Member Spotlight: Loren Naidoo
Position/Employer
Assistant Professor of Management, California State University, Northridge
How long have you been a SIOP member?
20 years
What roles have you had within SIOP?
Chair of the S. Rains Wallace Dissertation Award Committee, Editorial Board of The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, Member of the E&T Committee, TIP Columnist (Max. Classroom Capacity)
Interest Area(s)
Leadership, Motivation, Engagement, Recognition, Research Methodology, Statistics, Expert Witness Work
What sparked your interest in I-O psychology?
My interest in I-O was sparked as an undergraduate psychology major when I had the opportunity to work during the summer as a computer trainer and Y2K consultant (!) with the government of Canada. I worked with organizations all over the Montreal region and really enjoyed learning about and adapting to different work cultures and client needs.
What role do you see I-O psychology playing in the future of work?
I see I-O psychology playing an increasingly important role as people start to re-engage with work post pandemic (if we are lucky) and organizations continue to struggle to attract and retain employees, and figure out how to structure work. I also hope that I-O psychologists will help to highlight and protect the intrinsic value that (human) employees bring to organizations in the face of the continuing shift towards automation.
Which of the Top 10 Work Trends for 2021 do you most strongly relate to and how can I-O psychology practitioners, educators, and students impact this trend?
It's hard to argue with the number one trend being remote work and flex work arrangements given what we have all been living through since early 2020. I am at once excited and apprehensive about the prospect of returning to the office-office (rather than the home-office). Although many academics are comfortable working flexibly, I still haven't quite figured out how much facetime is optimal for me. Thankfully, I-O psychologists excel at asking important research questions about such issues and conducting well-designed empirical research to answer them.
What advice would you give to students or early practitioners?
Keep an open mind, never stop learning, and dive in!
What is one of your favorite SIOP Annual Conference memories/highlights?
So many fun parties--the one with the mechanical bull sometime in the mid-2000s was especially memorable!
Please share one non-I-O-related bit of information about yourself
I have a wonderful wife and three young boys, and we love to go hiking to enjoy nature.
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