Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Industrial and Organizational Psychology (PDFDrive)
Industrial and Organizational Psychology (PDFDrive)
Advertising
Advertising Policy
Back issues and Archives (Please note, SIOP is currently not accepting donations of TIP collections.)
Board
How to contribute to TIP
Photographers Needed for TIP Cover
Please send suggestions and comments via e-mail to Morrie Mullins, TIP editor, or to
Jenny Baker in the SIOP Administrative Office.
Editorial Columns
The Academics’ Forum: Making the Most of Your Pre-Academic Summer 108
Allison Gabriel
Feature Articles
Reports
News from the SIOP-United Nations Team: Exploring Work Experiences 172
of Informal Workers and Promoting Decent Work for All
Mahima Saxena, English Sall, John C. Scott, Deborah E. Rupp, Lise Saari, Lori Foster
Thompson, Mathian Osicki, and Drew Mallory
4 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
Notes from the APA Council of Representatives Meeting 176
Deidre J. Knapp
IOTAs 178
Lauren Kenney
The photo for this month‘s TIP was taken by Nathan Iverson of Seattle Pacific
University.
This photo was taken from the ship canal that connects Lake Union to the Puget
Sound, approaching the proximal Fremont draw bridge and distal Aurora Bridge.
For more PNW images like this one look up @nathan.iverson on Instagram.
Thanks to all!
That makes the recent bylaws votes even sweeter, from where
I’m sitting. You see, I’ve been teaching in an I-O master’s pro-
gram for the past 13 years. One of the things that’s evolved, in
our program’s culture, is that our students tend to attend the
SIOP conference at least one (and sometimes both) of their
years in the program. We emphasize it as an important pro-
fessional development and networking opportunity, a chance
to see what all is going on in our field, a chance to pick up new
ideas and to interview for jobs, all of which are true.
For a long time, though, our students would attend those one or
two conferences, and then I would almost never see them at an-
other SIOP. They would go from student member to… nothing.
Oh, they would keep doing I-O work, for the most part, but the
SIOP conference, and SIOP itself, fell off their professional radar.
Morrie Mullins
Xavier University As someone training I-O professionals, this bothered the hell
out of me.
Now, let’s put that 1,850 number in per- This issue, as it happens, has a wonderful
spective: Per the most recent numbers diversity of topics for your reading plea-
I could find, SIOP has a little over 8,200 sure. We begin with Steve Kozlowski’s
members (inclusive of all membership first president’s column, in which he offers
categories, including student members). a multilevel approach to enhancing SIOP’s
That means that over the next 5 years, the impact. Next, Ashley Hoffman offers her
number of people who graduate with an I-O first “Spotlight on Humanitarian Work
master’s degree will be larger than the total Psychology,” and leads with something I’m
membership of SIOP today. Let that sink in. going to find very useful when it comes
12 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
time to revise my classes for fall: how to at how the importance of “theory” has
incorporate HWP into the classroom. changed over time in two major I-O jour-
nals. Coming as this does on the heels of
Alexa Garcia, MacKenna Perry, Allison El- the 2015 conference and the many import-
lis, and Jennifer Rineer then offer the final ant discussions deriving from Past-Presi-
(can it be? So soon!) TIP-TOPics column dent Jose Cortina’s platform, this piece is a
from the team at Portland State University. timely and relevant view of where we are
For their last topic, they offer up some- as a field. Anyone who is concerned about
thing that ties in quite well with HWP and where our science is, and where it’s going,
focus on prosocial I-O. I’d like to thank all ought to read this article. Jeff and Karen
the members of the PSU team for the work are then joined by Kim Johnson to present
they’ve done over the past 2 years. Their an interview with Frank Schmidt as part of
work continues to show just how import- SIOP’s Living History Series.
ant graduate students are to SIOP as a
whole. I’m pretty happy knowing that the Nikki Blacksmith and Tiffany Poeppelman,
future of our field is in hands like these! in The Modern App, provide a great “year
in review” piece by thoroughly examining
Oh, by the way, we’re accepting applica- the treatment of technology and social
tions for the next TIP-TOPics author(s) until media at the most recent SIOP conference.
early July, so if you are a graduate student Their summary is comprehensive, and
who might be interested, or know some- their reference list will be a great time sav-
one who might be interested, email me er for anyone who doesn’t want to access
(mullins@xavier.edu) for more information! and search the conference program!
(Or, you know, see the ad immediately fol-
lowing this issue’s TIP-TOPics column.) In this issue’s I-Opener, Bharati Belwalkar
joins Steven Toaddy for a spirited dis-
Shifting to Practice Perspectives, Rob Silzer cussion of issues related to authorship
and Chad Parson provide a thought-pro- order. We then move to the International
voking summary of 7 years of detailed work Practice Forum, in which Lynda Zugec is
supporting SIOP’s practitioner community. joined by Daniel Russell and Mei-Hua
Their message of inclusion is an important Lin for a discussion of the state of I-O in
one. Fittingly enough, this is followed by the Malaysia. In the, “Wow, I-O sure is a small
first report of the 2015 Practitioner Needs world” category, one of the first people
Survey, from PPC members Joy Oliver, from Xavier’s I-O program who went on to
Meredith Ferro, Cole Napper, and Ben Porr. get her doctorate now teaches in Malay-
Data from the 2015 survey will continue sia. She recently sat on a panel with—you
to be presented by the PPC over the next guessed it!—Daniel Russell and Mei-Hua
several issues, so watch your inbox. Lin. Sometimes, I wonder if our students
understand exactly how small the I-O
In the History Corner, Jeff Cucina and world can be…
Karen Moriarty provide a fascinating look
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 13
Seth Kaplan and Laura Uttley provide us broadly about what “diversity” means.
with a SIOP in Washington update related Issues of diversity and inclusion make
to I-O’s expanding impact across the fed- frequent appearances On the Legal Front,
eral government, which aligns nicely with and this issue’s offering from Rich Tonows-
Steve Kozlowski’s platform. Also in align- ki is no exception. Rich describes recent
ment is the multilevel title for M. K. Ward cases relating to pregnancy discrimination,
and Bill Becker’s most recent Organization- sex discrimination, religious discrimina-
al Neuroscience column, which goes “from tion, and employment selection that all
Brain to Organizational Levels of Analysis” have the potential to affect I-O work.
in their interview with Neal Ashkanasy
about emotion in work. We wrap up the columns with Richard
Vosburgh’s Practitioners’ Ponderings. In
Allison Gabriel continues to provide her this issue, Richard tackles the thorny and
unique perspective in The Academics’ always-good-for-an-argument topic of
Forum, this time offering advice to all performance appraisals.
those students just finishing their degrees
and trying to decide how to manage that In our features, we start by circling back
last summer before they start an academ- around to Southeast Asia. A recent trip to
ic appointment. I would say that a lot of Vietnam prompted Allen Kraut to seek out
her advice continues to be good summer some local I-Os, and what he found may
advice throughout the academic career, surprise you.
though, especially her admonition to take
a break every now and then! (Hope you David Costanza, Nikki Blacksmith, and
had a good vacation, Allie!) Meredith Coats provide a nice teaching-fo-
cused piece on convenience samples and
Sticking with the academic theme, this crowd-source data in research methods
issue’s Max. Classroom Capacity features a classes. Having just taught a graduate-lev-
spirited dialogue between authors Marcus el research methods course in which sam-
Dickson and Loren Naidoo on the topic of pling (especially from sources like MTurk)
lecture and discussion-based instruction came up on multiple occasions, I found
techniques. Although their focus is mainly this a very helpful read.
on PhD classes, they make really good
general points about finding the “right” Logan Michels, Courtney Gear, Dan Sachau,
structure for any given course that I found and Richard Olson return with another
to be pretty broadly applicable. mergers and acquisitions map, this one
presenting the history of Corporate Execu-
As I mentioned at the beginning of this col- tive Board and Korn Ferry. Remember that
umn, in this issue’s Foundation Spotlight, “small world” comment from earlier? See-
Milt Hakel shares information about the ing the M&A history of some of I-O’s major
James L. Outtz Grant for Student Research players helps put that into perspective.
on Diversity and encourages us to think
14 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
Finally, Alexandra Zelin, Joy Oliver, Saman- and master’s levels, followed by an update
tha Chau, Bethany Bynum, Gary Carter, on the “Science Funding Speed Mentor-
Mark Poteet, and Dennis Doverspike ing Event” from Jessica Wildman, James
return with the next piece of the “Career Grand, and the Scientific Affairs Committee.
Paths” series, this time focusing on career
paths in industry. Having sat on a SIOP pan- The Visibility Committee continues to be
el about career paths in Philadelphia, I can hard at work (as are all of SIOP’s commit-
say just how important the information this tees!), and a report from Mark Rose and
team has been presenting is, and how well Stephanie Klein shares some updates on
they’re capturing the diversity of paths indi- what they’ve been doing and what they
viduals in our field take, in building careers. have planned.
The reports for this issue of TIP are many The always-interesting and polyauthorial
and varied! Starting with the recently SIOP UN team (Mahima Saxena, English
completed (and highly successful—this Sall, John Scott, Deborah Rupp, Lise Saari,
was my 21st SIOP conference, and I have Lori Foster Thompson, Mathian Osicki,
a hard time thinking of one where I had and Drew Mallory) provide an excellent
more trouble choosing between high-qual- piece on the work experiences of informal
ity presentations in almost every session workers and the need to promote decent
slot!), Eden King, Kristen Shockley, and work environments for everyone. Very
Evan Sinar provide a review of much of important reading!
what went on at the conference. Again,
congratulations and thank you to everyone Deidre Knapp provides notes from the APA
involved in the conference! Paul Sackett Council of Representatives meeting, and
provides the annual results of the Frank we wrap up with IOTAs from Lauren Ken-
Landy SIOP 5k Fun Run, and because it’s ney, SIOP Members in the News courtesy
about that time, Scott Tonidandel and of Clif Boutelle, and upcoming conferences
Eden King give us a teaser for next year’s and meetings from Marianna Horn.
conference in Anaheim! #SIOP16
So, there you have it. Enjoy!
Tori Culbertson returns to TIP’s pages with
a report from the Membership Commit- Reference
tee, then Steven Toaddy and Joseph Allen
offer an update on SIOP’s “Bridge Builders” Kottke, J. L., Shoenfelt, E. L., & Stone, N. J.
initiative. We then have a report from (2014). Educating industrial-organizational
Stephanie Payne, Whitney Botsford Mor- psychologists: Lessons learned from master’s
gan, and Laura Koppes Bryan on the work programs. Industrial and Organizational Psy-
chology, 7, 26–31. doi:10.1111/iops.12099
being done to update SIOP’s Guidelines for
Education and Training at both the doctoral
Virtually every I-O psychology area (selec- Another emerging area that has immense
tion, performance management, training, promise for making an impact is the appli-
etc.) that helps improve the functioning of cation of I-O psychology practices to issues
businesses in the corporate world is also of poverty, equality, and humanitarian
needed in the nonprofit sector. In fact, struggles in developing countries. Berry and
nonprofit organizations (at least those that colleagues (2011) argued that I-O psychol-
are the most effective) are run similarly ogists are uniquely equipped to provide
to for-profit companies. The main differ- assistance on a number of fronts related to
ence is that in the case of nonprofits the poverty reduction, including the develop-
end goal is not usually to sell a product ment of policy and mandates as well as the
for profit but, instead, to provide a ser- implementation and evaluation of programs
vice. Those services can vary greatly, but in the field. Others have argued that I-O
they often aim to improve society in some psychologists should have a role in helping
way—for example, helping to reintegrate to facilitate the success of microfinance
veterans into civilian life, offering educa- initiatives and programs aimed at building
tional after-school programs to underpriv- entrepreneurship abroad (Gielnik & Frese,
ileged children, or raising funds and aware- 2013), which has also been expanded to di-
ness to cure a debilitating disease. rectly understand and address implications
for female entrepreneurs (Akpalu, Alnaa,
There are also some unique challenges— & Aglobitse, 2012). Together, researchers
and associated opportunities—related and practitioners have demonstrated the
to nonprofit work. Because pay in the myriad ways that I-O psychology can be
nonprofit sector is often lower than in the creatively applied to address issues that
for-profit sector, recruiting and maintain- extend well beyond the traditional bound-
ing top talent require particularly thought- aries, both conceptual and physical.
ful strategies. Relatedly, it is important
that managers understand and implement Getting Involved
means of motivating employees aside from
those that are financial in nature. Further, Opportunities to get involved in prosocial
many employees in nonprofit organiza- I-O psychology can take on many different
tions occupy multiple roles, increasing the forms. Depending on which areas you feel
risk of role ambiguity and role conflict. By most drawn to, involvement can include
utilizing our I-O psychology knowledge and everything from volunteering through
skills to address these issues and help non- professional organizations, to researching
26 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
topics meant to improve the workplace Opportunities in Research
for all types of employees (like veterans),
to participating in or starting new policies Other opportunities to get involved may
and programs at existing organizations. include both research and practical applica-
tions. Indeed, these opportunities may even
Opportunities in Professional Organizations come from your own department, college,
or university. For example, at Portland State
There are many helpful resources to get University, ongoing research projects such
involved in prosocial I-O initiatives and as the Study for Employment Retention of
opportunities. SIOP maintains a list of pro- Veterans (SERVe) allow faculty and students
social programs on the website (www.siop. to collaborate on efforts to improve soci-
org/prosocial/), and new programs con- etal well-being. SERVe is a project focused
ducted by SIOP members can be submitted on transforming the workplace to better
for inclusion at any time. If you know of support health, well-being, and reintegra-
prosocial I-O psychology programs or vol- tion-related experiences of veterans and
unteer opportunities, sharing information their families. Specifically, SERVe is designed
through the SIOP website can help build to develop and test a supervisor training in-
collective support for initiatives and assist tervention to improve support for veterans’
in recruiting volunteers. Current programs needs in the workplace. Dr. Leslie Hammer,
listed include (a) the Veteran Transition the lead investigator of SERVe, says, “I be-
Project, which seeks to reduce veteran came involved in prosocial research because
unemployment through application of I-O I had a deep interest in understanding how
psychology expertise in areas like coach- the workplace could help to improve the
ing, culture integration, and translation of health and well-being of workers and their
military skills into the civilian workforce; families. We want to have the broadest
(b) the Global Organisation of Humani- impact we can have. We have expertise
tarian Work Psychology, which consists of that extends so far and can have such broad
members devoted to humanitarian efforts applied value. Back in 2010 to 2011, I was
through practice and study of I-O psychol- seeing military service members returning
ogy (see www.gohwp.org for membership home, and the U.S. president was imple-
details); and (c) Project INCUBATE, which is menting policies regarding hiring veterans. I
a project devoted to collecting and widely was concerned that the workplace wasn’t
distributing ideas for research on pover- prepared to support veterans, and I saw an
ty reduction. Although financial support opportunity to directly apply my expertise in
of prosocial I-O psychology goals is also training supervisors. I feel we have a respon-
beneficial, direct participation in these sibility to support our service members,
and other occupation-based volunteering and this is a chance for us to help make that
opportunities helps meet the need for broad impact.” By creatively applying our
contributions of professional skills (Rizzuto own research interests to benefit societal
& Vandaveer, 2013). well-being, we too can further support the
growth of prosocial I-O psychology.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 27
Opportunities in Practice are several professional organizations that
can help facilitate this participation. For
Within organizations, there are additional research experience in this area, you may
opportunities to work toward prosocial not have to look further than your depart-
goals, including environmental sustainabil- ment, college, or university. By shifting
ity initiatives, volunteering opportunities, our focus to such issues, we are able to not
and contributing to other CSR efforts. only impact the well-being of individuals
Many companies offer support for employ- and organizations but also the well-being
ees’ volunteer efforts through corporate of society as a whole.
volunteer programs, ranging from informal
support to direct provision of paid time off Close to PSU’s TIP-TOPics
for volunteering individually or collective-
ly during work hours (Henning & Jones, On behalf of our team of graduate stu-
2013). Other companies may be able to dents at Portland State University, we
build environmental interest teams, and want to say thank you for the opportunity
I-O psychologists can contribute through to contribute to the development and
support of policies and practices such as education of our fellow graduate students
telecommuting, environmentally conscious and readers of our column. We hope the
recruiting, selection and training strate- information contained in our columns has
gies, and motivating workers to support been helpful and has inspired our readers
sustainability goals (Campbell, Provolt, to get involved in making our field of I-O
& Campbell, 2013). By calling for, imple- psychology more visible and impactful. We
menting, and utilizing these programs offer our best wishes to the next team of
in organizations, I-O psychologists can students and look forward to continuing to
help meet prosocial goals both internally, learn and grow from their unique perspec-
within existing companies, and externally, tives and advice.
through broader societal change.
