Page 19 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

Preface

Individual performance is one of the key variables that work and organizational psy-
chologists want to explain and predict in their research. Similarly, many intervention
techniques and programs implemented within organizations aim at the improvement
of individual performance. Unfortunately, topics and interventions that are relevant for
individual performance are often scattered in various domains and discussed in isola-
tion. This volume aims at an overview of issues relevant for individual performance in
today’s work organizations and summarizes psychological knowledge about individual
performance at work. The book presents both research findings and practical applications
within organizations and covers topics such as performance concepts and predictors for
work performance, performance assessment methods, interventions for enhancing per-
formance, and approaches for ensuring performance in a wider organizational context.
To compete in a global economy, organizations continue to undergo fundamental
changes. We are witnessing developments toward learning organizations characterized
by constant change processes and high degrees of flexibility. As illustrated by many of
the chapters in this volume, these developments have implications for the management of
individualperformance.Forexample,broaderroledefinitionsemergingfromtheserecent
developments cause changes in what is meant by ‘good performance’. The prediction
of an individual’s future performance in a job he or she has never done before becomes
a major challenge. To help individuals to cope with the changing work requirements, it
becomes increasingly important that organizations invest in training and comprehensive
approaches to human resource management.
This volumes aims at a close link between academic research and practical imple-
mentation. Therefore, it follows a specific design: with the exception of the first chap-
ter, which discusses performance concepts and theory, two chapters are devoted to each
topic.Inthis‘dyadic’design,onechapteradoptsthemoreacademicperspective,whilethe
other addresses the topic from a practitioner’s point of view. More specifically, the authors
of the academic chapters clarify concepts, describe models and theories; they summarize
evidence from empirical research, develop and refine models on individual performance
also suggest directions for future research. The authors who focus on the practitioner’s
perspective describe how today’s organizations address the performance issue; present
concepts and programs pursued in organizations, illustrate approaches in case studies,
report from implementation experiences in organizations, and give guidelines on how
to put specific approaches into practice. Although, the two perspectives often comple-
ment each other, the readers may occasionally detect some friction or even contradictory
statements, which clearly shows that there is a need for an intensification of the de-
bate between ‘the academics’ and ‘the practitioners’. I hope, therefore, that this volume
provides valuable input for this debate.
The volume comprises four parts. Each part addresses specific questions that aca-
demics and practitioners will face when dealing with individual performance at work.