Management Philosophy Statement
Excellence in products and services to APA’s members and customers is the top priority for the APA Central Office. APA believes that high-quality production and service from its staff is facilitated by a healthy workplace. A work environment that is flexible, encourages open communication, prizes fairness, recognizes good work performance, and respects the differences and rights of individuals optimizes APA staff’s health and performance. Motivation to achieve excellence is maximized when staff are treated with decency, trust, and respect.
Excellence in Performance—APA has a passion for pursuing its mission to advance psychology as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare. This passion is demonstrated by employee’s persistence, patience, and commitment to advancing the field of psychology. APA managers provide support to staff by setting goals, benchmarks, and timetables for products and services, and, encourage staff to take responsibility for the integrity of the products and services.
Excellence in Customer Service—APA has a strong belief in people and a respect for relationships, both internal and external. To meet customer expectations, APA managers provide staff with effective systems and up-to-date information, and they demonstrate a caring attitude toward internal and external customers.
To achieve excellence in performance and customer service goals, APA believes that management of staff is an interactive process that is most effective when it is based on shared values and expectations.
At APA, these values and expectations include the following:
Decency and Fairness—APA believes in treating others as one would like to be treated . APA managers strive to keep promises made to their employees, are honest and open in their sharing of knowledge and feelings, and seek equitable resolutions to conflicts.
Teamwork—APA believes in promoting cooperation among employees to achieve APA goals. APA managers seek and respect input from staff, encourage a more efficient and cohesive unit/office, and share their own valuable skills with the team/work unit.
Flexibility and Resilience—APA views change as an opportunity to excel, and the association seeks to embrace and manage change by involving staff in identifying and meeting challenges. APA managers give staff tools to cope with change, are proactive in problem solving, and encourage their staff to draw on their own vitality and optimism in the face of obstacles and disappointments.
Individual Differences—APA values the diversity and imaginative ideas that dissimilar people bring to their jobs. APA managers take affirmative actions to recruit people with diverse backgrounds, include diverse individuals and perspectives in projects, and listen and respond with empathy.
Employee Development—APA encourages learning and development of staff potential by providing training and development opportunities for employees to pursue. APA managers are committed to their own personal growth and to encouraging their employees’ growth.
Collaborative Decision Making—APA recognizes that the best decisions frequently reflect a variety of perspectives, knowledge, skills, and experience. APA managers promote open communication and opportunities for staff to contribute to or provide feedback on problems and decisions.
Open Communication—APA recognizes the importance of professional communication and collaboration between groups of people across all levels. APA managers model open communication by demonstrating compassion toward staff; sharing their thoughts, feelings, and rationales as appropriate; and inviting staff to share their feelings and thoughts as appropriate.
Health and Well-Being—APA recognizes the effect of the workplace on health and well-being. APA also believes that good mental and physical health enables employees to do their best work. Therefore, APA seeks to create a work environment that actively promotes health. APA managers provide flexibility in an employee’s workday to allow him or her to take advantage of the fitness room, they allow staff to use personal time off to tend to family and personal matters, and they trust that staff will respond by maintaining their job performance.
Employee Recognition—APA values the contributions of employees and seeks a variety of ways to acknowledge and reward individual and team contributions. APA managers offer staff verbal and written acknowledgments for individual contributions, provide positive feedback on performance evaluations, and implement recognition programs within their office/work units.
Organizational Self-Knowledge—APA is committed to examining organizational strengths and weaknesses, and it recognizes that each person’s knowledge of the association is an integral part of this process. APA managers create opportunities for their staff to interact with staff in other offices and offer ideas and suggestions for staff to expand their knowledge of all facets of APA .