To correspond with the authors about this
Conclusion topic, please e-mail portlandstatetiptop-
ics@pdx.edu. Also, to learn more about
An expanding field, prosocial I-O psychol- the graduate students at Portland State
ogy allows us to apply our knowledge University as well as the writers of our col-
of I-O psychology to contexts, such as umn, you may view our graduate student
nonprofit organizations, and issues, such website at http://www.pdx.edu/psy/grad-
as the struggles of poverty in developing uate-students.
countries, where traditional I-O psychology
has not been applied. The application of References
I-O psychology research and principles to
novel contexts and issues allows us to have Akpalu, W., Alnaa, S. E., & Aglobitse, P. B.
a far greater impact than ever before. For (2012). Access to microfinance and in-
those interested in getting involved, there tra household business decision making:
TIP-TOPics is a graduate student editorial least 2 years from graduation. Columns are
column published in The Industrial-Orga- approximately 2,000 words, due four times
nizational Psychologist (TIP) on a quarterly a year (August 15, November 15, February
basis. The column provides information 15, and May 15), and written according to
and advice relevant to SIOP’s student APA guidelines.
membership and has historically been very
popular. Submission Information
The editorial columnist(s) can be an indi- Statement of interest and one letter of
vidual or group, and the groups may be recommendation (from a faculty mem-
made up of students from the same school ber who is familiar with the work of the
or different schools; however, you must be potential columnist/s) should be sent via
current Student Affiliates of SIOP in good e-mail to Morrie Mullins (mullins@xavier.
standing. edu) by July 10, 2015. The statement of
interest should at a minimum address the
The TIPTOPics columnist(s) will have a following: (a) all potential columnist names
2-year tenure beginning with the Octo- and school affiliation and (b) how you will
ber 2015 issue and ending with the July approach the content, style, and structure
2017 issue. Columnists must be graduate of the column, including a few potential
students throughout this time period, thus column topics.
all prospective columnists should be at
SIOP membership
• SIOP membership trends (see references 16, 23, 25, 26)
Science–practice gaps
Chad Parson • Science–practice gaps in I-O psychology (1, 7, 8, 11)
AON Hewitt
Baruch College, Future directions
Graduate Center, • Promotion of I-O psychology (1, 6, 9)
City University of New York • Future of I-O psychology (12, 13, 14, 15, 22)
32 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
In 2007, Rob Silzer, Rich Cober, Anna Erick- In this article we provide an overview of the
son, and Greg Robinson were all serving results and conclusions from past articles
on the SIOP Professional Practice Commit- and presentations and outline some future
tee (Rob as committee chair). All four of us directions for: SIOP membership; profes-
are I-O practitioners who were committed sional activities, job titles, and careers; ed-
to advancing I-O practice. The field of I-O ucation and development; and practitioner
psychology was growing, particularly for satisfaction, licensing, and representation.
Practitioners, but SIOP seemed to be stuck
in the past. At the time SIOP members SIOP Membership
were considered either an academic or a
nonacademic. The professional title of I-O It has been evident that the membership
psychology practitioner was not used and of SIOP has been changing and is likely to
in some academic/researcher circles was further evolve. We did a thorough analysis
considered personally offensive. of the 2011 SIOP membership. Our key
findings on SIOP membership (16, 23, 25,
We decided to find out what I-O practi- 26) included:
tioners identified as their professional
needs and how well SIOP was serving their General Membership
professional interests. To meet that goal the
Practitioner Needs Survey (1) was devel- • There has been a steady increase in
oped and distributed to all SIOP members the number of full members over the
and over 1000 members responded. We last 40 years, but there are recent
have worked hard to be databased in our declines.
findings and conclusions. The core au- • The number of Fellows in SIOP has
thors—Rob Silzer, Rich Cober, Chad Parson, remained almost unchanged for the
and Anna Erickson (with some help from last 40 years despite a 538% increase
Greg Robinson)—have produced 29 TIP in full membership. The percentage
articles so far (see reference list), two SIOP of Fellows in the full membership has
conference presentations (2, 22), a major dropped from 29% to 9%.
SIOP membership survey and final report • The number of Student Affiliates in
(1), and a letter to the TIP editor (24). We SIOP has more than doubled in the last
think these articles have made an import- 10 years and now is larger than the
ant contribution to I-O psychology and SIOP, number of full members.
and have had some impact on the direction • The number of members working in
of the profession. As the three primary each of the primary work settings has
authors, Rob Silzer, Rich Cober, and Chad significantly increased over the years,
Parson, we have made a huge commitment particularly in consulting firms. Of the
to insuring that the work represented in recent graduates (graduating 2000–
these articles is well grounded and relevant 2009) who are SIOP members, 55%
to I-O psychology and I-O practice. We hope hold positions in consulting firms or in
that is evident to readers. organizations.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 33
• Full members with I-O and OP (Organi- • The largest group of international
zational Psychology) degrees represent members is in Canada, whereas Eu-
68% of the membership, up from 50% rope and Asia have equal numbers of
in 1985. members.
• 17% of the members are self-em- • The overwhelming majority of interna-
ployed or are in independent practice. tional members are academics.
• More academic members work in busi-
ness schools (n = 660) than in psychol- Likely Future Membership Trends
ogy departments (n = 590).
• Membership is evenly split between • The number of full members is likely to
members who have a primary research not increase much unless SIOP is more
work focus (academics and research- successful in recruiting new graduates
ers; 48.6%) versus members who have and international members and in
a primary I-O practice work focus capitalizing on the large number of
(49.3%). student affiliates.
• It is unclear how much the recent deci-
Member Location sion to allow individuals with a MS/MA
degree to join SIOP as full members af-
• Most SIOP members are located in the ter 5 years as an associate member will
Eastern half of the U.S., with particular affect SIOP. It will depend on how many
concentrations along the Northeast of these individuals stay through the 5
Corridor. years and then convert to a full mem-
• There are substantial numbers of ber. Those that join are most likely to be
members in cities of Minneapolis, practitioners (rather than academics or
Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Seattle as researchers) because that is where they
well as larger states along with Florida are most likely to find employment,
and Georgia. and therefore they will likely increase
• I-O consultants are concentrated in the portion of full members who are
the New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, practitioners. But their inclusion in large
Minneapolis, and Chicago areas. numbers may impact the identity of
• Members in organizations are concen- SIOP as a professional association of I-O
trated in the New York area and larger psychologists, because master’s level
states. members are not allowed to be called
• Academic members are primarily lo- “psychologists” by professional guide-
cated in nonmetropolitan areas. lines and state regulations.
• Researchers are heavily concentrated • Member growth will be the strongest
in the Washington DC area. among members working consulting
• There are 242 international members (many self-employed) and in organiza-
(2011), 60% hold non-U.S. graduate tions; particularly among those with
degrees and 40% hold U.S. degrees; I-O or OP (Organizational Psychology)
60% hold I-O degrees. degrees.
34 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
• Academic members increasingly work manager, partner, principal, associate,
in business schools and the trend will consultant.
continue and likely become more pro- • Job titles for independent and self-em-
nounced in the future. ployed I-O practitioners were presi-
• The U.S. geographic distribution of dent, principal, consultant, psycholo-
members is not likely to change much, gist, executive coach.
with I-O practitioners in larger cities • Job titles in research consulting firms
and states and academics primarily in usually include “research” or “scientist.”
nonmetropolitan areas. • Job titles in government organizations
• There may be some increase in inter- are typically psychologist, social scien-
national members as more U.S.-based tist, director, manager, analyst.
members take international positions • Academic job titles are overwhelming-
and more internationally trained pro- ly assistant professor, associate pro-
fessionals join SIOP. fessor, or full professor with a heavy
concentration of full and assistant
Professional Activities, Job Titles, professors in business schools.
and Careers
Work Activities
Most seasoned I-O practitioners have no-
ticed a change over their careers in the job • The work activities rated as most
titles and professional work activities for important in consulting work are
I-O practice. We have identified the most consulting and advising clients;
common titles and professional activities building relationships; implementing
for I-O psychologists in different I-O careers and delivering programs; making
and differences in work activities across the presentations; developing and
career stages of I-O practice (1, 9, 10, 28). designing systems, methods,
programs; managing work projects
Job Titles and administrative tasks.
• The work activities rated as most
• There are 1,110 unique job titles important in organizations are
among the 3,057 job titles listed by consulting and advising clients;
SIOP members. building relationships; managing work
• The most common job titles in orga- projects and administrative tasks;
nizations (nonconsulting) are director making presentations; implementing
and consultant; personnel research and delivering programs.
and management development titles • The work activities rated as most
have largely disappeared but talent important in academic settings are
management is the top content area making presentations; conducting
listed in job titles. primary research and data analysis;
• Job titles in consulting firms (nonre- building relationships; teaching
search) were primarily director, VP, courses or training programs.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 35
• There are many significant difference • Work activities in consulting firms
in the importance of various work (nonresearch) and in organizations will
activities between practitioners and continue to overlap as the roles are
academics/researchers. considered internal and external con-
• The activities rated least important by sultants; I-O practitioners will increas-
practitioners are writing for a scientific ingly move back and forth across these
journal; teaching courses; writing work settings.
reports, articles, chapters; conducting • Job titles and work activities are un-
primary research and data analysis. likely to change much for I-O consul-
tants in research and academic roles.
Important Activities by Practitioner • Career stages in I-O practice will be-
Career Stage come more distinct and better un-
derstood as the career paths become
• The importance of various work activ- more standardized.
ities varied by the career stage of the
Practitioner. Education and Development
o Advanced career practitioners give
higher importance to: managing In recent years there has been a lot of
a business; coaching others and discussion in the profession about the
providing feedback; writing reports, education and professional development
articles, chapters (nonresearch) of I-O psychologists, including the grad-
o Early career practitioners give higher uate school curriculums, professional
importance to conducting primary workshops and conferences, and SIOP
research and data analysis; manag- sponsored professional development
ing work projects and administrative activities. It is a particularly important area
activities for I-O psychologists who want to be well
trained and developed as I-O practitioners.
Likely Future Career and Activity Trends We have surveyed SIOP members and
explored the trends and member perspec-
• Job titles are not likely to change much tives on graduate education (19, 20, 21,
in the near future, however the trend 23) and professional development (1, 2, 4,
in organizations for including “talent 9, 30, 31) in I-O psychology.
management” in the title will increase.
• The use of organizational psychologist Graduate Programs
as a job title will also likely increase
because it is increasingly being used by • The graduate programs that produce
I-O practitioners to identify themselves the most graduates (who join SIOP)
to others. New titles may emerge for have been fairly stable over the last
full members with MA/MS degrees 40 years. A few programs have folded
because they are not allowed to be while others have emerged.
called “psychologists.”
36 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
• The top five graduate degree institu- Akron, U of Maryland, Purdue U
tions for SIOP members and Fellows o Researchers: U of Minnesota, U
are U of Akron, U of Minnesota, U of of South Florida, U of Georgia, U
South Florida, Michigan State, and of Oklahoma, U of Illinois (Urba-
Bowling Green State U. The University na-Champaign)
of Minnesota has been in the 10 grad- • Graduate programs that have pro-
uate producing programs (based on duced the most SIOP Fellows are U of
SIOP membership) across all 5 recent Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), U of Min-
decades. Other programs have been nesota, Purdue U, Michigan State U,
in that group in 4 of the last 5 decades and Ohio State U. The U of Minnesota
are U of Houston, U of Akron, U of is distinguished is this group for being
South Florida, U of Tennessee-Knox- the only graduate program that has
ville, and Ohio State University. produced Fellows in all four I-O career
• The number of graduates (who are SIOP tracks. The overwhelming majority of
members) produced by the top gradu- SIOP Fellows are in academic/research
ate I-O programs has greatly increased positions (83%).
each decade from 28 (in pre-1970) to
294 (in 2000–2009). There has been a Graduate Degrees
steady increase across the decades in
the number of graduates joining SIOP. • I-O psychology was the field of grad-
• The number of different graduate uate study for 67% of the SIOP mem-
programs contributing graduates to our bership; other fields include organi-
field and membership is expanding. zational behavior, social psychology,
From 1986 to 2011 the number of I-O and organizational psychology. Of the
PhD/PsyD graduate programs went from members holding I-O graduate de-
40 to 125 programs (member self-re- grees, 38% are academics, 33% are in
port) while the number of business consulting (nonresearch), 23% are in
school graduate programs (OB/HR/OD) organizations, and 6% are researchers.
went from 0 to 103 (member self-re- • Of the 1,357 members who are
port) during the same time period. academics, only 60% hold I-O or OP
• The universities with the most SIOP degrees and 40% hold other degrees.
members and Fellows in each employ- New I-O or OP graduates who take ac-
ment category are: ademic positions are more likely to be
o Consultants: U of Akron, U of Min- employed in psychology departments
nesota, U of Georgia, Bowling Green (60%) than in business schools (40%).
State U, U of Tennessee-Knoxville • The number of members who hold de-
o In organizations: U of South Florida, grees in OB and OP has been doubling
U of Houston, Alliant/CSPP, U of every decade, but they still represent
Akron, Wayne State U modest groups in the SIOP membership.
o Academics: Michigan State U, U of • SIOP members with graduate de-
Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), U of grees in I-O and OP tend to pursue a
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 37
broad range of career tracks, whereas o Make I-O research and reference
members with graduate degrees in OB, materials more readily available
social psychology, and human resourc- o Provide more online resources (an-
es strongly tend to be academics. notated literature, Q&A on practice
areas)
Professional Development o Provide a practitioner journal or
newsletter
• Full-time practitioners value additional o Provide article and book summaries
education and training activities more (research and professional press)
and are more likely to find practice-spe- o Provide advanced practice workshops
cific information more valuable (e.g., a o Provide practice benchmark surveys
practice related publications, online re- and opportunities to share best
sources, and educational opportunities) practices
than other SIOP member groups. o Organize more workshops, seminars,
• Advanced and midcareer practitioners retreats (not conference-based) on
have expressed interest in getting specific topics
additional training in consulting skills,
organizational assessment/program SIOP Workshops
evaluation, leadership skills, strategic
skills, and communication skills, and Attendance
rate as more important those topics • Over the recent 15 year period there
that are most closely associated with has been a decline in overall workshop
their work. attendance (1016 to 404) and in the
• Seasoned practitioners primarily gain average attendance per workshop (64
professional proficiency (knowledge to 40 for two sessions). This is partially
and skills) through on the job learning due to the 2008 SIOP conference pro-
and structured learning. Only a few gram expansion to 3 days (workshops
proficiency areas are seen as primarily moved to Wednesday) and the 2008
gained during graduate school: con- economic collapse.
ducting primary research and data • In the same period there has been a
analysis; writing in scientific journals. decline in the number of workshops
• Practitioners use a range of profession- offered each year (16 to 10) and the
al resources for their development, percent of workshops that were sold out
particularly online resources, confer- each year (from a high of 69% to 10%).
ences, articles, books, and networks.
