Training the industrial and organisational psychologist as counsellor: Are we doing enough?

Abstract

Orientation: Industrial and organisational (I-O) psychologists are responsible for workplacecounselling. Workplace counselling requires specific skills and training for the I-O psychologist.Research purpose: The main aim of the study was to explore the role of training the I-Opsychologist as workplace counsellor.Motivation for the study: Studies show that the I-O psychologist does not feel adequatelyprepared for their role as workplace counsellor. It is important to explore which skills andtraining are needed to equip the I-O psychologist as counsellor.Research approach, design and method: A qualitative research design with convenience andsnowball sampling was used to identify I-O psychologists (n = 22) from different businesssectors in Gauteng and North-West. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gatherdata and content analysis was utilised to extract themes and sub-themes from the results.Main findings: The findings showed that the participants know about the process of counselling, but they did not feel adequately prepared for their role as workplace counsellors. From the findings, recommendations for the training of future I-O psychologists are made.Practical implications: This study adds to the knowledge about ensuring that the I-Opsychologist is equipped during their training for the workplace to address the counselling needs of employees in the workplace in South Africa.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes towards ensuring that the I-O psychologistis sufficiently prepared for their role as workplace counsellor by making knowledge available regarding the skills required by I-O psychologists to be applied in practice.Keywords: Industrial-organisational (I-O) psychologist; Counsellor; Skills and competencies; Qualitative research; Training

Counselling preparedness and responsiveness of industrial psychologists in the face of COVID-19

“…Our finding regarding preparedness is consistent with that reported by Barkhuizen et al ( 2015 ), who stated that IOPs are ill-prepared to counsel in the workplace. This lack of preparation appears to have been brought into sharp relief by the increased need for mental health counselling by employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…However, one of the contemporary roles of the IOP is that of wellness facilitator (Van Zyl, Nel, Stander, & Rothmann, 2016 ). This role includes enhancing the overall level of personal well-being of employees, to prevent workplace problems (Barkhuizen, Jorgensen, & Brink, 2015 ). It seems natural, therefore, that part of this role could include the provision of counselling to address the personal and/or professional developmental needs of the individual employee (Van Zyl et al, 2016 ).…”

“…As a psychologist in the workplace, the IOP often serves as the ‘first responder’ to help employees manage job-related distress and trauma (Barkhuizen et al, 2015 ). The responsiveness of the IOP in these cases may range from engaging directly with the employee to provide crisis counselling, to facilitating interventions on individual, environmental, organisational and group levels (Georganta & Montgomery, 2019 ; Jonker, Graupner, & Rossouw, 2020 ).…”

Mental Health, Work Engagement and Meaningful Work-Role Fit of Industrial Psychologists: A Latent Profile Analysis

“…Industrial psychologists are predisposed to develop mental health problems due to the unique physical, emotional and psychological demands inherent to their profession (Meyers, 2007;Jorgensen & van Zyl, in press;Schaerer, 2011). These demands stem from taking personal responsibility for the wellbeing of clients, balancing the needs of the organisation with those of employees, working extended hours with limited time to recover, facing challenging working conditions and having to manage the ever-decreasing availability of job-and personal resources (Barkhuizen, Jorgensen, & Brink, 2015;Khamisa, Peltzer, Ilic, & Odenburg, 2016Ogińska-Bulik, 2006). Demands are compounded by a collectively shared identity crisis which stems from an inability to distinguish their value proposition from traditional human resource management (Coetzee & Van Zyl, 2014;Van Zyl, Nel, Stander, & Rothmann, 2016) and the clinical psychology discipline (Schaerer, 2011).…”

“…Industrial psychologists therefore spend a vast majority of their time on activities unrelated to their area of expertise which results in a significant discrepancy between the activities which provide them with energy and those that distract from such (Van Zyl, Deacon, & Rothmann, 2010). This misfit between the person and work, coupled with the collectively shared identity crisis and the unique demands inherent to their profession, may result in increased experiences of meaninglessness and disengagement (Barkhuizen et al, 2015;McCann et al, 2013) which in turn has negative consequences for their overall mental health (Van Zyl et al, 2010).…”