What is I-O?

The columns second segment, Career Gear, explores a topic chosen by our featured psychologist. This discussion is designed to arm you, our early career cohorts, with information to facilitate your sanity as well as your success. Thus, if Hugos novel and your early career share an intimate connection that transcends Dr. Murphys interest in the book, read on! This issues Career Gear segment is designed to help you rise above the miserable forces that obstruct work-life-family balance during the beginning of a career. 

The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

Youve seen his name plastered all over the journals. Perhaps you even heard his voice during the SIOP 98 presidential address, titled In Search of Success: Everyones Criterion Problem. Indeed, this issues featured psychologist, Dr. Kevin Murphy, embodies the success to which many aspire. Prior to conducting our interview with him, we asked Dr. Murphy to e-mail his vita to us. Dont let this abbreviated version fool you; the guys been busy! 

Dr. Kevin R. Murphy: The Professional

Educational background. PhD, Pennsylvania State University, 1979; MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1976; BA, Siena College, 1974.

Academic positions and visiting appointments. Dr. Murphys academic career reveals an eventful progression. He is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology at Penn Statea position he has held since August 2000. Prior to Penn State, he spent 16 years at Colorado State University as a professor (19882000), associate professor (19861988), and assistant professor (19841986). In addition, he has held academic positions at New York University (19811984) and Rice University (19791981). Dr. Murphy has further busied himself with visiting appointments at the University of Stockholm, the University of California at Berkeley, the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center in San Diego, and the Department of Personnel and Employment Relations at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Publications and editorial activities. Dr. Murphys vita lists over 70 scholarly manuscripts, which primarily center on performance appraisal, selection, psychometrics/statistics, and alcohol/drug education issues. One of his articles isnt even in English (it looks French). How cool! But thats only the beginning. Hes written oodles of (herein operationally defined as more than 30) books and chapters, and hes delivered invited talks and conference presentations galore.

Now, an unenlightened person might assume that all of this publication and presentation activity has precluded extensive editorial service, but we who spent weeks lugging his hefty vita around know better! Dr. Murphy is currently the editor of the Journal of Applied Psychology, and he has served (or is currently serving) as a member of the boards of various other journals, including Human Performance, Personnel Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Industrial Psychology, and International Journal of Management Reviews. Phew! In addition, he has worked as an ad hoc reviewer for scores of other journals.

Association activities. Dr. Murphy is a Fellow of the APA, as well as the Division on Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics (Division 5, APA). He is a Fellow and former president of SIOP and a Charter Fellow of the APS. He currently serves on the APAs Council of Editors, and he is one of SIOPs representatives to the APA Council. 

Kaz Murphy, The Guy

Having scrutinized his vita in sufficient detail, we decided it was time get to know the REAL Kevin Murphy. We began by sending him an e-mail message to coordinate a time for a teleconferencewe proposed a Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Kevins reply went something like this, Tuesday will work, but would it be possible to do the call just a bit earlier? I need to leave at 4:40 to pick up the kids. My schedule is otherwise pretty flexible that day. Hmmm, we thought, how does the owner of that vita find time for kids? We hoped the answer to this question would become clear once we got him on the phone. Heres how the interview went:

What do you do to relieve stress? Cook! Kevin replied. He began cooking for survival purposes (as a bachelor in graduate school), and from there his culinary interests flourished. Hardly a bachelor now, Kevin does most of the cooking in his family, which includes 10-year-old daughter Kathleen, his 7-year-old son Michael, and his wife Jan Cleveland (who, as many of you know, is also a successful I-O psychologist at Penn State). He doesnt have any specialty dishes per se, but he likes to bake bread when hes feeling ambitious.

