SIOP Members in the News
Clif Boutelle
SIOP members continue to be called upon by writers and reporters to contribute their expertise and knowledge to workplace-related stories. These are wonderful opportunities to educate journalists about I-O psychology and how SIOP members can assist them with their stories.
Also, we hear more and more anecdotal evidence that reporters are using SIOPs Media Resources (see
www.siop.org) to find expert commentary on a wide range of workplace subjects. There are more than 1,400 SIOP members listed in Media Resources. Everyone listed, of course, will not be contacted. However, there are many SIOP members who are and that makes the service worthwhile.
Any SIOP member can be listed in Media Resources. The process can be done easily online. The brief description of expertise, requested of all listed persons, is vitally important because that leads a reporter to individual I-O psychologists. The description needs to be very specific (in a very limited space) and informative to the reporter.
Following are some of the press mentions that have resulted from SIOP members own contacts with the media or which have been initiated by the SIOP Administrative Office:
The August 4 issue of the Hampton Roads (VA) Daily Press carried a story about research
Tom Fletcher, a doctoral candidate at Old Dominion University, has conducted as part of a larger National Science Foundation grant received by
Debra Major, an associate professor of psychology at Old Dominion University. Fletchers study showed that employers who promote competition among their workers could be hurting morale in the workplace. Employees who lack competitiveness as a personality trait tend to withdraw or show reduced initiative in a competitive workplace. Another finding: A competitive work environment did nothing to make highly competitive workers more productive.
Dory Hollander, who is president of two consulting practices (New Options Inc. in St. Louis and WiseWorkplaces in Arlington, VA), contributed to two
Wall Street Journal columns. On August 5, she was a resource for the Managing Your Career column about employees who, for a variety of reasons, are struggling in their careers and entering different fields. Feeling you no longer can do what youve done for so long is a classic midlife crisis, she said. She cited the example of a client who tired of being a stockbroker and found a job as president of a construction firm that installs athletic surfaces. In a July 9 Cubicle Culture column about workers who kiss up to their bosses, Hollander noted that fellow workers have to be careful in combating the problem. Confronting colleagues who fawn over their bosses can backfire. Executives, she said, often become bewitched, have a blind spot and dont want to hear bad news, when it comes to being informed about ingratiating employees.
David Arnold, vice-president for development and compliance at Pearson Reid London House in Chicago, contributed to a June 16 article in
Human Resource Executive about the relevance of pre-employment testing in minimizing exposure to negative hiring liability. He was also interviewed for a story entitled How the Internet Changed the Definition of Candidate in the July 13 edition of the
Wall Street Journals Career Journal. He cited research that showed certain racial subgroups are more inclined to use telephone job application systems rather than those that are Internet-based. Furthermore, he said, pushing job candidates exclusively to an Internet-based system could lead to legitimate charges of unlawful discrimination.
Gary Latham, a professor in the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, described how he motivates MBA students to appreciate and value social science research in the July 2003 issue of the APS
Observer. In the article, he provided several research scenarios he has used successfully to involve his students in research that is directly applicable to their lives.
A Texas A&M University study by Ann Huffman, a doctoral candidate in psychology, and
Stephanie Payne, a professor of psychology, examines whether time demands of a job and the perception of workload affect men more than women and if the differences are enough to make men, more than women, leave their jobs. The short answer is yes, gender does make a difference, says Huffman. The research has been making its way into various news media around the country, including the June 15 issue of the
Lansing State Journal.
Edward Lawler, distinguished professor of business at the University of Southern California, took issue with two books promoting laziness as a route to success in a June 12 story in the
Los Angeles Times. Both promote various shortcuts to success as well as lots of leisure time so the brain has a chance to unwind and hatch up new ideas. Lawler does agree with the latter point. If you want people to do creative thinking, you need to give them a little slack time, he says. But, for the most part, he said the books provide little but bad advice.
Three SIOP members were major contributors to a June 8 Chicago Tribune article on pre-employment testing.
Vicki Crawshaw, director of organization effectiveness and measurement at Sears, Roebuck & Co., said her company has been using pre-employment testing for decades and during the past year has been administering tests online. About 25 percent of all job candidates at Sears apply through the Internet rather than in person, she says.
