SIOP Members in the News
Clif Boutelle
Generally when we think of the media, it is the major newspapers, magazines, and network radio and television that come to mind. Although they still remain important to any organization seeking to generate awareness about itself, the Internet has created a whole new vista of media outlets that should not be overlooked. In fact, more and more organizations are utilizing dot.com sites to tell their news.
And a growing number of SIOP members are finding their way on to Internet sites because writers, whether mainstream media or on the Internet (often reporters are writing for both), still need credible resources. So, the opportunities for media mentions are expanding, and that is good for the field of I-O psychology.
Following are some of the press mentions, including online sites, which have occurred in the past several months:
A July 16 Washington Post story on an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hearing on age discrimination included remarks by Michael Campion of Purdue University, one of the invited testifiers. He told the panel that downsizing decisions are often made with little or no consideration to an employee’s experience or past contributions. Greater attention should be paid to the skills, knowledge, and abilities of individuals and basing personnel decisions on who can best perform the job, and not let stereotypes of older workers influence their decisions.
An article in the July 19 Tri-Cities Herald in Washington about the difficulty laid-off older workers have in finding jobs quoted Martin Greller of Milano New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York City. He noted that during an economic slowdown most employers focus on retaining core employees rather than make new hires.
Randall S. Cheloha of Cheloha Consulting Group in Wynnewood, PA authored a piece entitled “Barriers to CEO Succession” in the July/August issue of The Corporate Board magazine. The article included several effective tactics for boards to consider when making hard choices on succession. He noted that nearly 50% of major companies lack a realistic, strategic plan for replacing their CEOs.
Ben Dattner of Dattner Consulting in New York City contributed to a July 17 BusinessWeek article about how the business downturn is affecting HR professionals who have to cope with various aspects of downsizing or belt tightening, including layoffs, pay cuts, and furloughs. It can be very distressing, said Dattner, “If every time someone sees you, they associate you with the angel of unemployment.”
Dattner also contributed to a June 5 segment on CNNMoney.com about perks becoming part of the company ethos, like free bikes to encourage employees to bike to work and ownership stakes in the organization. Such practices can boost employment engagement but there are also some downsides as some employees may develop an entitlement mentality. “Giving everyone ownership (in the company) can undermine the hierarchy,” Dattner noted.
The July 9 issue of Corporate Board magazine included an article by Constance Dierickx of RHR International (Atlanta) entitled “The Seven Myths of CEO Succession.” Directors face an abundance of misinformation about hiring top managers, and she looks at the misconceptions in hopes that it will help boards make better decisions. For example, one myth is that CEOs hired from the outside have the same chance of success as insiders. Not true, she writes, outside choices generally oversee poorer financial returns, cost more in compensation, and fail at a higher rate.
Dierickx also contributed to a July 16 Wall Street Journal story about workers restarting their careers with unpaid internships. “You’ll need to explain why you are willing to take a step back,” she said, advising people to talk about the benefits they can bring to the organization rather than “I lost my job and don’t have anything else to do.” It is better to say you are looking for a career change and want to learn something new, she added.
Frank Landy of Landy Litigation Support Group in New York City and Doug Reynolds of Development Dimensions International were quoted in a July 1 Wall Street Journal story about the Supreme Court decision in the Ricci case. The opinion raised questions about tests employers give applicants for jobs or promotions. For the private sector, the decision had “no major implication,” said Landy. He said most employers use some form of assessment for promotions, but only about half use written or computer tests; most of these tests gauge personal traits, rather than cognitive skills, he added. Reynolds said the court’s “very public statement of support for an objective and validated test should ease concerns among private-sector employers using tests.”
A June 17 U.S. News and World Report story about how more companies are turning to psychologists to assist in the hiring process quoted Stuart Sidle of the University of New Haven and Scott Erker of Development Dimensions International. Hiring a person who will fit into the organization is important, and a bad hire can create enormous havoc, Erker said. That’s why companies are using the skills of psychologists to help improve their batting averages, he added. Psychologists may be the interviewers least likely to form biases, Sidle says. Too often judgments are made on superficial criteria, he added.
It’s a buyer’s market for talent, and employers are scrutinizing job candidates more closely than ever to ensure they are getting the right fit for the long haul, according to an article in the June 16 Human Resource Executive Online. And that’s good news for assessment firms, says Scott Erker of Development Dimensions International in Bridgeville, PA, Daniel Lezotte of Applied Psychological Techniques, Inc. in Evanston, IL, and Ken Lahti of PreVisor in Roswell, GA. The recession offers employers an unusual challenge, says Erker, and “if we’re going to fill a position, we better fill it with the best person possible, and if we can’t, shame on us because there are so many good candidates out there.” Lahti has seen a significant increase in the number of clients using screening assessments, which allow employers to choose from the top candidates and screen out those who are less qualified. Lezotte noted that preemployment assessments cannot guarantee whether a job candidate will be a success, but they can help improve the odds. “The goal is to increase the probability of making the right selection,” he said.