• Full-time practitioners indicate they Frequency
would find the following SIOP profes- • Across the last 30 years the most
sional development activities the most frequently offered topics were em-
valuable to them: ployment law/litigation/EEOC, talent
o Summarize the state of practice and management/high potential, con-
science on specific practice topics
38 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
sulting, selection/staffing, leadership SIOP could help with their professional
development, and employee surveys. development. Their suggestions are fully
• In most recent decade (2006–2015), outlined in several TIP articles (1, 2, 4, 9).
the most frequently offered topics were Here is a high level summary.
talent management/high potential and
employment law/litigation/EEOC. • Provide research summaries, practice
• The top five most frequent workshop benchmarks
presenters across last 30 years (9–13 • Improve communications to practi-
workshops each, with a total of 52 tioners such as a practitioner journal
workshops) were Wayne Cascio, Rob or newsletter
Silzer, Ben Schneider, David Peterson, • Provide training and development in
and Nancy Tippins. some specific development topics
• Across the 34 most frequent workshop • Improve graduate training and early
presenters (4–13 workshops each), 59% career development of I-O practitioners
are practitioners, 32% are academics/ • Provide more workshops, seminars,
researchers, 9% are nonmembers. forums
• Strengthen the practice orientation in
Sold Out Workshops SIOP
• Best attended workshop topics were • Better facilitate networking and men-
talent management and high poten- toring opportunities
tial talent (17 sold out workshops) • Improve the SIOP conference to focus
and selection & staffing (11 sold out more on practice related issues
workshops). • Provide more online education and
• Presenters whose workshops were development programs
most frequently sold out included
Keith Pyburn, Wayne Cascio, William General Suggestions by the Membership
Ruch, Ben Dowell, Kathleen Lund- • Development and training: provide
quist, Lawrence Ashe, Rob Silzer, and more Practice related professional de-
Frank Landy. velopment and training opportunities
• Workshops that were frequently • Focus on practice: give more attention
offered but poorly attended include in SIOP to practice-related issues
testing, development & use; research • Career education: consider establish-
methods; and performance appraisal ing graduate training and development
& management. There also seems to guidelines
be a softening of interest in selection, • Further research: better understand
teams, testing, and job analysis topics. practice jobs and careers
Reader Recommendations
1 = Academics in universities and colleges, and researchers in research consulting firms & government research
positions)
2 = Consultants in consulting firms and nonresearch consulting positions and organizational‐based professionals in
organizations & in government positions with a practice focus)
3 = SIOP Fellow designation
4 = SIOP awards, 2014–2015 awards include 8 Distinguished and traditional awards (78% of awards were given to
academics/researchers and 22% were given to practitioners) and 7 newer awards, such as the Dunnette, Hogan,
and Jeanneret (86% of these awards were given to went to academics/researchers and 22% were given to
practitioners).
5 = 2014–2015 key appointments included 33 Committee Chairs (70% are academics/researchers and 30% are
practitioners) and 49 other key appointments (69% are academics/researchers and 31% are practitioners) and
include SIOP Foundation Bd., AOP representatives, LEC chairs, Publication Bd, editors, Professional Practice
Editorial Bd, Organizational Frontiers Editorial Board, Fellowship Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee
(n = 5)
Table 2
Member Representation Among SIOP Officers
Consultants/professionals
Members Academics/researchers (1) in organizations (2)
Membership (2011) 48.60% 49.30%
Members with I‐O PhDs (2011) 44% 56%
Presidents
Past 30 years (1982–2012) 83% 17%
Past 10 years (2002–2012) 80% 20%
2011–2012
2012–2013
2013–2014
2014–2015
Conclusions No progress
SIOP Officers (Executive Board)
2011–2012 75% 25%
2012–2013 69% 31%
2013–2014 68% 32%
2014–2015 75% 25%
Conclusions No progress
1 = Academics in universities and colleges, and researchers in research consulting firms & government research
positions)
2 = Consultants in consulting firms and nonresearch consulting positions and organizational‐based professionals in
organizations & in government positions with a practice focus)
Table 2
SIOP Practitioner Needs Survey Respondents by Employment Setting
Frequency 2008 Percent 2015 Percent
Academic institution 38 25% 8%
Consulting firm 125 26% 27%
Independent practice 52 11% 11%
Military service 1 N/A <1%
Non‐profit organization 26 4% 6%
Private sector business 112 19% 24%
Public sector organization (e.g., government agency) 35 11% 8%
Did not report 80 4% 17%
Total 469
Table 4
SIOP Practitioner Needs Survey Respondents Time Spent by Practice Area
Percentage of Percentage of
Percentage of Percentage of work work time: work time:
work time: time: Internal External Scientist/
Educator practitioner practitioner researcher
N 276 307 341 274
Median 0% 55% 80% 10%
Mean 15% 52% 58% 19%
different employment sectors within which • Independent and public sector: SIOP
I-O psychologists work. We focused on committee chairs could recruit more
employment setting so that SIOP can tailor independent and public sector practi-
efforts at improving satisfaction with SIOP tioners for SIOP committee membership.
specifically at members working within • Private sector: Current SIOP Fellows
different environments. could continue to nominate more SIOP
members working in the private sector
The results of this question appear in Table as SIOP Fellows. Relevant SIOP commit-
5. In general, few questions indicated tees and/or the SIOP Foundation may
significant mean differences in satisfaction consider developing awards for contri-
between the employment settings: Only 4 butions to I-O practice, perhaps on the
of the 12 areas demonstrated significant dif- basis of SIOP conference submissions.
ferences in mean satisfaction ratings across • Consulting and nonprofit: Relevant
employment settings. Where there were SIOP Committees could develop re-
significant differences, respondents working sources (e.g., job aids) for practitioners
in academic and nonprofit settings were who want to get licensed and recruit
generally more satisfied with SIOP support licensed I-Os to develop a Q&A panel
in practitioner areas than were respondents for the annual SIOP conference on fre-
working in other employment settings. The quently asked questions about licen-
lowest ratings for satisfaction were generally sure and the pros and cons of pursuing
from respondents working in the private sec- licensure.
tor, most notably in the area of SIOP leader-
ship’s understanding of key practice issues. In addition to the satisfaction ratings by
support area, there was a range of write-in
Based on the satisfaction ratings, SIOP may comments on the “satisfaction with SIOP”
want to consider the following efforts to question. Some perception issues regard-
improve member satisfaction for I-Os in ing the value of practitioners within SIOP
different employment settings: appear to remain.
90% P-Psych
80%
70%
JAP
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
90%
80%
70%
JBP
60% HP
IJSA
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1980 1990 2000 2010
Figure 2. Use of the string “theor*” in Journal of Business and Psychology (JBP), Hu-
man Performance (HP), and International Journal of Selection and Assessment (IJSA).
62 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
research (including methods, results, and terion. The second criterion was changed
application) as well as literature reviews. to “empirical contribution,” which focused
However, at this point, three criteria (i.e., on whether the data documented the hy-
technical soundness, readability, and prac- potheses and assertions in the manuscript.
ticality) were used as the basis for judging The practical contribution of a manuscript
manuscripts. To be published, an article served as the third criterion. In addition,
needed to be methodological sound but potential authors were referred to a check-
also readable to both psychologists and list of criteria used by reviewers.
“personnel executives.” Most pertinent
here is the statement that “while articles Using an empirical approach to solicit
dealing with basic research problems will input from reviewers, Campion (1993)
be given consideration, priority will be compiled a checklist of criteria for evaluat-
afforded to papers whose implications ing manuscripts. Theory took a prominent
are for immediate and general problems.” role as the first criterion in the checklist
Thus, practical implications were deemed was “theoretical importance,” which
more important than theoretical implica- encouraged authors to take I-O psychology
tions (although the inside front cover did in a “new direction” and to “change future
not explicitly mention “theory”). research” (p. 707). The checklist also
included a section on “conceptual develop-
The criteria for publication in PPsych re- ment,” which focused on the design of the
mained largely unchanged for decades. In study as well as theory. Although theory
1985, Paul Sackett became editor and the was clearly encouraged, one criterion in
inside front cover was changed slightly to the checklist suggested that it was not
indicate that the journal published “em- mandatory: “does not force a theoretical
pirical applied research.” Ten years later, framework when the study is essentially
theory began to creep into the journal’s exploratory” (p. 708). This criterion is in
scope. Partway through Michael Cam- stark contrast to more recent observations
pion’s editorship, the inside front cover by Cortina (2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c,
mentioned that “theory development and 2015a, 2015b) and Locke, Williams, and
other conceptual articles” were acceptable Masuda (2015). However, there were also
for publication. However, it was still clear criteria indicating that manuscripts should
that the journal would “mainly report “[go] beyond simply applying theory, and
original empirical research.” In addition, instead [improve] theory” (p. 709) and
the criteria for publication were also should “[make] a theoretical contribu-
changed. Technical soundness, readability, tion” (p. 718). In fact, the string “theor*”
and practicality no longer served as the appeared 28 times in the checklist.3
primary basis for judging a manuscript’s
publishability. Instead, “conceptual con- The new criteria for publication lasted for
tribution,” which covered “new ideas and several subsequent editorialships. In his
insights” and whether the article would incoming editorial, John Hollenbeck (1997)
“add to theory,” was added as the first cri- wrote that PPsych’s “mission will not change
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 63
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
AMR
40% AMJ
LQ
IOP
30%
20%
10%
0%
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Figure 3. Use of the string “theor*” in Academy of Management Review (AMR), Academy
of Management Journal (AMJ), Leadership Quarterly (LQ), and Industrial and Organiza-
tional Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice (IOP).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
PsychBull
40%
Am. Psyc.
30%
JPSP
20%
10%
0%
1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Figure 4. Use of the string “theor*” in Psychological Bulletin (PsychBull), American Psy-
chologist (Am. Psyc.), and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP).
90%
80%
70%
Br. J. of
60%
Soc. Psy.
50%
Br. J. of
Psy.
40%
30% JOOP
20%
10%
0%
1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Figure 5. Use of the string “theor*” in British Journal of Social Psychology (Br. J. of Soc.
Psy.), British Journal of Psychology (Br. J. of Psy.), and Journal of Organizational and Oc-
cupational Psychology (JOOP).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
PNAS
30%
Science
Nature
20%
10%
0%
1869 1879 1889 1899 1909 1919 1929 1939 1949 1959 1969 1979 1989 1999 2009
Figure 6. Use of the string “theor*” in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS), Science, and Nature.
Many organizations leverage information Traditional paper and pencil tests are
found on social media and/or integrate new being transformed and delivered through
social networking tools into their systems computers and mobile devices with vid-
without thinking about the legal and ethical eo-based items and within virtual reality
implications and the lack of empirical sup- scenarios. With changes in the way these
port for usage (Mills et al., 2015). Research assessments are traditionally delivered,
has shown that invasive employer requests I-O psychologists are recognizing a need to
to access applicant Facebook pages tend to ensure equivalence across measures. This
decrease applicant perceptions of organi- is due to the fact that several features of
zational justice and job pursuit intentions, technology-enhanced assessments could
making these organizations less attractive impact the validity or usefulness of assess-
(Menzies & Bartles, 2015). Another study ments and how applicants perform. For
investigated issues of weight discrimination example, mobile delivery mode screens
based on employers evaluating social media are smaller, candidates are more likely to
information and determining whether be on the go as well as distracted during
applicants engage in healthy or unhealthy the assessment, and navigation options
behaviors (McHugh & Joseph, 2015). may change depending on the device being
used (Boyce et al., 2015). Other issues such
Optimizing User Experience in Technology- as development algorithms, determining
Enhanced Assessment item exposure frequencies in computer
adaptive testing, and protecting integrity
Technology is changing the testing envi- of the test are also huge concerns being
ronment and organizations need to ensure investigated within the research (Moclaire,
candidates are having a good experience. Olson, Drollinger, Vorm, & Foster, 2015).
Over the past year, more researchers are
investigating innovative delivery modes Although I-O psychologists are beginning
(Payne et al., 2015) and other character- to increase their understanding of these
istics that influence user experience such selection and recruiting impacts, there
as test length, ATS integration, and much are still gaps that need to be addressed in
more (Tafero, Granger, Lux, Steffensmeier, future research. We imagine this area will
& Glatzhofer, 2015). Studies have shown continue to evolve in the coming years.
that applicants in technology-mediated in-
terviews (Blacksmith, Willford, & Behrend, Virtual Workplaces
2015) and unproctored Internet settings
(Wasko, Lawrence, & O’Connell, 2015) Approximately 64 million workers telecom-
were found to be less favorable in online muted in 2012, according to Global Work-
settings than traditional settings. place Analytics (2013), an increase of 58%
since 1997 (Jackson, 1997). This theme is
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 75
likely of no surprise because virtual work Computer-Mediated Communication in
still continues to increase each year and Virtual Teams
new technologies mitigate the associated
challenges (Poeppelman & Blacksmith, Although technology continues to change
2015). Some of the most immediate re- virtual working conditions, it cannot replace
search trends include balancing work and the value of face-to-face time. In face-to-
life in virtual settings, effects of commu- face situations, group members share the
nication methods, and virtual methods of same physical location, see and hear one
performance management. another, receive facial indicators, and en-
gage in camaraderie. Recent research con-
Balancing Work and Life in Virtual Settings tinues to examine teamwork, communica-
tion, and methods of communication such
Virtual workplaces are rapidly changing as mobile devices, text, and email messages
our understanding and implementation to determine if the positive benefits of face-
of work–life balance. This is due to the to-face can be replicated in virtual settings.
realities of merging one’s home with work,
which makes for longer workdays and For instance, research has shown com-
weeks given everything is blended togeth- munication channels affect the type of
er under one roof. Managing boundaries persuasive information readers attend to
is critical. This can be done through strat- (Larson, Lipani, Zhu, & Kern, 2015) and
egies such as recreating an office environ- emotional reactions (e.g., emotional rec-
ment by having separate, designated areas ognition or emotional contagion process-
for work activities; mimicking routines that es; Doerr, Clark, & Svyantek, 2015). Other
are found in offices; and other behavioral research examined the moderating effect
tactics (Basile & Beauregard, 2015). Other that virtuality has on the relationship
research found frequent social cell phone between communication and performance
use can buffer against harmful effects (Marlow, Lacerenza, Petruzzelli, & Salas,
such as emotional exhaustion and poor 2015). Seely and DeChurch (2015) also
sleep quality (Ragsdale & Hoover, 2015). developed and validated a psychometric
Researchers suggest this might be due to measure of process sociomateriality which
an increase in social support. Employees describes how member interactions are
can experience positive affective benefits enabled, augmented, or impaired by the
from teleworking but these benefits vary use of technology during task work.
depending on several individual differenc-
es such as openness to experience, trait Performance Management
rumination, and social connectedness out-
side of the workplace (Anderson, Kaplan, Managing virtual workers also requires a
& Vega, 2015). new understanding of performance manage-
ment within organizations. Predictors of con-
textual performance such as organizational
citizenship behaviors (OCBs) differ in virtual
76 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
settings. Recent research identified two me- certainly includes the learning environment
diating processes that can help explain the that encompasses training and develop-
relationship between the frequency of tele- ment methods. Unlike before, training
work and OCBs, which includes teleworkers’ can now be implemented through virtual
perceptions of professional isolation and reality such as head-mounted display units
their social identification with their work and computer-based methods. However,
group (Kane & Sommer, 2015). Other recent recent research demonstrated that learn-
research investigated the conceptual space ers with head-mounted displays performed
of performance constructs and determined worse on posttests than those who used a
that negative social networking behav- traditional computer-based method as me-
iors are conceptually distinct from other diated by cognitive engagement (Howard
counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) et al., 2015). Learning environments are
but share many of the same antecedents also being gamified (Armstrong & Landers,
(Brown, Weidner, Wynne, & O’Brien, 2015). 2015; Broadfoot & Chambers, 2015), and
These results also highlight that only some discussion channels are being leveraged to
of the previous research investigating CWBs increase learner engagement (Cavanaugh,
can be translated to our understanding of Landers, & Landers, 2015). For instance, re-
negative social media postings. search by Broadfoot and Chambers (2015)
found that employees who participated in
Last, organizations are introducing new per- gamified training learned key facts and felt
formance management practices with the more comfortable at work when applying
advent of sophisticated technology. Exam- training knowledge.
ples include methods of monitoring employ-
ee behavior electronically (Willford, Howard, Researchers are still striving to understand
Cox, Badger, & Behrend, 2015), which can the best environments for virtual team
be done through email and Internet usage, training (Horn et al., 2015) and effects
computer and phone use, and workplace on learning attrition for online learning
surveillance techniques that utilize video (Bauer, Cavanaugh, & Cameron, 2015).
