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SIOP 2026 - Know Before You Go

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 17:19:32 GMT

By John Agosta, Ph.D.

Attending the annual SIOP conference is a must at least once for anyone practicing in the field of IO psychology. It is sort of a rite of passage. There is so much to see, talk about, and listen to during the four-day event. It can honestly be overwhelming and you may not know where to begin, but PTCMW has your back! Here are five practical ways to ensure you can take full advantage of the conference in the most effective manner.

1. Say "Hi!"

The main value of SIOP conferences would be networking with others in the field. Even for seasoned SIOPers, it can be scary and uncomfortable to spark up a conversation or try to join in on a group one. Remember that networking is a skill like any other and you need to work at it. You have to step out of your comfort zone and initiate with others. Start with giving your name and where you're traveling in from, then you can state if you're a current student, a recent grad, or a veteran worker. Ask questions to show engagement and take the burden off of yourself if you would rather listen.

2. Be a Tourist

For first timers - go to the opening and closing plenaries. Basically be a tourist when it's your first SIOP so you get that experience and can learn about the state of the field and what SIOP's plans are. Check out the poster sessions, hit up each coffee break to refuel throughout the day, and try to attend one of the evening social events organized by SIOP itself to meet people in a more relaxed setting. Don't forget to ensure you carve out time to explore the host city. You may never go there again so make sure you do some exploring and get a feel for the local culture.

3. Have a Plan

Go prepared with a schedule for each day. Fill each day with a session during each timeslot as your guide (knowing it may change). FYI - some sessions are very popular and the rooms are filled over capacity, so having a back-up session on your planner can be wise. Check if your own program is hosting their own alumni gathering or make some new friends and try and crash their school/organization party!

4. Learn More

It's great to attend sessions on topics that you're very interested in but it's also wise to attend topics that you are not familiar with so you can verse yourself in the field, as well as potentially fall in love with one that you may want to pursue! Keep an open mind and just be ready to learn.

5. Be Flexible

Give yourself some leeway. You will likely learn that SIOP can be draining. Especially if you are more of an introvert like me. If you want to skip a session or event to recharge yourself or maybe sleep a bit longer, that's OK. If you miss a session due to meeting someone at a coffee break or seeing an old colleague, that's OK too. On the flipside, it can also be useful to power through feeling tired and take that invite you were given by a new friend - you never know where it can lead to (e.g., learning of an upcoming role opening)! You can rest when you get back home!

In conclusion, networking with people is going to be key so don't be shy, just introduce yourself and come up with a one-liner that explains yourself to people. Have a plan for yourself for each day of the conference. Know that your plans may change in the spur-of the-moment and be flexible because you never know who you might meet or what opportunity may arise. Check out the host city at least one night to not let the trip there go to waste. Remember to have fun!

Here are some upcoming events to further help you prepare:

PTCMW is hosting a Networking Workshop event next month. This is a prime opportunity to work on those networking and conversation skills in a no-pressure environment before heading over to SIOP. Make a friend to buddy-up with during the conference! Register for that event here.

"Preconference Networking Calls" is a new SIOP initiative this year. They are hosting these on Zoom so you can meet people virtually before you go. There will be a couple of these calls prior to the conference and the full info & registration can be found here .

The Invisible Hand of I/O Psychology: How It Shapes Our Everyday Lives

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 01:53:30 GMT

In our bustling world, the impact of Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology often goes unnoticed, yet it’s deeply woven into our daily experiences. This field explores human behavior in the workplace, but its reach extends far beyond, influencing various aspects of our lives in ways we may not even recognize. Let’s dive into how I/O psychology subtly influences our everyday experiences.

1. The Hiring Process: Your First Encounter

Think back to your last job interview. The questions you answered, the tests you took, and even the ambiance of the interview room were all influenced by I/O psychology. Recruiters apply psychological principles to find candidates who not only meet the skill requirements but also fit into the company culture. Techniques like structured interviews and personality assessments help predict how well someone will perform and be satisfied in their role. This thoughtful selection process aims to fill workplaces with individuals who can thrive and make positive contributions.

2. Employee Engagement: More Than Just a Buzzword

Have you taken part in a workplace survey or engagement program? These initiatives stem from I/O psychology, focusing on understanding and boosting employee satisfaction and productivity. Engaged employees tend to perform better, innovate more, and stay with their companies longer. When organizations analyze feedback and adapt based on psychological insights, they create a more motivated workforce. Your opinions can genuinely influence workplace policies and culture!

3. Leadership Development: The Psychology of Influence

The leaders in our companies aren’t just figureheads; they’re trained professionals who use I/O psychology principles to inspire and guide their teams. Leadership development often includes training in emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and effective communication—skills rooted in psychological theory. Great leaders leverage these skills to motivate their teams and foster a sense of belonging, navigating challenges with ease. The effects of their training resonate throughout the organization, shaping how we collaborate and communicate.

4. Workplace Design: Environment Matters

Have you noticed how your workspace impacts your mood and productivity? I/O psychologists study how people interact with their environments, leading to designs that enhance well-being and efficiency. From open office layouts that foster collaboration to quiet zones that allow for focus, the workspace is crafted with psychological principles in mind. Even factors like color, lighting, and furniture choice can affect our behavior and emotional states, making our daily work experience more enjoyable.

5. Work-Life Balance: A Psychological Necessity

Today, achieving work-life balance is more important than ever. I/O psychologists advocate for policies that support employee well-being, recognizing that a healthy integration of work and personal life leads to happier, more productive individuals. Flexible hours, remote work options, and wellness programs are all influenced by research highlighting the significance of mental health and personal fulfillment. This balance not only benefits employees but also enhances overall organizational performance.

6. Consumer Behavior: The Psychology of Choice

I/O psychology extends into understanding consumer behavior as well. Companies often rely on psychological principles to shape their marketing strategies, diving into consumer motivations, decision-making processes, and emotional triggers. Whether it’s an ad that resonates with you or a product that fits your lifestyle perfectly, I/O psychology helps businesses create experiences that align with our desires and needs.

Conclusion: The Everyday Impact of I/O Psychology

From the moment we enter the hiring process to our daily interactions at work, I/O psychology is an integral part of our lives. It influences how organizations function, how we engage with our roles, and even how we make choices as consumers. As we navigate a rapidly changing world, the insights offered by I/O psychology will remain crucial in shaping workplaces that not only succeed but also prioritize the well-being of their people.

So, the next time you reflect on your work experience, remember the invisible hand of I/O psychology at work, shaping not just your professional life but also your personal happiness and fulfillment. It’s a reminder that behind every organizational strategy and workplace policy lies a deep understanding of human behavior highlighting the importance of psychology in our everyday lives.

Guidance for Uncertain Times

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 06:08:12 GMT

The widespread dismissal of federal employees, the looming threat of additional firings, and the rapid shifts in workplace dynamics have created a challenging environment for both job seekers and those currently employed. The resulting instability and lack of job security can feel overwhelming, but there are proactive steps you can take to navigate these turbulent times with confidence.

Regardless of the transitions you may need to make—whether in your job role, industry, or career path—the strategies shared here are broadly applicable and beneficial. We encourage you to share these insights with colleagues who may find them helpful.

Career change can be intimidating. The fear of uncertainty, the possibility of failure, and the disruption of routine are natural concerns. However, embracing change is often the key to long-term success. We acknowledge these challenges and recommend these actionable strategies to help you navigate career transitions with confidence and adaptability.

Acknowledging the Fear of Change

Change can be daunting for several reasons:

Uncertainty: Losing a job often brings significant uncertainty about the future. Questions about how long it will take to find a new job, what opportunities will be available, and whether financial resources will last during the job search can create overwhelming stress. The lack of a clear path forward can make it difficult to stay positive and focused.
Loss of Control: Being laid off or terminated can feel like a sudden and unexpected loss of control over one’s career and livelihood. Unlike leaving a job by choice, job loss can leave individuals feeling powerless and angry. This can be particularly difficult for those who have tied their identity or self-esteem to their work.
Fear of Failure: Searching for a new job can bring up fears of rejection or not being able to secure a position that matches previous roles in salary, status, or responsibilities. The idea of having to start over, retrain, or pivot careers can be intimidating, making it difficult to take action or stay motivated.
Financial Insecurity: One of the most immediate concerns following job loss is financial stability. Without a steady paycheck, paying bills, covering expenses, and planning for the future can become sources of anxiety. The pressure of needing to find new employment quickly can create stress, particularly if savings are limited or if dependents rely on that income.
Disruption of Routine: A job provides structure to daily life, and its loss can lead to feelings of disorientation. The absence of a regular work schedule, interactions with colleagues, and a sense of purpose can make days feel unproductive or isolating. Establishing new routines and staying engaged can be challenging during the transition period.

Strategies for Resilience and Success

1. Acknowledge Your Feelings and Stay Resilient

Losing a job or facing career uncertainty can trigger fear, stress, and frustration. Accept and process your emotions without self-judgment.
Reflect on past challenges you’ve overcome. Recognizing your resilience can help build confidence during this transition.

2. Break It Down with Realistic Goals

Focus on small, manageable actions—updating your resume, networking, or researching job opportunities.
Set short- and long-term goals using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) framework. Celebrate small wins to maintain motivation.

3. Seek Support and Network Strategically

Share concerns with trusted family, friends, or mentors. Emotional and practical support can make a difference.
Engage in career support groups, job search workshops, or online communities for networking and guidance.
Leverage LinkedIn and professional associations to connect with industry professionals, participate in discussions, and explore job leads.
Reconnect with past colleagues, attend virtual events, and schedule informational interviews to gain insights and expand your network.

4. Educate Yourself: Upskilling and Reskilling

Assess your current skills and identify areas for improvement. Consider both technical and soft skills.
Utilize online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and edX for free or affordable courses.
Obtain industry certifications (e.g., CompTIA, AWS, Cisco for IT) to enhance your qualifications.
Attend workshops and webinars to stay updated on industry trends and learn from experts.

5. Stay Flexible and Open to Opportunities

Be open to roles outside your usual scope, contract work, or skill-building opportunities.
Consider industries that are resilient during economic downturns and identify transferable skills that apply to different fields.
Explore freelancing, consulting, or entrepreneurship as alternative career paths. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr offer freelance work opportunities.