The June issue of Talent Management magazine included an article by Rebecca Schalm of RHR International (Calgary) about managing internal leadership transitions after an organization downsizes. When employees are moved into new roles, she provided suggestions that talent managers should consider to help employees be successful by preparing them, clarifying roles, and offering support.
A similar story in the May Workforce magazine highlighted comments by Schalm on ways organizations and HR managers might focus their energies once layoffs have been concluded. One silver lining: Older workers, who HR managers expected to retire in 2010 and 2011, will be sticking around longer, giving organizations more time to avoid a brain drain and tap into their accumulated wisdom, she said.
The June 3 Wall Street Journal carried a story on how employees can remain motivated after job perks are lost which quoted SIOP members Fred Mael of Mael Consulting in Baltimore and John Weaver, a Waukesha, WI consultant. Mael said perks are “not ongoing motivators, like bonuses. They are trappings.” Perks do not push people to do their best work, he added. However, said Weaver, watching perks get taken away can produce fear and result in “a tired work force that feels like there’s no end in sight.” Mael cautioned workers not to isolate themselves and gather with colleagues as often as possible. These gatherings help people to face the workday and talk about what they are doing and how they are feeling. It reinforces the reality that “they’re working alongside someone, and they are not in it by themselves,” Weaver added.
A June 5 Forbes article about controlling CEO rage included comments from three SIOP members: Doug McKenna of Oceanside Institute in Greenbank, WA, Nathan Bowling of Wright State University, and Robert Hogan of Hogan Assessment Systems in Tulsa, OK. Bowling said that CEOs’ personalities and environments often lead to hostility. They tend to be Type A personalities and very impatient and get frustrated when things do not get done right away, he said. “It makes sense that a fair number of CEOs have anger issues,” he added. Although there may be short-term results to a manager’s tantrum, says Hogan, the problem is longer term. Alienating and stressing out workers by yelling at them kills team building, and regular outbursts can harm the company’s culture. McKenna said the key is to maintain anger and composure at the same time. Some CEOs are successful partly because they have mastered this very ability, he said. To help a CEO prone to anger, Hogan said the best way is to simply say “If you keep doing this, you’re going to fail.” Realizing they are damaging themselves and their companies in the long term must be the first step to redemption, he said.
Bowling also contributed to a June 11 Reuters story describing how people who constantly text message or e-mail are disruptive in the workplace. In addition to being rude, Bowling noted that research shows such multitasking can take more time and result in errors than does focusing on a single task at a time.
The May/June issue of Chief Executive magazine featured a roundtable discussion on CEO succession in which Paul Winum of RHR International (Atlanta) participated. The absence of a succession plan has huge implications, and it is something that directors do not do very well, he said. “There are a lot of psychological challenges when it comes to something that could be viewed as planning your own funeral,” he said, noting that business leaders are often reluctant to develop an emergency or even orderly succession plan.
Wayne State University’s Applied Psychology and Organizational Research Group, in which students consult with area businesses, was featured in the May 31 Detroit Crain’s Business. John Arnold of Polaris Assessment Systems is the director of the program, which provides organizational psychology services at a fraction of the normal cost. “They’ve pretty much created a consulting business within the university,” noted Mary Ann Hannigan of the Michigan Association of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists. Jennell Wittmer of the University of Toledo said her 4 years in the program gave her an understanding of business terminology and how to work with clients.
A study conducted by Jacqueline Mitchelson of Auburn University was the subject of a May 28 story on British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) News. The study found that women are more likely than men to suffer feelings of inadequacy at home and at work. “None of the research I’ve seen which splits perfectionism into these groups has found a gender difference, so it (the results) was completely unexpected,” she said.
Research conducted by Michigan State University graduate students Christopher Barnes and David Wagner was featured in a May 23 Occupational Health and Safety magazine article. Their study found that the number of workplace accidents increases after daylight savings time changes every March. In two separate studies, they found the March switch to daylight savings time resulted in 40 minutes less sleep for American workers, a 5.7% increase in workplace injuries, and nearly 68% more workdays lost to injuries.
Mitchell Marks of San Francisco State University was interviewed for a May 19 Wall Street Journal story citing how younger workers are at risk to be laid off as employers grow wary of letting older workers go. Marks said the emotional impact of layoffs can affect a manager’s decision and sometimes can disproportionately affect a younger worker. “It takes a tremendous toll on managers,” he said, adding that when layoff decisions come to a tiebreaker, personal and family situations often come into play. If a choice comes down to laying off a single 20-something employee and a 50-something person with two kids in college, the older person is more likely to be retained, he said.
