Practice Network: A Vision for the Column
Scott L. Martin
Payless ShoeSource
This is my first column for Practice Network. I would like to describe my vision for the column and solicit your thoughts so we can transform my vision into our vision over time.
Let me first thank Laura Koppes for this opportunity and my predecessor,
Michael Harris, for his fine work on this column and for providing me with helpful suggestions.
General Vision
At a fundamental level, the practice of industrial-organizational psychology involves three steps:
1. A needs analysis or diagnosis of the problem or objective
2. The development and implementation of a solution or intervention
3. An evaluation to determine whether the intervention effectively addressed the problem or objective.
My view is that we focus a bit too much on developing and implementing solutions (Step 2) and that we would be well served by focusing more on needs analyses (Step 1) and evaluating our interventions (Step 3).
As the years pass, I have a greater appreciation for the complexity and importance of effective diagnostic work. I would like to use this column to capture the human resource challenges that practitioners and their customers face and learn more about how practitioners go about identifying potential solutions.
In terms of evaluating our interventions, I believe that practitioners and our customers are constantly evaluating whether our work is adding value. Such judgmental evaluations are not as accurate as rigorous research designs, but I still think they have tremendous value for advancing our practice. I would like to use this column to share this information.
Of course, I am not suggesting we stop discussing the solutions or interventions altogether, so such topics are certainly welcomed. But I would like to frame such discussions more broadly to capture the diagnosis and/or the evaluation.
I have two additional goals. First, I would like to be as inclusive as possible in covering practice issues. For instance, I would like to represent domestic and international settings and discuss all types of organizations (e.g., business, nonprofit, government).
Second, I want to use this column to further link science and practice. The challenges faced by practitioners and their customers should provide scientists with useful ideas for research. At the same time, I would like to encourage the use of models and theories to improve our skills in diagnosing and solving real problems.
Column Ideas
Here are a few questions that might serve as the basis for future columns:
1. What were some of your most significant challenges over the past few years? What are your biggest challenges for 2005? What is your biggest challenge for the next 5 years? The same question could be asked of human resource generalists or senior leaders in business, nonprofit, or government organizations.
2. For the challenges identified with Question #1, what are thoughts for addressing these issues? What theories or models would help? What is the evidence supporting the effectiveness of proposed solutions?
3. What common techniques, practices, or theories have not worked for you? Why do you think this is the case?
4. What theories or models have you found to be surprisingly effective from a practical standpoint?
5. Looking back over the last few years, what accomplishments are you most proud of? What was done with respect to diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation?
6. What have you learned about conducting organizational diagnoses? What suggestions would you have for teaching students how to do this more effectively?
Feedback Request
I would really appreciate any thoughts and suggestions you might have. What are your thoughts on the general plan for the column? Do you have any other ideas? Finally, if you would like to provide material for a future column, please let me know. I can be reached at
Scott_L_Martin@payless.com
or at (785) 295-6801. Thanks very much!
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