The President’s Message

Fred Oswald

This message is being written just after the US Thanksgiving—and we should thank the incredible talent that SIOP is fortunate to possess as we work together to move our society and profession forward. If my vision of Team SIOP is anything, it is you—individually and collectively influencing our impact and our identity as a profession. Let me elaborate on that as I update you on a few things; and then I’d like to use this message to speak to a couple of larger issues (among many) facing SIOP that are both exciting and challenging.

First, the 13^th Annual Leading Edge Consortium “Innovations in Executive Coaching: Deepening your Expertise in a Dynamic World” was held October 20-21 at the Minneapolis Hilton and was a real success by all personal accounts and objective metrics (very high attendance and very good ratings). For me, it was a real honor and privilege to present the plaque for the HRM Impact Award to Maggie Collins and Meredith Vey, representatives of CVS Health. Their project streamlined the hiring process for Caremark, their pharmacy call center, ultimately improving outcomes that most of us can relate to: reduced hold times and fewer call transfers and callbacks. Considering that their call center takes nearly 30 million calls a year nationwide, that’s a real impact! Take a look at their summary and video of their award-winning project on the HRM Impact winners’ page.

Regarding LEC overall, there are too many people to thank for making the consortium a success, but first and foremost, let me recognize the LEC committee for their tireless efforts before, during—and even after—this event: Sandra Davis (chair), Erica Desrosiers, Michael Frisch, Tim Jackson, Rob Kaiser, Jeff McHenry, and Vicki Vandaveer. We are already gearing up for an exciting LEC 2018 Consortium, with the topic of “High Potential Talent” chaired by Allan Church and Rob Silzer. Stay tuned for more information on this front.

Second, it is important to let you know that the SIOP Executive Board approved the addition of new committees to its structure. Based on an approved proposal by Will Shepherd (Professional Practice Committee) and Rob Silzer (Professional Practice Officer), the Professional Practice Committee has become three standing committees instead of one: Learning Resources for Practitioners, Career and Professional Development, and Engagement and Communications. These three committees reflect the nature and structure of important and intensive practitioner engagement that is already ongoing. Also, several committees were converted from ad hoc to standing committees: Licensing, Certification & Credentialing Committee (LCC); Government Relations Advocacy Team (GREAT); External Relations; and Advocacy Review Committee (ARC, which reviews GREAT).

Third, sure as the new year hits us every January, SIOP also experiences a changing of the guard in terms of our APA Council Representatives who serve on the SIOP Executive Board. We say goodbye and thanks in recognizing Deirdre Knapp for her many years of service. SIOP has counted on Deirdre for understanding the depths (sometimes painful) of APA governance and for recognizing and responding to critical APA issues relevant to SIOP and its members (e.g., issues around testing, licensure, ethics, personnel selection, and other substantive areas that I-O psychologists can—and should continue to—monitor and provide their input and expertise to APA). At the same time that we acknowledge Deirdre’s departure, we are fortunate to have Jeff McHenry as our new APA representative. Jeff has already been highly engaged in numerous conversations with our current APA representatives and with folks across the spectrum of SIOP to get the ball rolling. Welcome, Jeff!

Fourth but not least! The SIOP 2018 Conference in Chicago coming up before you know it (April 19-21, 2018), where we a very exciting lineup of events and activities is well in the works. Thanks to Tracy Rizzuto and her Theme Track committee for making my Team SIOP theme come to life at the conference in its many forms. Let me also express my grateful appreciation the SIOP Conference and Program Committee members, led by Tracy Kantrowitz, Daisy Chang, and Eden King, a very committed group that has have kept a very complex array of conference details going simultaneously while keeping the big picture in mind as well. In strong support of their efforts, the SIOP Administrative Office has worked tireless days (and nights) to iron out the kinks in our new software system and otherwise to support all aspects of planning the conference. Without the talents and efforts of all these folks working together, the SIOP conference would have no submissions or reviewers, no program, and no hotel or venue…that’d be pretty dismal, eh? Instead, SIOP 2018 promises to be a roaring success, and I look forward to seeing you (yes, you!) there. Historically, hotel rooms fill up quickly—so be the early bird, get this on your calendar, and reserve your hotel room in the Windy City today.

