How can we understand the relationship between employer and employee? What determines the give and take of such relationships and what happens when they go wrong? This text is a comprehensive overview of what is now the major way of trying to understand the employment relationship - the concept of the psychological contract.

Bringing together a wide range of theory from social and cognitive psychology, organizational behaviour, organizational learning and the management of change, this text draws useful conclusions about important psychological processes.

Contains 15 essays which discuss from diverse national perspectives obligations workers owe their employers and those owed by employers to their employees.

What is the psychological contract? How do the psychological contracts of professional workers change over time? Do professional workers feel more committed to their profession or to their employing organization? Can psychological contracts be 'managed'? These are some of the key questions addressed by this book in its examination of the role played by the psychological contract in the developing careers of professional workers. The book seeks to make sense of the organizational experiences of the professional worker by drawing on several areas of research, including the psychological contract, social identity theory, theories of career development and retention. The author uses real-life examples and short case studies to situate psychological theory within organizations. Beginning with an introduction of the history and concept of the psychological contract, the book provides an overview of the major areas of research. However it goes beyond a simple description to focus on the careers of professional workers, from factors influencing the entrance into a profession, to the process of developing professional identities and career progression. The developing professional career may involve a progression to managerial responsibilities which can lead to organizational conflict. The book offers insights into the influence of the psychological contract when it comes to critical career decisions, including a discussion of the consequences of psychological contract violation. Finally the role of HR is examined with reference to the 'management' of the psychological contract and the retention of key professional workers within organizations. The book is key reading for all psychology students, especially those specializing in occupational, organizational, work and business psychology. It will also be of interest to HR students and HR professionals, business students and health professionals.

The psychological contract is considered a critical construct in organizational behavior literature because it informs employee emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in the workplace. Although the psychological contract has been explored extensively over the last 50 years, numerous theoretical, conceptual, empirical, methodological, and analytical changes have pushed the field forward. As such, it is time to take stock and move forward. The contributors to this Handbook explore in detail this important component of modern management thinking.

How can we understand the relationship between employer and employee? What determines the give and take of such relationships and what happens when they go wrong? This book is the first to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of what is now the major way of trying to understand the employment relationship - the concept of the psychological contract. Written contracts often specify very little in terms of the important details about what we are prepared to do for our employer and what we want back in return. The psychological contract considers these implicit or unwritten aspects of the employment relationship. What do employees really expect from work? What happens when the contract, or 'the deal', with their employer is broken? How well does the psychological contract help us understand what happens at work between an employee and their employer? Is the idea of practical value in managing employees? How can our understanding of this important concept be developed in the future? Starting with a history of the concept, from its emergence in the 1960s through to it finding wider acceptance in the 1990s, the authors trace the conflicting and changing definitions of the psychological contract. The shifting meaning of the concept allows possible methodological and conceptual weaknesses of the psychological contract to be explored, such as the conceptual emphasis on process within the employment relationship, which has so far been neglected by researchers. The authors start to address this issue by considering whether employees and employers can use what is known about the psychological contract to better manage the employment relationship. Written to provide a comprehensive yet critical introduction to the topic, Understanding Psychological Contracts at Work will be key reading for advanced students, lecturers, and researchers in Organizational Psychology, Organization Studies, Management Studies, Human Resource Management, Occupational Psychology; and professionals and practitioners in Occupational Psychology, Management Consultancy, Human Resource Management, Careers and Career Management, Career Counselling, Workplace Training.

The book covers seven countries: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, as well as Israel as a comparator outside Europe. Data was collected from over 5,000 workers in over 200 organizations, and from both permanent and temporary workers, as well as from employers. --