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The evolution of Psychology

Organizational in Colombia.

CDM ELECTIVE
NCR 233

Carolina Florez Marentes

ID 543335
Paula Jimena González Bernal
ID 428044
Deymer Orley Gomez
ID 25235

Teacher
AURELIO ANTONIO RUIZ RODRIGUEZ

Business Administration
Tenth semester
Soacha headquarters distance

Soacha – Cundinamarca
2020
 The evolution of Organizational Psychology in Colombia.

Psychology in Colombia was introduced in the country during the period between 1948 (year of
the founding of the Institute of Applied Psychology of the National University of Colombia), and
1973, psychology in this country was organized as a discipline and as a profession. This means
that the process of institutionalization of psychology as a scientific discipline and as a profession
in Colombia was achieved in approximately 25 years. According to Doctor Rubén Ardila, in
Colombia there was psychology before 1948, but without systematization, carried out by people
without psychological training, especially psychiatrists, philosophers and educators.

For Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez, the first of the works carried out in organizational psychology in
Colombia, and with which the development of this professional area in the country begins,
corresponds to the activities carried out in the Psychometric Laboratory of Bogotá, by the
psychologist Ernesto Amador Barriga in 1950. Laboratory whose structure and operation were
similar in conception and parameters to those existing in Europe, particularly the psychometric
laboratories of Barcelona in Spain and Leipzig in Germany. The work carried out by this
psychologist (in his psychometric laboratory) consisted of the application of performance and
paper tests to the different job candidates and their professional concepts were sent to the
companies that requested the selection, classification and/or service. Staff assessment.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the mission of the international labor organization, ILO, arrived in
Colombia to advise the Colombian government in the assembly and structuring of the recently
founded National Learning Service, SENA. From that moment on, the occupational analysis
technique, among others, was introduced in our country.

The influence of SENA is decisive for the development of organizational psychology in

Colombia, since thanks to this institution, selection, training and development sections and
departments began to be organized, and later the company's industrial relations services, where
There is still room for professionals in psychology and other complementary disciplines:
administrators, lawyers, industrial and systems engineers.

Two events were significant in the historical development of the country's discipline: the
administrative reform of 1968, which modified the rules that regulate the administration of civil
personnel linked to the State service, which established a series of practical rules for the
selection, evaluation of the performance, promotion within the administrative career and
remuneration of State servants.

On the other hand, psychologist Manuel Morales is considered one of the precursors of industrial
psychology in Colombia, for being the first psychologist to work on the SENA project. For
Morales, the future of the country's discipline was hopeful, when he pointed out that: “slowly but
progressively in Colombia, greater concern is being felt both in Universities and in Industry, for
the development and use of Industrial psychology.” .

Morales considered that with the creation of the Industrial Psychology Unit for business
consulting in the SENA, the discipline would be strengthened by carrying out consulting actions
for the companies that are the responsibility of the psychologist, since he believed that with this
measure more effective action would be achieved. in this field of knowledge through the
development of applied research in industrial psychology that would allow them to face and solve
the problems that the business sector posed at that time.

In 1972, Morales carried out research based on surveys of 33 psychologists who worked, at that
time, mainly in different companies in Bogotá. Initially he pointed out that: “until that moment it
was difficult to talk about a Colombian industrial psychology in the strict sense, since there were
very few industries-companies that resorted to the services of psychology.” However, he
mentions that: “there is currently a growing demand for occupational psychologists and the
reasons for this phenomenon are not sufficiently known.” In the survey it was found that the
fields of action of psychologists in companies, who all work in personnel selection processes,
mainly carrying out activities such as: planning, programming and controlling selection actions;
development of measuring instruments; administer tests, interpret them, conduct interviews and
write reports. In these same companies, psychologists generally collaborate indirectly in the
development of personnel training, promotion and evaluation processes.

Two facts coincide with the panorama presented for the psychology of work and organizations in
the country. Firstly, in 1913 with the publication of the book Psychology and Industrial
Efficiency, by Hugo Münsterberg, one of the first texts in this field appeared for the academic
world. The book, according to Hergenhahn, deals with topics such as: “personnel selection
methods, methods of increasing work efficiency, and marketing and advertising techniques.”
Secondly, in 1948 the training of psychologists in Colombia began with a strong psychometric
orientation (techniques of measurement and psychological application), aimed almost exclusively
at the selection of the “fittest”, the best applicants to enter the profession. university as students.
It is evident how psychology is used as a control and classification mechanism for entry into
different social institutions. For now, it is enough to say that in the first 25 years (period 1948-
1973) of the profession in Colombia the technical-instrumental emphasis of the training of
psychologists was widely recognized by employers, who ironically are accused of taking "
extreme measures” with personnel who do not agree with their way of organizing work and
exploiting the resources of their companies.

