact that the degree of competence portrayed by the findings will endear more clients and consumers to an organization due to the level of reliability that is portrayed by the publications (American Psychological Association 2010).
Various research techniques are used in organizational psychology to determine various psychological aspects such as the relationship between job performance and the emotional status of the employee. This involves application of both qualitative and quantitative research methods to obtain descriptive data that will enable management to solve issues that are related to poor organizational culture in increasing employee performance.
9. Assessments
Organizational psychology employs various assessment methods for employees and clients such as physical tests, psychomotor tests and personality tests which are administered to determine the degree of employee differences depicted in their behavioral patterns. All these tests are applicable at individual level hence the disparity is attained quite easily without any biasness in data obtained (Pope and Vasquez 2007).
Other than assessing employees who are already incorporated in the organization, the assessment tests can be applied for potential employees during the recruitment period. The tests are standardized to ensure that all participants of the recruitment process are subjected to equal employment opportunities by filling in their professional and academic performances are portrayed well in the assessment form. Similarly, the assessments usually incorporate all dimensions of an individual’s life hence ensuring that the organization obtains the most rounded employee who is able to adapt into the system wit least problems (Pope 2007).
10. Therapy
The APA ethical standard depicts that before a psychologist or organization administers any form of therapeutic treatment to clients, an informed consent form must be presented to an organization authorizing the procedure. This minimizes chances of any error occurring during the course of treatment and therapy especially when the client declines to cooperate (Pomerantz, 2005).
The informed consent is often obtained from therapy organization where specific details of the client’s preferences and interests are indicated. Therapy as a direct contact between the client and counselor or organization is emphasized on highly as it is significant in determining the credibility of the services offered by an organization (Thomas, 2007).
Conclusion
The APA ethical standards are applicable to a wide range of organizations due to the influence of the ethical issues on the standards. Similarly, human capital as a critical part of organizational psychology as it affects their contribution towards their daily output in the assigned duties. The various standards have also generated influence on the overall running of the entire organizational psychology where the client and employee are regarded as critical elements in ensuring that an organization and the entire psychological field has attained the cognition it deserves.
References
American Psychological Association (2010), ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct: 2010 Amendments
American Psychological Association. (2007), Meetingof the Publications and Communications Board [Agenda book]. APA Archives, Washington, DC.
American Psychological Association Council of Editors (2009)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).. Washington, DC
Falender. C. and Shafranske E. (2004), Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based ApproachWashington, DC: American Psychological Association
Lehr, R., Lehr, A. and Sumarah, J. (2007)”confidentiality and informed consent: School counselors’ perceptions of ethical practices”. Canadian Journal of Counseling , vol. 41,iss. 1. pp16-30
Pomerantz, A. (2005),”Increasingly informed consent: Discussing distinct aspects of psychotherapy at different points in time”. Ethics & Behavior, vol. 15. iss. 4, pp. 351-360
Pope, K. S. and Vasquez M, J.T. (2007) Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide, Third Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley
Viens, A.M. and Singer, P.A. (2008)the Cambridge Textbook of BioethicsNew York: CambridgeUniversity Press
Thomas, J. T. (2007) “informed Consent through Contracting for Supervision: Minimizing Risks, Enhancing Benefits” by. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, June, vol. 38, iss. 3 pp.221–231.
Truscott, D. and Crook K. H. (2004), Ethics for the Practice of Psychology in Canada. Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta Press
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