6. Enhance Your Job Search and Personal Brand

Tailor your resume to highlight relevant experience and achievements. Use metrics to quantify your impact (e.g., “Increased sales by 20% in six months”).
Optimize your LinkedIn profile with a professional photo, compelling headline, and well-crafted summary.
Create an online portfolio to showcase your work (writing samples, design projects, case studies, etc.).
Establish a personal brand by sharing insights on industry topics through blogging, videos, or LinkedIn posts.

7. Financial Planning for Stability

Review your income and expenses to create a realistic budget and identify areas to cut costs.
Build an emergency fund with 3-6 months' worth of expenses to cushion against financial instability.
Seek financial advice from professionals to manage savings, investments, and future planning.

8. Maintain Structure and Prioritize Well-Being

Establish a daily routine that includes job searching, networking, skill development, and self-care.
Engage in stress-reducing activities like exercise, meditation, or hobbies to maintain mental health.
Stay socially connected to friends and family for emotional support. If overwhelmed, seek professional help.

9. Adapt and Stay Informed

Follow industry news, blogs, and podcasts to stay ahead of job market trends.
Be willing to adjust your job search strategy—consider different roles, industries, or learning new technologies.
Embrace lifelong learning to develop new skills and increase your employability.

10. Prepare for Interviews and Career Growth

Conduct mock interviews to refine responses and gain confidence.
Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to effectively communicate your accomplishments.
Prepare for virtual interviews by ensuring a quiet, professional setting and testing technology beforehand.
Seek career coaching or mentorship for personalized job search strategies, resume improvements, and interview preparation.

11. Volunteer or Intern for Experience

Gain hands-on experience, develop new skills, and expand your professional network through volunteering or internships.
Demonstrate proactivity and commitment to potential employers.

12. Leverage Technology for Job Search Efficiency

Use job search platforms like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn to find relevant openings.
Automate job alerts to receive notifications about new opportunities.
Utilize virtual networking tools like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams to connect with professionals.

13. Consider Further Education for Career Advancement

Explore advanced degrees or specialized programs that align with your career goals.
Look into employer-sponsored tuition reimbursement if currently employed.

14. Stay Positive and Resilient

Focus on what you can control, such as developing skills and expanding your network, instead of dwelling on uncertainties.
Learn from rejections and seek feedback to improve your approach.
Celebrate small wins to stay motivated and maintain a positive outlook.

Challenges and Strategies for Transitioning from Government Jobs

Transitioning from a government job to the private sector or other industries can present unique challenges. Understanding these challenges and preparing for them can help make the transition smoother and more successful. Here are some common challenges faced by individuals moving from government jobs to other sectors, along with suggestions for overcoming them:

1. Cultural Differences

Challenge: The work culture in government jobs can be quite different from that in the private sector. Government roles often emphasize stability, adherence to regulations, and hierarchical structures, whereas private sector jobs may prioritize innovation, agility, and a more dynamic work environment.

Strategy:

Research and Adapt: Learn about the culture of your target industry or company. Understand their values, work style, and expectations.
Show Flexibility: Demonstrate your ability to adapt to new environments and embrace change. Highlight experiences where you've successfully navigated different work cultures.

2. Transferable Skills

Challenge: Government roles may involve specialized skills or knowledge that don't directly translate to the private sector. Identifying and articulating transferable skills can be difficult.

Strategy:

Identify Core Competencies: Focus on skills that are valuable across sectors, such as project management, communication, leadership, and problem-solving.
Reframe Your Experience: Tailor your resume and cover letter to emphasize how your government experience can benefit the private sector. Use language that resonates with your target industry.

3. Perception and Bias

Challenge: There may be preconceived notions or biases about government employees, such as assumptions about their work pace or adaptability to change.

Strategy:

Address Misconceptions: During interviews, proactively address any potential misconceptions by highlighting your achievements, work ethic, and ability to thrive in fast-paced environments.
Provide Examples: Share specific examples of how you've driven change, improved processes, or contributed to innovation in your government role.

4. Networking and Connections

Challenge: Government employees may have a network that is primarily within the public sector, which can limit access to opportunities in other industries.

Strategy:

Expand Your Network: Actively seek to build connections in your target industry through networking events, professional associations, and online platforms like LinkedIn.
Leverage Existing Contacts: Reach out to any contacts you have in the private sector for informational interviews or introductions to others in the field.

5. Compensation and Benefits

Challenge: Compensation structures and benefits packages can differ significantly between government and private sector jobs. This can include differences in salary, job security, retirement plans, and work-life balance.

Strategy:

Evaluate Offers Holistically: Consider the entire compensation package, including benefits, work-life balance, and career growth opportunities, when evaluating job offers.
Negotiate Effectively: Be prepared to negotiate salary and benefits. Research industry standards to ensure you receive a competitive offer.

6. Regulatory and Compliance Knowledge

Challenge: Government employees often have extensive knowledge of regulations and compliance, which may not be directly applicable in other sectors.

Strategy:

Highlight Relevant Expertise: Emphasize your understanding of regulatory environments and how it can be an asset in industries that require compliance knowledge, such as finance or healthcare.
Pursue Additional Training: If necessary, seek training or certifications that align with the regulatory requirements of your target industry.

7. Job Search Process

Challenge: The job search process in the private sector can differ from government hiring practices, which often have distinct application procedures, interview formats, and decision timelines.

Strategy:

Familiarize Yourself with the Process: Research the typical hiring process in your target industry and prepare accordingly. Practice common interview questions and scenarios.
Seek Guidance: Consider working with a career coach or mentor who can provide insights into the private sector job search process and help you navigate it effectively.

By understanding these challenges and implementing strategies to address them, you can successfully transition from a government job to a new sector or industry. Embrace the opportunity to leverage your unique experiences and skills to make a meaningful impact in your new role.

Helpful Resources

For professionals in assessment, measurement, I/O psychology, and related fields, PTCMW offers dedicated support and resources to strengthen career resilience and foster professional growth. These include career guidance through our mentorship program, skill-building opportunities via learning sessions, and networking at PTCMW events.

To further support job seekers, PTCMW has created a dedicated LinkedIn group, providing a community for networking, sharing opportunities, and connecting with employers. We invite you to join this group to network, share opportunities, and support one another.

PTCMW will be publishing blog posts in the coming months with strategies to navigate employment changes. In the meantime, additional resources are available through the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP):

Empowering Your Career: The Self-Taught Path to Mastering New Tools and Technologies

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 13:40:35 GMT

Author: Jackie Martin Kowal, PDRI by Pearson

In today's dynamic professional landscape, keeping up (much less staying ahead) often means mastering new tools and technologies. I/O psychologists on the job market are familiar with the impact of listing expertise with new tools and technologies on their resumes. Research from the World Economic Forum suggests that by 2025, over half of all employees will require significant reskilling or upskilling due to technological advancements and industry changes. It is imperative that I/Os take the initiative to learn novel tools and technologies to stay competitive in today’s workforce.

However, there are several barriers to keeping up with learning novel tools and technologies. In particular, if there is not clear structure or support for learning new tools and technologies through formal education or on the job, mastering the new tool or technology would require learning independently. This involves dedicating time (and sometimes money) outside other commitments. Furthermore, for popular tools and technologies, the overwhelming amount of information available can be daunting, especially in those fields outside of traditional I/O topics.

This article will explore the art of self-learning by providing a roadmap for mastering new tools and technology. I will provide personal experience and examples related to mastering Tableau, a tool for which I am self-taught. The strategies outlined here can be applied to learning any new tool or technology (e.g., RMarkdown, ChatGPT) or, more broadly, any new skill you are interested in (e.g., machine learning techniques).

Find Free Resources

For most tools, it will be easy to find free resources and the tougher part will be deciding how to narrow down the available resources into something manageable. My recommendation in this case is to focus on resources that are applied specifically to I/O psychology or Human Resources/Talent Management, since these will be the most relevant to your work. For Tableau, I googled “Tableau I-O Psychology”, which led me to Richard Landers’ training available on SIOP’s website.

Additionally (or if I-O or HR specific training does not yet exist), I recommend checking out resources available from the tool itself. Tableau has many free training videos available. You may also consider self-paced online learning tools like Coursera, DataCamp, or LinkedIn Learning. Sometimes these tools offer discounts or free trials that you can leverage.

It can be challenging to find the most relevant and high quality training materials. To address this, I adopted a trial-and-error approach, dedicating initial time to sample a variety of resources before committing to one. This allowed me to gauge the relevance, comprehensiveness, and effectiveness of each resource in addressing my learning objectives. I paid close attention to the clarity of instruction, relevance of examples to real-world scenarios, and the depth of coverage on essential topics before choosing the best training resources to pursue.

Identify Resources Available Through Your Employer

Check with your workplace about available resources for learning the tool you’re interested in. Does your employer already have licenses available for the software? Is there training through work available? Can your supervisor provide dedicated professional development time for you to use work time to learn?

When I was learning Tableau, my workplace was able to provide me a Tableau license and an allotment of professional development hours. Additionally, their license to Tableau included Tableau training courses that I could take. It is important to advocate for yourself in this space. Most companies recognize the importance of providing opportunities for professional development for both job performance and employee retention. You may also consider enlisting the support of coworkers who are also interested in picking up these skills. A stronger argument for resources can be made to the company if there is a large group of employees interested in learning that skill.

Make A Plan

Once you've identified the resources you want to use and you’re ready to embark on your self-learning journey, tracking your progress and setting clear goals becomes crucial for maintaining motivation. Here's how you can effectively monitor your advancement and establish achievable goals:

Set SMART goals: Ensure that your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART). For instance, instead of setting a vague goal like "become proficient in Tableau," aim for a SMART goal such as "create three interactive dashboards in Tableau within the next three months."
Use progress trackers: Implement tools or methods to monitor your progress systematically. This could involve using spreadsheets, task management apps (e.g., Microsoft’s To Do, Wunderlist), or specialized learning platforms (e.g., Coursera) that allow you to track completed modules, projects, or skill assessments.
Keep running notes: Maintain running notes to document your experiences, insights, and challenges encountered during your self-learning journey. Reflecting on your progress regularly can help you identify areas for improvement. This will also be useful for you to reference to keep track of resources and remind yourself of key skills later on.
Celebrate milestones: Acknowledge and celebrate each milestone you achieve along the way. Whether it's completing a challenging project, earning a certification, or mastering a new technique, taking time to recognize your accomplishments can fuel your motivation to continue learning.

