Committee Works to Boost I-O Awareness
Lise Saari
IBM Corp. and Chair, Visibility Committee
SIOPs Visibility Committee has undertaken several initiatives that it expects will provide greater recognition for the field of I-O psychology and the work that SIOP members are doing to bring about improvements in the workplace.
With the assistance of the SIOP Administrative Office, the committee spearheaded development of two brochures intended to better inform others about I-O. The first, entitled Building Better Organizations, has a target audience of organizational decision makers, as well as the general public. The second is aimed at students.
Three copies of the brochure were mailed to all SIOP members with the 2002 Membership Directory with the request from President Ann Marie Ryan that they be distributed to persons that would benefit by learning about I-O psychology. SIOP members can request up to 100 free brochures by contacting
siop@siop.org.
The response has been tremendous. Of the 25,500 copies originally printed, more than 20,000 have already been distributed, prompting plans to print additional copies. The Administrative Office reports that hardly a day goes by when there is not a request for additional copies to be distributed at business meetings, seminars, and other occasions when members are participating in a program.
The student version is going well, too. Nearly all of the original 3,300 have been distributed to academic advising units and more are being printed. The brochures have even been distributed to high school career conferences, on the theory that one is never too young to learn about I-O.
The Visibility Committee has also performed a strategic brand analysis of the SIOP brand. Research has been conducted to provide some understanding of the perceptions current members and potential members (graduate students) have of SIOP. The study, done by a Visibility Subcommittee, also attempted to identify the gaps between SIOPs brand intent and where members would like the brand to be.
This research can help SIOP manage its visibility efforts with the public. The brand analysis is currently being shared and reviewed by various SIOP committees.
The Visibility Committee is also developing some Web-based resources that can be used by managers, particularly those in human resources. The first, which is currently being reviewed, is about testing. A second on the subject of executive coaching is being developed.
Other committee activity includes making presentations about I-O psychology at business meetings and seminars and working with local I-O groups to disseminate information and knowledge about the field. In addition, news releases about research projects by SIOP members are being developed and distributed to the news media, especially in conjunction with the annual SIOP conference. (Some of the results of this work can be found in the
SIOP Members in the News column that appears regularly in TIP.) Aiding in this effort is the Media Resources section of the SIOP Web site, which lists more than 1,400 SIOP members willing to serve as media sources and which averages nearly 100 hits weekly. Also, we scan for I-O related items on a listserv called ProfNet, where reporters list queries looking for subject-matter experts.
Visibility committee members include Kerrie Baker of Cedar Crest College,
Joan Brannick of Brannick HR Connections, Lucinda Doran of The Corporate Advisory Group,
Bev Dugan of HumRRO, Michelle Dusig of MSD Consulting, David Oliver of Frito-Lay,
Rob Ployhart of George Mason University, Chris Rotolo of IBM, Lise Saari of IBM and
Karla Stuebing of FSD Data Services, Inc.
January 2003 Table of
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