La consultation est présente dans plusieurs domaines, tels que la psychologie, les ressources humaines, la gestion, l’éducation, l’informatique, et la comptabilité (Bordeleau, 1998; Lescarbeau, Payette et St-Arnaud, 2003; Stern et Tutoy, 2003). Plusieurs entreprises font régulièrement appel à des consultants pour les aider à résoudre un problème, à optimiser un processus ou à former leurs employés. Les individus font également appel aux consultants pour les aider à clarifier leurs objectifs ou à établir un plan d’action pour les atteindre. Ces consultants jouent parfois un rôle de conseiller, d’expert, d’accompagnateur, de coach, de psychothérapeute. Ils aident leurs clients en analysant leurs besoins, en faisant preuve d’écoute, en les aidant à trouver des solutions, à développer un plan d’action ou à acquérir de nouvelles compétences. Toutefois, les mandats de consultation n’ont pas tous le succès escompté et plusieurs facteurs semblent nécessaires pour réussir. L’introduction de la thèse présente la recherche effectuée sur les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants efficaces, car c’est un aspect que le consultant peut développer par l’entremise de l’expérience, de la formation, de la supervision ou du coaching. De plus, étant donné le petit nombre de recherches trouvées sur le sujet, il semblait pertinent et avant-gardiste de s’y attarder davantage. Les résultats sont présentés dans deux articles, l’un présentant les résultats de la recherche documentaire et l’autre présentant les résultats de la recherche exploratoire effectuée. D’abord, le premier article partage les résultats de la recension documentaire sur la consultation, sur l’efficacité de la consultation et les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants qui y sont liées. Six catégories de caractéristiques des consultants liées à l’efficacité en consultation ont émergé des analyses : les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, les habiletés interpersonnelles et intellectuelles, les traits de personnalité, les comportements et les connaissances. Il est à noter que la documentation expose surtout des descriptions basées sur les expériences des auteurs, quelques études de cas et peu de recherches empiriques ou exploratoires. Le second article présente les résultats d’une recherche exploratoire sur les caractéristiques personnelles des consultants liées à leur perception d’efficacité en consultation. Cette étude a été effectuée pour pallier au manque de recherches trouvées sur le sujet. Elle visait à répondre à deux questions : 1. Quelles sont les caractéristiques de personnalité et sociodémographiques des consultants en lien avec a) l’efficacité globale en consultation et b) chacun des critères de cette efficacité? 2. Quelle est la puissance prévisionnelle des caractéristiques de personnalité et sociodémographiques à l’endroit de a) l’efficacité globale en consultation et de b) chacun des critères de cette efficacité? Au total, 135 consultants provenant de quatre cabinets et deux associations de professionnels, de quatre pays différents, ont participé à la recherche. Il a été possible de mesurer deux catégories de caractéristiques des consultants efficaces identifiées dans le premier article : les traits de personnalité (Hogan et Hogan, 2007) et les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, par l’entremise de questionnaires auto-rapportés. De plus, les consultants ont évalué les critères d’efficacité utilisés et atteints dans leurs consultations (Roy, 2008). Ainsi, en analysant les résultats, il est important de considérer qu’ils reflètent la perception de ce que les consultants estiment important pour leur efficacité. L’article présente ces résultats de manière détaillée suite aux analyses corrélationnelles et de régression qui ont été effectuées. La sensibilité interpersonnelle, le fait d’apprécier les interactions sociales et d’être proactif socialement, la sociabilité, l’intérêt à avoir une diversité d’expériences et de contacts, l’ambition, le leadership, la vitesse de passage à l’action, le fait d’être préoccupé par l’opinion des autres et la confiance en autrui s’avèrent liés à la perception d’efficacité globale en consultation, ainsi qu’à plusieurs des critères relatifs à la satisfaction du consultant et à la conduite de son intervention. Pour terminer, la discussion de ce second article, de même que la conclusion de la thèse, font des liens entre ces résultats et la documentation, présentent les apports et limites de la recherche, ainsi que des pistes de recherche futures. / Consultation is an important part of the professional practice in several fields such as psychology, human resources, management, education, informatics and accounting (Bordeleau, 1998; Lescarbeau, Payette et St-Arnaud, 2003; Stern et Tutoy, 2003). Several businesses regularly hire consultants to help them resolve problems, improve a process or train their employees. Individuals also contact consultants to help them clarify their objectives and make an action plan. These consultants can play an expert, partner, coach or psychotherapeutic role. They help their clients by analysing their needs, listening to them, finding solutions, making an action plan or acquiring new skills. Yet the degree of success of the mandates may vary and several factors may affect success. The introduction focus is on the personal characteristics of the effective consultants, because the consultants may improve it by training, coaching, supervision and experience. Moreover, this research is useful and original since only a small amount of studies were found on this topic. The results are presented in two articles, one more theoretical and the other presenting the exploratory research results. The first article presents the literature results on consultation, effectiveness and the personal characteristics of consultants that are related to it. Six categories of consultant characteristics emerged from the analysis: interpersonal and intellectual skills, behaviours, knowledge, socio-demographic and personality characteristics. The literature is based on authors’ descriptions, case studies and a small amount of empirical and exploratory studies. The second article presents exploratory research results on personal characteristics of the consultants related to consultants’ perception of effectiveness. This study was conducted to address the lack of research found on the subject. It was designed to answer two questions: 1) What personality and socio-demographic consultant characteristics are related to a) consultation global effectiveness b) each effectiveness criteria? 