Apply Your New Skills

Hands-on practice and experimentation are essential to mastering a new tool. Find a dataset or project that interests you that will give you the opportunity to practice your new skills. Below are a few recommendations for how to find such a project. These recommendations are listed in a progression from low stakes to high stakes applications. Working your way up from freely available datasets to a work-related project is recommended.

Leverage freely available datasets: There are many sites where you can find freely available datasets. Tableau offers some here and Kaggle is also a great resource for datasets across a broad range of applications and fields.
Volunteer your new skills: Ask a friend or family member if you can apply your time and new skills to a project they have or see if there is a way you can leverage your new skills. When I was learning Tableau, I volunteered to help members of SIOP create a membership dashboard (SIOP login required) for their website. This was great practice using a large dataset that needed a lot of reformatting and cleaning prior to visualization in Tableau. It also provided the opportunity to practice implementing specific user requests.
Find a work-related project: Think through your current work projects and identify one that you could use your new skills on. Make a case to the project manager for that project about how this work could benefit the project. Be sure to consider the additional time required to learn and apply the new skill when building the project plan and timeline. When I was learning Tableau, I was working on a project where we were conducting a comprehensive literature review of military research to identify the top predictors of success in leadership roles. I thought using Tableau to create a visualization to summarize the research would be helpful since we were looking at hundreds of validity coefficients across dozens of constructs. Tableau allowed us to visualize this information in one place and to filter the constructs and articles on demand.

Mastering new tools and technologies independently is not just a professional advantage; it's a necessity in today's rapidly evolving job market. Remember, learning is not a one-time event but a lifelong process, and embracing this mindset can lead to opportunities for growth and development. Though learning new tools and technologies can be daunting, I hope the strategies listed in this blog will help you get started!

Have you learned a new tool recently? Please share your experience and any resources by leaving a comment below!

Author Bio: Jackie Martin Kowal is a Senior Consultant and Team Lead at PDRI by Pearson with experience in talent management and consulting spanning the private sector, government agencies, and military organizations. Her experience includes work in the areas of job analysis, competency modeling, selection assessment development and validation, performance measurement, program evaluation, training development and evaluation, training needs assessment, and engagement survey development and analysis. Jackie received her Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.

Why every I/O should care about “nudges”

Sat, 26 Aug 2023 12:13:54 GMT

Author: Kira Foley, Perceptyx

Industrial and organizational psychologists are experts in measuring, diagnosing, and explaining human problems in the workplace. As a collective, we’ve helped build thousands (maybe millions?) of selection tests, performance assessments, and employee listening surveys. Our work has undoubtedly improved not only business performance but also the well-being of workers across the globe, all by bringing sound psychological theories and principles, psychometrics, and statistics to organizational decision-making. However, the true potential of the people analytics and Human Resources (HR) technology industry is stifled by one critical weakness: our products explain but don’t necessarily change behavior. In this blog post, I will explain why I am convinced that the behavioral economist’s idea of “nudges” offers a promising, scalable solution to our collective problem.

What are nudges?

Nudges are behavioral interventions that require minimal action but help individuals act in their own best interest. Nudge theory assumes that we make many small decisions throughout our day and that the environment around us influences each of those decisions, for better or for worse. Nudges are environmental influences that make better decisions easier and more likely, whereas “sludge” is something in the decision-making environment that creates friction and makes good decisions more difficult. Because nudge theory is so focused on influencing decisions, much of the work in this area seeks to prevent common cognitive biases and heuristics in decision-making like “anchoring bias” or “the halo effect.” One important tenet of nudge theory is that nudges should be optional. For example, “putting fruit at eye level counts as a nudge; banning junk food does not” (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).

There are many examples of successful nudging in practice. One notable example is the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s effort to reduce restroom cleaning costs back in the 1990s. They added pictures of flies to urinals and effectively nudged patrons to reduce spillage by 80%. In another example, Volkswagen used nudge theory to encourage more people to take the stairs rather than the escalator in a Stockholm metro station. They installed a working piano to the stairs that played a note with every step, nudging 66% more commuters than normal to opt for the stairs.

Around ten years ago, nudges started making their way into the workplace. Nudge theory has been adopted by HR and business leaders to encourage a variety of employee behaviors. However, it’s important to note that not all nudges are created equal and some nudge products on the market are not nudges in the scientific sense. For example, arranging desks to encourage socialization among coworkers is a nudge, but sending weekly email reminders to schedule more “heads down” focused work time is a notification not a nudge. The former intervention changes the environment to make a behavior (socializing) easier, whereas the latter intervention serves as an informative message or a request. What makes an effective workplace nudge can depend on the medium used to communicate nudges to employees, the timing of the nudge, and the extent to which the nudge is deployed ethically.

A 3-step recipe to creating your own nudge

Now that you know a bit about what a nudge is, I’ve provided a simple framework below for developing an effective nudge with an example that is carried throughout the process to demonstrate how to apply the technique.

1. Identify the decision you want to influence.

Example: I’m a project manager who’s about to start a new project and I want to get my team’s input on the project scope and goals. I plan to hold a live brainstorming session with my team, but I’m worried that the louder voices will dominate the discussion. To encourage dissenting opinions, I want to nudge team members who disagree to speak up.

2. Try to really understand the decision-making environment. Ask yourself:

a. What in the decision-making environment is fueling the desired behavior? Fuel is anything that makes the target behavior more appealing or likely.

b. Is there friction in the decision-making environment preventing the desired behavior? Friction is anything that gets in the way of people performing the target behavior.

Example: The decision I want to nudge on is going to happen in a team meeting via a video conference call. One thing I know that fuels people speaking up is silence. Most people on my team are uncomfortable with silence and someone always speaks up to fill it. One thing that is likely to create friction that prevents those with different opinions speaking up is when many like-minded members publicly agree with each other.

3. Pick one small behavior you can perform to change the environment in a way that encourages (but doesn’t force) the decision you want others to make. Your behavior is the nudge so ask yourself what does an effective nudge look like, quantitatively and qualitatively?

Example: Given how many unknown variables there are in the project team meeting itself, I will try to nudge my team before the meeting. To nudge members towards sharing their diverse opinions during the meeting, I will email the team the meeting agenda ahead of time so that everyone can choose to develop their own opinion before being influenced by the group discussion. My email with the meeting agenda acts as the nudge. A successful nudge will lead to at least one person voicing a contrasting opinion during the meeting and everyone feeling like it’s safe to speak up even when it seems like some of the team will disagree.

How could nudges solve our behavior change problem?

Nudges, if both science-backed and applied ethically, can help us close the gap between just understanding workplace challenges and actually taking action to address them. Nudges do something unique from the behavior change interventions we’re used to. Unlike more targeted (and expensive) interventions like training or coaching, nudges are scalable. They don’t take too much of the employee’s time, and they can be used consistently over time to inspire lasting behavior change. In this way, nudges can help us change, not just explain workplace behavior at scale.

However, the truth is that your average I/O knows very little about nudge theory and probably even less about the science of behavior change (at least the way it’s been done by behavioral economists and social psychologists). To be successful, we need to collaborate with others in the behavioral and social sciences, both in research and practice. We as I/Os deeply understand the human experience at work. Nudge experts like behavioral economists deeply understand human decision-making. Together, we could tackle the most pressing issues like manager burnout, bad bosses, and layoff anxiety.

Author Bio: Kira Foley is a behavioral and social scientist passionate about the power of applied research to solve real-world problems. She earned her PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The George Washington University, where she published research on a variety of workplace challenges that affect leadership and teams in a variety of organizational contexts (U.S. Army Soldiers, women leaders, desk-less workforce). In her current role as a Behavioral Scientist at Perceptyx, she sits on the product team and plays a first-hand role in baking behavioral science into HR technology Software as a Service (SaaS) products.

Practical Guidelines for Using Artificial Intelligence in Pre-Employment Selection Assessments

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 19:45:46 GMT

Author: David Swiderski, PTCMW Blog Editor

There has been an increase recently in the discussion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the personnel selection space. One indication of the impact of this area on the field of I/O psychology is the recent announcement of the upcoming 2023 SIOP Leading Edge Consortium (LEC) on Talent Assessment Strategies of the Future with a focus on “new applications of AI to assessment development and scoring”. The intent of this blog is to provide a brief roundup of recently published practical guidance on the use of AI in personnel selection decisions.

AI has not been a focus of traditional education and training in industrial and organizational psychology but is an emerging force affecting how we understand and predict people’s performance at work. It is imperative that those working in this space understand the implications of using these techniques and how they can be applied appropriately. This is especially true in high-stakes contexts that can have a significant impact on individuals’ careers.

The following documents can serve as a starting point for those considering the development, validation, implementation, and maintenance of AI-based assessments.

The Institute for Workplace Equality. (2022). Technical Advisory Committee report: EEO and DEI&A considerations in the use of artificial intelligence in employment decision making. Link

The Institute for Workplace Equality is a non-profit organization that strives to educate businesses on diversity and inclusion practices and equal employment opportunity compliance. The Institute commissioned a 40-member Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) from domains such as industrial and organizational psychology, psychometrics, data science, economics, and employment law. The TAC’s in-depth report approaches the topic of AI in employment decision making from statistical, ethical, and legal perspectives by aggregating information across the diverse group of contributors. Additionally, each section of the report was shaped by the results of a survey of TAC members. Some of the topics covered in the report include:

Where AI is most prevalent in employment decision making.
Privacy and fairness issues around how AI data is collected, used, and stored.
How the concepts and principles described in the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures apply to AI-based assessments.
Analyzing adverse impact in the context of the unique challenges presented by using AI-based assessments.

