SIOP Members in the News
Clif Boutelle
Presentations at SIOP conferences are always a rich source of stories for the media, and the Orlando conference was no exception. Research stories, written in advance of the conference, appeared in newspapers and magazines around the country and led to several radio interviews. And workplace and specialty writers were alerted to some of the presentations that were considered to have news value to them. Also, university news and communication officers were sent summaries of their faculty members posters and papers.
Reporters covering the 3-day meeting were pleasantly surprised to find so many great story ideas. An added bonus was developing contacts with SIOP members for future stories. One reporter said she was going to recommend to her editor that she attend next years conference in Chicago.
We continue to gather evidence that more and more reporters are using SIOPs Media Resources to find expert commentary for their news stories. Any SIOP member wishing to be included in Media Resources can do so online through the Web site at
www.siop.org.
Following are just some of the mentions that SIOP members have been receiving in the media:
A study by Wendy Becker, assistant professor of management at the University of Albany, documenting staffing problems nationwide in forensic science labs due to state budget cuts drew the attention of NPR Radio. The cuts come at a time when there is a great demand for DNA testing in solving crimes. The study proposed a formula for estimating staffing needs based on population statistics as well other possible solutions for lab directors and state legislators to consider. An interview with Becker was aired May 15 on NPRs
Morning Edition program.
A May 16 Psychology Today article cites a Texas A&M study by Ann Huffman, a doctoral student in psychology, and
Stephanie Payne, a professor of psychology, that was reported at the SIOP conference in April. The May 6 article quoted their findings that men are more likely than women to say theyll quit their jobs if time with their family is jeopardized.
Research on the effects of incivility in the workplace by Lisa Penney of Personnel Decisions Research Institutes and the University of South Florida, and
Paul Spector, professor of I-O psychology at USF, has been the subject of numerous stories in several newspapers across the country, including the
Orlando Sentinel and the Buffalo Evening News. The May 18 issue of
Newsweek Japan carried the story. Penney also was interviewed by a Los Angeles radio station. The research was presented at a poster session at the SIOP conference.
Kathleen Grace, a partner in Jackson Leadership Systems, Inc. in Newmarket, Ontario, was featured in the April issue of
Workplace Today, which focuses on Canadian workplace issues and strategies. Succession issues (in Canadian companies) are going to be hit hard in the next 5 years and corporations are going to have to develop a culture that develops new avenues of leadership, Grace says. She advocates succession streaming, where companies identify high-performing employees and match their strengths with leadership needed in certain areas of the organization. No longer do leaders need to be all things to all people, she notes.
Andrea Sinclair, a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech University, was interviewed in April on KSAN Radio in San Francisco about research she has done on equality versus equity in rewarding work teams. The story was based on a poster that Sinclair presented at the recent SIOP conference.
Tjai M. Nielsen, a consultant at RHR International, was quoted extensively in an article about employee burnout that appeared in the April 18 issue of
Atlanta Business Chronicle. Technology companies are increasing employee development efforts in the wake of downsizings, especially as tight budgets make monetary rewards far less likely. When employees are allowed to develop their skills, they feel more supported by their company, even if they dont see that in their paychecks, Nielsen said.
A Center for Creative Leadership study shows that the greater the stress an organization is facing, the more important a leaders soft skillstrust, empathy, and communicationbecome, writes
John Fleenor, vice-president of CCL, in the April issue of President and CEO
magazine. Effective leaders seem to be able to blend the softer leadership skills with the tough skills needed to keep an organization afloat during difficult times.
Not everyone is striving to be the top person in an organization, according to an article in the April issue of
Health magazine. Compared with 25 years ago when most business students had ambitions to be CEOs, the trend today is that a growing number of students express no interest in the topmost rung of the corporation, says
Richard Boyatzis, a professor of organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve University. He attributes this change to a shift in values, which place love, spirituality, and community above monetary rewards and power.
Douglas Soat, president of Soat Consulting Psychology Inc. in Janesville, WI, says it is ingrained in our culture for people to want to be number one. However, sometimes it is better to be happy at ones work and shun the drive to climb the corporate ladder.
Los Angeles-based radio station KCSN in March interviewed Louis Buffardi, a professor of I-O psychology at George Mason University, about research he and a colleague conducted on how single fathers cope in the workplace. Childcare is no longer a womans job. More and more men, single and married, have taken on the demands of caring for children, Buffardi said. This brings a whole new set of concerns for organizations because a segment of their workforce that previously was only marginally affected by childcare issues now is involved to a much greater extent than ever.