In 1982, a very important event for Colombian psychology occurred, the publication of the
current Inter-American journal of occupational psychology, founded and directed by the
Colombian psychologist Fernando Toro Álvarez. Despite the great effort and scientific rigor of
this means of communication, its impact in Colombian classrooms has not been sufficiently
recognized.

In summary, for Urdaneta in 1993, the areas of interest and application of

industrial/organizational psychology that become fields of action and concrete work in
organizations for the psychologist with training in this area are: 1) organization of the work, 2)
personnel selection, 3) induction, 4) personnel training and development, 5) communications, 6)
psychology of negotiation and conflict resolution, 7) hygiene, safety and occupational health, 8)
salaries and policies incentives, 9) motivation and organizational climate, 10) marketing and
consumer psychology, finally, 11) psychology of human resources management.

In 1995, Serna and Sierra carried out research in the city of Medellín on the role of the
organizational psychologist using the survey as an information collection technique. The results
were grouped into five functional areas according to the content and objective of each function
assigned by the companies in the region. Human resources acquisition area (selection and
induction). Personal development area (motivation, training, analysis and development of skills,
job enrichment, personnel promotion and performance evaluation). Occupational well-being area
(occupational health, occupational advice, preparation for retirement, staff relocation, social well-
being and social balance. Administration area (analysis, description and design of jobs,
occupational profiles, internal regulations and disciplinary regime). Research area (organizational
diagnosis, and study of organizational climate). The results were conclusive: “it was found that
the psychologist is identified in the organizational environment through the selection of
personnel.”

In the same sense, Álvarez Cuadros (1995) indicates that the mission assigned to the psychologist
in the industry is limited, preferably, to a partial area of the complex work activity "personnel
selection." Activity fundamentally oriented to control the entry of personnel that must be linked
to the organization.

In 1997, the panorama changed radically in the type of study carried out by researchers interested
in the organizational field. Aguilar and López make a statistical-descriptive analysis of the
published literature and its authors (bibliometric approach) of the psychology of organizations in
Colombia and Latin America. 144 articles published in the Inter-American Journal of
Occupational Psychology in the period (1982-1996) are analyzed. In those 15 years, the topic on
which the most was written was motivation for work with (20 articles by national (7) and foreign
(13) authors. Only (4 articles by national authors only) were written about personnel selection.

In 1999, Acosta sought to answer the question: How is organizational psychology in Colombia?
Taking the period 1980-1999 for analysis. Regarding the chosen time range, almost two decades,
the author considers that: “the history of Organizational Psychology in Colombia is short and
clear and relevant facts do not appear that allow us to organize eras” (p.93). However, he
considers that the “modernization of public entities” became an opportunity to demonstrate the
usefulness of organizational psychology not only to select personnel but also to design all the
processes required for the development of people and organizations in the public context.

Although Acosta (1999) recognizes that: “organizational psychologists have been in charge of
designing state strategies and tactics to select and evaluate officials, to construct function
manuals, to organize induction programs. , training, well-being, organizational climate analysis,
as well as projects that seek to identify and change the organizational culture” (p.95).

Regarding the tasks where the interviewed psychologists focus their professional activity, the
author mentions that these are: personnel selection, training, staff work, task specialization,
productivity, improvement of the organizational climate and occupational health. For Acosta
(1999), the performance of these activities: “although they are not new, they define the
productive role of the professional” (p.98).

According to Pulido Martínez (2000) he maintains that: “Initially, industrial/organizational

psychology contributes to answering two questions: Who is the best person for a position?, and
What should this worker be trained in to perform adequately? The first psychologists who
analyzed work and organizations headed towards these two objectives. The first psychologists at
the beginning of the 20th century brought psychometric instruments to business practice that
focused on the tasks and skills of the worker as an individual.

Enciso and Perilla (2004) make a review of organizational psychology in Colombia based on its
origin, development, current state and its projection in the future. This research recognizes that:
“throughout this historical journey, it is evident the change in functions that the psychologist has
had and how the profile required at each moment has varied.