What do you do during your time off? During his time off, Kevin enjoys spending time with his family. The biggest single thing I do when Im not working, he reveals, is stuff with the kids. Both Kathleen and Michael play soccer, and Kevin is an assistant coach for the team. When hes not busy coaching soccer, he loves to travel. As a glimpse at the sabbatical positions on his vita suggests, Kevins career has provided the opportunity to spend many a nonwork hour touring foreign lands. At the time of this interview, he and the family had just returned from trips to Ireland and Sweden, where they spent time visiting with friends and former neighbors. Finally, Kevin likes to read during his down time. He is currently immersed in one of Page Smiths historical accounts of the United States, titled America Enters the world: A peoples history of the Progressive Era and World War I. What will happen when he finishes this 1,000-plus page volume? According to Kevin, hell probably mosey over to the library, or hop on Amazon.com, in search of another good history book.

But, if you were stranded on a desert island and allowed ONE piece of reading material, what would it be? Even as misery is said to love company, island isolation appears drawn to misery... at least in Kevins case. Given his druthers, a marooned Kevin is likely to be found propped beneath a coconut tree, reading Les Misrables. Just before publishing Les Misrables in 1862, the novels author, Victor Hugo, is reported to have said, This is a leviathan I am about to ship out to sea. Though hardly a message in a bottle, this lengthy work ...is a great old novel, Kevin contends. Ive probably read it five times. He is fond of both the plot and the writing, and he considers it Hugos best work.

Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it? When Kevin was in high school, he worked in a hospital kitchen. His supervisor was a man with a knack for unintentionally mispronouncing everyones name. Kevins name got mangled in a manner that made it sound something like Kaz. The mispronunciation caught on, and to this day, lots of people back home in Albany still call him Kaz.

What is your favorite beverage? Im a coffee hound, confesses Kevin, who undoubtedly has a Mr. Coffee machine in his new office by now. As our readers are surely aware, there are two kinds of coffee drinkers in this world. There are the Gee, a cup of coffee sure would be nice folks, and then there are the Dont speak to me until Ive consumed at least two cups of java so thick and black it could put hair on your puny little chest crowd. We knew our faithful readers would want to know which camp Kevin pitches his tent in, so we put him to the test by following up with a few key questions. How often do you drink it? we asked. All throughout the day, replied Kevin. What kind? we challenged. Very thick, and very dark, he countered. (Extra dark French roast is his fav.) Beans or pre-ground? we queried. Well, that all depends, Kevin answered cautiously. He usually sticks to pre-ground but sometimes grinds his own, much to the chagrin of his two Siamese cats. They go crazy every time they hear the bean grinder, he explained. What could we say? Hes obviously the kind of guy who could drink a double espresso without ever flinching. As 2 to 3 latt-per-day consumers, we were duly impressed!

Do you have a routine that you like to follow? In a word, no. (In all likelihood, those of you with kids accurately anticipated his answer to this question.) Kevin suggests that between his teaching and editorial duties, its difficult to predict the workload from day to day, especially when it comes to the journal. Today, seven new manuscripts came in the mail. Other days, none arrive. Despite the sporadic nature of incoming journal submissions, Kevin constructs an approximate schedule at the beginning of each semester. This agenda always includes daily time for research or writing. Why? According to Kevin, books, chapters, and large-scale projects, which require you to stick with it, are best accomplished when tackled on a daily basis. Although he likes to make his writing blocks as large as possible, many days afford only a single hour, after the kids have gone to bed.

Another constant, of course, is teaching. Kevin teaches one or two classes per semester, depending on his outside responsibilities. Tonight, Im giving a graduate seminar on personnel selection, he revealed. Having taken this seminar when working on his PhD at Penn State in the 1970s, hes now experiencing a little deja vu. Im pretty sure Im giving the seminar in the same classroom, at the same time (as when I took it). Reinforcing that old familiar feeling, Kevins former advisor, Jim Farr, has an office just down the hall. It would be hard coming back a year or two out (of graduate school), Kevin muses, but at this point in the career its been a nice experience.

What factor(s) contributed significantly to your success, and what factor(s) might be critical to the success of others, in general?