Research by Julie McCarthy of the University of Toronto Scarborough was the subject of a May 19 story in PhysOrg.com. She studied the use of promotional exams given to Ontario police officers, which showed that such tests may discourage candidates from applying and create anxiety that could hurt a person’s performance. “These data really speak to the fact that the process needs to be looked at from the perspective of the applicant,” she said.
Mike Aamodt of DCI Consulting Group in VA contributed to a May 19 story in the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette about myths in the criminal justice field. A commonly held belief by some police officers and emergency room workers equates the full moon with abnormal behavior. The story cited several incidents where unusual events occurred during full moon cycles. Aamodt attributed the full moon theory to the tendency to notice things that confirm a belief or disregard evidence that disproves it. “False beliefs are a way of controlling your environment. If something bad happens and you can say, ‘Well, that’s just the full moon,’ that may mean tomorrow we’re not going to see that behavior. Besides, it also makes things a lot more interesting,” he said.
Nepotism was the subject of a May 10 story in the Roanoke Times, which included comments by Aamodt. Although it is not uncommon for members of the same family to work together, it does have its drawbacks. “Even if you have a family member that’s the best qualified, the perception is going to be that they got the job because of their family connections and that can affect morale among other employees,” he said. On the other hand, there are some benefits. Research has shown that when a number of family members work together it lowered turnover. But they have to be careful not to have family members supervising each other,” he said.
A May 19 New York Times op-ed piece by David Brooks of FedEx in Memphis, TN focused on qualities and talents of CEOs. The article cited research by Murray Barrick of Texas A&M University, Michael Mount of the University of Iowa, and Timothy Judge of Florida State University who found that Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness did not correlate well with CEO success. Instead, what mattered was Emotional Stability and, most of all, Conscientiousness, which means being dependable, making plans, and following through on them.
A May 18 story carried on UPI wires featured research by Thomas Britt of Clemson University that disproves the belief that highly engaged workers will work tirelessly for an organization despite diminishing resources. He found that engaged workers cared more about their performance and the job-related resources they received from the organization than corporate loyalty. “Managers who fail to position employees to be effective in their roles and provide organizational support may lose their most talented and energetic people,” he said. The story also appeared in several other media outlets including the Institute of Leadership and Management newsletter and Management Issues.
Intelligence still ranks as the top factor in an employee’s eventual income, but their prospects are enhanced by being good looking, according to a study by Timothy Judge of Florida State University and graduate students Lauren Simon and Charlice Hurst. The study results, which were published in several media outlets including the May 12 Gainesville Sun, Management Issues, and others, found that attractive people are more likely to have higher self-esteem and education levels, which may boost their confidence in a way that helps them get ahead.
For a May 9 career column in the New York Times about whether employees who have had salaries reduced or hours cut should consider a second job, Maynard Brusman of Working Resources in San Francisco cautioned that people should first look for ways to reevaluate their spending habits. But, he added, there is an upside to a second job beyond the financial gains. “You meet different kinds of people, you network, and you develop different competencies. There’s so much insecurity in the job market anyway, your only real security is your skills and intelligence,” he said. He also was featured in a March 30 NPR interview about workplace stress within Bay-area organizations.
Paul Harvey of the University of New Hampshire and co-researcher Mark Martinko of Florida State University completed a study of younger workers and Generation Y employees and found them more likely to feel entitled to preferential treatment in the workplace. The research was reported in the April 29 Management Issues.
An April 17 Forbes story on stressed out CEOs included quotes from Debra Nelson of NelsonQuick Group in OK and Douglas McKenna of Oceanside Institute in Greenbank, WA. Nelson said busy CEOs who run from meeting to meeting need to take back some control over their time and suggests meditation. CEOs have busy minds all the time and the opportunity to quiet their thoughts seems to do wonders, she said. McKenna said CEOs face threats and opportunities all at once and can have a hard time feeling they have a grasp on it all. The CEOs who do best, he said, neutralize threats by stretching them out over long timelines, making them part of a strategic landscape, and to ultimately detoxify them.
Employee engagement was the subject of a BusinessWeek article attributing the success of the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas to the CEO’s efforts to make employees critical to the company’s success. Charles A. Scherbaum of Baruch College praised MGM and its CEO, noting that what differentiated the hotel from others was “its service, and that’s the employees.” He added that should help the hotel during the downturn because “in difficult times, employee engagement is more critical.”
He also contributed to the spring issue of The Investment Professional in a story about the psychological causes of the financial crisis, brought about by plunging real estate prices, which led to widespread mortgage defaults. In many cases, Scherbaum said, risks were taking place in organizations that were thrown together as a result of successive mergers. These institutions were forced to grow and integrate their operations and cultures so quickly that “it was a recipe for disaster.”
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.
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