In its capacity since 2011 as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), SIOP seeks to leverage employment-related theory, research, and practice to help advance the goals of the United Nations (UN) and increase I-O psychologists’ potential for global impact. One way in which SIOP advances this mission is inviting experts in I-O psychology (practitioners, academics, and graduate students) to work directly with UN organizations on improving their talent management systems.
SIOP's United Nations Committee launched the Innovation & Learning Speaker Series in December 2017. During Innovation & Learning Speaker Series sessions SIOP experts share research, theory, and evidence-based practices with UN human resources professionals.
Sounding Boards are sessions co-created by SIOP and UN staff to bring evidence-based ideas to real-world challenges.
Please see our Communications page for articles with more background information about these sessions.
Below is a brief description of sessions thus far conducted:
§ In the Innovation & Learning Series session on December 4, 2017, Christopher Rotolo, vice president of Global Talent Management and Organization Development at PepsiCo spoke on the topic of “Survey Design: Best Practices and Experiences in Survey Design, Analysis, Feedback, and Action-Planning.” His practical and insightful seminar focused on best practices and considerations for large organizations in designing an engagement survey. The OHRM team was keen to learn about these considerations as they embarked upon the planning of their own organization-wide survey. The specialist-level knowledge that Dr. Rotolo shared was opportune and well-received by the maiden audience. Given the resounding positive feedback on this first session, the SIOP-UN committee began planning for subsequent sessions in the series and inviting additional I-O psychology experts.
§ The Learning & Innovation session held on February 12, 2018, featured speaker Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, chief talent scientist at ManpowerGroup and an international authority in psychological profiling, consumer analytics, and talent management. His presentation, titled the “Talent Delusion: Why Data—Not Intuition—Is Key to Unlocking Human Potential,” described the challenges organizations face to best measure, predict, and manage talent given the changing nature of work and traits of the workforce. He purported that an organization’s problems can best be solved by closely examining and understanding its people. In turn, organizational leaders can best understand their reputation through considering feedback, ideally crowdsourced. The UN OHRM team was particularly interested in insights Dr. Chamorro-Premuzic shared as they yielded novel considerations for their leadership and multirater programs.
§ On April 6, 2018, the Learning & Innovation session featured Douglas Reynolds, executive vice president at Development Dimensions International (DDI), where he directs product development and technology functions. His presentation, “Human Resources Management in the Digital Era: Addressing the Leadership Challenges of Digital Transformation in Today’s Organizations,” focused on the dependence of organizations’ business models and processes on technology, and the challenges this brings. He shared how leaders in organizations have a critical role for managing these “digital transformations” and examined the skills and mindset required of leaders and particularly, leaders and partners in human resources, who must guide others through these dramatic shifts in culture and work process. Through reviewing common issues organizations face as they undertake these changes, Dr. Reynolds left the UN OHRM team with a set of valuable consideration points as they looked to best utilize HR technology to improve processes and the overall employee experience.
§ The Learning & Innovation session conducted on June 8, 2018, featured Gary Latham, Secretary of State professor of Organizational Effectiveness at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, as well as president of Work and Organizational Psychology at the International Association of Applied Psychology. Dr. Latham spoke about “Performance Management: Conquering Performance in the Public Sector.” His talk centered around a three-step coaching process, including how to build resilience in staff through goal setting, outcome expectancy, and the concept of self-efficacy. The information and knowledge shared was aimed at helping the United Nations improve its performance management practices.
§ On August 3, 2018 the Learning & Innovation session featured Lori Foster, professor of Industrial-Organizational psychology at North Carolina State University (USA) and the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and a member of the SIOP UN Committee. Dr. Foster spoke about “Applying Behavioral Insights to HR: Maximize HR Policy Outcomes by Leveraging Insights From the Behavioral Sciences.” Her presentation focused on defining important concepts within the field of behavioral science, as well as trends in applying behavioral insights to organizations. A key takeaway of the session was understanding the “architecture of choice” and how this understanding is used by many organizations, including governments, to design and test behaviorally informed interventions. The session was interactive, lively, and impactful. The information and knowledge shared helped the United Nations to follow a more rigorous, scientific approach when developing programs and policies.
§ In 2021, the SIOP UN Committee worked with two UN staff members, Draga Paskova and Julie Weintraub, to organize a couple of virtual Sounding Board sessions on assessments to both share best practices and generate evidence-based ideas. Two discussions were facilitated by Nancy Tippins, principal of Nancy T. Tippins Group, LLC and former SIOP president, on the topic of “Using Assessment Tools for Hiring.” Nancy introduced the things to consider when deciding whether to use formal assessments and how to go about choosing the right one. Her presentation was organized into 10 questions that frequently come up when people are considering whether to use formal assessments in the selection process. Dr. Tippins also provided guidance on the types of questions to ask vendors when selecting a test. Related to international issues, she recommended asking vendors about the work they’ve done to demonstrate that their test works across different cultures.
§ Also in 2021, the SIOP UN Committee collaborated with Anton Botha, a previous staff member with the UN Secretariat and a then a consultant to the UN Development Program (UNDP) to provide Sounding Boards on two topics of interest to the UNDP: Rewards & Recognition and Engagement Surveys. Multiple SIOP professionals, including graduate students, participated in brainstorming sessions and meetings with UNDP staff members. Feedback from UN stakeholders was extremely positive.
§ On June 13, 2023, the SIOP United Nations Committee collaborated with Julie Weintraub, Team Lead Human Resources Officer for the UN Secretariat, to host a panel discussion titled "Mitigating Bias: A Panel Discussion on Selection Assessments." The session featured five experts in our field: Anton Botha (co-Founder & Managing Partner of Anthro), Cheng (Eddie) Chua (Associate Managing Consultant, SHL), Recia Gomez (Program Designer, Meta), Sertrice Shipley (Chief Consulting Officer and Co-Owner of Mattingly Solutions), and Charles Scherbaum (Professor at Baruch College and Owner at Cielo Management Consulting, LLC). The discussion focused on selection assessments, and specifically honed in on mitigating bias and racism. Key topics included recommendations for internationally validated personality and integrity tests, evolving perspectives on cognitive ability testing, and considerations for AI in pre-employment assessments. The panelists closed with a vendor vetting checklist, offering practical insights on question selection and tips for effective vendor relationships. This session facilitated a dynamic dialogue between SIOP members and over 50 UN Staff, exploring the intricacies of navigating the complex terrain of modern selection assessments with a focus on inclusivity.
§ For the session conducted on October 27, 2023, the SIOP United Nations Committee recently partnered with Julie Weintraub, the Team Lead Human Resources Officer for the UN Secretariat, to organize a panel discussion titled, “Using AI in Selection: Challenges and Opportunities.” The session facilitated dialogue between SIOP members and UN Secretariat Human Resources staff. The three panelists provided insights into the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the selection process. The discussion kicked off with an overview of AI, covering its broad applications and specific aspects like generative AI. Examples illustrating AI’s use in selection, including job matching and AI-scored interviews, were presented. The conversation then delved into employer perspectives, exploring the opportunities and challenges associated with integrating AI into selection processes, especially for large, multinational organizations. The presenters were David Morgan, Senior Manager for Global Workforce Analytics at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.; Gema Ruiz de Huydobro, Manager of Industrial-Organizational Psychology Science at HireVue; and Harold Goldstein, I-O Psychology Professor at Baruch College. This session provided a rich forum for SIOP practitioners, researchers, and UN HR professionals to discuss the complexities of incorporating AI into their selection processes.