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (2023). Considerations and recommendations for the validation and use of AI-based assessments for employee selection. Link

Undoubtedly, most readers of this blog will be familiar with the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the premier professional association for I/O psychologists. In addition to the LEC mentioned above, SIOP has acknowledged the growing interest in AI by releasing a statement in January 2022 on the use of AI in hiring and offering a webcast on the topic featuring SIOP members with expertise in this area. The most comprehensive response to date from SIOP in this arena has come in the form of a document from SIOP’s Task Force on AI-Based Assessments. The document details recommendations from the Task Force on developing, validating, and using AI-based assessments. The authors discuss how different elements of AI-based assessments relate to the concepts and procedures discussed in SIOP’s Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures. The document delves into issues such as considerations for collecting validation evidence and how the collection of training data in AI-based assessments can influence their scoring and outcomes. The document concludes with a discussion of the information that should be documented as part of the development and validation of AI-based assessments.

Landers, R. N., & Behrend, T. S. (2022). Auditing the AI auditors: A framework for evaluating fairness and bias in high stakes AI predictive models. American Psychologist, 78(1), 36–49. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000972

Tara Behrend and Richard Landers have been prominent academic voices on the intersection between technology and human behavior in the workplace for over a decade. Their recent article in American Psychologist focuses on the ethical use of AI through a set of guidelines for conducting audits of AI systems. The authors broadly define high-stakes decisions beyond hiring individuals in organizations to many decisions made across different domains of psychology. The example presented throughout the article focuses on a situation in which an AI algorithm is used to score interview responses. The article highlights 12 components of AI systems that should be included in an audit and identifies important considerations to think through in the evaluation of each component. Finally, the article concludes with an emphasis on the importance of collaboration and having an interdisciplinary lens for the adoption of sound AI auditing practices in the future.

Tippins, N. T., Oswald, F. L., & McPhail, S. M. (2021). Scientific, legal, and ethical concerns about AI-based personnel selection tools: a call to action. Personnel Assessment and Decisions, 7(2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.25035/pad.2021.02.001

The final document in this roundup is a journal article that outlines 11 concerns with using AI from three prominent figures in the personnel selection field. The concerns touch on many different points in the assessment development and validation process. The article also contains lists of questions that researchers and practitioners should take into account in light of the concerns stated in the article. Finally, the article ends with a call to action encouraging I/O psychologists to play a central role in this space by considering how our professional standards and principles apply to AI-based assessments. Similar to Landers and Behrend, the authors call for using an interdisciplinary approach to make progress in this area.

Note that this list is a brief roundup of several recent committee and refereed journal-produced documents. We encourage interested readers to be on the lookout for additional professional and scientific developments related to this space. If you would be interested in contributing your perspective to a future blog on AI in the workplace, please reach out to blog@ptcmw.org to discuss your ideas.

A First-Person Perspective of the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 02:04:27 GMT

Author: Shelby Joseph

Hello everyone. My name is Shelby Joseph and I am in my final semester at George Mason’s Master’s of Professional Studies (MPS) program in Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychology. The following is my reflection regarding the PTCMW Graduate Student Consulting Challenge (GSCC).

While in school, I sought out opportunities to build and develop my I/O competencies through extracurricular activities, which led me to connect with peers through local I/O gatherings. When PTCMW’s Graduate Student Consulting Challenge was first revealed to me through a peer in my program, I knew this would be an opportunity to challenge myself. Unfortunately, I had missed the registration window to participate in the GSCC in 2021. Registration for the GSCC is yearly and begins in October. I waited to apply for the 2022 GSCC and was thrilled when I was accepted to participate because at this point, I had completed most of my core I/O coursework and I knew this was my opportunity to test all I had learned up to that point. I expected the GSCC was going to allow me to experience what it is like to be an I/O consultant.

I knew preparation for the virtual final presentation would be intense based on the prior GSCC experiences of my peers. For example, I was told that preparation would require a lengthy time commitment during the competition as students are only allotted 3 days to respond to a proposal and they would need to come up with a focused plan to complete the response by the deliverable deadline. While this expectation was true of my experience, it was also exhilarating! During the initial GSCC meeting, PTCMW event coordinators and representatives from the sponsoring organization introduced our Request For Proposal (RFP). The RFP served as our guide to responding to stakeholders, who in this situation were judges from the sponsoring organization. Our goal was to address an organization’s needs and outline the resources required to meet this goal. My group consisted of 3 students, all in different phases in our I/O programs. One of us was a Doctoral student, another was a Master’s student preparing to graduate, and myself, who at the time had four more courses to complete before graduation.

What I liked most about the GSCC was my experience collaborating with my teammates. One of the reasons I believe our team succeeded in such a tight timeframe was because our collaboration was quick, efficient, and effortful. My teammates met with me immediately after the initial GSCC meeting to quickly review our approach to the RFP on Microsoft Teams. The RFP for the 2022 GSCC was focused on personnel selection. During the meeting, I created a shared Google Document to begin addressing the RFP. We also reviewed the RFP instructions to plan our tasks. Likewise, we agreed to reserve a large portion of our time in the evenings to collaborate and complete tasks. Our goal at this point was centered on the creation of a detailed report to address the RFP. The first two evenings were dedicated to completing our formal proposal report and appendices with supplemental material, as we agreed this would require the most work.

During the first two evenings of the competition, we stayed on a Microsoft Teams call for 5 to 6 hours with our cameras off as we took on pieces of the RFP. To split up the tasks, we took on work that we felt competent in or had recently completed in our programs. For example, one teammate was teaching a course on a job analysis and took on the material to cover this section, another had completed a job analysis at her job recently and had practice materials we could use. I had just completed my data analytics course and helped to tackle statistics-based questions such as an analysis plan for how we would demonstrate the fairness of our proposed solutions. Throughout the call, we would give updates on our completed tasks. During moments of minor disagreement we used rational debates and a group vote to obtain consensus on a way forward.

The day before the presentation we spent 4 to 5 hours curating our presentation slides. We also organized a shared script on a Google Document so that we knew when it was our cue to speak about our assigned portion of the presentation. By the end of the third day, all members had taken on an equal workload, including the speaking portion of slides. On the day of our presentation to the judges, my team members and I conducted a practice presentation one hour ahead of time to build our comfort in presenting all of the material.

Despite the projects I succeeded in while at George Mason, it wasn’t until the GSCC presentation to the judges that I realized the barriers organizations must navigate that are not always explicitly stated in a RFP that we as I/O practitioners must consider. This is where the GSCC allowed me to practice the skill of persuading key decision makers who may not have an I/O background. When presenting in front of a panel of 7 to 10 judges, it was apparent that we needed to deliver a compelling case. The judges’ behaviors mimicked stakeholders and high-level leaders concerned with results that will exceed their organization’s goals.

During the presentation, we did not know the exact questions the judges would have concerning our technical approach. The ability to address the judges’ questions was parallel to what I would expect in an actual consultation with a business leader or stakeholder. My group did our best to anticipate questions by identifying beforehand the advantages and disadvantages of the solution we proposed.

An example of a particularly challenging question was related to budgeting as none of us had experience creating budgets for a business before. One thing that helped us navigate this question was a prior discussion during our preparation that my team had on the disadvantage of proposing a large budget. This required us to determine why the return on investment was likely more beneficial in the long run and not a risk to the organization. While there was no textbook answer to address this, our team explained our decision to the judges by providing our rationale for how we came up with a budget. This included identifying base hourly pay rates for certain positions and estimating the number of subject matter experts needed to implement procedures that would result in the successful implementation of our proposed solution. This experience of providing on the spot responses and present a compelling case to the judges showed me that not all answers are simple or found in a textbook.

After the evaluative portion of the presentation was over, the support and feedback from the judges was encouraging because it helped remind us that this was a learning experience. Once the presentation ended, I recall the moment my team and I reflected on how much we learned through applying the knowledge and skills we gained while in our respective I/O programs. This experience helped to reinforce that learning is more than just explicit knowledge, it requires practice and application. When it was announced that we won the GSCC, I knew it was because of our seamless collaboration with one another.

Since my participation in the GSCC, I now have a clearer understanding about what competencies are necessary to be a successful consultant. While having the foundational I/O knowledge is necessary, I learned it is just as important to explain what we know in a way that can be understood by our stakeholders. I also learned that it is especially important to not only provide solutions, but tailor our solutions in a way that aligns with an organization's business values and mission. This experience helped me to showcase my I/O knowledge in a way that was meaningful and easy to understand for those without an I/O background.

Additionally, I have leveraged the relationships resulting from my participation in the GSCC to expand my professional network within the field. Competing and winning the GSCC helped open internship opportunities that I would not have applied for had I not participated. For example, winners of the GSCC were provided an invitation to the PTCMW Fall Event. Attending this networking event helped me to connect with more experienced colleagues in a welcoming setting and also gave me a chance to familiarize myself with available full-time I/O positions. I have since obtained an internship with an organization that I was able to talk to during the Fall Event.

If you have completed your core I/O coursework and would like a realistic job preview of being an I/O consultant, I urge you to participate in the GSCC! The skillsets you gain from collaborating with peers, defending your decisions to experts in the field, and presenting in a manner that can be understood by your stakeholders will likely assist you as you set forth in your I/O career. No matter where your I/O trajectory leads, I hope you are inspired to participate in the GSCC!

Call for The Point Blog Contributors

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 22:08:37 GMT

Author: David Swiderski, PTCMW Blog Editor

Call for The Point Blog Contributors

The Point Blog is the official blog of the Personnel Testing Council of the Metropolitan Washington area (PTCMW), an organization dedicated to advancing the science and practice of industrial and organizational psychology through high-value professional growth and networking opportunities. The Point Blog strives to inform, educate, and entertain our membership and the broader community while maintaining our position as a creative, inclusive, and curious voice in the I/O psychology blogosphere.

The content that will reside on the blog will focus on the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace. Potential content areas will include topics typically discussed in a graduate industrial and organizational psychology program or at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) annual conference. We aim to publish on a variety of topics within the field and encourage writers from diverse backgrounds to submit their ideas to expose our readership to a range of perspectives on the issues confronting our field. Submissions can come from members or non-members of PTCMW. Graduate students in industrial and organizational psychology or related fields are encouraged to contribute to the blog by submitting ideas for posts they would like to write on the blog. Leveraging our position as an evidence-based field, claims and arguments made on the blog should be backed by rigorous methodology and critical thought.

What Makes a Good Submission?