Kevins personal definition of success involves doing what you like, liking what you do, and being able to do it in a way that doesnt make the rest of your family crazy. Notice that this definition extends beyond a career. You can get too concentrated on work, Kevin warns. I like it and Im good at it, but in the grand scheme of things, its not the only (component of success), and its not close to being the most important. Many people in our field have a myopic view of work. You have to keep the where does it fit with the other things I do? question in mind, as you proceed through your career. In short, vita success (as Kevin calls it) is a deficient measure of a much larger criterion.

Kevin attributes much of his career success to a genuine interest in interrelated topics, luck, and good colleagues. Academic success involves finding areas that go together, he contends. In grad school, I was interested in lots of topics that didnt go well togetherpsychometrics, decision making, and personnel psychology. I found performance appraisal research as a way to unite those areas. Kevin adds that his vita success also stems from lucky timing, as he began pursuing rating accuracy when it was in vogue. Much of my early work was published because it was a hot topic, he insists. Lastly, good colleagues have played a key role in helping him find ways of applying his interests to his work.

The preceding factors help build a vita, but the larger life success occurs when one finds the kind of job that allows you to have experience with family. That makes all the difference. Kevin says he feels lucky to be married to another I-O psychologist, who understands his professional efforts and does work that he values. This shared understanding not only facilitates a mutual appreciation, it also allows Jan and him to help each other, professionally. After pausing thoughtfully (or stopping to take a big swig of coffee, were not sure which), Kevin concludes his response by suggesting that a career where you can have balance between work and rest of life is priceless. With this, he adds Ladies, I can give you about 5 more minutes, then I have to go pick up the kids. 

So, are you still wondering what really drives success? Well, if you didnt derive an answer from Dr. Murphys 1998 SIOP presidential address, and you didnt draw conclusions from the TIP column he regularly authored during his presidential tenure (the photo accompanying his column depicted Dr. Murphy flanked by his two kids), and if you still didnt get it from The I-O Psychologist segment above, well spell it out for you: B-A-L-A-N-C-E. Thats the message youll hear woven through Dr. Murphys words and modeled in his manner.

In concert with his own definition of and quest for success, Dr. Murphy suggested we use our Career Gear segment to remind people that although its easy to get caught up in the quest for a well-carved niche and an established professional reputation, the importance of finding a healthy balance between home and office life cannot be overstated. Having said that, we state the obvious: this issues Career Gear segment focuses on work-family balance. In preparation for this segment, we of course hit the literature, but we also asked various early-to-mid-career types to share the challenges and successes theyve encountered aboard the home-office balance beam¹. The remainder of this column summarizes our survey responses, which often echo what is found in the literature. 

¹ We want to extend a special thank you to our Career Gear contributors who shared their thoughts with us regarding this issues topic: Suzy Fox, Martin Factor, Kevin Cook, Shelly Freeman and four contributors who preferred to remain anonymous. If you would like the opportunity to add your 2 to future Career Gear segments, let us know, and well be sure to put you on our e-mail list!

Barriers to WorkFamily Balance

According to our respondents, the quest for workfamily equilibrium involves a variety of trials, which originate in both the workplace and the home.

On the job. Two major barriers stem from the workplace: time and value. Our respondents indicated that the sheer volume of an I-O psychologists work can eat time and suppress balance. On top of that, the workload is often unpredictable, variable, or cyclical, which challenges even the most adept time manager. Spontaneous and scheduled meetings, teleconferences and travel, collaboration with colleagues, and consultation with clients can run longer than the allotted time and spill over into evenings and weekends.

