SIOP Members in the News

Clif Boutelle

Generally when we think of the media, it is the major newspapers, magazines, and network radio and television that come to mind. Although they still remain important to any organizations seeking to generate awareness about itself, the Internet has created a whole new vista of media outlets that should not be overlooked. In fact, more and more organizations are utilizing dot.com sites to tell their news.

And a growing number of SIOP members are finding their way onto Internet sites because writers, whether mainstream media or on the Internet (often reporters are writing for both), still need credible resources. So, the opportunities for media mentions are expanding and that is good for the field of I-O psychology.

Following are some of the press mentions, including dot.com sites, that have occurred in the past several months:

Mitchell Marks of San Francisco State University contributed to a February 4 ComputerWorld story on surviving corporate mergers and acquisitions, which typically create high anxiety for employees. He advised them to “Be patient. Decisions about workforce restructuring and potential job cuts are usually several months away, leaving employees time to assess the situation and explore their options. The reality is that companies buy companies and only after that do they really explore what they have purchased. The deal gets done and then they do their homework,” he said.  Nevertheless, he advises workers to prepare a contingency plan.

When Time Inc. announced it was cutting nearly 300 jobs, Time magazine reporter Lisa Cullen, in a January 18 story, talked about the effects of layoffs with Rainer Seitz of Washington State University at Vancouver. He said a psychological contract exists between employer and employees that says, in essence, “I’ll work hard for you and, in return, you let me keep my job.” The breaking of that contract explains why people feel betrayed when they lose their jobs. And layoffs take a toll on the remaining workers. They can experience decreased productivity, increases stress, anxiety, and lower morale and job dissatisfaction.
A 2003 study by Jerry Palmer of Eastern Kentucky University and Laura Koppes of LK Associates in Lexington, KY was cited in a January 18 Christian Science Monitor story about how checking the credit of job candidates has become a civil rights concern. The story also ran in the January 19 Wall Street Journal. In perhaps the only study done on the subject, Palmer and Koppes found no correlation between employee credit reports and negative performance or termination for dishonesty.

Ben Dattner of New York City-based Dattner Consulting contributed to a January 28 New York Times story about the pitfalls of using company time and computers to look for another job. He warned about violating company policies forbidding resources and communications for personal use. “It’s important to abide by the terms of one’s employment and not to burn bridges,” he said. He also was quoted in a January 14 Crain’s New York Business story on company retreats featuring competitive team-building activities. Many such activities, like singing in front of the group, have no relevance to the workplace and should be avoided, he said.

FedSmith.com, which specializes in federal government news, quoted Tom Janz of Batrus Hollweg International in Grapevine, Texas for a story on the importance of reference checks. He said the best predictor of future performance is past performance in similar circumstances. And the best way to assess performance is by talking to people who are familiar with applicant’s work and behavior.

A January 12 Associated Press story about a study on procrastination by Piers Steel of the University of Calgary was carried by media throughout Canada and the United States, including USA Today, New York Times, CNN and Scientific American. Procrastination is getting worse (5% of Americans considered themselves procrastinators in 1978. Now its 26%). Piers’ study showed that procrastination can make people poorer, fatter, and unhappier.

One of the fastest growing companies in the country is Google and it is turning to biographical surveys to find people to fit into its chaotic and competitive culture. A January 3 New York Times story documented Google’s search for qualified workers utilizing surveys, some of which contain non-traditional questions, such as “What pets do you have?” Michael Mumford of the University of Oklahoma agreed that collecting biodata is a valid way to look for workers. However he cautioned that companies should not rely on nontraditional questions even if they seem to correlate to good performance. “You have to know or at least have a hypothesis why having a dog makes a person a good computer programmer. If you ask whether someone started a club in high school, now that is a clear indicator of leadership.”

Todd Harris of PI Worldwide was quoted in stories about a survey his firm did that showed that most companies consider attracting and retaining employees to be their top business challenge. The December story appeared in several online publications including Forbes.com, Marketkwatch.com, and InternationalBusinessTimes.com. He noted that approximately 75% of employees in the United States now work in service-oriented and knowledge-based roles and as the workforce continues to age, existing employees’ experience, skills, and talents are going to be increasingly difficult to replace.

A December Wall Street Journal story about the value of self-evaluations included some comments from Leanne Atwater of Arizona State University West. Because people tend to over inflate their self-worth and minimize weaknesses, self-evaluations are often unreliable and controversial management tools. Atwater noted that beyond high self-esteem contributing to a puffed-up evaluation, studies show that older employees don’t take criticism well and women don’t inflate as much as men.  Inflating one’s evaluation, though, does produce some short-term benefits, Atwater concedes. “Overraters tend to make more money and get more promotions,” she says. But they also have lower performance, she adds, and only get so far before their careers are derailed.

