Workshop 6: Reimagining Talent Strategy for Today and Tomorrow

The pace of change is accelerating. This interactive session introduces Future Storming-a creative foresight process that challenges I-O psychologists to think from the future back. Participants will explore bold future scenarios, envision how I-O’s role will evolve, and design strategies to help organizations prepare for what has yet to happen.

We are living in times of rapid change. For organizations and their people, the future holds both opportunity and uncertainty—yet these are often missed because humans are biased toward what we already know. To break free from conventional thinking, organizations must learn to think from the future back and build the foresight needed to explore what’s next.

This session introduces Future Storming, a structured process designed to help anticipate disruption and shape strategy for the future of work. Through guided provocations and collaborative scenario design, participants will envision how I-O’s role will evolve and create strategies for leveraging what has yet to happen. When first introduced at SIOP 2023, the process predicted shifts—such as skill-based work, AI-powered learning, and decentralized leadership—that have already begun to take hold. Attendees will leave with a method they can use to anticipate change and design for the future.

Presenters

Global Co-Head of Talent Insights & Assessment

Lynn Collins

BTS

Lynn Collins is global co-head of the Talent Insights and Assessment Center of Excellence at BTS and a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). She leads product strategy, innovation, and go-to-market for BTS’s global assessment and talent insights portfolio, integrating science, technology, and foresight to help organizations identify and develop future-ready leaders. Her work focuses on evidence-based assessment, fairness in AI-enabled talent decisions, and advancing how organizations use data and simulation to unlock potential. Over her 30-year career, Lynn has authored numerous publications, book chapters, and SIOP presentations, including the 2023 SIOP Future Storming workshop and contributions to The SIOP Professional Practice Series. She holds a PhD and MPhil in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and an MA in Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Partner, Emeritus

Sandra Hartog

BTS

Sandra brings extensive global experience in strategic succession management, technology-enhanced individual and group-based assessment for selection and development, executive coaching of C-suite leaders, future-focused leadership competency studies and enhanced 360° feedback design, assessment and feedback deliver. Previously, Sandra was the global head of the BTS Assessment Practice responsible for design, quality, and standards for all products and services as well as global revenue. Prior to BTS, Sandra was president and CEO of Fenestra, Inc., a leading provider of technology solutions for global talent management that was acquired by BTS, Inc. in 2014. With over 40 presentations, articles, and book chapters Sandra serves as an international keynote speaker and writes and presents extensively at professional conferences on technology-enhanced assessment, executive coaching, assessment and development techniques, professional development and career success. Sandra has taught executive MBA courses on Assessment and Development at the Zicklin School of Business/Baruch College in Singapore and was an adjunct professor at New York University in the graduate school of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. She holds a PhD and MPhil in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Principal

Alexis Fink

Propeller Insight

Alexis Fink, PhD, is a technology executive with 20 years of leadership at Microsoft, Intel and Meta, most recently at VP of People Analytics and Workforce Strategy. She’s a senior research scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations, leads the People Analytics Board for the Institute for Corporate Productivity, and is past president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She’s a prolific author, including Investing in People. Alexis can be found on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/alexisfink/

Level

Introductory

Learning Objectives

Identify and describe at least three cognitive biases (“rivers of thinking”) that limit the ability to anticipate future opportunities and list strategies to overcome them.
Explore and analyze today’s emerging trends—such as agentic AI team members, human–machine collaboration, AI personalization, and the reinvention of lifelong learning—to evaluate their potential impact on leadership, talent strategy, and the future of work.
Create new, clearly articulated “future states” that depict possible worlds of work and talent, integrating insights about technology, learning, and leadership, clearly articulating how each scenario may affect organizational effectiveness.
Develop a preliminary strategic plan that includes three actionable initiatives organizations can implement to prepare for and navigate identified future states.
Reflect and discuss at least two specific ways I-O psychology can strengthen its role in preparing organizations and individuals for the human–machine partnership era.

Topic

2026 Annual Conference

Times Offered
All times are in CT timezone.