Furthermore, lots of new professionals work among colleagues who neither support nor value the balanced lifestyle. Even when an organization offers HR policies and programs encouraging workfamily balance, theres no guarantee that the true work culture has gotten with the program. Our respondents echoed this sentiment repeatedly, suggesting that in many organizations, people who are unable to say no (i.e., those who let work overrun home and personal needs) are seen as valuable contributors, and they are promoted, recognized, and reinforced with far greater frequency than those who choose to have a life outside of the office. As Dr. Murphy pointed out, pursuing a balanced life may mean that you have to take a hit in terms of other career variables.

At home. Just as colleagues dont always value your home life, home isnt forever impressed by your professional responsibilities. It seems that if you dare to engage in both a career and a life, you will likely adopt some nontraditional work hours to compensate for the nontraditional family hours you keep. As indicated by Dr. Murphy during our interview, one of the things that can cause workfamily conflict is when a person lacks an appreciation for what his or her partner is doing. Our respondents added that the when he or she is doing it can also be problematic. Moreover, having disparate workfamily perspectives can compound the conflict, especially when only one partner is consistently expected to compromise work responsibilities in order to meet family obligations.

One final challenge encountered at home are the puppy dog eyes and pouty lips... yesthe children who dont understand when you have to go to the office on Saturday. Its difficult for them to appreciate the fact that you are going to work in order to catch up on what you missed last Thursday when those puppy dog eyes and pouty lips were accompanied by feverish cheeks, a runny nose, and a trip to the pediatrician! 

Keys to WorkFamily Balance

Have you ever been to a workshop where you got inundated with tons of great, usable dataso much information that you left feeling overwhelmed and sure that you couldnt possibly implement but a few key points? Thats pretty much how we felt when we asked our respondents to describe the ways they maintain that very fragile but critical balance between their personal and professional lives. In general, we learned that workfamily balance can be facilitated by: (a) adopting specific philosophies to live by, (b) communicating your values and expectations at home and in the workplace, (c) actively working to achieve and maintain that balance, and (d) attempting to put yourself in a family-friendly environment. The following paragraphs address these general rules in some detail, in hopes that you will find at least one take home message, which suits your own work-family world.

Establish a balanced philosophy toward life. Sometimes making one small change, adopting one hard and fast rule, can make all the difference in the world, explained one respondent. A healthy balance typically requires a keen awareness of your priorities. If you choose to make family time a priority, then do whatever it takes to make family time happen. Some of our respondents make it happen by consciously seeking flexible career paths and organizations. Others rearrange their schedules, moving activities normally completed in the evening (e.g., exercising, reading the newspaper from cover to cover, and writing out the bills) to the wee hours of the morning. Still others actively engage their work brain at the office and their family brain at home, in order to give everyone their fair share.

Communicate with your family members and your colleagues. It is essential to communicate your aspirations toward balance to colleagues and family members alike. One respondent wrote, Love what you do, both at work and at home, and constantly communicate that to your child(ren) and to your colleagues. Make it clear to your kids(s) that they are not a burden, that you love playing with them or running them to hockey, soccer, religious school, and so forth. But that you also love your work and that it makes you happy to be doing both.

Similarly, in the workplace it is important to establish your boundaries and communicate your expectations. As Dr. Murphy explained, This is a lot like what you do in a consulting project. Set the norms and constraints up front. Laying out schedules and expectations is important and do-able. Make a contract between you and whomever youre working with. This way, your family obligations dont create problems downstream. Moreover, youre not perceived as not pulling your weight when you have to leave a meeting to attend to matters at home. The conclusion of our interview with Dr. Murphy provides a perfect example. Because he communicated his childcare obligations up front, we werent the least bit surprised by his 5-minute warning.

Make a conscious effort. Clearly, work-family balance doesnt just happen, and work isnt always the neglected side of the equation. Indeed, weve heard relatively few complaints to the tune of, Ive got all the family time I need, I just cant seem to get enough time at the office. Below are some methods used by our respondents to consciously facilitate balance between work and family.