smartcard technology. As you might imag- Bauer et al. (2015) showed that self-ef-
ine, electronic performance monitoring rais- ficacy increased the odds of a learner
es issues of ethics and impacts on employee dropping out, whereas pretraining expe-
attitudes. Future research will need to riences can have the opposite effect on
examine additional effects of these monitor- attrition. Another study examined whether
ing practices on employees. and to what degree video game and flight
simulator experience contributed to the
Training and Development prediction of psychomotor-based selection
test scores and subsequent flight training
New Approaches to Learning performance for a sample of student naval
pilots (Drollinger et al., 2015). In addition,
As technology has completely changed text-based peer discussions during lectures
most organizational practices, this most were implemented to increase learner
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 77
engagement but may be harmful due to of I-O psychologists developing a tool that
cognitive load increasing over time (Cava- assists in synthesis, analysis, and dissem-
naugh et al., 2015). ination of more than a million scientific
research findings. Upon completion, this
Technology-Enhanced Training Delivery tool will be available to all researchers for
meta-analytic analyses and to translate
Training classrooms are continuously being research into practice instantaneously.
enhanced with technology and new tools. Congrats to this team for winning the 2013
There are now readily accessible tools that Digging into Data Challenge!
are aiding teaching including Skype, Black-
board’s blog platform, PowerPoint’s record- Conclusion
ing function, and Twitter (Bachiochi, Bulger,
Everton, Bunk, & Giumetti, 2015). Research- The “HR technology renaissance” is not
ers at this year’s event also highlighted only changing how organizations manage
advances in technology-based training and their human capital (Lanik et al., 2015), but
implications for understanding the psycho- there is a growing understanding among
logical processes relevant in training. In the the community that to truly understand
future, we will likely see increased learner and measure this rapid technological
control as a function of new training tech- change, we as I-O psychologists must work
nology (Behrend et al., 2015). together and with other fields and disci-
plines. Below are key themes from presen-
Big Data tations at this year’s event:
Applicants and employees are leaving a • I-O psychology as a field must take an
“digital footprint” and I-O psychologists introspective, critical look at how its
are studying how to best utilize such data research methods and applied prac-
with new tools such as MongoDB, Hadoop, tices are keeping pace with or falling
and Python (Lee & Drown, 2015). Sessions behind the technological curve (Boyd,
this year discussed issues such as populat- Morelli, Doverspike, Handler, & Illing-
ed data matrices, data visualization, text worth, 2015).
data mining, computers to score candi- • I-O psychology has only had a minor
dates’ narrative essays and more (Meade, role in understanding how technol-
Sinar, Bokhari, and Villanes, 2015). Of ogy-related efficacy judgments are
particular concern is defining parameters formed and what their effects might
for legal and ethical conduct when using be (Howardson et al., 2015).
big data (Biga et al., 2015). • I-O psychologists need to build their
technological skillsets (Aude et al.,
One particularly interesting session dis- 2015). There are common barriers
cussed a new I-O big data project, called present in this cross-disciplinary field,
metaBUS (Bosco, Uggerslev, Steel, & Field, and in order to continue to shed value
2015). This effort consists of a large team on our I-O skillset, we must be able to
78 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
communicate with other fields. Aude, S., Brusso, R., Barnieu, J., Johnston, J.,
• New technologies are commonplace in Landers, R., Mulvaney, R., & Zachary, W.
today’s workplace environment. Ensur- (2015, April). I-Os as technologists: To start,
ing that the technology is successfully press any key. Panel discussion resented at
the 30th Annual Conference of the Society
transitioned remains an important
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
priority for I-O psychologists to ensure Philadelphia, PA.
our interventions can improve the Bachiochi, P., Bulger, C., Everton, W., Bunk, J.,
workplace (Hedge et al., 2015). & Giumetti, G. (2015, April). Using teaching
technology in the I-O classroom. Symposium
There are specific technology and social presented at the 30th Annual Conference of
media trends that continue to show up the Society for Industrial and Organizational
each year at SIOP. Although some areas Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
have progressed and evolved, other areas Basile, K., & Beauregard, A. (2015, April). Mind
still need to be examined. Hopefully, this the gap: Negotiating boundaries between
work and home. Poster presented at the
article might also inspire some ideas for ses-
30th Annual Conference of the Society for
sions we need to see next year in Anaheim. Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
We’d like to hear from you! What trends Philadelphia, PA.
do you expect to see at #SIOP16? Bauer, K., Cavanaugh, K., & Cameron, H. (2015,
April). Pre-training predictors of attrition
Email us at from voluntary online training. Poster
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of
themodernapp@gmail.com
the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Tweet at us @themodernapp Behrend, T., Kraiger, K., Young, C., Beier, M.,
Fisher, S., Howardson, G.,…Weinhardt, J.
Contact the authors on LinkedIn: (2015, April). Integrating technology and
Nikki Blacksmith and training: New developments and frontiers.
Tiffany Poeppelman Symposium presented at the 30th Annual
Conference of the Society for Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
References
Biga, A., Weiner, S., Guzzo, R., Kloeckner, R.,
Rutigliano, P., Saari, L., & Scherbaum, C.
Anderson, A., Kaplan, S., & Vega, R. (2015,
(2015, April). Big data and identified employ-
April). Who benefits from telework? Individu-
ee surveys: Ethical issues and actions. Panel
al differences and telework outcomes. Poster
discussion presented at the 30th Annual
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of
Conference of the Society for Industrial and
the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Blacksmith, N., & Poeppelman, T. (2014). Vid-
Armstrong, M., & Landers, R. (2015, April).
eo-based technology: The next generation of
Enhancing training outcomes with gamifi-
recruitment and hiring. The Industrial-Orga-
cation. Poster presented at the 30th Annual
nizational Psychologist, 52(2), 84–88.
Conference of the Society for Industrial and
Blacksmith, N., Willford, J.C., & Behrend,
Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
T.S. (2015). Technology mediation lowers
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 79
interview ratings and applicant reactions: Doerr, A., Clark, M., & Svyantek, D. (2015,
A meta-analysis. Poster presented at the April). Spreading like wildfire: Impact of
30th Annual Conference of the Society for communication channel on emotional con-
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, tagion. Poster presented at the 30th Annual
Philadelphia, PA. Conference of the Society for Industrial and
Boyce, A., Morelli, N, Dages, K., Fursman, P., Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Gray, C., Gutierrez, S., … Parker, B. (2015). Drollinger, S., Cox, B., Moclaire, C., Olson, T.,
Mobile devices in talent assessment: The Vorm, E., & Foster, F. (2015, April). Impact
next chapter. Symposium presented at the of gaming and simulator experience on
30th Annual Conference of the Society for flight performance. Poster presented at the
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 30th Annual Conference of the Society for
Philadelphia, PA. Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
Boyd, S., Morelli, N., Doverspike, D., Handler, Philadelphia, PA.
C., & Illingworth, J. A. (2015, April). Linear GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com (2013). Latest
I-O in an exponential world: Keeping pace telecommuting statistics. Retrieved from
with technology. Panel discussion presented http://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/
at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society tele-commuting-statistics
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Hedge, J., Alonso, A., Cohen, D., Martineau, J.,
Philadelphia, PA. Kurtessis, J., Rizzuto, T., … Ohse, D. (2015,
Bosco, F., Uggerslev, K., Steel, P., & Field, J. April). Exploring pathways and roadblocks
(2015, April). Generating instant meta-anal- to successful workplace technology imple-
yses using the metaBUS database and con- mentation. Symposium presented at the
struct taxonomy. Master Tutorial presented 30th Annual Conference of the Society for
at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Philadelphia, PA. Horn, Z., Marlow, S., Koehler, T., Lacerenza, C.,
Broadfoot, A., & Chambers, C. (2015, April). Hughes, A., Cooper, T., … Fischlmayr, I. (2015,
Gamification wins! creating a customer ori- April). Virtual team development: Applying
ented mindset for utility employees. Poster the science. Symposium presented at the
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of 30th Annual Conference of the Society for
the Society for Industrial and Organizational Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia, PA.
Brown, A., Weidner, N., Wynne, K., & O’Brien, Howard, M., Resnick, T., Kutz, N., Mahla,
K. (2015, April). Social networking use as E., Nestor, L., & Bet, J. (2015, April). Are
a counterproductive work behavior. Poster head-mounted virtual reality systems useful
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of for training and education? Poster presented
the Society for Industrial and Organizational at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. for Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
Cavanaugh, K., Landers, R., & Landers, A. Philadelphia, PA.
(2015, April). Backchannel communication: Howardson, G., Foster Thompson, L., Yu,
Can text messaging improve traditional P., Behrend, T., Kaminsky, S., Horn, R., …
classroom learning? Poster presented at the Willford, J. (2015, April). Putting the “e” in
30th Annual Conference of the Society for efficacy: Understanding technology-related
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, efficacy judgments. Symposium presented
Philadelphia, PA. at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society
80 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Philadelphia, PA. Menzies, T., & Bartles, L. (2015). Applicant
Jackson, M. (1997). Telecommuters love staying reactions to employers’ requests to access
away, new survey shows. The Denver Post, 4C. their Facebook pages. Poster presented at
Kane, L., & Sommer, K. (2015, April). Telework, the 30th Annual Conference of the Society
professional isolation, social identity, and for Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
organizational citizenship behaviors. Poster Philadelphia, PA.
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of Mills, M., Salute, C., Roulin, N., Shahani-Den-
the Society for Industrial and Organizational ning, C., Zickar, M., & Zide, J. (2015). Se-
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. lection in the digital age: Social media’s
Lanik, M., Barney, M., Baumgartner, N., Moran, challenges and opportunities. Panel discus-
G., Smith, C., & Udom, I. (2015, April). Invited sion presented at the 30th Annual conference
session: Future of HR from the perspective of for Society for Industrial and Organizational
technology startups. Special event presented Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society Moclaire, C., Olson, T., Drollinger, S., Vorm,
for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, E, & Foster, C. (2015). Computer adaptive
Philadelphia, PA. testing algorithm performance in simulated
Larson, E., Lipani, L., Zhu, Z., & Kern, M. (2015, and applicant samples. Poster presented at
April). The elaborated negotiation: Persua- the 30th Annual Conference of the Society
sion and communication medium in negoti- for Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
ations. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Philadelphia, PA.
Conference of the Society for Industrial and Payne, H., Abraham, J., Lustenberger, D., Rice,
Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. C., Roland, D., & Tafero, T. (2015). Everything
Lee, W., & Drown, D. (2015, April). Tools for changes: Best practices for combining tests
big data: MongoDB, Hadoop, and Python. with innovative contexts. Panel discussion
Roundtable presented at the 30th Annual presented at the 30th Annual conference
Conference of the Society for Industrial and for Society for Industrial and Organizational
Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Marlow, S., Lacerenza, C., Petruzzelli, A., & Poeppelman, T. & Blacksmith, N. (2015). Virtual
Salas, E. (2015, April). The effect of virtuality workplaces: Technological functions can ad-
on team communication: A meta-analysis. dress common challenges. The Industrial-Or-
Poster presented at the 30th Annual Confer- ganizational Psychologist, 52(3), 108–112.
ence of the Society for Industrial and Organi- Ragsdale, J. & Hoover, C. (2015, April). Using
zational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. cell phones for work and play during nonwork
McHugh, B. & Joseph, D., (2015). Weight Time. Poster presented at the 30th Annual
discrimination via SNS: Perceptions of over- Conference of the Society for Industrial and
weight applicants’ Facebook profiles. Poster Organizational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
presented at the 30th Annual Conference of Seely, P., & DeChurch, L. (2015, April). Embod-
the Society for Industrial and Organizational ied teamwork: Development and validation
Psychology, Philadelphia, PA. of the process sociomateriality scale. Poster
Meade, A., Sinar, E., Bokhari, E., & Villanes, A. presented at the 30th Annual Conference of
(2015, April). Theme track: Big data advanc- the Society for Industrial and Organizational
es from computer science and statistics. Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Special event presented at the 30th Annual Tafero, T., Grager, B., Lux, D., Steggensmeier, K.,
Conference of the Society for Industrial and & Glatzhofer, P. (2015). 20 years of changes
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 81
in pre-employment testing: Experiences and Willford, J., Howard, R., Cox, M., Badger, J.,
challenges. Panel discussion presented at & Behrend, T. (2015, April). A latent class
the 30th Annual conference for Society for analysis of electronic performance moni-
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, toring practices. Poster presented at the
Philadelphia, PA. 30th Annual Conference of the Society for
Wasko, L., Lawrence, A., & O’Connell, M. Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
(2015). What matters in test environment? Philadelphia, PA.
Poster presented at the 30th Annual Confer-
ence of the Society for Industrial and Organi-
zational Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Introduction
www.SIOP.org/conferences/16con/
Bill Becker When did you first become interested in emotion research?
Texas Christian
Universty It was when I was on sabbatical at the University of Calgary.
This is my second career, and in my first career I was an engi-
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 101
neer for 20 years. I was studying leadership How are you incorporating neuroscience
and organizational culture and I attended into your current projects?
a presentation by Peter Frost from the
University of British Columbia, who sadly Incorporating basic neuroscience into proj-
passed away a few years ago. He was the ects is something I leave for other people
guy who introduced me to this idea of the to do. Basically it sits in the background of
emotions in the workplace. While there, projects I’m doing at the moment. The UQ
I worked with a colleague named Wilfred Psychology School has always had a strong
Zerbe. I went up to him and I said, “This is cognitive neuroscience unit, so I’ve always
really interesting. I never heard of the role had a lot of contact with them but not
of emotions in the workplace.” And Wilf a lot of direct involvement with actually
said, “Hey! Well, talk to me because Peter doing the neurobiology.
Frost was my dissertation chair and this is
the kind of work that I do.” So that triggered I have a lot of projects that are using expe-
my interest, and off we went. I took my rience sampling that enables you capture
next sabbatical leave at Penn State, where emotions in real-time. Another thing my
I “became the full bottle” on emotions, as students have been doing is measuring
we Australians would say. The result of my stress with cortisol, which is a whole other
reading was later published in Research in side effect of brain activity. So that’s about
Multi-level Issues (Ashkanasy, 2003). as far as I go.
I started to incorporate neuroscience right Which of those projects are you most
from the start. I should also say that shortly excited about?
after I came back from Calgary I went to
a meeting of the Australian psychologists. I’m excited about all my projects! I think
There I met Mark Frank, a student of Paul that collecting emotion data in real-time is
Ekman’s. Mark spoke about the recognition a really exciting thing to do. I would really
of facial emotions in the brain, which is like to be able to combine that with some
quite closely tied to neurobiology as well. sort of biological or physiological measures
on the spot, but that’s really difficult to do
I also got involved in the International in the field at the moment. You can do it in
Society for Research on Emotions (ISRE) at the laboratory however.
that time. There is now a semiannual con-
ference of ISRE, and the next conference One my students, Jemma King, is getting
will be at the University of Geneva led by excellent results using cortisol mea-
Klaus Scherer, who will be talking about surements. Jemma has been measuring
the work the work of the Swiss National emotional intelligence using the May-
Center for Affective Sciences. That’s a er-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence
group that has had a big influence on me. Test (MSCEIT; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso,
2003). It’s an IQ-like ability-based EQ
test. So Jemma’s been measuring emo-
102 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
tional intelligence using that test. And (4) to manage and regulate emotions in
we’ve been conducting laboratory studies yourself and others. In terms of the dimen-
involving various sources of stressors and sionality in Jemma’s study with the cortisol,
most lately we’ve been measuring abusive it is indeed the regulation branch involving
supervision and cortisol levels. In the two the management of emotions that seems
studies that we’ve done, we got about a to have the largest effect.
-.40 correlation between the scores on the
MSCEIT test in the cortisol stress levels. That’s really interesting because on the
People with higher emotional intelligence biological side each of those branches has
experience less stress as measured objec- very unique neural systems.
tively from the cortisol tests.
