The emotional relationship with the company you work for directly influences your daily performance. Surely this sounds like a lot to you, you enter a large company and in addition to the contract you sign, you also generate a series of expectations that you can achieve in that company on a personal and emotional level -as an opportunity for development, an opportunity to make decisions, the employment relationship with your new colleagues …- that contract, not explicit in writing, is called a psychological contract.

If you want to know what exactly the psychological contract in a job is, keep reading the article.

The psychological contract, what you don’t sign on paper

If you are looking for a new job, you have probably already heard about the psychological contract or you have simply already heard it from the human resources in the office, but what exactly is it that everyone talks about?

For the psychological contract is the term that psychology gives to the implicit part of an employment relationship. This contract is made up of all those commitments that the worker expects from the company and vice versa, in addition to the explicit ones.

When we get a new job in a multinational or a famous organization, we hope to find some extra incentives, such as recognition for our work or a friendly treatment. As time goes by, if we continue in the same company we will also come to expect other incentives such as a salary increase or promotion to a much higher position that make this implicit recognition explicit .

Recent studies affirm that those committed workers who develop positive skills are more likely to spend more years in the company, which would lead to increasing the possibilities of promotion and salary increases and certain advantages. That is, if we choose a job just because we need money, our expectations will drop, but if we get the job of our life or the one we have dreamed of for so long in addition to giving the best of ourselves, our expectations will increase.

But the psychological contract can also carry abusive clauses , such as that the company expects the worker to work overtime or take work home.

Decent employment conditions

What will determine that our expectations are met will depend on whether the company basically meets three factors ; that we have a decent and equitable salary, that the company where we are has a good working relationship and that the organization or company offers opportunities for professional development within the company.

These last questions would answer the company, but what about us? For us to be happy with our employment and our commitment to the company to be even greater, some guidelines must be given; that we personally identify with the values ​​of the company and want to work in it, that we have the perspective of continuing in the company for longer, respond with a greater commitment if the company improves working conditions and lastly, there would be job security .

An equitable psychological contract between company and worker translates into greater cohesion in the organization, and the company would also benefit from greater retention of talent among its workers who would remain loyal to the company.

The employment relationship that we have with the company or organization will be closely linked to the psychological contract and the fulfilled expectations. These would improve the work environment between colleagues and managers. A good option is to reward the workers and unite those labor relations through non-formal meetings in which the workers feel as a family. Achieving a relaxed and friendly atmosphere outside of work with other colleagues also helps improve performance.