Submissions should be made via a Microsoft Word document submitted to blog@ptcmw.org. Submissions may come in the form of a quick summary of a research program or project, an applied approach to solving an organizational challenge, an opinion piece on an issue that the field is facing, or a perspective on a professional development experience that others would benefit from hearing. Submissions outside of these broad guidelines will be accepted but should be focused on topics related to industrial and organizational psychology. Examples of topics for post submissions include ideas like:

A short summary of the findings from a recently published article examining “return to work” policies on employee engagement
A high-level overview of a novel approach to a high-volume pre-hire assessment context within an organization
A post challenging common assumptions about work motivation
A personal account of formal and informal experiences learning a statistical programming language such as R or Python

When submitting an idea for The Point Blog, it is not necessary to submit a fully written post, but we should have enough information to evaluate whether it would be a good fit for the blog. A submission should be at least a paragraph in length (4-5 sentences), although longer submissions will be accepted. Please include the following elements in your submission:

A summary of the main point of your post that includes any key takeaways that you will want readers to remember. This should include why readers would be excited to view your post and why it matters in the broader context of the field of industrial and organizational psychology.
A brief description of the types of information you will be using to back your claims or tell your story. If you plan to include any tables or charts, include a description of how you’d like to present this information and how it supports your story (e.g., “I’d like to include a chart that shows the distribution of performance management ratings collected using two separate methodologies to demonstrate the impact of our new approach to performance management.”)
A short post author biography and an email that we can use to contact you regarding your submission.

You are welcome to submit more than one idea for a blog post or to frame your idea as a series of blog posts, but please make it clear in your submission if this is the case.

What to Expect from Us?

As blog editors, it is our job to support you in a way that is transparent, efficient, and quality-focused. We will aim to make decisions on whether to proceed with turning a submission into a blog post within two weeks of receipt of the submission. If you do not receive a follow-up or acknowledgement from blog@ptcmw.org within two weeks of sending in your submission, please assume we are not interested. Editing times may vary depending on the content of the post and resources available to support the editing process, but in general we aim to publish content at least once per month.

Throughout the editing process, we’ll be thinking about the following:

How does the post align with the objectives of The Point Blog and with PTCMW?
Is the idea worthy of professional discourse (i.e., could the post be the focus of a 10–15-minute conversation with a colleague at school, work, or other professional settings)?
How does the piece reinforce, add to, or reshape public knowledge on the content area?
Is there a clear takeaway or a clear sense of the story being told?
How does the evidence submitted illustrate the points being made?
How well does the writing adhere to the style guidelines and grammatical conventions?

Style Guidelines

To create a unified voice and appearance for our readers, there are a few things you should try to keep in mind while writing a post for The Point Blog.

Blog posts will follow the latest American Psychological Association (APA) style guidelines for in-text citations and references.
Given the debate and diversity surrounding the name of our field, we believe it is important to note that any references to the field should be written as “industrial and organizational psychology” and should be abbreviated as “I/O psychology”.
Avoid gendered terms (e.g., “mankind”) or terms that assume a person’s gender (e.g., use “parenthood” instead of “motherhood/fatherhood”).
Avoid ableist language (e.g., “tone-deaf”, “blind to…”, “crazy”). These terms are exclusionary and could likely be said in a different way.
When giving examples, use “e.g.” to reference an incomplete list that is part of a larger list of items. Use “i.e.” when restating a phrase to clarify an earlier statement.
Abbreviations and acronyms: Always spell these out on first reference. Include a parenthetical of the acronym if you think it won’t be obvious for the reader.
Numbers: Outside of tables and figures, write out the numbers one through nine. Use numerals for numbers 10 and above unless they’re the first word in a sentence.

Thank you for taking the time to consider submitting to The Point Blog and we hope to bring our readers content that will enrich their professional development and strengthen the connections among those in our community.

PTCMW News and Update - February 2022

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 01:18:12 GMT

Dear PTCMW Communications,

Happy New Year PTCMW Members and Friends! The 2022 PTCMW Board is excited to kick off another successful year for PTCMW. Please keep reading for some important updates from the Board.

Monthly Educational Sessions

We held our February virtual panel career discussion on February 15, 2022, that focused on offering career advice to students and early career professionals. We want to thank the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) I/O Psychology Graduate Program and Blacks in I/O Psychology for co-sponsoring the event; as well as our panel members Jeffery Godbout (ICF International and the Global Organization for Humanitarian Work Psychology), Shavonne Holman (Blacks in I/O Psychology), Mike Litano (BetterUp), Shyriah Marshall (Blacks in I/O Psychology and Marshall Career Consulting), and Kathy Stewart (U.S. Customs and Border Protection). With nearly 50 in attendance, it was a tremendous success! Just a reminder that members can access the recordings of any of our 2022 (and earlier) sessions in our webinar library.

Our next monthly presentation will be on March 23, 2022, at 5:30pm ET. Laura Fields (Spectrum) and Chantale Antonik (Modern Hire) will present a session titled, “Using Selection Science to Source Talent and Identify Fit.” Registration will open soon.

PTCMW is continuing to provide members and non-members the option of attending our monthly programs without being charged the normal fee – in light of COVID-19. To attend the session without charge, simply email the secretary (secretary@ptcmw.org) to receive a code for registration.

Member’s Corner Now Live!

I am excited to announce the launch of the Member’s Corner page on the PTCMW website! The Member’s Corner was developed based on input received from the member survey distributed in 2021. As a PTCMW member, you have access to mentoring resources, exclusive access to recordings of previous monthly speaker sessions and events, and a member directory for networking and information sharing.

Member Event Survey

As we continue to navigate the uncertainty of COVID-19, we want your input for how to best continue to provide our members with educational content and networking opportunities. Please take a few moments to complete this survey so we can gauge interest in both formal and informal events, virtual and in-person. Your feedback will be used to make decisions for the rest of the 2022 event calendar. Complete the survey by visiting the Member's Corner here.

Get to Know your 2022 PTCMW Board Members – Spotlight on Phil Walmsley, President-Elect

With the new year comes new PTCMW Board Members. In each President’s message for 2022, we will spotlight a Board Member, so you can get to know them.

I am a Lead Personnel Research Psychologist in the Selection and Promotion Assessment section of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Human Resources Solutions (HRS) division. On behalf of federal agencies, I conduct job analyses, develop assessment and measurement strategies, evaluate the use of a variety of pre-employment and leadership assessments, deliver training sessions, and conduct large-scale data analyses. I also serve as an advisor on the design of technology systems used for talent acquisition across many agencies. This has given me the chance to participate on teams composed of HR and staffing experts, web programmers, UX designers, data scientists, and multi-organization user groups. A substantial portion of my client-focused work has focused on law enforcement and public safety occupations, but I have had the good fortune to collaborate with people working toward a variety of missions across the federal sector.

I previously worked in the Personnel Research and Assessment Division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is a group with a long history of operational and scholarly achievement. I try to present and publish work regularly and am a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Selection and Assessment. I received an M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Missouri State University and a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Minnesota. In 2022, I received the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology’s Distinguished Early Career Contributions-Practice award. I am happy to have the opportunity to serve as PTCMW's current President-Elect and am looking forward to engaging with our community.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring the history of the DC area and Alexandria, VA, where I reside with my wife. I’ve visited many of the U.S.’s national parks, and try to check out and play live music when I can.

Call for Nominations: Bemis Award

The PTCMW Board would like to hear your recommendations for this year's nomination for the Bemis Award. Recommendations for the Bemis Award nominee need to be sent to president.elect@ptcmw.org by Monday, March 14, 2022.

I am very excited to serve the board as President in 2022 and look forward to all the exciting things we will accomplish this year! We look forward to seeing you at one of our events this year.

Thank you,

Marni Falcone, 2022 PTCMW President

president@ptcmw.org

PTCMW News and Updates - October 2021

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 21:09:39 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! I hope everyone is having a great Fall so far. I wanted to share a few updates on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

Last month we had a presentation from Anne Scaduto (Senior Manager, Talent Assessments at The Hershey Company) and Ann Kwak (Talent Assessment, People Strategy and Analytics at Capital One) on Burnout. It was a very successful event and networking session with approximately 25 in attendance.

Then this month we conducted the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge. This event, which was sponsored by FMP Consulting, kicked off on October 14^th with 5 teams of approximately 6 graduate students on each team. They received the RFP and then worked over the weekend to create their written response and prepare for an oral presentation on October 18^th. The written responses are currently being reviewed/rated and the winners will be announced during the Fall Event.

Speaking of the Fall Event, it is scheduled for Thursday, November 4^th from 4-8pm. This year’s event will be virtual, and registration is open through Monday, November 1^st at 11pm EST. You can register here: http://www.ptcmw.org/event-4527552. The event will begin with the announcement of the PTCMW Service Award as well as the winners of the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge. Then the featured speaker will be Dr. Richard Landers where he will speak on “Fixing the IO Psychology/Technology-Interface: Avoiding Both IO-Tech and Tech-IO Conflict”. Following the featured speaker there will networking, raffles and virtual booths for sponsors. We will be leveraging Orbits, an immersive online venue for virtual events, which enable richer networking among attendees and permit sponsors to have virtual booths for recruiting candidates for open roles or providing information about services and offerings. In order to maximize the Orbits software, we do need everyone to register by Monday, November 1^st. We realize that many often wait until the day of to register, but we are asking everyone to please register by Monday, November 1^st. The recorded webcast will be available to PTCMW members in the webcast library.

Just a reminder that members can access the recordings of any of our 2021 (and earlier) sessions in our webinar library.

Blog and Resource Sharing

Yesenia Avila and her team continue to be busy implementing the blog/resource sharing strategy. In September we posted a blot by Emily Kimble and Benjamin Kerner on job hunting tips in the post-COVID world of work. Members can access this blog at The Point.

We are planning to continue to post at least 1-2 blogs per month. So, if you are interested in generating a blog please let us know! And if you have resources you think would be useful for the PTCMW membership, please let us know that as well. You can reach out to Yesenia (blog@ptcmw.org) or me directly (president@ptcmw.org).

Members Corner (Coming Soon to PTCMW Website)

Based upon input received via the member survey earlier this year we are working on a “Members Corner” page on the website. Examples of what will be available here include ways for researchers to reach out to members who would be willing to participate in research, open forums for members to discuss specific topics, and ways for clients/customers to post RFPs. This site is almost ready for use so be on the lookout for the official release.

