SIOP Members in the News
Clif Boutelle
Visibility for I-O psychology and its researchers is a continuing goal that has resulted in progress during recent years as more and more SIOP members are serving as resources to reporters writing workplace-related stories in the nation’s media.
The Administrative Office in Bowling Green is able to match some reporters’ requests with SIOP members’ expertise, and an increasing number of reporters are turning to Media Resources, which is found on the SIOP Web site. Media Resources has more than 100 different workplace topics and 2,000 SIOP members who are willing to provide information for reporters’ stories. Also, some reporters have added SIOP members’ they have interviewed to their Rolodexes to use as repeat contacts.
All of this activity helps to promote the field of I-O and to make its practitioners and researchers better known to the media and their readers, many of them business leaders.
Following are some of the press mentions that have occurred in the months just prior to the deadline for this issue of TIP.
Todd Harris of PI Worldwide in Wellesley, MA, contributed to a June 28 Associated Press story about how managers can retain baby boomer employees, many of whom are approaching retirement. The story appeared in newspapers across the country including the Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Chicago Tribune. Harris urged employers to consider creating flexible work schedules to retain boomers. Employers would be making a “colossal” mistake in allowing people with 30 or 35 years of experience to leave without making some accommodations so they can still contribute, he said.
Harris also appeared on a July 16 Comcast cable show discussing how organizations can attract and retain older workers. The show was broadcast on channels throughout New England.
The World Cup soccer games produced several stories on workers taking breaks to watch the games or follow them on their computers. Steven Rogelberg of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte was quoted in a June 21 Forbes Magazine story on the subject. One of his suggestions: Savvy managers could mitigate any productivity effects by adopting flexible work schedules.
Ben Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York and Scott Erstad of Development Dimensions International in Pittsburgh contributed to a story on measuring hiring managers’ success rates in the June issue of HR Magazine. The need to identify managers who can pick winning employees will intensify as competition for talent heats up, Dattner noted. “Not following the trail back to the hiring manager doesn’t make sense. It’s like running a mutual fund and not being able to learn who picked the best stocks,” he said. Dattner also provided a 10-step self-assessment tool for hiring managers. Erstad said the stakes are high for hiring the right people. “When you make an (unsuccessful) hire, especially in managerial, sales or other jobs with customer contact, you can lose millions in revenues,” he said.
For a June 8 Washington Post story on the growing use by companies of standardized testing to learn more about potential employees, Paul Hanges of the University of Maryland offered some thoughts. Tests may help remove subjective bias from the interview process as well as do a better job of pinpointing promising hires. “A typical interview where you think of questions at the last minute, or ask them without understanding the demands of the job, doesn’t help you identify who has potential. Otherwise you could be confirming your own biases,” he noted.
David Hyatt of CorVirtus in Colorado Springs was quoted in the spring issue of Chain Leader, a restaurant trade publication. He pointed out the benefits of employee surveys to reducing workplace turnover and increasing the level of employee performance. He also contributed to a May 5 Houston Business Journal story about customer loyalty, noting that restaurants can create great customer experiences by keeping promises to both employees and customers. Also, in the June 12 Nation’s Restaurant News, Hyatt was featured in a story about the need for growing companies to keep their focus on core values and goals while growing. “When founders of companies get caught up in the day-to-day details of growing a business, their attention to the reasons they started their business in the first place could fall by the wayside,” Hyatt warned.
Media in England picked up on research by David Zweig of the University of Toronto and colleagues about knowledge-hiding in the workplace. The June 7 London Times and the June 11 Mail on Sunday carried stories about the research, which was presented at the SIOP conference in May. Their findings showed that many workers are reluctant to share knowledge and ideas with their supervisors and fellow workers. The reasons, says Zweig, include the company not promoting an open culture that encourages staff to communicate freely, employees feeling that an injustice has been done to them, a sense of superiority from knowing something that others do not and because there is no incentive to share information.
Kevin Murphy of Pennsylvania State University was quoted in several May and June stories that appeared in newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. The occasion was the launching of the new International Center for the Study of Terrorism, which is headquartered at Penn State and directed by Murphy. The ICST brings together researchers from several countries to investigate the root causes of terrorism, understand its long-term effects on society, and identify new ways of safeguarding individuals, organizations, and communities. “Our goal is to turn this knowledge into action,” he said.
On June 19, Robert Hogan of Hogan Assessments in Tulsa, OK and Ben Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York City appeared on New York Public Radio to discuss employers’ use of personality tests. They discussed the growing popularity of testing and what they tell employers about prospective workers. They also said there are many different kinds of tests and warned employers to be selective about the tests they use and to be sure they can be validated and offer sound information.
Dattner also contributed to a June 4 New York Newsday story about narcissistic bosses. When working with a self-promoting boss, he suggested workers “bite the bullet and allow a supervisor to take credit for their ideas. Such sacrifice may eventually accrue to your benefit because the boss comes to rely upon you.” He added that employees should reinforce positive behavior, set limits, not take the bait or sink to the level of their bosses, and stay rational.”
A May story on effective office meetings by the Associated Press included comments by Theodore Rosen of George Washington University. The story appeared in several newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, and Orlando Sentinel. For meetings over the phone or videoconference, he said it was important that the meeting leader involves everyone in each discussion and decision. He suggested that when a team will be working together long term, gathering everyone in person early builds trust. He acknowledged it could be expensive if the team is widely scattered but “greater trust often yields greater results for the company.”
Please let us know if you, or a SIOP colleague, have contributed to a news story. We would like to include that mention in SIOP Members in the News.
Send copies of the article to SIOP at siop@siop.org or fax to 419-352-2645, or mail to SIOP at PO Box 87, Bowling Green, OH 43402.