What is the psychological contract and how can it motivate workers? The psychological contract in the company are these rules and agreements about what the employee and employer offer and receive respectively. In this Psychology-Online article we will explain what it is, the characteristics and types of the psychological contract. We will see the definition of a psychological contract in human resources, we will define the types of transactional and relational psychological contracts, we will explain the importance of the psychological contract and we will list the consequences of breaking the psychological contract.
What is the psychological contract
When people work, we have a series of individual perceptions in terms of reciprocal exchange with the employer. This would be the definition of “psychological contract” (Rousseau, 2001).
Such perceptions are established based on implicit or explicit promises and information that both parties exchange at the beginning of the relationship. These ideas give rise to a mental model is developed and adjusted, as specified to the people what is expected of their task and what they will receive in return of their contribution, within that initially established commitment, which also varies depending on whether one is the employee or the employer.
Initially, it had a markedly subjective character, that of the person hired. Subsequently, the intervention of the employer was also considered. Even so, it varies depending on the demands of the task, the situation the company is going through and the relationships that people establish among themselves, as we will try to see below.
Characteristics of the psychological contract
Rousseau (2004), an author who would be among those studying the effects on the employee, rather than the employer, indicates that there are several characteristics that act on the psychological contract.
- The first, of a motivational type, given that psychological contracts motivate people to fulfill their commitments because they are based on the exchange of promises in which the individual has participated and freely chosen.
- A second characteristic of the psychological contract is that individuals believe in the mutual agreementacting the subjective as if it were reciprocal, regardless of whether that is the case or not.
- Thirdly, it lies in their limitation, given that they tend to be incomplete and They are developed as the work relationship develops.
- In fourth place, different sources intervene information: the company management, those responsible for human resources, workers and their colleagues, the most immediate bosses; multiple elements that influence and condition the initial terms and their perception.
Types of psychological contract
Roughly speaking, two types of contracts would be distinguished from the point of view of the individual employee (Rousseau et als., 1998).
Relational contract
First, between a relational contract that can generate feelings of involvement and closeness on the employee and, indirectly, commit the employer to provide financial remuneration, investments in training, career development and job security of the employee (with open relationships and time structure, considerable investment of employees – skills, career development – and the organization – training -, high degree of mutual interdependence and barriers to leaving work, emotional involvement as well as economic exchange, personal relationships, dynamic contract and subject to change, invasive conditions (affect personal life).
Transactional contract
Opposite this, there would be the transactional contract, in which money is prioritized, implying and arousing in employees greater concern about remuneration and personal benefit than about their personal contribution to the organization; so it includes employees who follow organizational rules to achieve personal goals. It would be characterized more by short-term economic exchangesspecific economic conditions – such as incentive primary, limited personal involvement in the job, defined time structure, commitments limited to well-specified conditions, limited flexibility, use of existing skills and clear terms.
The importance of the psychological contract
If you delve into the relationships in the workplace, in addition to the initial one between employer and employee, at a more micro level, for example between employee and supervisors or supervisors with mentors; It can be seen that these relationships occur in an environment of interactions between the parties, which generate new psychological contracts, because the daily task requires that the groups increase autonomy and interdependence, with the organization, with each other, and with the specific individuals they constitute. those more operational units, also interfering with the organization, as pointed out by Cruz et al. (2011).
“Efficiency and new relationships between employees and employers are some of the characteristics that shape new forms of work activity, work systems and labor markets… All these changes can have clear implications and consequences for the health and well-being of workers and have important effects on the health and effectiveness of organizations.
Companies are increasingly aware that a part of their social corporate responsibility is to promote health and better workplaces. Furthermore, there is evidence that this healthy and positive environment It benefits companies and improves their results. However, a large number of indicators (absenteeism due to illness, work accidents, poor performance, conflicts, etc.) show that the situation regarding the development of healthy organizations and the promotion of health in the workplace is not as positive as should be” (Peiró et als., 2008).
The consequences of breaking the psychological contract
In an environment as changing as the current one, organizations frequently experience changes that entail certain breaches of the psychological contract or at least that perception on the part of employees. They consider that such non-compliance or omissions (sometimes involuntary, imposed by the economic scenario) are a violation of the obligations towards them. Consequently, they experience that they lead to a desire for revenge, withdrawal in the fulfillment of their obligations, and even counterproductive behaviors (Coyle-Shapiro et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2007).
Often, an organization that has to face multiple challenges, for different reasons does not provide adequate support for teamwork (for economic, organizational, or other reasons). These situations can cause ambiguity both in the roles to be played and in the responsibilities to be assumed, generating a potential perception of conflict in the teams, without a real basis (bad environment, anger, discomfort of some individuals). The perception of intra-team, intra-group conflict provides a optics of breach of contract on the part of these groups towards the subjects (Sverdrup et als., 2015) who believe that the team does not care about their well-being or value their contribution. We will focus, below, on one of the indicators and some of its repercussions.
One of the examples of the consequences of breaking the psychological contract is absenteeism from work, which we will see in depth below.
Work absenteeism
Sánchez Gallo (2013) includes several classifications of what is understood by absenteeism, of which we are especially interested in the most eclectic one, which is an optical mix of legal, psycho-social and organizational factors in the company. Thus, he distinguishes between:
- He justified, legal and involuntary absenteeismwhich includes periods of time in which an employee is absent from his or her position within working hours for legally recognized justified reasons (temporary disability, permits related to union activity…) or unjustified causes (delays, going out to smoke, running errands). , caring for children or the elderly, etc.).
- Unexcused, illegal or voluntary absenteeism, which is considered as “a sociological phenomenon directly linked to the attitude of the individual and society towards work. The working conditions in which the worker works are one of the direct causes of work absenteeism.” Directly related to work conditions and their deterioration or improvement, having repercussions on the entire environment surrounding the work centers.
- In-person absenteeismin which the staff goes to work, but dedicates a part of the day (generally, quite significant) to activities that are not related to the tasks of the position they occupy (see: consulting web pages, using email with personal purposes are some of the most common, today; but, in more ancient times, it contemplated: reading the newspaper during work hours or making calls to friends and family, at the expense of the company: it is considered a part of what the company owes us).
In the newspaper el economist.es it was indicated on February 2, 2020 that it was intended to reform the elimination of dismissal for absenteeism, included in the Workers’ Statute since 1980, in art. 52.d., being one of the main promises of the current government. It indicated that:
Oscar Carrascal, service manager of the Mutual Collaborator with Social Security EGARSAT, pointed out at the Breakfast&Law organized by Novit Legal and held at the Pons Foundation, that the 2018 data showing that absenteeism is one of the biggest obstacles to that companies in Spain face due to the direct and indirect cost that it entails for organizations: a total of 14,400 million euros (1.19% of GDP) and 70,000 million euros (5.8% of GDP), respectively .
When we are talking about a cost of about 84,000 million euros, when the budget of the Social Security of the Kingdom of Spain, consolidated for the year 2019, was just over 164,000 million euros. But, after what has fallen during this past semester, these data are purely anecdotal. More so, next to the humanitarian catastrophe suffered and not yet eradicated.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Coyle-Shapiro, JA et als. (2019): Psychological contracts: Past, present, and future. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior6, 145-169.
- Cruz, KS, et als. (2011): Team design and stress: A multilevel analysis. Human Relations, 64, 1265-1289.
- eleconomista.com (2020): The Labor Party figures at 84,000 million…