Psychological contract: The powerful tool that boosts performances
A psychological contract is an unwritten contract with informal expectations that employees and employers have over each other. FILE PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK
There are various contracts that create a relationship between an employee and an employer. Most of these are elaborately written to avoid any loopholes.
The legal employment contract helps formalise the relations, define duties and responsibilities and reduces litigation.
Most employers limit their interest to the employment contract. The usual employment contract may not go far in promoting performance and positive relations.
It can only reach a certain level and stop. This is where the psychological contract kicks in.
A psychological contract is a pretty powerful and influential unwritten code that can be neglected at the peril of employer-employee relations.
Denise Rosseau the earliest exponent has defined it as “an individual's beliefs about the terms of the exchange agreement between employee and employer".
A psychological contract is an unwritten contract between the employee and employer. These are informal expectations that employees and employers have over each other.
The psychological contract possesses more transformative powers when it is well understood and applied.
These unwritten and unspoken mental maps or expectations influence work relationships.
Career progression is one example of a psychological contract that moves an employee to perform better.
During interviews, keen recruits always ask what learning and development programmes are available within the organisations.
This means they want to know that the organisation has clear learning and development budgets, policies and procedures. This is what attracts employees who exceed expectations.
Top performers will always be keen on opportunities to advance their skills to the highest levels. This is what motivates them to be better partners.
Deep down employees desire to stay longer in companies that promise and provide job sustainability.
When I am doing talent acquisition the question that potential talents are concerned about is the company’s ability to provide job security.
Are there mechanisms to make the company sustainable? It is organisations that furnish talent with job security that have a formidable competitive edge.
Employees have an unwritten expectation of working with a credible employer. This means that the employer must have an excellent reputation. This is part of employer branding.
One of the discourses that I see in most human resource platforms is how toxicity impairs and impedes work relations.
New hires anticipate working in a psychologically safe environment devoid of double standards, dogmatism, lack of communication and lack of fairness.
There are intangible expectations that talents will definitely hope are practised in the organisation.
These include fair play, justice, purpose, equity and equality.
How can the psychological contract be kept alive and useful? We all know that for something to bear fruit, we must deliberately get committed to it 100 percent.
Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. This means that for the contract to be successful all stakeholders must exchange ideas in brainstorming sessions.
The communication has to be transparent because it clarifies underlying expectations. The other competency that needs to be developed is emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence has an astronomical bearing on how we do things at our workplaces and therefore it affects contract management.
Emotional intelligence implies being self-aware, others-awareness, self-regulation, fostering social currency and being highly motivated.
A well-managed psychological contract generates mutual bounties for those who have the welfare of the organization at heart. A psychological contract is winning the hearts and minds of stakeholders.