The March issue of INC Magazine carried a major feature on William C. Byham and the company he cofounded with
Douglas W. Bray in 1970, Development Dimensions International, based in Pittsburgh, PA. The article describes Byham and DDI as the countrys leading developers of hiring systems. Byham advocates behavior-based selection, saying that past behaviors are the best predictors of future performance. The hard truth, says Byham, is that we need to recognize that nothing is as important as hiring the right people. Richard Boyatzis and
Larry Pfaff, a Portage, MI consultant, also contributed to the article with their observations about the significant influence Byham and DDI have had in employee selection.
In the March 21 issue of American Banker, Ben Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York and colleague
Allison Faucette, wrote an article on the lessons companies can take from the lack of succession planning at Citigroup. Good organizations, they say, stay on top of corporate governance, succession planning, and leadership development. A comprehensive and integral leadership development program should provide relevant and substantial work experience along with performance feedback, coaching, mentoring, and training.
The March 17 Orlando Sentinel carried a story describing how communication is the key to corporate success, no matter how large the organization.
Ronald Gross, principal in Censeo Corp., a Maitland, FL human resources consulting firm,
Eduardo Salas, a professor of I-O psychology at the University of Central Florida, and
Scott Tannenbaum, president of the Group for Organizational Effectiveness in Albany, NY, contributed to the article.
For a March 17 article on building motivation in todays workplace, the Christian Science Monitor, called upon
Bruce Katcher, president of the Discovery Group, a management consulting firm in Sharon, MA for his expertise on keeping employees interested in their work and avoiding burnout. His suggestions included providing continuous opportunities to learn and grow which give employees more marketable skills, praising those who perform well, being honest with employees, providing decision-making opportunities, and allowing employees to have more control over their time and schedules.
Chockalingam Viswesvaran, a professor of psychology at Florida International University, was a major contributor to a February 26
Orlando Sentinel article about the increased use of pre-employment testing since the mid-1990s. The article was syndicated and later appeared in newspapers around the country. Viswesvaran said for overall job performance, an interview is a better predictor than a personality test. However, he noted that integrity or honesty tests have been highly accurate in predicting specific counterproductive behaviors, such as theft and absenteeism.
A February 24 Wall Street Journal article focused on the make-up of corporate boards, noting that the spate of recent corporate leadership scandals have led to calls for better qualified and more independent corporate board members. While corporations complain there are few qualified candidates, critics say that companies too often go to the same well for their board members and should expand their searches to new talent pools that seldom have been tapped.
Edward E. Lawler III, director of the Center for Effective Organizations at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, was identified as an ideal candidate to be a director on a corporate board. The article cited his academic experience, business research and books on Corporate Boards and Organizing for High Performance.
David Nadler, chief executive of Mercer Delta Consulting, a New York management consulting firm, said that boards, like many clubs, tended to pick people like themselves: CEOs and mostly elderly white men. He also noted that companies gravitated toward notable names who had no experience in corporate oversight. Its like the metaphor of the A-list party in New York. Youve got to have the right people coming.
Jilian Mincer, Women at Work columnist for the Kansas City Star, featured
Marian Ruderman, research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC in a February 25 column. Contrary to popular belief that multiple roles (manager, wife, mother, civic leader) deplete a womans ability to perform managerial functions, Rudermans study found that the skills women developed outside the office often benefited the effectiveness of their roles as managers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer called upon James Smither, a professor of management at La Salle University, to provide his expertise for three workplace-related articles in February and March. The articles dealt with workplace environment and focused on productive management styles, building strong support staffs and personal relationships between female and male workers.
Smither and Dean McFarlin, a professor of management at the University of Dayton, were quoted in an article in the January 13
Hartford Courant about characteristics that employees are looking for in their leaders. They noted that the best bosses have leadership skills that foster teamwork and who are able to provide direction while allowing staff to make decisions. They also said the best bosses are able to adapt their leadership style to the needs of their employees.
TIP continues to seek examples of SIOP members serving as media sources for stories about the workplace and I-O psychology. So, please let us know when you contribute to a story or appear in an article. Or, if you know of a SIOP colleague who has been in the news, let us know that as well.
Send copies of the article to SIOP at PO Box 87, Bowling Green, OH 43402, or tell us about the article by e-mailing
siop@siop.org or fax to (419) 352-2645.