Yes, the understanding branch is more of a
Wow, so what are the implications for cognitive dimension than emotional. That
practice? How do you see I-O psychologist also taps into the fact that emotions and
practitioners using that? cognitions very closely interact with each
other. Richard Lazarus and Robert Zajonc
There’s been a lot of criticism of the con- engaged in a debate as to whether cogni-
struct of emotional intelligence. There’s a tions or emotional responses come first. In
huge amount of confusion about the mea- some situations emotions come first, and
surement of emotional intelligence that in others, cognitions come first. Today, the
persists even though I’ve written several consensus is that cognition and emotions
articles in an attempt to resolve that con- form a reciprocal whole (e.g., Leventhal &
fusion. As with some of the more popular Scherer, 1987).
applications of neuroscience, there’s still
a lot of pseudoscience out there. There’re Which brings me to the broader point and
still a lot of people using measures that back to the five-level model: it’s really a
aren’t really valid. Go ahead and employ strongly intertwined interaction of context,
measures of emotional intelligence, but be environment, personality, and brain func-
careful what measures you use. tions. They all interact with each other.
Is the MSCEIT multidimensional? Does it I think we can make the mistake of getting
have the four dimensions? carried away with thinking that everything
can be explained from biological sources. I
Yes, well they call it branches. It has four went to the movies last night and watched
branches and they subsequently have been a movie about Stephen Hawking and his
cast into a “cascading model” in a Journal pursuit of a theory of everything. In the
of Applied Psychology article by Joseph and movie he is presenting to his committee
Newman (2010). The four branches are: and they ask him what he really wants,
(1) the ability to perceive emotion, (2) to and he says that he would like one theory
incorporate your perceptions and thinking that explains everything. And his commit-
processes, (3) to understand emotions, and tee chair said, “Yes, that would be nice
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 103
wouldn’t it.” For biologists and scientists, it Well I wrote an article with Bill Becker
would be wonderful if the brain and the bi- and Dave Waldman (Ashkanasy, Becker,
ology that could explain all behavior. Well, & Waldman, 2014) where I explain the
guess what: We are never going to un- need to take care. I draw an analogy in the
derstand behavior that way. On the other emotional intelligence literature and Dan
hand, we can’t fully understand behavior Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence.
without an understanding of the neurobi- The book sparked a lot of interest. Sudden-
ological substrates and their roles in terms ly there were seriously outrageous claims
of interactions. about emotional intelligence. Goleman
is quoted as saying in his book that 20%
Gerard Hodgkinson and Mark Healey over of our successes in life can be attributed
in the UK have been writing some excel- to cognitive intelligence; ipso facto, the
lent stuff about the interaction of context, remaining 80% must be attributed to emo-
environment, and cognition (e.g., Hodgk- tional intelligence. For people like myself
inson & Healey, 2008). They are accumu- working in emotions and emotional intelli-
lating evidence that goes back to support gence, this has continued to haunt us.
Kurt Lewin in his statement that behavior
is a function of the person and the envi- Outlandish claims like that tend to stick
ronment. We seem to have to learn that because they strike an intuitive cord. And
lesson over and over again. I think the same is true among people
who are proposing somehow that narrow
What do you do to conduct research and biological measurements are some kind of
communicate your research findings such magic bullet; like Steven Hawking and his
that you guard against the reductionist search for the Theory of Everything, you
criticism? just need to find the right measure and it
will solve all your problems. Organizational
Yes, people feel quite strongly about trying scientists are looking for the magic bullet
to reduce behavior down to the level of that’s going to identify effective leaders
neurons. The fact is that neurons alone and employees, as well as how to maxi-
cannot manage. Management is much mize overall performance. So you’ve got to
more than the functioning of individual really look out for neuro-bunk because it’s
neurons. And personality also involves the very popular to propose neuroscience as
functioning of much more than individual the answer to everything.
neurons. It involves teams, and of course
the organization as a whole. So I think What’s the next big project for organiza-
those five levels of emotions that I put tional neuroscience and pushing this field
forward is the way to look at it. forward?
What tips do you have for readers who Well, it will take a combination of active
don’t have training in neuroscience and projects and research that is directly rel-
want to be able to identify neuro bunk? evant to this field. I really respect people
104 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
who are using fMRI and EEG. David Wald- neural level picture to build a complete
man’s research is really exciting to me. understanding of work behavior.
Jemma King is keen on looking at positive
emotional states using objective measures, Do you see any editorial challenges for
such as oxytocin. There’s a lot that can be getting good interdisciplinary research
done with hormonal indicators as direct into journals?
biological correlates of emotion activity.
In general, editors have been very
The truth is we really have no clue what open-minded in organizational journals.
is around the corner. So it is an exciting Many editors have not taken a stance one
future, and that’s why I attend these con- way or another, which is of benefit to us
ferences and sit in on presentations. As we and our discipline. In other disciplines
test different methods, certain procedures editors have become strong gatekeepers.
will end up at the bottom of the trash bin, I don’t think that’s the proper role of an
and there’ll also be diamonds that will editor; rather, given the test of time good
emerge that we can use going forward. research will emerge. That’s what makes
organizational neuroscience so exciting.
In terms of practitioners, I recommend at-
tending conferences but not getting carried Any closing comments for TIP readers?
away with some of the extreme claims that
are made by some people. When peo- In terms of closing comments, what draws
ple are making extreme claims, don’t get me is curiosity. I came from my original
carried away in the opposite direction and engineering career with lots of questions
throw it all out. There needs to be an effort going around in my head. I was working
to separate the diamonds from the crud. for an organization that was badly man-
aged, and making serious errors as a result
In general, what advice do you have for of the poor management. I began to ask
TIP readers interested in conducting inter- questions and study at University. I came
disciplinary research? across this thing called psychology and
took Introductory Psychology 101. And I
I’ve done a lot of interdisciplinary projects said, “Ah, this is the answer!” I had no idea
and have also published in marketing and that you could study organizational behav-
accounting journals (e.g., Accounting, Or- ior in a scientific way. That triggered my
ganizations and Society; European Journal curiosity, and I have remained as curious
of Marketing). In our school, we don’t today as I did when I started out.
actually have departments; instead we
have “discipline clusters” and encourage I restricted my consulting activities
scholars to mix across boundaries. Much throughout the years to devote the bulk
of interdisciplinary work is interaction, and of my time to that curiosity for getting at
we need to mix the macro picture with that deeper understanding of phenome-
the micro picture, all the way down to the na. Going deeper and deeper to try and
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 105
understand behavior brought me to the References
neuronal level.
Ashkanasy, N. M. (2003). Emotions in or-
Like I said earlier, we will take a lot of ganizations: A multilevel perspective. In
wrong turns, but occasionally we will F. Dansereau and F. J. Yammarino (Eds.),
unearth these little diamonds that will Research in multi-level issues, volume 2:
Multi-level issues in organizational behavior
enable us to enrich our decision making,
and strategy (pp. 9–54). Oxford, UK: Elsevier
not only for consultants but for manag- Science.
ers in general. That will eventually to the Ashkanasy, N. M., Becker, W. J., & Waldman, D.
economic development and sustainability A. (2014). Neuroscience and organizational
of the human race. behavior: Avoiding both neuro-euphoria
and neuro-phobia. Journal of Organizational
Conclusions Behavior, 35, 909–919.
Hodgkinson , G. P., & Healey, M. P. (2008).
An international thank you to Neal Ash- Cognition in organizations. Annual Review of
kanasy for sharing his curiosity, emotions, Psychology, 59, 387–417.
Joseph, D. L., & Newman, D. A. (2010). Emo-
and cognitions with us. We are confident
tional intelligence: An integrative meta-anal-
that organizational neuroscience will move ysis and cascading model. Journal of Applied
forward thanks to his work and projects Psychology, 95, 54–78.
that it inspires. Levanthal, H. L., & Scherer, K. (1987). The
relationship of emotion to cognition: a func-
tional approach to a semantic controversy.
Cognition and Emotion, 1, 2–38.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., Caruso, D. R., &
Sitarenios, G. (2003). Measuring emotional
intelligence with the MSCEIT V2. 0. Emotion,
3, 97.
Not only does getting a paper from your dissertation out early
benefit you in the form of having a new manuscript submis-
sion early in your tenure process, but it can allow for confer-
ence presentations and applications for several dissertation
awards. For instance, SIOP offers the S. Rains Wallace Award
(see: www.siop.org/siopawards/rains_wallace.aspx) recogniz-
108 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
ing the best dissertation in I-O psychology. For example, after a preliminary project
Chosen annually, this award deadline is the meeting with one of my coauthors at SIOP
end of June, and thinking about publish- 2013, during the summer that followed
ing your dissertation early in the summer we identified our organizational partner-
makes the deadline feasible. ship, developed our theoretical model and
corresponding measures, and began to
Finish Lingering Manuscripts in compile documents that were necessary
the Review Process for the IRB process. This planning during
the summer was really helpful for a few
In the last edition of The Academics’ reasons. First, the start of the school year
Forum, Serge da Motta Veiga and I recom- for a new academic involves lots of train-
mended not neglecting research during ings and meetings, which can take up a
the job search. The same advice holds for fairly significant portion of time. Second,
the summer transition between graduate the transition to teaching a new course can
school and academia. As I have quickly present challenges; for me, this involved
learned, summer for many academics prepping a course I had not taught previ-
becomes a time to move several projects ously, and although I loved the course, it
through the pipeline given that teaching was quite the learning curve at first. Final-
demands tend to be low or nonexistent. ly, figuring out a new school’s IRB protocol
I was fortunate in that I had a couple of can be tough! Given that my coauthor
papers that were already in revision status, and I were at separate institutions, we
and the summer allowed me uninter- had to file two separate IRB applications,
rupted time to finish them up, with my each taking roughly 3 weeks to process
coauthors experiencing similar amounts of (we were lucky—I know other individuals
“free time” to make such efforts possible. who have waited much longer than that!).
Moreover, it was a fun time to reconnect Because of these factors, having our study
with my coauthors on these endeavors as “ready to go” by the end of the summer
I had lost touch with many of them during allowed us to launch a data collection by
my time on the job market and as my dis- October of 2013, giving us enough data to
sertation was concluding. submit work to a journal and SIOP at the
end of our first year.
Identify New Data Collections
Interestingly, I had gotten some advice to
Because I had papers that were nearing not collect data during my first year and to
the end of the review process, I knew I use what I had left from graduate school
wanted to try and collect a new round of instead. For me, I wouldn’t change a thing.
data as soon as I could during the academ- Thinking about the project I highlighted
ic year. By collaborating with other junior above during the summer was incredi-
scholars who were in transition and eager bly interesting and refreshing. Moreover,
to start new work, I was able to plan a given that it was my first data collection
few data collections from start to finish. post-graduate school, it helped me “break
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 109
away” from my graduate student identity the graduate students at VCU. By thinking
to my new identity as an assistant professor. about what the students seemed to be in-
terested in, I was able to think about pos-
Think About Projects for sible projects that may be of interest and
Graduate Students could be further developed one on one
with a student. For instance, knowing that
When I accepted my offer at VCU, I was one of our doctoral students had an inter-
simultaneously excited and terrified at the est in recovery at work sparked an intrinsic
thought of conducting research with grad- interest with me. By coming up with a
uate students. I owe so much to the great document of possible research ideas, I was
mentors I worked with at Penn State and able to meet with this student early in my
The University of Akron, and the thought first year to chat about a project, develop
of paying it back and helping guide grad- the data collection procedure, and actually
uate students was an incredibly rewarding run a study during the spring and fall 2014
idea. However, it was also coupled with semesters. Combined with the projects
the sense that I could—you know—ruin I already had running prior to starting at
the lives of graduate students as they try VCU, having ways to work with doctoral
to make their way through the graduate students early on allowed me to further
school process and into academia. No my identity as a professor in addition to
pressure, really. starting really rewarding mentor–mentee
relationships with students.
Because I was acutely aware of the fact
that I wanted students involved in my And, Finally, Please Take a Break
research, I spent time during my transition
summer looking at projects I already had That summer before starting your tenure
in the works to identify places where grad- track job is pandemonium. In my case,
uate students could truly make a contribu- there was a house to sell, family to see, a
tion and join the project team. I also used rental to find, (too) many pets to move,
this time to double check with coauthors and a lot of uncertainty in terms of when
to make sure that individuals were accept- the move was actually going to happen.
ing of having another person on board Beyond all the work that needs to get
under my supervision. This allowed me done, the move that needs to happen,
to get one graduate student involved in a and the other stressors that may emerge,
methodological review I was writing and taking time off that summer is so benefi-
another student involved in data analysis cial. Mike (the husband) and I took short
for a daily diary study all during my first weekend trips before and after we moved
year on the tenure clock. to Richmond to savor time when I was still
“off the clock” and make sure I didn’t start
the job already in a state of burnout (this
I also spent time that summer finding out is going to be a theme of my column—I
who I would likely be working with among research how to minimize stress, yet tend
110 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
to always induce it in myself! Hmm…). VCU savor that limbo period between being a
was wonderful during this period of transi- graduate student and being an assistant
tion; I had no pressure to show up before professor. With that, I’m off to leave on
my contract start date, but I still had an vacation…
office ready and waiting if I needed it. So,
be happy, healthy, and productive, and
Register today!
Visit www.SIOP.org/LEC
for more information
Then I reflected some more and realized that I felt EXACTLY the
same way after my first semester as a PhD student at Akron.
THEN I started thinking about why I had assumed that discus-
sion-based instruction is the “traditional” form in PhD pro-
grams (and by extension, NOT in undergrad or MS programs)
and why I assumed it’s more effective than lecturing. So, (a) I
thought this would be an interesting idea for a column, and (b)
I’m simply curious about this and would like to hear someone
else’s thoughts (and you, Marcus, are the first person I would
ask anyway)! Let me start by posing two questions:
Loren Naidoo What do you think about the use of discussion-based instruc-
Baruch College and The tion at the PhD (and other) levels? Did the concerns of the
Graduate Center, CUNY students mentioned above illuminate a bona fide limitation of
this teaching method?
The Conundrum
Before doing that, I would like to have much more fun describ-
ing how an I-O psychologist can help “change the conversa-
tion” to explore and cocreate completely newly designed pro-
cesses that better meet the individual’s need for meaningful
work and the modern organization’s need for speed and agility,
and that is predicated on what we already know (the science)
about individual and group motivation and engagement.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 127
The Science
Performance management is a great process
to start this conversation because the tradi- Let’s explore how the science of I-O psy-
tional design is universally disliked and avoid- chology can inform the creative redesign
ed by both employees and managers—given of performance management systems.
that fact, there is something wrong with Here is some of what the research shows.
pushing ahead with I-O psychologists trying
to make the old system more efficient or the In research published by Scullen, Mount,
endless quest to minimize rating errors and and Goff in the Journal of Applied Psychol-
bias. It is also interesting to observe that ogy (2000), 4,492 managers were rated on
even the most current online systems tend performance dimensions by two bosses,
to simply emulate the same design of the two peers, and two subordinates. The
old paper system. The paper version of the surprising finding was that actual perfor-
same old process was put online, with bells mance only accounted for 21% of the vari-
and whistles to allow cascading of goals, and ance and that individual raters’ differences
360 inputs, and employee input; but in the in perception accounted for 62% of the
end it does not change the stale paradigm variance! We tend to assume that ratings
that makes the manager the judge and jury measure the performance of the ratee,
and sets up a situation that is more likely to but what this shows is that what is being
undercut relationships rather than have a measured is often the tendencies of the
process that builds up the relationship with rater. Bottom line, “ratings reveal more
the manager and with the organization. about the rater than they do about the
rate.” It should also be noted that many
A 2013 Society for Human Resource Man- other JAP articles through the years have
agement survey asked HR professionals explored many psychometric issues and
about the quality of their performance showed that a wide range “rating errors
management systems, and only 23% said and biases” exist, even after training.
their company was above average in the
way it conducted them. In addition, Cor- The aforementioned study is strongly cited
porate Executive Board surveys have found in Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall’s
that 95% of managers are dissatisfied with April 2015 article in the Harvard Business
their performance management systems, Review, where they lay out the myriad
and 90% of HR heads believe they do not of problems with performance appraisal
yield accurate information. processes but more importantly provides
an alternative process that Deloitte now
What follows is only a small slice of “the embraces and others are quickly exploring.
science” and “the practice” to simply pro- The solution involves simplifying and focus-
vide a few examples; many more exist. ing on strengths and the quality of ongoing
feedback, and is built on the strengths re-
search from The Marcus Buckingham Group
and The Gallup Organization.
