Meet SIOP Fellow Mariangela Battista
Name
Mariangela Battista
Position/Employer
Principal, Sirena Consulting
How many years have you been a member of SIOP?
36 years
What roles have you had within SIOP?
- Conference Program Chair
- Institutional Research Committee Chair
- Workshop Committee
- Futures Task Force Committee
- LEC Committees (Coaching, Performance Mgmt., Leadership)
- SIOP Foundation Committee, Founding Member
- Military and Veterans Initiative Task Force (appointed by the Executive Board)
Interest Area(s)
- Coaching
- Human Resources
- Leadership
- Organizational Culture, Change, Development, Performance
- People Analytics
- Performance Reviews, Appraisal, Feedback
- Talent Management, Assessment, Recruitment, Retention
What sparked your interest in I-O psychology?
It was an accident. I was focused on clinical psych as an NYU undergrad and then a semester of I-O psych and social psych turned me around. It is an applied field, and it just spoke to me. Everything clicked.
What role do you see I-O psychology playing in the future of work?
I-O psych should be leading the way! We are uniquely positioned as scientist-practitioners to leverage data to identify future trends and the skills and abilities needed to be successful.
What work trends are you seeing and hearing about and how can I-O psychology practitioners, researchers, educators, and students impact these trends?
Theories and models we learned in grad school were based on very stable organizations and work environments that are no longer true. Technology and globalization have upended most of this. The rate of organizational and societal change is so much faster, and it keeps picking up speed. As I-Os we need to stay ahead and share observations and learnings quicker than we are today.
 What advice would you give to students or early practitioners?
Stay curious. Never stop learning and growing. The world of work is changing constantly. And give back to the field with your knowledge and growth. That is how the field of I-O will continue to grow.
What is one of your favorite SIOP Annual Conference memories/highlights?
I love the annual conference so much because it is the one guaranteed opportunity a year where I get to see some of my most favorite people live and in-person.
Please share one non-I-O-related bit of information about yourself.
Everyone knows I love Springsteen … .
Is there anything you would like to add?
I feel so incredibly blessed to have had a 30+ year career as an I-O psychologist and still going. BEST. CAREER. EVER.
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