Behavioural insights for the workplace

What you will study

During this course we'll explore the value of appreciating different identities and diversities in the workplace. We'll focus on the individuals and combinations of individuals that are behind the roles that are set out in a workplace. This might mean a change of focus to consider people at the heart of organisations, rather than perhaps what might be considered as ‘human resources’ by headcount or professional skills from the organisational perspective. We consider how individuals, groups, and teams contribute to successful organisational outcomes, using a mix of established theories and models in combination with new insights.

Once you have read the introductory material, we will look at behaviour at work on an individual level before exploring behaviour in teams and groups.

This course comprises five units:

Unit 1
We open the course by setting out a framework for our particular focus in the important and wide-ranging field of organisational behaviour. We'll look at what the term might mean at the individual, organisational, and social levels, and briefly discuss how our perceptions of it have changed over time, as part of the dynamic and complex world we live in.

Unit 2
We'll train our lens on individuals in the workplace, looking specifically at motivation and the identity work that people undertake in different roles.

Unit 3
In this unit the focus shifts from individual behavioural insights to consider adjacent areas of team behaviours. It looks at why working in teams is considered special using insights from psychology to help us.

Unit 4
We'll look at the effects of wider social changes and technological enhancements and how these are impacting teams and team behaviours in our complex and hyperconnected world. To do this we'll use a mini case study as well as opinion pieces to discuss what might happen to our ideas on teams in the future.

Unit 5
To finish the course we'll take a little time to consider some alternative aspects of individual and group behaviours, offering a brief overview of negative group behaviours, extreme work, and stigmatised work. We hope this taster will stimulate your interest in different aspects of workplace behaviours by moving away from more mainstream ideas in the field.

You will learn

By studying this course, you'll be able to:

• explain the importance of applying behavioural insights to people at work
• explore changing identities and diversities in the workplace
• think about the importance of individuality in your work and social life
• understand a variety of organisational behaviour models at individual and group levels and how you might apply them
• apply insights from behavioural thinking to your organisation.

Teaching and assessment

Assessment

There an end-of-course quiz to test your knowledge and understanding. Once completed and successfully passed you will receive a digital badge and a course completion certificate which you can download as a record of your learning.

Regulations