Industrial-Organisational Psychologists Engaging with The New World of Work: The unfolding challenge of future-fitness for the 4th Industrial Revolution

 Industrial-Organisational Psychologists Engaging with The New World of Work: The unfolding challenge of future-fitness for the 4th Industrial Revolution By Society for Industrial & Organisational Psychology South Africa (SIOPSA), Team Leader: Prof Theo H Veldsman

As the challenge of conceptualising, designing, and implementing fulfilling and productive humane workplaces within the emerging 4th and 5th Industrial Revolutions becomes more apparent — it is clear that the future remit of every Industrial Organisational Psychologist will be rising to the task of integrating people and technology. Industrial-Organisational Psychology (IOP) as a science and practice embraces the psychology of work, the working person, the workplace, and the harmony between these elements — yet as we rapidly approach a digital era of work, how can this harmony be retained?

This book explores the workplaces of the future through an 18-month research operation involving five research teams with their respective leaders, six research associates, two assistants and the head of the project, Professor Theo Veldsman. Using emerging trends associated with the unfolding of the fourth and fifth Industrial Revolutions,Prof Theo Veldsman and his team re-imagined IOP in all its facets – intent, focus, content, mode of delivery, and capabilities — to realign with the future workplace.

The research project – as reported on in the book – consisted of five interdependent research

streams that aimed to build a coherent, in-depth story about the requirements for IOP’s to be future-ready. These research streams were: (i) the changing world of work; (ii) the IO Psychologist’s moral-values-ethics base; (iii) the IO Psychologist’s response; (iv) their capabilities, education, training, and development; and (v) their research.

This book is a roadmap for Industrial Psychologists who want to prepare for the next ten years. The guidelines for directing and guiding the science, practice, and profession of IOP will allow IO Psychologists make a humane 4IR workplace a reality. Having visited the future through the rigorous research of the author and his team, IO psychologists now can return to the present, and lay a stronger foundation for their organisations.