128 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
David Rock’s neuroscience team recently Microsoft, Adobe, Cargill, ConAgra, Gap,
published an article in Strategy + Business Intel, Juniper Networks, Medtronic, and
(August 2014) reviewing research that Sears. Let’s look at a few examples.
showed that labeling people with a rating
or ranking generates an overwhelming Deloitte Services LP left the old perfor-
“fight or flight” response that impairs mance rating process behind and created
judgment. According to the authors, “This three new processes: the annual compen-
neural response is the same type of ‘brain sation decision, the quarterly or per-proj-
hijack’ that occurs when there is an immi- ect performance snapshot, and the
nent physical threat like a confrontation” weekly check in. They also “shifted from
with a dangerous animal. This uncon- a batched focus on the past to a continual
scious response prepares people for “rapid focus on the future, through regular evalu-
reaction and aggressive movement” but ations and frequent check-ins.”
is not well-suited for the kind of conver-
sations that allow people to learn from a Microsoft now focuses evaluation on
performance review. results that people deliver together, em-
phasizing learning and growth. Traditional
Dr. Bob Eichinger, Lominger founder and performance management tactics (ratings,
recently the Korn Ferry Institute leadership distributions, and annual reviews) were
development researcher, showed that the completely retired.
ability to “grow talent” is ranked last out
of 67 competencies for managers, despite Juniper Networks threw out performance
decades of performance management ratings and they simply determine if some-
systems and training. This led Rock and one is a fit with the company’s culture—ei-
colleagues to suggest that overall, manag- ther being a “J-Player” or a “Non-J Player.”
ers may be worse at developing their em- J-Players generally behave according to
ployees than at almost anything else they Juniper’s values and deliver reasonable
do. So why do we continue to position the performance. Juniper clearly explains
manager as the person solely responsible which behavior categories result in Non-J
for developing subordinates? Player status and helps Non-J Players fit
in if they elect to stay. More than 80% of
The Practice Non-J Players have chosen to leave the
company and did so understanding why
Over the last several years many com- they would never succeed there.
panies have dropped the old approach
to performance management and have Medtronic has instituted a quarterly “per-
adopted completely new practices. I-O formance acceleration” process that focus-
psychologists would be well advised to get es on a small number of forward-looking
familiar with the logic and design of these goals, lacks numbers and ratings, and
new processes. Examples of organizations offers a one-page summary sheet.
taking a different approach are Deloitte,
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 129
The Best Practice Institute is introducing provide coaching and feedback to employ-
a fascinating new software product called ees in ways that increase motivation and
Skill Rater that uses a simple, intuitive, so- facilitate performance enhancement.
cial media type platform to provide a meth-
od for constantly getting feedback based Set performance objectives. I-O psychol-
on appreciative inquiry and positive dialog ogists can set specific performance ob-
so that employees get comfortable both jectives and goals for employees based
giving and receiving feedback. People give on scientific evidence that map to the
each other both appreciation and advice. It organizations’ strategic goals and maximize
works well when the organization wants to employee motivation.
symbolically reinforce an open, nondefen-
sive, agile learning environment.
Develop compensation systems. I-O
Supporting Current Systems psychologists can create and implement
compensation systems that are aligned
That ends the section exploring new, with the organizations’ strategic goals and
creative approaches that an I-O psychol- are supportive of organizational values and
ogist can build on to create systems for culture, as well as identify other types of
the future. Now, let’s briefly review how incentives that are valued by employees.
I-O psychologists can help make current
systems more efficient (from http://www. Conduct legal audits and provide expert
siop.org/business/performance.aspx). witness testimony. I-O psychologists are
uniquely qualified to audit an organiza-
Develop performance appraisal tools. I-O tion’s performance management program
psychologists can analyze jobs and develop and identify potential legal risks; they can
performance appraisal tools that ensure all also serve as expert witnesses in perfor-
supervisors are calibrated to have the same mance management cases.
understanding of how poor, average, and
above average performance is identified. Develop and administer 360 surveys. I-O
psychologists can develop, implement,
Develop structured rating processes. I-O and coach to 360-degree feedback surveys
psychologists can develop performance that provide participants with detailed
management systems that facilitate ongo- feedback regarding how their performance
ing performance monitoring and incentiv- is viewed by supervisors, peers, direct
ize regular feedback to employees. reports, clients and customers.
Train performance raters. I-O psychologists I invite dialog; if you know of either “sci-
can train performance raters to identify and ence” or “practice” that gives additional
avoid common ratings biases so that ratings examples in this area then I’d love to hear
are as fair and accurate as possible; they from you at RMVsolutionsLLC@gmail.com.
can also train performance raters on how to
130 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
References ness. Retrieved from http://www.strate-
gy-business.com/article/00275?gko=c442b.
Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A. (2015, April). Scullen, S. E., Mount, M. K., & Goff, M. (2000).
Reinventing performance management. Understanding the latent structure of job
Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from performance ratings. Journal of Applied
https://hbr.org/2015/04/reinventing-perfor- Psychology, 85, 956–970.
mance-management. SIOP. (n.d.) Performance management. Re-
Rock, D., Davis, J., & Jones, B. (2014, August). trieved from http://www.siop.org/business/
Kill your performance ratings. Strategy+Busi- performance.aspx.
SIOP 2015-2016
dues are due by
June 30!
Renew TODAY!
Singapore ranks highest on both scales and So, Where Does This Leave Us?
has the largest proportion of SIOP members.
People who know Singapore are well aware We know from current SIOP data and
that it is the home of several fine universities earlier research (Kraut & Mondo, 2009)
where SIOP members are on the faculty, that SIOP’s membership (including student
and it is also the home of headquarters or affiliates) is increasingly from outside the
regional headquarters of several global firms. United States and is now about 13% of the
total. Over the last year, nearly one of every
To a lesser degree, Hong Kong is in a simi- four (23.2%) new professional members
lar position. was from outside the U.S. Most of them are
coming from developed countries where
134 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
Chart 2: SIOP Members in South East Asia
English is widely spoken. The recognition of sia has 9, and Taiwan and Thailand have
increased internationalization in our field 8 members each. Smaller numbers come
has even led to a new textbook to train I-O from the Philippines (7), Vietnam (1), and
students in a global perspective (Griffith, Cambodia (1), none from Laos or Burma. In
Thompson, & Armon, 2014). all, I-O practitioners seem more widespread
across Southeast Asia than the SIOP mem-
Overseas, industrial-organizational psychol- ber numbers suggested.
ogists may be members of other profession-
al associations such as Division 1, Work & SIOP members who care about overseas
Organizational Psychology, of IAAP (Interna- I-O activities will be greatly helped by
tional Association of Applied Psychology). the Society’s participation in the recently
Of the 896 Division 1 members in March formed Alliance for Organizational Psychol-
2015, U.S. members (the largest subgroup ogy, where SIOP is partnering with Division
after Australia) were only 8.3% of the total.2 1 (Work & Organizational Psychology) of
A review of the membership from South- IAAP and with EAWOP (European Asso-
east Asia generally supports our conclusions ciation of Work and Organizational Psy-
above but offers a few surprises. Although chology). As Lynda Zugec and colleagues
the memberships are still relatively high (2014) reported in last October’s TIP, some
from Singapore (14) and Hong Kong (14), fascinating developments in this arena are
Indonesia leads with 17 members; Malay- being done by SIOP’s International Affairs
Dick Olson
Olson Consulting
In the last Issue of TIP we mapped the The map is a visual representation of
mergers, acquisitions, and name changes merger histories for firms that are relevant
for IBM Consulting. In this issue, we focus to I-O psychology and human resource
on Korn Ferry and CEB. management. Notice that Minneapo-
lis-based PDI is literally and figuratively
Our research began by combing the at the center of merger activity for Korn
inves-tor relations pages and SEC filings of Ferry and CEB. PDI split into PDRI and PDI
both companies. We would like to thank in 1997. PDRI was eventually purchased
Laurie Zelesnikar, director of Corporate by SHL Group Holdings and later CEB. PDI
Services and Communications at CEB, for took a different route. It was acquired by
her help with the project. Ninth House and later Korn Ferry. CEB rep-
resents 14 letterhead changes, Korn Ferry
26 changes.
Before 1992 1992-1994 1994-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2002 2002-2004 2004-2006 2006-2008 2008-2010 2010-2012 2012-2014 2014-2016
Talent Neuron Platform (from Zinnov LLC)
Knowledge Advisors, Inc.
Valtera Corporation
Baumgartner & Partner GmbH
Iconoculture
Tower Group, Inc.
Information Technology Toolbox, Inc.
Executive Performance Group
CEB
SHL Group Holdings
Qwiz Holdings → Previsor
ePredix Talent Technologies
PDRI (1997)
PDI (2008)
Ninth House PDI Ninth House
Korn Ferry
Didier Vuchot & Associates Lominger International
Ray and Berndtson SA Leadersource
Crist Partners
The Newman Group
Levy-Kerson Lore International
Helstrom, Turner & Associates Whitehead Mann
Pearson, Caldwell and Farnsworth SENSA Solutions, Inc
Amrop International (Australian branch) Webb Johnson Global Novations, LLC
Westgate Group Pivot Leadership
JobDirect.com, Inc.
Illsley Bourbonnais Inc.
Pratzer & Partners, Inc.
PA Consulting Group (ES&S Branch)
O’Callaghan Honey Mckay
Hoffman Herbold & Partner
Joy Oliver
SRA International, Inc.
Samantha Chau
Novo Nordisk Inc.
Bethany Bynum
HumRRO
Gary Carter
PDRI a CEB Company
Mark L. Poteet
Organizational Research & Solutions, Inc.
Dennis Doverspike
University of Akron
As the fourth article in a series on the en career level), are discussed. For more
SIOP Careers Study, this article focuses information on the study’s background and
on the career paths of people working in methodology, refer to previous Careers
industry, classified as: working inside an Study articles within TIP (e.g., Zelin, Dover-
organization’s HR department, working as spike, Oliver, Kantrowitz, & Trusty, 2014;
a consultant within one organization, or Zelin, Oliver, Doverspike, Chau, Bynum, &
working as an I-O psychologist within one Poteet, 2015) and the project’s technical
organization, where the focus is provid- report which will be posted on the SIOP
ing professional service to the employing website when it becomes available.
organization. Results from the quantitative
survey and the qualitative subject matter SME Interviews
expert (SME) interviews are presented.
The typical industry career path, including Participants
competencies (i.e., a skill necessary for
success on the job) and critical experiences Fifteen SIOP members working within
(i.e., on-the-job experiences that outline industry were interviewed. Background in-
the requirements for success within a giv- formation was provided by 10 of the SMEs,
142 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
indicating an average of 10.2 years of move to another organization to better
experience working within industry with a meet their career aspirations. Internal I-O
range of 1–20 years. Sample job titles held psychologists often took one of two tracks:
by participants include: senior consultant, (a) specialist roles (typically located within
director, vice president, senior analytics an HR department) where one worked
analyst, manager of talent assessment, mainly within one specific I-O related area
senior specialist, and research manager. (e.g., selection, training, or talent manage-
Interviewers talked with SMEs from a ment) with either external departments
wide range of organizations and positions. or internal HR colleagues; or (b) generalist
Workplaces captured within the interview roles (often located outside of HR depart-
included those where I-O psychologists ments in organizations that typically em-
could hold management positions and ploy few I-O psychologists overall) where
those where the highest position an I-O one worked across multiple I-O related
psychologist could hold was an expert indi- areas (e.g., selection, training, and talent
vidual contributor level (as positions above management), most often with multiple
that level spanned a broader base than I-O departments or client groups external to
psychology). In addition, members who HR (e.g., finance).
worked in specialist or generalist roles, as
well as within and external to HR depart- Within both generalist and specialist roles
ments, were interviewed. there were a few different tracks one
could take within an organization. Some
Methodology organizations were large enough that I-O
psychologists could progress up the career
Structured interviews were conducted to ladder from individual contributor →ex-
identify competencies and critical experi- pert individual contributor →manager →
ences necessary for success. See the ap- manager of managers → executive. How-
pendix for sample interview questions. The ever, many organizations did not employ
initial job-level structure used to examine enough I-O psychologists to have a man-
the career paths contained five levels for agement career ladder solely for I-O psy-
competencies and critical experiences: chologists. Thus, many I-O psychologists
individual contributor, expert individual were limited to reaching expert individual
contributor, manager, manager of manag- contributor or managerial levels, as many
ers, and executive. of the manager of manager and executive
positions, and sometimes even managerial
Results positions, were filled by individuals with
business backgrounds and did not involve
Interviewees indicated that there were I-O-related work. In addition, especially
many different career paths that an I-O for generalist roles, many of their direct
psychologist in industry could take. Many supervisors were not I-O psychologists.
paths depended on what the organization These I-O psychologists were often limited
offered, and/or if I-O psychologists could to potentially becoming managers, but of-
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 143
ten became expert individual contributors the management positions in their former
and did not manage others. organization were only filled by non-I-O
psychologists.
Organizations that employed many I-O psy-
chologists often allowed them to choose Some organizations were large enough to
whether they wanted to take the tradition- have I-O psychologists in both generalist
al management route or grow as an expert and specialist roles. Within these organi-
individual contributor working mainly in zations, I-O psychologists could fluctuate
I-O-related areas. However, many partici- between jobs, especially early in their
pants from organizations that employed a tenure, to gain broader experience. These
small number of I-O psychologists noted organizations often encouraged employees
that their organizations preferred to keep to take a less-traditional career path of
them performing I-O-related work rather moving horizontally during their first few
than move them into general management years. For instance, one could move from
positions. This occurred because once in compensation to general HR to training
management positions, I-O psychologists to selection and back to general HR while
would be responsible for managing non- maintaining the same job level and often-
I-O psychologists rather than doing I-O times the same job title.
work. Thus, unless they wanted to focus
less on I-O work and branch into manage- Roughly 20% of the interviewees worked
ment, I-O psychologists tended to stay in in external consulting firms prior to obtain-
expert individual contributor roles. ing an industry position. Many mentioned
that this helped them progress more
It is important to note that not all Industry quickly up the industry career path be-
positions allowed for I-O psychologists cause they had a great deal of prior experi-
to remain in specialized expert individ- ence in a wide range of areas (e.g., selec-
ual contributor roles; a few individuals tion, performance appraisal, organizational
reported moving to a different company change) in various organizations. These
because they wanted to continue perform interviewees recommended a similar path
I-O work but would have been required to for students who wanted to make a similar
move to a management position at their move, noting that learning what worked
previous organization if they wanted to and did not work in other companies
advance their career. In fact, many people helped in presenting new directions and
interviewed mentioned changing organiza- ideas to their current organizations. Work-
tions to further their desired career path. ing in external consulting firms helped the
Some moved to a different organization interviewees to:
because they wanted to become expert
individual contributors and did not want a 1. Think through problems more quickly
management role. Others moved between because they had experienced how
organizations because they wanted to different problems were solved in oth-
advance up the management ladder, but er organizations;
144 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
2. Have the opportunity to do projects Whereas some competencies were seen as
earlier in their careers than if they had important for all job levels (e.g., business
gone straight to working within an acumen; political savvy), as I-O psycholo-
industry; gists moved up a managerial career path
3. Know what questions to ask their they often became more organization fo-
internal clients when discussing proj- cused rather than specialty focused in that
ects; and with each successive managerial level they
4. Develop specialty skills that may not supervised broader functions. When in an
have developed in a small internal individual contributor position, an individ-
company that doesn’t have specialist ual was responsible for more specialty-fo-
roles. cused projects (e.g., selection or compensa-
tion). These projects grew in scope as one
One salient topic that emerged from the moved up to include multiple sectors within
Industry SME interviews included the hiring I-O or HR positions (e.g., projects spanning
process. Industries hiring for individual con- both selection and compensation).
