Applied psychology is a way to think about things in a different way. Applying psychology at work in a timely fashion can prevent work-related psychological problems (e.g. poor mental health, productivity), as well as improve overall functioning within organisations (culture, relations, productivity and wellbeing).

What is the Applying Psychology at Work Hub?

The Applying Psychology to Work hub is a collection of free resources – articles, videos, audios and courses – that have been curated by a team of applied work psychologists at The School of Psychology & Counselling. The hub draws on existing content already on OpenLearn, but also includes newly commissioned content created by experts specifically for the hub. The hub explores several themes that emerged from research carried out in August 2020, which identified the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on businesses, organisations and the individuals who work there and how prepared they were to deal with these.

Read more about why this hub was created.

The hub launched in June 2021, but we will not stop there. We will continue to add content and already have some exciting projects in the pipeline!

What does the Hub contain?

In curating this hub, we focused initially on themes that aligned with our research and the rationale for this hub. These are:

1. Managing Relationships and Work: This theme relates to the relationships between people in the workplace. It shows how effective relationships are crucial for an enjoyable and productive work environment, and what can be done to promote or maintain successful relationships. See the Managing Relationships and Work article.
2. Wellbeing for Work: This theme explores  how what happens in, and around, work can affect your wellbeing and mental health. If a job changes or a job loss happens unexpectedly, this has a psychological impact on both individuals and organisations. This theme describes what those psychological effects are and what might be done to reduce their effect. See the Wellbeing for Work article.
3. Trust and Work: This theme is concerned with the quality of trust that exists in relationships and with what happens when this is breached. Trust is a requirement for positive employee engagement and critical to effective teamwork. See the Trust and Work article.
4. Change and Work: This theme is about change and dealing with change. It describes how change affects anxiety, and what can be done to minimise the impact of change. See the Change and Work article.
5. Signposts for Work: This theme considers the challenges and complexity of the continually changing world of work. It offers insight into recognising, developing and applying the knowledge, skills and experience needed to successfully prepare for new work, or enhance current career journey. See the Signposts for Work article.

We used themes in our design thinking to organise these articles under the above headings and additional themes to make the articles groupable on the hub. The themes available are shown below:

You can filter the hub’s resources by clicking on the tags on the left side of the screen to show you those articles grouped under the item. These will be expanded further as this hub continues to grow in the future as we respond to future events in the workplace.

Who is it for?

The short answer: everyone.

The long answer: This hub has broad appeal for individuals working in organisations affected by any psychological impacts (for example stress, uncertainty, redundancy, trust); managers managing others through the issues and concerns exposed; and organisations looking to obtain insight and access to resources for developing approaches towards successfully moving forwards.

Although our hub was initially in response to the COVID-19 situation and lockdowns we view its contribution as extending beyond the pandemic. A widely publicised prediction about the future is that the population in the twenty-first century will experience considerable disruptions. It is for this reason that we intend to continue to focus on questions of resilience and improving the ability of organisations and people working in them. The aim is to develop insight and guidance on skills and other attributes that can help people and organisations be more prepared for economic and other systemic disruption in the future.

During the creation of this hub, we have had interest from leaders in industry keen to know what we are doing; therefore, the hub is also a place for initiating conversations and potential future collaborations and partnerships. To contact our team of psychologists, please email us at FeedbackAPH@open.ac.uk