Fifth, the SIOP elections were just held in November, where truly without exception, SIOP was fortunate to have slates of exceptional candidates who were willing to run for office. Let’s welcome SIOP our incoming officers: President Elect Eden King; Financial Officer/Secretary Evan Sinar; Membership Services Officer Allan Church; and Publications Officer Mo Wang. At the executive board meeting following the SIOP 2018 conference, these officers will join Talya Bauer, our incoming SIOP president. The bottom line of this update is a heartening one: SIOP remains in exceptionally talented and capable hands.

Sixth, the SIOP Publications Board will ring in the new year with Ron Landis as the incoming editor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, working with current editor John Scott in January, then officially taking over in April 2018. I mention this not only to recognize and congratulate Ron but to reflect on what a success IOP has been in the hands of John Scott as he completes his term as editor. As a peer-reviewed “conversation” (with its focal articles and series of commentaries in reply), IOP is more conversational and participative than traditional academic journals, and it impacts an important researcher and practitioner audience that traditional journals do not. Ron continues in this tradition yet plans to innovate with the journal (e.g., videos, cross-disciplinary papers) in what has become a real benefit to SIOP members.

As promised, let me now briefly turn to a couple of larger issues for consideration, ones that pertain to the Team SIOP vision that I’ll reflect on in further detail in my closing TIP article in April and in my president’s address at the SIOP 2018 conference.

The first issue is that of our changing profession and membership within SIOP. What does it mean to be an I-O psychologist these days, and what will it be like in the future? For example, there is steady growth in terminal master’s I-O programs, which outputs a large number of I-O practitioners; there is growth in PhD programs in organizational behavior (OB) that produce academic researchers almost exclusively; and in between these, there are PhD programs in I-O psychology that produce both academics and practitioners. Even this oversimplified “three body” problem makes it impossible to predict our own future (for an analogy in physics, see https://goo.gl/dN1Tau), and reality is even messier. But nonetheless, we must continue to influence our destiny and maintain our profession as a “science for a smarter workplace.” For instance, our education and training efforts are currently and vigorously embracing open science and the Robust and Reliable Research (RRR) task for initiative headed by Steven Rogelberg and enacted though partnering with Joe Allen as chair of the SIOP Education and Training committee, James Grand in chairing the Scientific Affairs Committee, and William Shepherd as chair of the Professional Practice Committee. As one immediate change, we have made meaningful improvements to our SIOP conference reviewing guidelines; and together, we are reaching out to the Consortium for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA), headed by Larry Williams, for the collective advice and expertise of his group in improving our research practices, regardless of where they take place in academic or applied environments.

The second issue pertains to the substantive areas in which we work. In my last TIP article, I had mentioned how the SIOP Government Relations Advocacy Team (GREAT, chaired by the amazingly dedicated Jill Bradley-Geist) was focusing on five substantive areas that align and bring together I-O psychologists and federally relevant areas that are priorities regardless of political leanings: national security, health and safety, technological workforce, national defense, and veterans affairs. This has turned out to be an excellent strategy for allowing SIOP to act more effectively as experts in response to federal priorities in these domains. It also has inspired me to collaborate further with the SIOP Administrative Office to structure our messaging better around substantive content (the five aforementioned areas as well as others), whether that comes through the structure of our website, social media, or other electronic media. SIOP has purchased a new content management system (CMS) that will help make this happen, in addition to additional functionality in improving SIOP’s website.

Again, more to follow on these two fronts facing SIOP. I-O psychology lives in exciting times, and I always appreciate hearing more of your stories (foswald@rice.edu)! Thanks to all of you for creating and being the value to SIOP. Happy holidays to all, with safe travels!