For Enciso and Perilla (2004), it is very interesting: “to verify the enormous development of the
area in different aspects, over the last three decades. Since then, there are multiple fields of action
configured for the industrial psychologist: job analysis, selection, training, evaluation, working
conditions, induction, communication, occupational health, motivation, etc.”

At the same time, Barajas, Peralta, Rodríguez and Sierra (2004) proposed a basic structure of the
topics in the organizational area that every psychologist must master to have a complete vision of
the relationship between psychology and work. This in terms of analysis, conceptualization and
intervention. These thematic areas are: 1. Conception of the individual-work relationship. 2.
Organizational behavior. 3. Human management in organizations, and 4. Context and projections
of organizational psychology.

For these authors, as a consequence of the training and information received by undergraduate
psychology students in Colombia, at that time 2004-2006, they proposed a duty for the
psychologist who graduated from our universities, in terms of: “the psychologist must “have
clarity about what your role is and who you serve when intervening in the individual-work
relationship.” Of course, in the cited document, this ideal is not specified in specific action plans
or methodologies, much less reference is made to the resources necessary to achieve it.
Furthermore, they hope that with the training received: "the psychologist must be able to
differentiate his practice and his work from that of other disciplines and professions."

In 2006, Enríquez and Castañeda carried out research on the current state of research in
organizational and work psychology in Colombia. For these authors, from the application of the
research policies issued by the Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and
Technology “Francisco José de Caldas” COLCIENCIAS (2006), an increase in the formation and
activation of groups is evident. of research in organizational and work psychology, as well as in
the number of products. For that same year (2006), there were only eight research groups in said
field of study, throughout the country according to information from the COLCIENCIAS system.

From the analysis of the registered lines of research, it was possible to have greater knowledge of
the topics addressed at that time, which, according to Enríquez and Castañeda (2006) correspond
to: “knowledge management, employability and work, talent management human, organizational
climate and culture, and organizational learning are the most recurrent. At the same time, classic
research topics appear in organizational psychology such as: motivation, training, selection,
leadership and teamwork” (p.79).

By 2009, Pulido, examining the operations of psychology in its relationship with work,
recognized that the stories constructed by the psychological enterprise in relation to the world of
work serve to legitimize itself as a disciplinary scientific effort in a constant process. of rational
progress associated with the idea of “a society that venerates industrial-organizational efficiency
and with people who are capable of adapting and being successful in said society” (p.78). For this
author, it is necessary to reflect on the way psychology “operates” in work societies and, above
all, question the “place” that this discipline has.

More recently, Pulido Martínez (2011) makes a critical examination of the relationship between
psychology and work. For this author, it is clear that: “since psychology encountered the world of
work in the first decades of the last century, researchers have pointed out that its place and
operations are linked both to liberal capitalist society and to the civilizational project of
modernity. ”

Currently there are at least five alternative ways to carry out a critical exercise of the relationship
between psychology and work, these are: “The first of these focuses on the instrumental vision of
hegemonic industrial, organizational, occupational or work psychology to examine the
applications that are advanced with the objective of proposing changes or transformations to
improve them. The second is based on the shortcomings of hegemonic psychology to propose a
series of counter-psychologies that can supplant hegemonic psychology. The third path indicates
the ideological character of work psychology.

According to these authors, the paths to make a critical reflection of our work are already given,
now it is up to us to assume the historical responsibility of opening new horizons of meaning for
the professional and disciplinary activity that we have been carrying out in the different
companies of the country, which They allow us to answer with greater precision what
psychologists do in the world of work and organizations, because we do them and in the name of
who we do it.

Finally, the historical consciousness that arises as a product of reflection on the facts, more than
on the events of the past, allows us to see with some clarity that psychology applied to the field of
work and organizations in Colombia is more recognized in the business environment. for its
instrumental capacity (as a human resources management tool), than for its conceptual,
theoretical and methodological contributions to the human and social sciences.

References

Velásquez, N. R. (03 de 12 de 2016). APROXIMACIÓN HISTÓRICA A LA PSICOLOGÍA. Obtenido de

https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/284/28450492002.pdf

Vélez, M. A. (2018). SOBRE LA PSICOLOGÍA ORGANIZACIONAL Y DEL TRABAJO EN COLOMBIA. Obtenido

de https://www.funlam.edu.co/revistas/index.php/RCCS/article/view/1438