2) What is the predictive power of personality and socio-demographic characteristics in relation to a) consultation global effectiveness b) each effectiveness criteria? In total, 135 consultants from four firms and two professional associations participated in the study. It was possible to measure two categories of the consultant characteristics identified in the first article: personality (Hogan et Hogan, 2007) and socio-demographic characteristics, through two self-reported questionnaires. Moreover, the consultants evaluated the effectiveness criteria used and achieved in their consultation (Roy, 2008). Thus, analysing the results, it is important to say that they reflect consultants’ perception of what they consider important for their effectiveness. The article presents these results in detail following correlational and regression analyses that were performed. Personality traits such as interpersonal sensitivity, love for social interactions, being socially proactive, sociability, interest in a variety of experiences and contacts, ambition, leadership, being action oriented, being concerned about the opinion of others, and trust in others seem to be related to the perception of the overall effectiveness as well as to several consultation criteria related to the satisfaction of the consultant and the conduct of its intervention. Finally, the discussion of this second article, as well as the thesis conclusion, make links between these results and the literature results, present the contributions and limits of the research, as well as future research directions.

The significance of relationships on economic actions and employee behaviour makes it critical for employers to understand the dynamics of employment through mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1990; Guest, 2004b). The psychological contract affords a broad platform to study the employment relationship (Thomas et al., 2010), and is an important tool for organisational success (McDermott et al., 2013). The literature review contained in this study indicates the differences in contracting environments due to the prevailing cultural orientation. However, there is a dearth of research in collectivistic culture, to which this study will add. The literature also makes a distinction between perceptions of breach and violation. While perceptions of breach of the psychological contract is the perception that the employer has not met all obligations and promises, violation is the emotional and affective state following breach (Morrison & Robinson, 1997) and results in negative or deviant behaviours (Chiu & Peng, 2008). Both breach and violation perceptions negatively affect employee behaviours and attitudes in the workplace (Aggarwal & Bhargava, 2014). This research assumed a constructivist paradigm and builds understanding of the outcomes of breach and violation of the psychological contract on employees’ working life in a collectivistic environment. Primary data collection was by in-depth semi-structured, one on one interviews with five employees of a state-subsidised organisation in East London, making use of convenience sampling. Follow up interviews were conducted, resulting in 7ₑ/₄ hours of interviewing time. Cultural orientation was ascertained through the use of a questionnaire. The findings of this study confirmed that the type of psychological contract entered into influences the outcomes of perceptions of breach and violation. Both dimensions of collectivism, namely institutional and in-group, were practised in this environment, which also impacted on both the individual’s experience and outcomes for the organisation. The latter was influenced by commitment to organisational goals and supervisory or collegial relationships. Most notable of the results is the effect of expectations of transitional justice on experience of the psychological contract. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are made. This research is presented in three sections; firstly the research is presented in the format of an academic paper and includes a concise summary of literature and research method. The second section is an expanded literature review of the psychological contract and its influencing factors, as well as the outcomes of breach and violation. The last section describes and justifies in detail the design of the research and the research procedure followed. / Alternate name: Van der Merwe, Somine

Although ingratiatory behaviors have been investigated by social psychologists for almost twenty-five years, and have been discussed as being used in organizational settings as an upward influence strategy, few empirical studies have explored the use of ingratiation in organizations. The intent of this study has been to empirically investigate the use of ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings. In doing so, a theory-based rationale for the occurrence of ingratiatory behaviors in organizational settings was developed. The framework developed for this study examined ingratiation as both an individually initiated and organizationally induced behavior. Next, a scale was developed to measure the frequency with which employees resort to ingratiatory behaviors in relationships with their superiors. Finally, a series of research propositions about the occurrence of ingratiatory behaviors in organizations were tested across a variety of organizational settings.