Ellen Ernst Kossek of Michigan State University contributed to a December 12 USA Today story about the workplace expectations of Generation Y—those in their mid-20s and younger. “They view work as part of life, but they don’t live to work the way we were socialized as boomers. There is a real mismatch between what the younger generation wants and what employers are offering,” she said. And when that happens, they say they want to be their own boss and start a business but that often is not a way to obtain work–life balance. “When you have your own business, you’re working long hours because if you don’t work, money doesn’t come in,” Kossek said.

She was also quoted in the December 20 Jackson (MI) Citizen Patriot about a local company calling for voluntary layoffs. “If companies do not get the number of voluntary layoffs they want, involuntary layoffs are next,” Kossek said. Sometimes voluntary layoffs backfire, she added, noting that often the firm’s better people who are more mobile take the buyout. Also, many companies have difficulty in getting poor performing employees to leave.

Theresa Welbourne of eePulse Inc. in Ann Arbor, MI contributed a piece for the December 11 issue of Workforce Management about employee and customer surveys. In her survey of surveys, she found most people to be ambivalent about surveys and, she said, she rarely finds anyone who has a documented ROI or result from a survey. The most effective surveys, she maintained, are designed to truly engage people in a dialogue about change in order to drive results.

For a December Detroit Free Press story about the decline of workplace productivity during holidays, Ken Siegel of Impact Group in Los Angeles said it is not a bad thing to accomplish less work during those times. Because of workplace pressure to meet year-end goals and reports, there is a need for people to balance work and their lives. That’s why people should take some time to ease their workload if they can during the holiday season, he said.

There are two opposite reactions to employees who show up for work despite being sick. Some think the employee is dedicated and loyal, but others avoid the employee and the threatening illness. A December 9 story in the Frederick (MD) News-Post attempted to answer the question why people drag themselves to work when they are sick. Contributing to that story was Paul Spector of the University of South Florida, who noted that some companies expect people to go to work unless they are drastically sick. He noted that many people see working through an illness as a measure of professionalism; they do not want to miss anything and some fear reprisals. He said some incentive-based programs could be counterproductive because they encourage people to show up for work even though doing so could be detrimental to other workers.

Ben Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York City added his thoughts to a November 28 Wall Street Journal story on how new employees can adapt to the culture and customs of the workplace. Other media stories Dattner contributed to included a November 26 Associated Press story on gift giving in the workplace; a November 23 New York Times article about how executives should deal with their own blunders; a November 14 Fortune magazine story on how to best answer the “What’s your greatest weakness” question during job interviews; and a November 26 Wall Street Journal story on reasons people make to-do lists (they offer order, real or perceived, in a chaotic world, he said).

For a November 24 Wall Street Journal story about retirement, Eric Sundstrom of the University of Tennessee noted that many people confuse retirement with an extended vacation and need to learn what retirement is all about. “They think of retirement as a rest well-deserved. Once you’ve rested up, now what? People who are engaged live longer and happier than those who sit on the porch and rock or who play endless games of golf.” The story also appeared in the Kansas City Star and the Seattle Spokesman Review.

The November issue of the APA Monitor carried an article by Rob Silzer of HR Assessment & Development Inc. in New York City and David Campbell of the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs about executive selection and development. They show how the science and practice of I-O psychology is relevant to the selection process and can be a valuable aid to organizations.

In a November 7 Wall Street Journal story about “fakers”—people who misrepresent themselves on personality tests—Richard Griffith of Florida Institute of Technology said it’s too easy to lie on some of the tests given to prospective employees. But despite the flaws, he said preemployment tests are generally more reliable predictors of performance than an interview alone. However, they could be more accurate, he added. Scott Erker of Development Dimensions International in Bridgeport, PA, said about 70% of entry- and mid-level jobs at big companies now include testing.

David Hyatt of CorVitus in Colorado Springs authored an article about how hiring the right employees can slow turnover in the October issue of Convenience Store Decisions. He pointed out how values-based hiring assessments can bring lasting improvement to employee retention in a retail or hospitality business.

As always, we would like your contribution to a news story to be included in SIOP Members in the News. Please send copies of the article to SIOP@siop.org, fax to 419-352-2645, or mail to SIOP at PO Box 87, Bowling Green, OH 43402.