IPAC Student/Early Career Learning Series

The IPAC Student/Early Career Learning Series will present on “Current Topics in Pay Equity”, facilitated by Lisa Harpe, Ph.D. This program will be featured on Thursday, November 4th, 12:30 - 1:30 EST. For more information and online registration you can visit: IPAC Student/Early Career Learning Series Presents: Current Topics in Equity Pay. This event is geared towards students and early career professionals but is open to ALL! IPAC members and non-members at any point in their career are welcome to join. Individuals can contact info@ipacweb.org with questions.

Membership Dues and Bundle Rates for Fall Event

When registering for the PTCMW Fall Event, you can take advantage of the bundle rate that includes membership for 2022. The professional rate for 2022 Membership is $40 and the student rate for 2022 Membership is $20. And the professional rate for the Fall event is $40 and the student rate for the Fall Event is $25. However, you can save $10 if you bundle these when you register for the Fall Event. Specifically, the bundled professional rate that includes the Fall Event and 2022 Membership is $70. And the bundled student rate that includes the Fall Event and 2022 Membership is $35.

Get Involved with PTCMW – Board Member Positions and Volunteer Opportunities

If you are looking to get involved with PTCMW, we are still recruiting for PTCMW’s elected positions for 2022. The four positions up for election are President-Elect, Vice-President for Programs, Secretary, and Recorder. This is a fantastic opportunity to make new connections, gain professional recognition, and contribute to the local I-O community! All nominees must be PTCMW members prior to serving in any of the elected positions. You can visit http://www.ptcmw.org/positions to learn more about the responsibilities for each elected position, or contact any Board member or committee chair with questions. All nominations should be submitted by Friday, October 29, to Emilee Tison, Past PTCMW President and Nominations/Elections Chair, at past.president@ptcmw.org.

And then in addition to the board member positions, we are always looking for individuals to serve in other volunteer positions. Please reach out and let us know if you are interested. You can email us at president@ptcmw.org or secretary@ptcmw.org!

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Rob Calderón, PTCMW President

president@ptcmw.org

Job Hunting Tips in the Post-Covid World of Work

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 15:35:18 GMT

Job Hunting Tips in the Post-Covid World of Work

Authors: Emily Kimble & Benjamin Kerner

Our names are Emily Kimble and Benjamin Kerner, and we are Human Resource Analysts at DCI Consulting Inc. who graduated from George Mason University’s I/O Psychology MA program. We started searching for jobs during the peak of the uncertainty that was 2020 and can attest to the struggles of job hunting and the novelty of onboarding during a global pandemic. Below are some lessons we have gleaned over the last year, which we hope will be helpful for those beginning their job search in a post-covid environment.

Be Patient and Don’t Get Discouraged

Job hunting—with or without a global pandemic—can be daunting, stressful, and time-consuming. Now more than ever, it is essential to prepare and give yourself adequate time to be “on the market.”
Be patient and keep applying to the jobs that interest you. Companies are hiring, albeit sometimes at a slower pace.
Good candidates sometimes do not get positions due to factors outside of their control. However, it is important to keep in mind that companies are always looking for different skill sets, and not getting a position does not imply that you are not a good candidate.
Don’t get discouraged if the recruitment process is taking a long time, or if you’re not hearing back from recruiters as you would have hoped. We struggled with this throughout our job hunt, often failing to recognize the context of the work environment we are now living in. This last year significantly impacted businesses, forcing many to enforce temporary hiring freezes, layoffs, reductions in force, and permanent closures. Not surprisingly, companies have had to adapt to these changes, often slowing the efficiency in which their hiring processes can function. As a result, the job search can sometimes take longer than you expect, but keep persisting and remain positive as you communicate with recruiters. If timing is a concern for you, don’t be afraid to ask! Often, recruiters will be straightforward about their hiring timelines.

Tailor Your Job Search for You

Just as an employer wants to find the right fit for the job, you should also take time to tailor your resume to the specific job you are interested in. It can be tempting to apply to any and all jobs, as the market has felt uncertain, but it will be more beneficial for you to find a company that values its employees and a role that motivates and excites you.
Use the company’s response to this pandemic as insight into their processes, functions, and even their culture. For example, was it a smooth transition to work-from-home? What technology platforms does the company utilize? What does the company do to keep employees feeling engaged and like a team? How does the company support its employees?

Prepare Yourself for the Virtual Interview Process

The nature of interviewing has dramatically changed. We had all our interviews virtually, utilizing various platforms and formats (e.g., phone calls, Teams, Zoom, WebEx). Virtual interviews can create barriers to our typical social interactions. Unlike an in-person interview, you are unable to sense body language, and it can feel intimidating to be on camera. Especially in the case of phone interviews, you are also hindered from seeing the recruiter’s facial reactions and nonverbal communication (e.g., head nods). No matter what the interview platform may be during your job hunt, try your best to go into them with a positive mindset and tone of voice.
Even though you may not be in the same room with the recruiter, pretend you are. Dress up as you would in an in-person interview. Focus on speaking at a good pace, and loud enough to be heard through a microphone. It is important that you sound positive and confident. If you are on video, focus on the nonverbal cues in your face, especially eye contact.
Always test out the platform you will be interviewed on. Prior to your interview, make sure that it is downloaded and installed. Companies will likely offer you assistance with this. For example, we were able to log in early with members of HR teams to test the connections and interface. Additionally, check that your camera and audio work, that you are in a location that is quiet, has strong internet connection, has good lighting, and does not have a lot of background noise/distraction.

Utilize Your Online Professional Networks

We often utilized LinkedIn and other professional job sites in our searches. These networks can highlight virtual job fairs, conferences, and professional development events in your area, all offering incredible opportunities for personal growth and networking—even if the environment is virtual. Virtual events also make it easier to foster connections with professionals from all over the country.

In addition to tips for job hunting in this new environment, we wanted to highlight some ways in which individuals starting out in their new position can better acclimate to their new organization and working life. Our careers at DCI are our first full-time positions related to our Industrial and Organizational Psychology degrees, and we would recommend the following tips for adjusting to the next phase of your career.

Tips for Starting Your New Job and Onboarding into a Fully-Virtual Position

If working from home, try to set up a dedicated workspace separate from where you sleep, eat, or relax—of course, space permitting. This can help to draw the line between your work and home life, which can often get blurred when working from home. Additionally, make sure you have the tools and technology that you need to complete your work efficiently and productively. Your company should provide you with the tools you will need for remote work, so be sure to communicate with them on this. Last, make sure your internet connection is strong enough to accommodate your work. Some individuals may enjoy utilizing shared workspaces. If you wish to go this route, make sure the area is generally quiet and that you have the ability to keep your work confidential.
Suggest bonding activities with your new team. This can include virtual happy hours, trivia, or even something as simple as quick, one-on-one meetings designed to get to know your coworkers better.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions! New employees may hesitate to reach out for help out of intimidation, or even fear of coming across as incompetent, upon starting their new position. Asking questions, however, is one of the best ways to not only ensure you understand the tasks assigned, but also to show your teammates that you are committed to learning and growing as a professional within the company.

PTCMW News and Update - August 2021

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 13:25:28 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! I hope everyone has had a great Summer so far. I wanted to share a few updates on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

Earlier this month we had Dan Putka and Martin Yu from HumRRO present on the research HumRRO has conducted over the past few years that explored leveraging natural language processing (NLP) in fun and interesting ways to address measurement development related challenges. Namely, streamlining item development processes and forecasting how items may perform in the absence of pilot/field test data. It was a very successful event and networking session with over 50 in attendance.

Then this week we will have a panel and workshop on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) in Organizations: Moving from Reactivity to Proactive Strategy. This will occur this Wednesday, August 25^th starting at 4pm EDT. This workshop will be focused on the current state and future directions in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. And specifically examine how we move from a reactive state to build a more proactive, forward-looking DEIB strategy. Sertrice Grice (Consulting Officer & Co-Founder of Mattingly Solutions); Caren Young (President at The Professional Adult); Mahesh Subramony (Professor of Management at Northern Illinois University); and Keli Wilson (Senior Manager of EEO Compliance and Diversity, Principal Consultant at DCI) will serve as expert panelists. And Ruth Imrose (Research Science Specialist at McKinsey & Company) and Shannon Cheng (Research and Knowledge Fellow at McKinsey & Company) will serve as workshop facilitators.

And in September we will have a presentation from Anne Scaduto (Senior Manager, Talent Assessment at Capital One) and Ann Kwak (Talent Assessment, People Strategy and Analytics at Capital One) on Burnout. The date and time for the September monthly event is still TBD, but specific sign-up details will be sent out in early September.

Just a reminder that members can access the recordings of any of our 2021 (and earlier) sessions in our webinar library.

Blog and Resource Sharing

Yesenia Avila and her team continue to be busy implementing the blog/resource sharing strategy. In early July we posted a blog by Matisha Montgomery on how we need to do a better job of collecting and examining data to ensure equity outcomes can be accurately evaluated. Members can access this blog at The Point.

And then in late July we posted a blog by Don Lustenberger examining office ergonomics for the post-COVID-19 world.

2021 Bemis Award Announcement

We want to congratulate Dr. Nancy Tippins who is this year’s Stephen E. Bemis award winner. Nancy was co-nominated by both PTCMW and IPAC and the award was announced at the 2021 IPAC Conference in July. For awareness, the Stephen E. Bemis award is presented to an individual in our profession who is:

An accomplished personnel measurement practitioner, recognized for their ongoing commitment to the principles of merit and fairness;
A professional who has made an impact in the field by their practical contribution(s) that have either resulted in an improved or new procedure; and
A concerned individual who is recognized for their commitment to assisting, being available, and freely calling on fellow practitioners.

Congratulations to Nancy, as she is a well-deserved recipient of this award!

Graduate Student Consulting Challenge

The 2021 Graduate Student Consulting Challenge (being held virtually) will be occurring October 15^th-18^th. FMP Consulting has agreed to sponsor the event this year. Similar to years past, there will be five teams of 6 members (students) participating. And the registration fee will be $15. A call for student participants will be occurring in September, so be on the lookout for more information soon!