Most studies on the mental health of humanitarian aid workers have concentrated on sociodemographic variables or trauma exposure as predictors of psychopathological outcomes. However, less is known about the psychosocial and organizational factors contributing to occupational stress-related disorders in this high-risk occupation group. This mixed-methods, cross-sectional study sought to establish a psychosocial model for burnout and psychological distress among humanitarian staff that comprehensively tested the psychological effects of common adversities and workplace psychosocial stressors in combination. The model further investigated the potential mediating role of individual coping styles and the protective role of organizational psychological safety climate. N=111 full-time aid workers from 52 organizations in Bangladesh completed an online survey, and n=13 participants were followed-up with virtual individual interviews between December 2020 and May 2021. A stepwise model building process with path analysis established an integrated conceptual model with overlapping but distinct pathways from common adversities and workplace stressors to burnout. While greater exposure to both types of stressors was associated with higher levels of burnout and distress, workplace psychosocial stressors had a greater total effect on psychological outcomes than common adversities (β = .52, 95% CI [0.42, 0.90], p = < .001 vs. β = .20, 95% CI [0.03, 0.59], p = .032). Both types of stressors had indirect effects on burnout through negative emotion-focused coping (β = .12, 95% CI [0.30, 2.14], p = .007). However, only workplace stressors and not common adversities directly affected psychological distress (β = .45, 95% CI [0.09, 0.24], p = < .001 vs. β = -.01, 95% CI [-0.09, 0.09], p = .927). Expanded path models indicated that specific domains of stressors, namely, deployment-related interpersonal stressors, work-life interface, and work organization and communication stressors, significantly influenced psychological outcomes. Conditional process analysis showed that higher perceived levels of psychological safety climate buffered the adverse indirect effects of deployment-related interpersonal stressors via negative emotion-focused coping on burnout (β = -.21, 95% CI [-0.08, -0.01], p = .008) and distress (β = -.23, 95% CI [-0.03, -0.01], p = .005). Contrary to findings from the extant literature, sociodemographic variables (except psychiatric history), task-focused coping, and avoidance-focused coping were not significant exogenous variables. Thematic analysis of qualitative data yielded themes that largely converged with and elaborated on statistical results. Qualitative results offered additional insights about the “chronic emergency” organizational culture and professional attitudes of “martyrdom” unique to humanitarian aid workers, which may normalize and reinforce a high-stress work environment and minimized recognition of staff’s mental health needs. The psychosocial model, complemented with qualitative elaboration, can inform the development of evidence-based interventions for staff care. Reducing workplace stressors, improving adaptive coping, and enhancing the psychosocial safety climate of organizations may prevent and alleviate occupational stress-related disorders in humanitarian aid workers and other first responders.

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An approach to organizations which views them as social constructions provides new insights into the phenomenon of organizational decline. In this view, organizations are seen not as objective entities, but, rather, are viewed as products of the human beings who comprise their membership. This view also sees human beings as actors whose behavior is governed not only by rationality, but also by unconscious processes. Any full understanding of organizational action requires an appreciation of the extent to which human beings are governed by the dynamics of the psyche, which operates outside of conscious awareness. An approach to organizational decline which encompasses these assumptions examines how the members of the organization consciously and! or unconsciously collaborate to create the conditions of decline. This research begins with a psychoanalytic model of human behavior, Bowen Theory, which explains how individuals function within relationship systems such as families and organizations. The theory also examines how dysfunction is created within those systems when the relationship process becomes ineffective or dysfunctional. Using the case study method, the dissertation describes how the decline experienced by three distinct organizations can be understood as a consequence of the relationship process created and sustained by the participants in each of the organization's human system. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the relationships between personality, ability, biographical and sociographical factors on the one hand and criterion measures of job-relevant behaviour on the other. The aim of the study was to isolate success-predicting factors for a Personal Financial Advisor in a South African Bancassurance operation. The research was done by means of a criterion-related concurrent validation study. The sample consisted of 185 advisors with two years or longer sales tenure in the position. Predictor variables included measurement on a 20-dimension competency model, an ability assessment and 17 biographical and sociographical variables related to the position. Criterion variables included production figures and managerial ratings on advisor performance. Meaningful predictors for the success of financial advisors were found for personality, ability, biographical and sociographical variables, and the results confirmed the hypothesised competency model derived from a job analysis. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system&#8217;s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.