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Accessibility statement
An image to illustrate Behavioural insights for the workplace short course
This CPD course aims to develop your understanding of how and why people interact with each other in different ways in the workplace. You'll discover how they contribute individually and collectively to the successful working of organisations. We'll also look to enhance your communication skills through these insights and examine how your own motivations and behaviours interact with those of others.
During this Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 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.
By studying this CPD course, you'll be able to:
This course was designed to be independently studied with no tutor support. StudentHome is a dedicated website that provides general study support and there is a computing helpdesk.
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.
The course will require around 10 hours to complete.
You can begin at any time during the life of the course and study at your own pace. The course will be open to you for a time period of between 6 and 18 months, depending on your course registration date, and you will be advised of the specific time limitations upon enrolment.
All learning materials, exercises, study support and end of course quiz are delivered entirely online.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
There are no formal academic requirements.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact us.
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying BGXS004 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
StartEngland fee
At anytime before 31/07/2026£150
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.
The fee information provided here is valid for short courses starting in the 2026/27 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
You can start this course anytime.
You can start this course anytime.
Level info