PTCMW Board Member Spotlight – Marni Falcone – PTCMW President-Elect

I am currently a Managing Consultant at FMP Consulting (www.fmpconsulting.com). I received my MA in I/O from George Mason University in 2008 and started my career at Fields Consulting Group developing assessment centers for public safety organizations (police, fire, and corrections) both locally and at various larger jurisdictions across the country. Fields provided me with the opportunity to directly apply my studies in a real-world setting, which is where I fell in love with the “I” side of I/O. In 2012, I moved over to FMP Consulting to gain broader human capital experience. Since working at FMP, I have led many of our larger scale competency development and implementation work to include competency model development, gap assessment/analysis, career pathing, selection and assessment, and strategic training needs analysis. I also lead some of FMP’s projects related to employee engagement, program evaluation, strategic planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. I support a wide variety of clients across the federal government to include the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as some state and local clients.

Outside of FMP, I am active in presenting at conferences (IPAC, SIOP, and SHRM) and lead some of FMP’s thought leadership activities relating to competency development and strategic implementation. I live in Alexandria with my husband and two young boys. With what little free time I have, I enjoy taking a Barre3 class, cooking, and spending quality time with friends and family.

Get Involved with PTCMW – Volunteer Opportunities

If you are looking to get involved with PTCMW, we still have many volunteer positions available. Please reach out and let us know if you are interested. You can email us at president@ptcmw.org or secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com!

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Rob Calderón, PTCMW President

president@ptcmw.org

2020-2021 PTCMW Budget Report

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 20:12:47 GMT

Please see the attached document for the latest update on PTCMW's Budget: 2020-2021 Budget Report.pdf

Comments or Questions?

Please feel free to email me (at treasurer.ptcmw@gmail.com) or comment below with any budget comments, questions, suggestions, etc.

Thank you!

Richard Evitts
PTCMW Treasurer

Office Ergonomics for Your Post-COVID-19 World

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 19:52:01 GMT

Office Ergonomics for Your Post-COVID-19 World

Author: Don Lustenberger

Amidst the abrupt closures of offices last year, many of us found ourselves working from home on a newly fulltime basis. For some of us, this was an abrupt change that had us hastily carving out a space in a guest bedroom, at the kitchen counter, or perhaps on the family-room couch to use as a makeshift office (one of a litany of changes we had to make to adapt to living through a pandemic). We needed somewhere just to place our laptops and set to work; comfort, ergonomics, and our physical well-being associated with our workspace might not have been a priority at the time.

As restrictions are lifted, organizations are beginning to consider whether and when to reopen their offices. So, we may be reacquainting ourselves with our old commutes or perhaps learning that telework will be a more permanent fixture in our lives. Regardless of your situation—whether you are a work-from-home veteran with a deluxe home-office setup prior to the pandemic, you are returning to the office for the first time in a while, or you’re looking to make upgrades to a makeshift home-office workspace—chances are you could stand to benefit from making at least one change to your physical workstation or your behavior while at your desk, wherever it may be.

Assess and Optimize Your Workstation Layout and Equipment

There are many details to consider when setting up a computer workspace. For instance, the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, and the New York Times offer guidance on specifics such as desk and chair height; the positioning of monitors, keyboards, and mice; and proper lightning. Optimizing your workstation for better posture and comfort involves assessing your workspace against such standards, noting any problem areas, and then addressing them.

Some fixes may be quick and inexpensive, involving only minor adjustments to the furniture and equipment you already own (e.g., raising or lowering your chair, moving your monitors closer or further away from you). Other fixes may necessitate purchasing new furniture or equipment (e.g., a footrest, an adjustable-height desk, stands or support arms for monitors or laptops).

There are several manufacturers of “ergonomic” desks, mice, keyboards, etc., so it’s a good idea to do some research before investing in new equipment. If you are looking to address a specific physical health issue (e.g., back pain, vision problems, headaches), do consider consulting a medical professional before investing in new equipment or making drastic changes to your office setup.

Consider Some Behavioral Changes

Although it’s essential to have a properly configured workstation, it’s also important to consider your behavior while working contributes to your overall comfort and physical health. By now, most of us understand that sitting at a desk for extended periods of time can be problematic. One solution to this problem is to change positions frequently. Standing or walking around for a few minutes every hour, alternating between sitting and standing with a convertible desk, or incorporating a stretching routine throughout your day are a few ways to keep moving and avoid sitting for hours on end.

Changing your behavior can also involve doing things to reduce eyestrain associated with staring at a digital screen for hours on end, which for many of us is a large part of our jobs. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, for example, recommends (among several things) following the “20-20-20” rule to give our eyes a break: every 20 minutes, looking at an object 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Using a humidifier, blinking, and wearing computer glasses are among some of their other suggestions.

For some, the most difficult part about making behavioral changes, aside from summoning the motivation to make a change to begin with, is sticking with the change. Fortunately, we live in an age where there are countless apps and browser extensions that can remind you do to these things—and reinforce your good behavior—over the course of the day (some examples here and here). Whether you are looking to return to your office or start teleworking more, I encourage you to consider what changes you can make to your equipment, layout, or behavior for the better.

Equity Through Data?

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 14:39:39 GMT

Equity Through Data?

Author: Matisha Montgomery

Equity is promoting justice, impartiality, and fairness within the procedures, processes, and distribution of resources by institutions or systems.1

We’ve all had a front row seat while numerous events in the last two years have underscored the long-standing systemic inequities that exist in the United States and abroad. Underrepresented populations continue to face disparities in all systems including healthcare, criminal justice, education, and economy. Addressing these disparities requires an understanding of the deeply rooted causes, and my hope is that data can serve as the impartial key to unlocking this understanding. In the Federal Government, we seek to leverage data to analyze, model, and objectively measure equity outcomes in programs and policy decisions. However, challenges exist in the data.

Missing: Challenges with Data Collection and Management2

Data is frequently not collected at the level of detail necessary to evaluate equity outcomes. The collection and disaggregation of data relating to underserved communities (e.g., race, ethnicity, sex, disability status, gender identity, and sexual orientation) are inconsistent or missing altogether. The lack of consistency exists because this data is either not collected, is unreliable (voluntary but not verified), or is incomplete. When missing data pertains to underserved groups, the needs of those groups remain unaddressed. Illustrations of the lack of sub-categorical, detailed data collection in workforce demographic data are routinely uncovered. Systems of record across the Federal Government are not configured to collect data beyond sex (male/female) completely removing an agency’s ability represent whole sections of the population. Moreover, systems have default settings to report male for sex and white for race rather than leave the fields blank thereby artificially enhancing the majority.

Hidden: Challenges with Privacy

The sharing, retention, and use of personally identifiable information (PII) across government programs, even when data collection reaches sufficient levels of granularity, is generally limited and strictly regulated, which creates challenges with data merging, management, and analysis. Data in the Federal Government is understandably safeguarded to protect individual privacy and ensure the data is not appropriated for unauthorized uses. Often these safety measures are imposed through statute but more often it is a result of internal agency or office policy driving the limitation. In an effort to protect data privacy and restrict use, agencies have instead generated stovepipes effectively limiting the data’s usage to only it’s intended purpose rather than allowing the data to be combined with other datasets to reveal meaningful analysis.

Executive Order on Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Government3

The current Administration is countering systemic inequity by ensuring all policies include principles and approaches that remedy inequities and promote equitable outcomes and that the Federal Government’s workforce will reflect the people it serves. The June 25, 2021 Executive Order on Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Government requires agencies to improve how demographic data is collected on Federal employees to drive data-driven and evidence-based approaches for reducing barriers in hiring, promotions, professional development, and retention practices.

But the Executive Order gives me “hope heartburn.” The Order offers a positive path forward (hope) but doesn’t necessarily acknowledge the hard work it will require to implement (heartburn). To fully support the Executive Order, the Federal Government needs human capital data standards preferably established through a DEIA lens. The Office of Personnel Management, Office of Management and Budget, the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) and Chief Data Officer (CDO) Councils must work in close partnership for a whole of government approach and coordinate with the private sector and non-governmental organizations to model best practices. Consistency in data practices, structures, and standards established through collaboration would enable broader scaling and application. Collaboration across organizational lines could lead to sharing of data to draw deeper meaning and conclusions and uncover best practices.

Addressing systemic inequities in policies and programs is aspirational. The goal looks achievable if we use data to drive equitable outcomes. Further, the Executive Order provides an opportunity for collaboration in the collection, analysis, and sharing of data. Improved quantitative data, assessed with qualitative data obtained in consultation with stakeholders who have lived experiences, moves us much closer to understanding and addressing equity in the Federal workplace. A la Alexis Rose4, I love that journey for us!

(1) https://dei.extension.org/

(2) https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-67

(3) Executive Order 14035. (2021, June 25). “Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce,” The White House. Available: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Rose

PTCMW News and Update - June 2021

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 14:41:37 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! I hope everyone is having a great Summer so far. I wanted to share a few updates on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

In May we had Scott Davies, Jim Austin and Mike Zickar present on potential versus fit in predicting success in jobs and career paths. They shared specific examples of how they have used fit to predict factors such as attrition, safety, and job performance. It was a very successful event and networking session with over 30 in attendance.

Earlier this month we had Sonya Stokes from Aon’s Assessment Solution discuss the trends that she and her colleagues are currenting seeing in selection and assessment. She shared insights from case studies from current clients and from Aon’s Global HR Pulse Survey. She also discussed how the past year has shaped selection and is likely to have a continued impact moving forward. Members can access the recordings of the May or June sessions in our webinar library.

Given the IPAC annual conference happening in July, we will be having our “July” event in early August. Specifically, HumRRO’s Dan Putka and Martin Yu will be presenting on some of HumRRO’s automated item generation (AIG) efforts on August 3^rd from 5-7 EDT. Specific sign-up details will be sent out in late July.

Then in late August we are planning to conduct a workshop focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. This will be a virtual workshop and the date and time is still TBD. But the format is expected to be an expert panel with a Q&A session, followed by a live interactive experience.

Blog and Resource Sharing

Yesenia Avila and her team have been busy implementing the blog/resource sharing strategy I mentioned in my last message. In June we posted a blog by Charlene Zhang, Martin Yu and Arielle Rogers on Tips for the Job Search for I/O psychologists entering the workforce. Members can access this blog at The Point.

We also just posted a blog by Scott Davies following his May event on how there is still much work to be done on improving diversity, equity and inclusion in organizations for the good of people, businesses and the communities they serve.