tributor roles often looked for applicants
who had participated in many extracurric- Careers Study Survey
ular activities, presented at conferences,
published articles, and had interests and Methodology
experiences across the board. Some orga-
nizations preferred applicants with both an Graduate students from the University of
I-O degree and an MBA because it showed Akron’s Center for Organizational Research
they also understood how businesses (COR) used the interview results to com-
operate. Industries hiring expert individual pile a master list of competencies and criti-
contributors looked for someone who had cal experiences essential to working within
a specialization in a certain area of I-O psy- Industry. All survey respondents rated the
chology, depending on the organization’s same competencies and critical experienc-
needs (e.g., expertise in selection if needing es to facilitate comparisons across levels
to change selection processes). (e.g., self-identified individual contributors
rated the same set of competences as
Most learning happened on the job; em- other participants who self-identified into
ployers expected that individual contrib- different job levels).
utors would enter needing a significant
degree of development. Managers and Participants
expert individual contributors often acted
as mentors for individual contributors. A total of 351 industry I-O psychologists
Managers were instrumental in helping completed the survey. Average age of the
find projects and opportunities to help participants was 41.07 years (SD = 11.0),
their subordinates grow and demonstrate and slightly more than half of the partici-
competencies. pants were women (56%). The majority of
participants self-identified their ethnicity
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 145
as White (86.7%), with the next highest instance, some organizations did not have
participation group being Asian/Pacific the opportunity for an I-O psychologist to
Islander (6.1%). Three participants indicated move into a management track as such a
that they had previously worked within a track focused on a larger breadth of mate-
consulting firm, and one indicated that they rial than just I-O.
previously worked within academia. Only
2.1% of participants noted having top-se- Competencies
cret, government-issued security clear-
ances. A few participants had additional The top-10 competencies necessary for
certifications or licensures, most commonly success within each of the five job levels
through the Society for Human Resource and the top-five competencies aggregated
Management. Approximately 65.8% of across all levels are presented in Tables
participants indicated receiving a PhD, and 1 and 2, respectively. Mean importance
34.2% received a master’s degree. ratings, standard deviations, and informa-
tion about the career stage in which the
Results competencies were learned can be found
in the project’s technical report, which will
After reviewing the both the qualitative be posted on the SIOP website when it
and quantitative results, we determined becomes available.
that the Industry career path model was
accurately represented using the five Participants rated many of the competen-
initial job levels separated into two routes: cies as important across all levels of the
expert individual contributor or manageri- Industry sector, with most competencies
al. Some individuals chose to move across rated 3.00 or higher and critical thinking
multiple organizations in order to achieve rated as the most important competen-
their career goals. Others were placed cy for all levels except for manager of
into a career track based upon the needs managers. As shown in Table 1, many of
and structure of their organization. For the competencies shared across all or
3. Create relationships with various 3. Work independently with minimal 3. Work through ambiguity and 3. Execute and deliver on resultsa 3. Work through ambiguity and
organizational stakeholders a supervisiona uncertaintybc uncertaintyb
4. Manage relationships and networks 4. Earn and maintain trust of 4. Maintain composure under 4. Create relationships with various 4. Manage relationships and networks
with others in the organization ab leadership teama pressurea organizational stakeholders a with others in the organization b
5. Facilitate meetings with stakeholders in 5. Collaborate with people from 5. Manage large portions of projects 5. Deliver presentations to 5. Maintain composure under
the organization different teams on various projectsab stakeholders in the organization a pressurea
6T. Adapt and embrace organizational 6. Maintain composure under 6. Lead long‐term projects 6T. Collaborate with people from 6. Create relationships with various
culture pressurea different teams on various projectsb organizational stakeholders a
6T. Deliver presentations to stakeholders 7. Work through ambiguity and 7T. Collaborate with people from 6T. Demonstrate ability to effectively 7. Deliver presentations to
in the organization a uncertaintyac different teams on various projectsab handle ambiguous situations a stakeholders in the organization a
6T. Work through ambiguity and 8. Create relationships with various 7T. Complete high visibility 8. Work through ambiguity and 8. Maintain high visibility with
uncertaintya organizational stakeholders a assignmentsab uncertaintybc executives
9T. Complete high visibility assignmentsa 9T. Manage relationships and networks 9T. Create and administer own projects 9. Maintain composure under 9. Execute and deliver on resultsa
with others in the organization a from start to finish pressurea
9T. Collaborate with people from different 9T. Demonstrate ability to effectively 9T. Manage relationships and networks 10. Lead people through change 10. Demonstrate ability to effectively
teams on various projectsa handle ambiguous situations a with others in the organization ab handle ambiguous situations a
Note : T indicates same means within level. Superscripts indicate mean differences, if any, for the same experiences that appeared across the levels (e.g., Mean ratings for “Execute and deliver on results” compared across Individual Contributor, Expert
Individual Contributor, and Executive did not differ from one another as they share the same superscript). The same experiences across levels with a different superscript reflected a significant mean difference (e.g., Means ratings for “Earn and maintain
trust of leadership team” differed between Expert Individual Contributor and Manager of Managers as they had different superscripts).
Kristen Shockley
Program Chair
Baruch College
Evan Sinar
Past Program Chair and
Conferences and Programs Officer
Development Dimensions International
We hold this truth to be self-evident: SIOP Thanks to all attendees who participated in
2015 was awesome!! Attendance was the the inaugural Daily Session Feedback Study
third highest ever at 4,325! We want to via mobile phones. It was a great success,
take this opportunity to share some of the with over 1,200 responses throughout
highlights from the scholarly program as the 3 conference days! The committee
well as the special events that made this (Kristen Shockley, Rebecca Bryant, Richard
conference particularly enjoyable, infor- Landers, and Joel Nadler) is busy analyzing
mative, and inspirational. results and will present the data in the
next TIP publication.
Scholarly Program!
The program committee, Kristen Shockley
Much of what makes the SIOP conference (2015 Program chair), Scott Tonidandel
so spectacular is the quality of submis- (Incoming Program chair/2015 Theme
sions. This year’s program included 270 Track chair), and Evan Sinar (Past Program
peer-reviewed sessions in addition to over chair), thank all submitters, presenters,
500 posters and several invited sessions reviewers, and attendees for their part in
and communities of interest. Many of this keeping the scholarly program top notch!
year’s sessions were standing room only,
a true testament to their high caliber and Theme Track
relevance to the SIOP community. From a
content perspective, the topic areas most Implementing Past President Jose Corti-
highly represented on the program includ- na’s theme of “Rethinking Our Approach
ed leadership, occupational health/safety/ to Organizational Science,” Scott Tonidan-
stress/aging, and testing/assessment. del and his team pulled off an impressive
We continued to have several innovative feat in keeping discussions about research
format types presented as alternative methodology and statistics exciting! The
sessions, including IGNITE sessions and Thursday Theme Track featured discussions
TED-style talks. of the review and publication process, an
The closing plenary was visually stunning. Alongside SIOP’s excellent attendance this
Amanda Cox from the New York Times year, we wanted to take a closer look at
graphics team blended incredible interac- the “Who” and “Where” of the attendees
tive and static images to demonstrate key in Philadelphia—that is, based on affilia-
features of compelling data visualization. tion and geography. First, we used a slope-
We hope that her ideas and images further graph to compare the 2015 conference to
inspire SIOP members to revolutionize the the Houston 2013 conference to see the
art of communicating our findings in jour- 2-year trend in attendee affiliations. See
nals and client meetings. Figure 1.
n c e
fe re !
Con lights
h
Hig
Student volunteer
Student volunteer
Ryan Rosiello models
Catalina Flores
the conference bag
greeted attendees
with a smile.
Anna Marie Valerio, Lorraine Stomski, and Sara Guediri, Laura Fruhen,
Mikki Hebl address the latest Top Minds and Sue Orchard at the
and Bottom Lines Series event, “Developing International Reception.
Women Leaders: Evidence-Based Approach- New SIOP Fellows. For a
es From Academia, Consulting, and Corpo- complete list of award winners
rate Experts” and new Fellows, click HERE.
Andrew Loignon
explains his poster
2014 Katzell
Winner Ben
Dattner presents
a session
158 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
2015 Frank Landy SIOP 5k Fun Run Results
Philadelphia, PA, April 24, 2015
Paul Sackett
Development Dimensions International
A cold and windy morning led a number of entrants to change their minds and remain
curled up snug in their beds. But an intrepid group of 114 runners toughed it out and
discovered a spectacularly beautiful course along the Schuylkill River. Runners cursed
the race director as they headed out into the wind, but all was forgiven as the sun came
out and the wind was at our backs for the return portion of the journey. Top finishers are
listed below. Join us next year in Anaheim.
Eden King
George Mason University
Although I am sure many of you are still • Early July 2015: Members will receive an
feeling the love from the 2015 SIOP Annual e-mail message with a web link to the
Conference in the city of brotherly love, Call for Proposals.
planning is already well underway for the • Mid July 2015: Please look for an email
2016 conference in Anaheim. With plenty message requesting that you participate
of sun, citrus, and of course Disneyland, on the Conference Program Commit-
Anaheim promises to be an outstanding tee as a reviewer. All SIOP professional
conference destination. members (Fellows, Members, Associ-
ates, International Affiliates, and Retired
The conference will take place April 14–16. statuses) are eligible. SIOP Student Af-
As always, the program committee’s goal is filiates who have successfully defended
to incorporate a diversity of topics, present- their dissertation proposal and present-
ers, and session types that aim to advance ed at a SIOP conference as a first author
the science and practice of I-O psychology. are eligible. The review process is critical
We will continue to offer Friday seminars, to the quality and success of the pro-
communities of interest, invited sessions, gram. PLEASE SIGN UP! The program is
keynote speakers, an all-day theme track, only as good as its peer-review process!
along with the peer-reviewed submissions, • September 9, 2015: Submission dead-
including the recently introduced alterna- line. The submission process is entirely
tive sessions. This year’s theme track, fol- electronic. See the Call for Proposals for
lowing the vision of President Steve Kozlo- submission details.
wski and led by chair Zack Horn, is focused • Early October 2015: Submissions sent
on how each and every SIOP member can out for review.
expand their impact in meaningful ways. • Late October 2015: Reviews due back.
Sessions will offer inspiration and practical • Early December 2015: Decision emails will
takeaways for using I-O psychology to make be sent. Submitters will receive informa-
a difference locally, in organizations, within tion on how to access the decision portal.
SIOP, nationally, and globally. • March 2016: Program published. The
conference program will continue to be
Below is a high-level timeline to help you published both in a hardcopy booklet and
plan for the 2016 conference. September on the web. REMEMBER: Only those who
will be here before you know it, so start register by the early registration deadline
planning your submissions now! will receive their programs in the mail.
One recent change was a SIOP bylaws If you are an Associate who meets these
amendment approved by the SIOP Exec- criteria, we encourage you to apply for the
utive Board in May 2014 and by vote of upgrade to Member status. Please visit
the SIOP membership in March 2015 that http://www.siop.org/associatetomember.
established the opportunity for qualified aspx for more details on how to apply.
Associates to apply for an upgrade to
Member status. (The entire revised bylaws Another change that has taken effect
can be found at http://www.siop.org/re- was also a result of a recent SIOP bylaws
portsandminutes/bylaws.pdf.) This amend- amendment. As of May 13, 2015, appli-
ment gives long-term, engaged Associates cants for Member or Associate status in
access to Member status and its benefits, SIOP are no longer required to hold a pre-
including the ability to vote in SIOP elec- requisite professional membership in the
tions and to hold positions on the Execu- American Psychological Association (APA),
tive Board and as Committee Chair. Association for Psychological Science
(APS), Canadian Psychological Association
Society Associates who meet the follow- (CPA), or European Association of Work
ing eligibility requirements may apply to and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP).
become a Society Member: The intent of this amendment was to open
the doors of SIOP professional member-
• Society Associate status for a period of ship more widely, removing barriers to
at least the past 5 consecutive years. entry for individuals who may be a good
• Be engaged in professional activities fit for SIOP membership but not for APA,
as described in Article II, 2a2 of the APS, CPA, or EAWOP membership. Because
Society Bylaws. of the unique nature of the field of I-O
• Submit a letter of nomination from a psychology, there are professionals work-
Society Member or Society Fellow who ing in this field for whom APA, APS, CPA, or
can attest to your professional activ- EAWOP membership is not essential.
ities as described in Article II, 2a2 of
the Society Bylaws. We are excited to see these changes
• Have obtained a master’s degree that implemented and would appreciate your
meets criteria as established in policy help in spreading the word regarding these
by the Executive Board. changes.
162 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
Any questions about any of this can be
addressed to:
Joseph A. Allen
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Let’s take a page from the lessons that to—and get comfortable with this phrase
public-speaking classes convey, viz. “tell in its many instantiations—build bridges.
them what you’re going to tell them, tell This phrase has been interpreted widely
them, and then tell them what you’ve told by those who joined the initiative, and I
them.” Thus: hasten to add that wide interpretation is
and was supported. I’ll convey some of
• In response to calls from SIOP’s the efforts that those individuals have put
past leadership, the Bridge Build- forth in just a moment. For now, back to
ers group—one designed to spread the objectives of Bridge Builders.
awareness and understanding of I-O
psychology to many different audienc- What we are attempting to accomplish
es—was developed and counts among is to use the many voices of SIOP’s mem-
its members many of us from SIOP. bership to help proclaim our science for a
President Steve Kozlowski’s vision for smarter workplace. The subject matter?
the organization in the coming years Our existence, our utility, our dashing good
dovetails well with the objectives of looks. The targets? In short, anyone and
Bridge Builders. everyone—from school children to military
• Bridge Builders have been doing some organizations to governments to university
really cool things recently; these were colleagues and, if those polarities are ad-
showcased in a session at SIOP this year. equately broad, everyone in between. We
• Want to get involved in this exciting have noticed that we have more to offer
initiative? You should. We’ll show you than we are being asked by the world to
how to get started. offer and we are endeavoring to set things
right on this front by increasing awareness,
Bridge Builders: What Is It? attractiveness, and utilization of our field.
Look, real talk: Spreading the word of President Kozlowski has articulated a
I-O psychology has been a priority of our vision focusing on broadening our view,
Society over at least the past few years. forwarding digestible science, and en-
Tammy Allen galvanized Scott Tonidan- gaging in bottom-up initiatives. Bridge
del (then SIOP president and Education Builders is positioned and is maneuvering
& Training Committee chair, respectively) superbly to hit on all of these foci at once.
to assemble a subcommittee to explicitly We build awareness on the part of and col-
support the efforts of SIOP’s membership laborations with non-I-O bodies. We turn
164 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
what we do into something comprehen- was that the approach for presenting
sible to congress and to school children. to each of these (quite different) audi-
We, the members of bridge builders, do ences is similar, though the resultant
this individually and authentically with our presentations are not.
own voices and in our own words—with • Lauren McEntire (Frito-Lay) continued
the support of the success and wisdom of the school-children-and-some-other-
those who have gone before us. Don’t take audience trend by describing her ef-
my word for it, though, take a look at what forts to sell I-O to high-school students
they, bridge builders, have done! (much more proximate to their “hey
let’s see what we want to be when we
Bridge Builders: What Have They Done? grow up” stages in life) and at postsec-
ondary institutions that are not host
Well this is necessarily going to be a very to an I-O presence (thus substantially
small subset of the actual efforts that bridge expanding the raw material—err,
builders have put forth of late but as a dual applicants—to I-O graduate programs).
service of recapitulating a SIOP session that As far as I could tell her three guide-
you may not have been able to attend we’ll lines for such presentations were all
focus on those efforts described therein— “give them chips.” Frito-Lay people got
viz. in the noon-on-Saturday IGNITE + Panel some corporate culture.
session about sharing I-O with the commu- • Rob McKenna (Seattle Pacific)—and
nity. The session, at the delightfully frenetic hold on to your hat here—broke the
pace with which IGNITE sessions are associ- pattern by showing us how the pro-
ated, captured the diverse efforts of: gram at SPU has become the unlikely
nexus of social activism, film-screening,
• Dan Putka (HumRRO) described his and outreach efforts since its advent in
cunning approach to explaining I-O 2010. Dr. McKenna admits that these
psychology to 4th-grade students. efforts stand at right angles to many of
Superheroes featured prominently. Dr. the other initiatives about which we
Putka was motivated to perform well heard and is (in my opinion deserv-
and innovatively by the entreaty of his edly) unperturbed about this—these
child (a 4th grader in the audience) to are all, in one way or another, means
resist giving a presentation that would of accomplishing this same agenda of
embarrass the child. bringing prominence to I-O psychology.
