Applied psychology in human resource management

As in the first four editions of this book, I have tried to create an interdisciplinary-oriented, research-based HR text. My subject matter is personnel psychology - the application of psychological research and theory to human resource problems in organizations. As an applied area of psychology, personnel psychology seeks to make organizations more effective and more satisfying as places to work. Personnel psychology represents the overlap between psychology and human resource management (HRM). It is a subfield within HRM, excluding, for example, such a topics as labor law, organization planning, compensation and benefits, and labor relations. By definition, therefore, this text down not treat all of the areas within the field of HRM comprehensively. Personnel psychology is also a subfield within industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology - the study of human behavior in the work setting. Today, with the tremendous growth of I/O psychology in a variety of directions, HR is appropriately considered only one of many areas to which I/O psychologists have turned their attention. To be sure, the HR function has changed drastically. Twenty-five years ago it was primarily concerned with housekeeping, file maintenance, and organizational fire fighting. Today's top HR manager (Director of Human Resources)often functions as a strategic partner with other top managers of a business.