Jonathan Canger, vice-president for research and development at Human Resource Management Center in Tampa, noted that test questions produce biodata, which use the notion that past behavior can predict future behavior. And
Mark Lifter, an executive vice-president with AON Consulting/Talent Solutions, added that pre-screen tests do work and are effective. He said that AON clients have reduced turnover by 20% once they have instituted pre-screening. All agreed that tests should not be the sole measure of a candidate but are most effective when accompanied by a personal interview.
The subject of the June 3 Managing Your Career column in the Wall Street Journal dealt with employees who feel underappreciated and how they could make their cases for recognition known without being branded whiners and possibly jeopardizing their jobs.
Paul Winum of RHR International in Atlanta cited a case where a managing director was able to gain recognition for her achievements by changing her attitude toward colleagues.
An article about encouraging employees to participate in e-learning exercises in the June issue of the
American Society of Training and Development Magazine includes comments from SIOP members
Ken Brown, an assistant professor of business management and psychology at the University of Iowa, Bradford Bell,
an assistant professor of industrial and labor relations at Cornell University, and
Steve Kozlowski, professor of organizational psychology at Michigan State University. Brown said many students given control over their own learning choose to terminate the experience. The story also cited research by Bell and Kozlowski suggesting ways to motivate e-learners.
Another article about Web-based training in the April issue of Project Management Network magazine features
Theodore Rosen, a professor of management science at George Washington University. He offers tips to maximize e-learning experiences and encourages students to create relationships with others taking the course. Its like a project management support group. My students build networks in class that they take with them into their careers.
Ben Dattner, president of Dattner Consulting in New York City, is a frequent contributor to workplace articles. In a June 8
New York Times story on the importance of checking out a companys culture before taking a job there, Dattner noted it is important to look below the surface. Online research and chatting with employees off the premises are good ways to check out a companys culture. He also suggests making a casual visit to the company and ask people what its like to work there. In an Ask Annie column in the June 26 issue of
Fortune magazine about workaholic bosses who expect employees to put in long hours, Dattner provides suggestions on how workers can negotiate for saner hours. In the July 14 issue of
Crains New York Business, a story details one result of company downsizing which often stretch supervisory resources thin: less supervision and greater autonomy. Dattner points out some of the pitfalls of workers experiencing more independence in their jobs. And in a July 21
Christian Science Monitor story on the pros and cons of internal competition among workers, Dattner said that the best competition is against oneself. You really have to do things, not just because you want to impress people or because you want to win, but because its what you enjoy doing.
For a May 19 article about workplace jargon in the Daytona Beach News Journal,
Paula Comm, a senior consultant with Leadership Impact Consulting of Schaumberg, IL, said that workers trying to understand workplace slang, much of it specific to a particular business, should not hesitate to ask for clarifications, even at the risk of seeming to be uninformed. Communication needs to be effective and everyone needs to be able to understand, she said.
A March 7 United Press International story that appeared in numerous newspapers around the country cited research by
Louis Buffardi, professor of psychology at George Mason University, and a colleague. The story focused on the growing number of working single fathers with childcare concerns. Their study showed that among married moms, single moms, married dads and single dads, the single fathers were the least satisfied with childcare arrangements. One reason, they said, is that single fathers do not have the social support from other dads like single mothers have with each other.
For a March 16 Washington Post article about what happens when an employee reservist is called up for active duty, writer Amy Joyce sought comments from
Michael Warech, practice leader of organizational effectiveness at Watson Wyatt and Co. in New York City. He said some companies will be calling on those left behind to pick up the slack and some employees will have the opportunity to learn new skills. Warech said those experiences will be good for the ones filling in.
The March 23 issue of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls (IA) Courier carried a feature story describing the I-O psychology program at the University of Northern Iowa.
Michael Gasser, an associate professor and area coordinator of the I-O graduate program, says the program is providing expanded services to the business community, including internships where graduate students work with local companies or organizations.
Adam Butler, also a UNI associate professor, added that the I-O program assists human resource personnel in developing and administering pre-employment tests.
We are always looking for additional press mentions about SIOP members, so please let us know if you have been quoted or served as a resource for a newspaper or magazine story or have been interviewed on radio or television about a workplace issue. Or, if you know of a SIOP colleague who has been mentioned in a news story, please let us know.
When possible, please send copies of the articles to SIOP at PO Box 87, Bowling Green, OH 43402, or tell us about them by e-mailing
siop@siop.org, or fax to (419) 352-2645.
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