• David Costanza (GWU) carried the
ball forward into the 7th-grade class- Ah, we can’t capture the energy and the
room (the theme here, by the way, is quality of the presentations given—nor
planting the seed of I-O psychology as the excellence of the initiatives them-
a field and as a career option in the selves. We also fail to capture the richness
notoriously pliable minds of minors), of the conversation that ensued as facili-
congress, and the United States Army. tated by Suzanne Bell (DePaul) and one of
One of Dr. Costanza’s takeaway points us, Joseph Allen (University of Nebraska
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 165
at Omaha), leaders of the Bridge Builders outreach is habit forming; we’ll work
group. The panelists answered questions towards giving members a nudge
and engaged in conversation about mat- towards an organization/group ripe for
ters practical to the bridge-building efforts introduction to I-O psychology.
of audience members; tips and tricks and • Turn more of SIOP into bridge builders
opinions and caveats were shared. (through our initiative). Ideally, every-
one in SIOP would be a member of the
All in attendance—including both of us— group (at which point we suppose the
learned a good deal from these presenta- separate group would be obviated,
tions and from the ensuing conversations; but that’s a ways away). We all have
we were also invigorated and inspired by stories to tell; we can all successfully
the tales of success and optimism that were bring I-O more into the awareness of
shared in this session. With the guidance those around us. And we’re going to.
of E&T chair Whitney Botsford Morgan
(University of Houston-Downtown) and the Telling You What I Told You
two authors—Joe Allen as outgoing chair
and Steven Toaddy as incoming chair—we Let’s close by hitting the key points briefly:
know where the Bridge Builders team shall
be spending our efforts in the coming year. • Bridge Builders is a group dedicated to
In short, Bridge Builders will be ensuring building bridges between SIOP and ev-
that more success stories such as these are ery other imaginable non-SIOP entity.
ready to be told at SIOP 2016 in Anaheim. The desirableness of such an activity
has been glaringly clear for the last
Bridge Builders: What Lies Ahead? several years and remains on the fore-
front of SIOP’s leadership’s agendas.
We’re grateful for all of the work that • The success stories conveyed at SIOP’s
those before us have done—in building 2015 Annual Conference were varied
bridges and in building Bridge Builders. and inspiring.
More lies ahead, though. Here are some of • We’ve raised steam well over the last
the things on the horizon: while; we’re going to get underway in
earnest now. Resources will be ag-
• Build an accessible resource base— gregated and made plainly available.
presentations, tips, etc.—for use by all Additional individuals will be recruited
SIOP members in building bridges. into our ranks. We will begin to active-
• Start breaking down barriers to start- ly recommend connections between
ing conversations by helping connect Bridge Builders and target audiences.
bridge builders directly to potential We will be heard.
recipients of presentations. If Dr.
McKenna taught us anything, it’s that Stay, as it were, tuned.
4.50
4.00
* *
3.50 * *
*
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Comfort applying for Knowledge of strategies Knowledge of grant Familiarity with Familiarity with Belief in importance of
grant as PI for preparing proposals review criteria & emerging fundable strategies for funding for I-O
standards trends/topics interdisciplinary grants
Pre-event Post-event
Stephanie Klein
Pennsylvania State University
The SIOP Visibility Committee is dedicated 2. Branding. Building on the work of
to helping I-O psychologists (and SIOP) be the Branding Task Force led by Chris
recognized as the premier professionals Rotolo and Doug Reynolds along with
committed to advancing the science and a team of talented SIOP members,
practice of the psychology of work. As SIOP the Branding subcommittee (chaired
moves into FY 2016, this report provides by Oksana Drogan) updated and
a snapshot of select Visibility Committee distributed materials reflecting the
work that’s been done this past year and new SIOP brand. The HR/Business
being planned for next. In the future, subcommittee, in partnership with the
we’ll highlight additional efforts, progress SIOP AO, SIOP Scientific Affairs, and
toward objectives, and new goals. We also SHRM, also rolled out a new template
encourage members outside the Visibil- for the SIOP/HR White Papers Series,
ity Committee and members from other and new papers on the SIOP web-
committees to submit ideas for improving site. Check out the outstanding work
visibility that we can utilize and share here. that’s being done, covering a range of
topics including learning agility among
FY 15 Visibility Initiatives managers, employee engagement, and
workplace bullying, here.
1. Top 10 Workplace Trends List. SIOP’s
Media subcommittee, chaired by Liberty 3. Outreach to Non I-O Professionals and
Munson, generated the second annual Students. The HR/Business subcom-
top 10 list of emerging workplace trends, mittee (chaired by Jolene Skinner),
based on SIOP member input, with over in partnership with Stephany Below
800 responses from SIOP members. A and Clif Boutelle from the AO, hosted
press release of the trends was sent to two events, one at the annual LEC and
100+ reporters by Stephany Below from another at the annual SIOP conference.
the SIOP Administrative Office (AO), The first event showcased the impact
appearing in outlets such as Fox Busi- of I-O psychology at Pepsi, Google, and
ness News and Business News Daily. As Intel for an audience of 120 business
a brief recap, the top three trends were students. The second event had three
(1) mobile assessments, (2) continued speakers that presented to a targeted
use of HR analytics and big data, and (3) non I-O business audience of directors,
integration of work and nonwork life. executives, and other organizational de-
You can access the full list here. cision makers on the topic of Developing
170 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
Women Leaders. The events featured an allow evaluation and tracking of SIOP
outstanding lineup of speakers including visibility in the media. This tracking
Allan Church, Michelle Donovan, Alexis will allow for insights about the reach
Fink, Miki Hebl, Lorraine Stomski, Anna and impact of visibility efforts, as well
Marie Valerio, and Jennifer Weiss. as understanding of which SIOP/I-O
topics are generating media attention.
Coming soon…
3. More Emphasis on Driving Traffic to
1. Smarter Workplace Awareness Month. SIOP Website and Resources. SIOP
After an exploratory initiative in FY members and committees have gener-
2015, SIOP’s commemorative month to ated many outstanding resources that
highlight the science and practice of I-O can be used as part of visibility efforts.
psychology is set to fully launch in Sep- These include, for example, research
tember FY 16, coinciding with Labor Day. articles and papers, best practice ma-
The month will highlight SIOP’s tagline terials such as the Whitepaper Series,
(Science for a Smarter Workplace) and and webinars for students developed
brand, and focus on generating visibility by the Student/Academia subcommit-
for SIOP members’ research through the tee (chaired by Ryan Johnson; check
SIOP website and press releases. out I-O webinars, including some from
the Professional Practice Committee,
The Advocacy/Prosocial Committee
here.). Driving traffic to these materi-
(chaired by Amy DuVernet) also is
als will continue to be a focus of the
planning several events to highlight the
Visibility Committee, using expanded
science and practice of I-O psychology,
channels such as the new SIOP You-
with specific focus on prosocial research
Tube channel (https://www.youtube.
and activities of SIOP members. Forums
com/user/SIOPofficial), and through
for distributing noteworthy findings are
partnerships with internal (e.g., SIOP
likely to include the Prosocial SIOP web-
External Communications, Govern-
site (http://www.siop.org/prosocial/),
ment Relations Advocacy Team) and
Smarter Workplace Awareness Month
external (e.g., SHRM) organizations.
and the annual SIOP conference.
Reach out to us if you’d like more informa-
2. Advanced Tracking of SIOP and I-O in
tion about the Visibility Committee and
the News. The Metrics subcommittee
its initiatives or if you have some ideas
(chaired by Erica Spencer) and SIOP
on increasing the visibility of I-O. You can
AO have been collaborating with Melt-
contact the authors via e-mail; Mark Rose’s
water, a media intelligence and public
address is markr2321@hotmail.com, and
relations company, and have devised
Stephanie Klein’s e-mail is srklein42@
a classification scheme around media
hotmail.com.
mentions of SIOP and I-O that will
When Wal-Mart named a member of the The May 13 issue of Workforce Magazine
founding Walton family as its next chair- had an article noting that increasingly,
man, Bloomberg News ran a June 5 story work–life balance is among the top char-
about nepotism concerns as the world’s acteristics employees look for in a job
largest retailer. Robert Jones of Missouri opportunity. Lynda Zugec of The Workforce
State University and editor of SIOP’s 2011 Consultants said that employee benefit
Frontier Series book, Nepotism in Orga- offerings can make organizations more
nizations contributed to the story. When competitive, and benefits that promote
activist investors pushed for an outside work–life balance in particular are of high
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 179
value to today’s employees. She added The May issue of HR Magazine included an
that organizations providing benefits such interview with Wayne Cascio of the Univer-
as flexible hours, employer-provided child sity of Colorado-Denver School of Business
care, and the ability to telecommute are about the competency-based certifications
more likely to attract and retain employees. that SHRM is implementing for HR profes-
sionals. Cascio is chair of SHRM’s Certifica-
Zugec also contributed to a February 18 tion Commission. He noted that certification
U.S. Veterans Magazine story about traits is becoming common in many professions
that managers look for when hiring. She and HR management is no exception. SHRM
cited an example of an applicant who is emphasizing HR competencies in its certi-
researched the organization, was well- fication process and focusing on the ability
versed in the business, and knew what the “to do” and not just “to know,” he said. “It’s
job required. But he went a step further not just that people know the technical
and prepared a report listing the actions aspects of the field but also that they can
that might be taken to increase efficiencies use that information to solve and address
and competitiveness. That showed strong important business issues.”
leadership skills and a drive to succeed.
Debra Major of Old Dominion University
The annual SIOP Conference usually contributed to an April 21 story for Connec-
attracts workplace reporters, and the tions.Mic about special relationships, some-
most recent one was no exception. Jane times called “work spouses” that develop
Von Bergen of the Philadelphia Inquirer in the workplace between coworkers who
attended several sessions and wrote a have chemistry between them, “whether
story on the debate about performance that’s shared values, compatible personali-
reviews that drew a large crowd. Her story ties or shared interests.” It’s not a romantic
appeared during the conference and was relationship and isn’t confined to male/
good publicity for I-O and the SIOP Confer- female relationships, she added. It’s trust
ence. Elaine Pulakos of PDRI, Amy Daw- that really cements a relationship. “There
gert Grubb of the FBI, Kevin Murphy of are plenty of coworkers we have that we’re
Colorado State University, Alan Colquitt of sharing the same experience with, but we
Eli Lilly, and Seymour Adler of Aon Hewitt don’t develop that sort of trust bond and
were quoted in the story. that’s what makes the relationship special.”
SIOP’s Top Ten Workplace Trends appeared The April 15 Wall Street Journal had a
on the Minnesota State Colleges and Uni- front page story describing the increasing
versities’ “ISeek” website in May. The top use of assessments to screen personality
trend according to SIOP members: mobile and performance of job applicants that
assessments, the result of expanding and included comments from SIOP members
new technology being used for assessments, Jay Dorio of IBM, Brian Stern of Shaker
selection, performance management, and Consulting Group, and Charles Handler of
training and development decisions. Rocket-Hire. The surge in prehire assess-
180 July 2015, Volume 53, Number 1
ments is due to powerful data tools and Ingrid Fulmer and Patrick McKay of Rut-
relatively inexpensive online software that gers University and Derek Avery of Temple
enable employers to sharpen their search University and reported in the April 10
for applicants who stand out in ability and issue of Diversity Management Magazine.
workplace fit. Raising the standards yields They collected data from sales associates
greater retention and higher productivity. at more than 700 retail stores. One cause
Employers are figuring out how their top for stronger sales performance-pay rela-
employees are doing their jobs and using tionships for white than black and Hispanic
that information to screen new hires, employees is that managers may have
said Dorio. “That’s where the future is,” different attributions of performance for
he added. The shift to online job applica- whites than minorities, they found.
tions enables employers to streamline the
process. Taking stock of “candidates’ data The March 17 issue of the Wall Street Jour-
now takes minutes or seconds instead nal quoted Matt Paese of Development
of months,” said Stern. Handler said that Dimensions International for a story about
predicting what humans will do is difficult, how managers’ heavy travel schedules of-
but “tests are a predictor and better than ten interfere with necessary face time with
a coin toss.” Tests designed and vetted by subordinates. Traveling frequently for work
industrial and organizational psychologists can leave employees without adequate
have proved to be valid and solid predic- feedback or a boss wondering if the man-
tors of applicants’ potential. ager is managing well. “Few executives can
deliver business results quickly and engage
In the April 13 Talent Management Mag- their people at the same time,” said Paese.
azine, an article on leadership characteris- “But increasingly, our corporate clients try
tics that can help leaders find success cited to hire or grow ones who can,” because
research by Scott DeRue of the University they recognize “they can’t sustain business
of Michigan. One of the key leadership growth without a healthy culture.”
skills cited in the article is agility, a trait
considered critical to business success in a When a German pilot intentionally flew
volatile and complex world. DeRue said in a Gemanwings jet into the French Alps in
a 2012 article that certain internal charac- March, killing all aboard, aviation psycholo-
teristics foster learning agility in leaders, gist Diane Damos was contacted by the me-
including general cognitive ability, having a dia to offer her views on pilot screening and
“goal orientation,” and being high in open- selection. Her comments appeared in more
ness in experience. than 25 media outlets, including NBC News,
CNN, New York Times, Tampa Bay Times,
Are employees of various races paid and Cleveland Plain Dealer. She said it was
differently? The answer is “yes” within “impractical” for airlines to require serious
organizations with less supportive diversity psychological testing in addition to man-
climates. That was a key finding of a study dated annual physicals because of the high
conducted by Yan Chen and colleagues costs associated with that kind of testing.
The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 181
A confession from Adam Grant of the Uni- lead not only to a sale but to a long-term
versity of Pennsylvania: early in his career relationship.” Studies in self-motivation
he was not an advocate for women. He point to the “how” of a better approach,
just never thought there was a need to be he wrote.
concerned about women in the workplace.
Having two daughters and looking at gen- For a January/February story in Human
der issues more closely changed his mind. Resource Executive about millennials, the
He wrote about his enlightenment in the author cited Development Dimensions
March 8 issue of Government Executive. International’s Global Leadership Forecast
Even though there are more similarities study, which among other results found
than differences between the sexes, that millennials wanting more formal leader-
doesn’t mean the world is fair to women, ship development opportunities than their
he wrote. His naivete shattered, he is now older colleagues and wanting things clearly
an active writer, teacher, and speaker on explained to them as well as needing to
equality for women. “As an organizational see a clear road map for moving up within
psychologist, I feel a responsibility to shed the organization. DDI’s Evan Sinar said
light on what the data say about half of whether they are ready for expanded
the population. And as a man, I don’t feel responsibilities is another question, saying
that this is just a woman’s issue: it’s a so- “millennials are a bit behind the prior
cial issue. I wish I hadn’t waited to become generation in competencies such as work
an advocate for women until I became a standards and planning and organizing. At
dad to daughters and the evidence was the same time, he added, they are slightly
staring me in the face. But it’s better late ahead in areas such as adaptability and
than never.” customer focus.
Paul Baard of Fordham University au- Please let us know if you, or a SIOP col-
thored an article in the March 8 New league, have contributed to a news story.
Hampshire Union Leader on the role of We would like to include that mention in
motivation in salesmanship. “Psychological SIOP Members in the News.
research in the field of motivation and per-
suasion reveals there are better ways to Send copies of the article to SIOP at
come to a mutually satisfying conclusion in boutelle@siop.org or fax to 419-352-2645.
the selling process” than some commonly
used hard sell techniques. These “ways can
May 26–27
18th International Conference on Applied
Psychology. Tokyo, Japan.
Contact: https://www.waset.org/
conference/2016/05/tokyo/ICAP
May 26–29
Annual Convention of the Association for
Psychological Science. Chicago, IL. Contact:
APS, www.psychologicalscience.org.
(CE credit offered.)
JobNet Member/Salary
Surveys
Foundation
Student Page
External Awards
Graduate Training
SIOP Store Program Database