• Let children pick an outside activity and support that activity. My 5-year-old daughter enjoys gymnastics, one respondent offered as an example, so we attend late afternoon sessions twice a week.
• Dont bring work home over the weekend.
• Commit to spending an hour per week in your childs classroom, or performing some function at your childs school. Many organizations have formal programs offering paid release time to tutor or volunteer in schools during working hours.
• Those of you with some degree of control over your schedule might consider following Murphys Law (no, not the one about things going wrong, we mean Kevin Murphys law). Dont schedule meetings after a certain time of day. This way, you minimize the chances of getting caught up by a late running meeting, and you can be free to attend to the family.
• Coach a youth sports activity, or lead a Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop.
• Schedule it, and as Shelly Zedeck offered in the April 2000 issue of Early Careers, subscribe to it! Treat your spouse or your family to season tickets for athletic events, performing arts theaters, or local theme parks.
• Be home to make dinner for your spouse at least once per week.
• Celebrate family members accomplishments or milestoneseven the small ones, such as completed science projects, report cards, and the ability to stay on green all week. (For those of you without kids, the latter accomplishment refers to a behavior modification system implemented by many school systems nationwide.)
• Have regular family meetings.
• Identify excellent childcare providers so that you can have peace of mind while at work.
• Attend corporate events that include the family. 

Put yourself in a family-friendly environment. Importantly, philosophies, communication, and conscious efforts seem to work a whole lot better in professional environments that support balanced lifestyles (Did somebody say moderator?). Finding a family-friendly context in which to work makes a huge difference, says Dr. Murphy, who spent approximately 5 years with a crib in his office. There are some places where people wont respond well to kids in offices and meetings. Finding a job where such behavior is not only acceptable, but where colleagues understand the impact kids will have on life makes all the difference in the world.

So, how do you find such a place? Well, you can start by doing your home-work (You saw that one coming, didnt you?). Several magazines administer extensive surveys to organizational employers and/or employees, and these survey data are used to identify and rank the best companies to work for. For the past 15 years, Working Mother magazine has published a list of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers. Companies are rated according to compensation, opportunities for women to advance, child care benefits (on-site child care, back-up care, before- and after-school care, dependent-care fund, and pre-tax set asides), flexible work schedules, paid maternity/paternity leave, and work/life (manager pay tied to employee satisfaction, employee surveys, manager training, work/life task force). Working Mothers current Top 10, along with the number of years on the list in parentheses, includes Allstate Insurance Company (10), Bank of America (formerly NationsBank) (2), Eli Lilly and Company (6), Fannie Mae (7), IBM Corporation (15), Life Technologies, Inc. (5), Lincoln Financial Group (14), Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (5), Novant Health, Inc. (1), and Prudential (11).

In a similar vein, Fortune magazine ranks The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. Work-family issues are included among Fortunes criteria, which also consider good benefits and a corporate culture of trust and respect between management and employees. Fortunes Top 10 includes Container Store, Southwest Airlines, CISCO Systems, TDIndustries, Synovus Financial, SAS Institute, Edward Jones, Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, and MBNA.

Finally, an organization may have the right look (i.e., it may have family friendly policies and programs), but when your lifes on the line, you just gotta ask. When interviewing for jobs, suggested Dr. Murphy, ask point blank: What is the culture? What are the norms? How are people going to react when I bring kids to faculty meetings? The interviewers reaction to the question itself can provide keen insights into the family-friendliness of the organization. If asking the question is a problem, then you have a major sign, says Dr. Murphy. Indicating that balance would have been impossible when he lived and worked in New York during the early 1980s, he maintains that he will no longer take a job in a place thats not kid-friendly. At Penn State, its load up the Nintendo (presumably to keep the kids occupied) and off to work! 

Summary and Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be done! Look at Kevin Murphy, a dad first and foremost, and an amazingly successful I-O psychologist to boot. According to our contributors you can do it too, especially if you develop a balanced philosophy toward life, communicate your philosophy and your expectations to co-workers and family alike, and then concentrate on making it happen daily.