We are planning to continue to post at least 1-2 blogs per month. So, if you are interested in generating a blog please let us know! And if you have resources you think would be useful for the PTCMW membership, please let us know that as well. You can reach out to Yesenia (comm.ptcmw@gmail.com) or me directly (president@ptcmw.org).

Mentorship Program

Our 2021 PTCMW Mentorship Program kicked off earlier this month. We have 25 mentees and approximately 20 mentors participating in the program and it is scheduled to run through November. If you missed out this time but are interested in participating in our next session, please be on the lookout for more information in late 2021/early 2022.

IPAC Updates

The 2021 IPAC Annual Conference will be presented virtually from July 26-28. You can register here for the conference. The conference schedule is also available to see all of sessions and events taking place at this year’s conference.

IPAC is accepting nominations for the 2021 Innovations in Assessment Award through July 9, 2021! This award recognizes a person or team for the development and application of an innovative personnel assessment tool or procedure which resulted in improved effectiveness, efficiencies, or cost savings. Visit the IPAC website (here) to access additional award details and to submit a nomination form.

PTCMW Board Member Spotlight

Thank you to everyone who participated in the PTCMW Member Survey. We are still analyzing the data and will then determine what specific areas we want to focus on for improvement or expansion. However, one request that was made via the survey was to include a brief bio about PTCMW board members in the monthly messages. So, I have decided to go first, and we will then incorporate bios for other board members in the future months.

Rob Calderón – PTCMW President

I am currently a Principal I/O Researcher at the American Institutes for research (AIR; www.air.org). I actually began my career at AIR in 1997 just after I received my Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from THE Ohio State University and then continued at AIR until 2003. I then worked for Caliber/ICF, SRA/GDIT, and FMP Consulting before returning to AIR in late 2019. Most of my work over the past 20+ years has focused on job analysis and competency modeling focused on identifying skill/competency gaps (and learning and development strategies to address these gaps) as well as developing assessment/selection tools to assist in the hiring process. I have primarily supported a wide variety of federal clients, but have also done work with commercial, state, and local clients.

Outside of AIR, I am fairly active in presenting at conferences as well as leading/assisting in other thought leadership efforts. And I was also an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University early in my career where I co-taught a Master’s-level research methods course for a decade. I live in northern VA with my family and in my free time I enjoy heading to the beach, working out, attending cheer/gymnastics competitions for my daughter and rooting for the Capitals, Nationals, and Green Bay Packers (my original hometown!).

Get Involved with PTCMW – Volunteer Opportunities

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Rob Calderón, PTCMW President

president@ptcmw.org

May 2021 Webcast Blog Follow-up

Mon, 28 Jun 2021 21:50:23 GMT

Author: Scott Davies

Friends, colleagues, and fellow professionals, I was honored when asked to write a blog for PTCMW that followed my May 2021 meeting presentation about Job Fit and Job Potential with Drs. Austin and Zickar. These are critical topics of great importance to our research and applied work, and I set about writing this follow-up blog to emphasize the points made in our webinar.

Then I began getting feedback on the May meeting webinar; feedback that was positive regarding our work on the main topics of the presentation (i.e., job fit and potential), but mostly focused on my opening statements about how it is our duty - a social imperative as IO psychologists, HR professionals, and psychometricians - to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in organizations for the good of people, businesses, and the communities they serve. Those who provided feedback emphasized that the most important message within our presentation was not about the more narrowly defined topics from our presentation title, it was about how there is a great and pressing need and opportunity for us all to pitch in and help with recovery from the catastrophes of social injustice that were clearly brought into focus by the COVID19 pandemic.

The Challenge

The challenge for our field to provide useful assistance in solving the current issues is that we are a scientific, data driven, quantitative discipline - that is why our audiences trust what we provide - but the issues of fairness, diversity, and inclusion are more than the numbers, rules, and laws that we tend to rely upon for guidance and evaluation. Not that numbers, rules, and laws are bad, but we must be willing to look beyond these to the zeitgeist of the issues. For most of us, therein lies the difficult part of providing assistance to current social issues, and I believe that is why we have struggled with changing DEI for most of our 125 year history as a discipline.

Focusing on numbers, rules and laws often gives us escape routes from doing what is “right” in the larger sense of the word. For example, the 4/5th’s rule is a standard that can be achieved without meaningfully improving diversity and/or inclusion. If this were not true, I would have no reason to write this blog – the 4/5th’s rule has been followed by most employers for over 40 years and if it worked as intended, there would not be a problem with DEI in this country. Likewise, correcting significant levels of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) can be avoided without actually using fair and unbiased items – if and when the user decides that they are not interested in avoiding DIF, but basically hiding it behind complex scoring and scaling algorithms. In other words, for every rule that is given, there are multiple paths around actually meeting the spirit in which that rule was written.

If we allow ourselves to go there, we see this every day in (nearly?) all of the organizations with which we do business. When was the last time that you did business with a firm of any sort, viewed their marketing, or read about their financial or other outcomes, and felt positive that they were honestly improving DEI? Do we see any organizations making decisions at individual, group, and organizational levels that are actually fair and considerate to their diversity of members and stakeholders?

One Solution

According to Sarah Todd in a 2020 Quartz article presenting results from the Center for Talent Innovation, the majority of white, straight, cisgender men with white-collar jobs in the US who participated in their survey say they care about DEI, but lack the time to do anything about it. To members of this majority group who have no time for DEI, but still hold most of the decision making power in US businesses and communities, I propose:

1. Improving diversity, inclusion, fairness, and equity is as practical of a matter, and as core to your business, as is improving execution and target financial outcomes.

2. DEI does not take extra time and effort for employees/leaders if built into the talent management, career pathing, and HR technology infrastructure.

3. Achieving points 1 and 2 is made possible through the use of modern, research-based talent management / talent marketplace systems designed to involve diverse subject matter experts, provide fair and unbiased psychometric measures, and align talent functions to predictive models that guide evaluation and continuous improvement of DEI from entry level through the C-suite while improving business execution and outcomes, without devoting additional time and resources above those typically required by talent solutions.

Issue of Job Fit and Job Potential

At a fairly micro level - which is often where we find ourselves focusing - job fit and job potential, the differences between them, how they are measured, predicted, utilized and evaluated, are important. We have found that potential is a more robust lever to changing long-term DEI than is job fit. Measuring and predicting job fit tends to be a way to perpetuate status quo, while measuring and predicting job potential allows for change, but certainly doesn’t ensure change any more than will another 4/5th’s rule or new approach to DIF. My point here is that as psychologists, we need to be cautious, because we can easily fool our audiences into believing we have uncovered a silver bullet for improving DEI when what we have actually done is a relabeling task.

As IO psychologists and HR professionals, we are in the unique position of helping fix the wrongs of the past several hundred years regarding DEI. We have the knowledge, power, and audiences necessary to cause positive changes for people, businesses, and communities. I hope this post helps inspire those within our ranks to either lead, follow, or get out of the way of these changes for good at this time in which they are possible.

Dr. Scott Davies is CEO of PointLeader Predictive Analytics, Inc., and architect/Chief Scientist behind the PointLeader Talent Management System, which is used by many organizations across industries to increase DEI and improve business execution and outcomes, without devoting additional time and resources. Connect with Scott on LinkedIn and learn more about his work at pointleader.us.

You’re Almost There: Tips for the Job Search

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 19:04:11 GMT

You’re Almost There: Tips for the Job Search

Authors: Charlene Zhang, Martin Yu, Arielle Rogers

What do you want to be when you grow up? Did you always want to be an I/O psychologist? Or did you originally want to be an astronaut and recently decide that I/O psychology was more interesting? Whatever your story is, the job search is a common struggle that brings us all together.

The transition from being a student to a member of the workforce is never easy. A large part of the preparation for this role shift surrounds the job search process. We provide a number of tips from experience that might help you navigate the process.

1.    Have a clear understanding of your strengths as a potential new hire.

Just because your expertise is in bricklaying doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to jobs for laying bricks. Your strengths are transferable, and stones, rocks, and even eggs need to be laid too.

Your strengths could be substantive I/O topics that you have focused on in your graduate school career. For example, if your main area of research is leadership competency, you may be a great fit for a role that specializes in leadership assessment. However, a lot of us studied hyper-specific constructs or methods that may not be directly relevant or applicable to many jobs. That is okay! Instead, you can think about skillsets or experiences that might set you apart. Have you logged a lot of hours conducting subject matter expert workshops? Do you pride yourself on your presentation and communication skills? Are you used to working with large and messy datasets? Do you have expertise in big data methods like machine learning and natural language processing? Any of these can be capitalized as your primary strength as you enter the job market.

2.    Be explicit about what you are looking for but keep your options open.

Maybe your dream job isn’t hiring at the moment. It isn’t every day that a company hires an I/O psychologist astronaut for their lunar office.

It is natural to start the job hunting process having an idea of your dream job, whether it be the industry (e.g., internal vs. external), the nature of the role (e.g., client-facing vs. product development), or even specific companies. Although it makes sense to focus the majority of your energy on pursuing the role you have in mind, do not completely close the door to other opportunities. Sometimes just an interview can open your eyes to a corner of the industry or pique your interest in work that you were not aware of before.

3.    Make networking fun.

Your network and support group should be able to provide more personal advice than three strangers on the internet can provide. If you can dream just send a wish out, and when you need them, they’ll be there!

The importance of networking is reiterated on any list of job search-related tips. However, networking does not have to equate to the intimidating image of walking into a room full of professionally dressed strangers and trying to infiltrate the circle. It can be joining a mentorship program like the one organized by PTCMW that pairs you up with someone who has knowledge or experience that could be informative to you. It can also be reaching out to your own network and getting back in touch with old classmates, internship managers, connections of friends, etc. It is also important to remember that networking is ultimately about building relationships. That means that those difficult and awkward inquiries about job openings or requests of a referral will come much more easily and naturally once a relationship has been established. Be curious and show genuine interest in others’ work and experiences.

4.    Set yourself up for success early.

Stick your foot into as many doors as you can. If you stub your toe, take it as a learning experience and try a different door.

For those who are still a year or two away from going on the job market, it might not be too early to start thinking about your career goals. It is not uncommon for companies to hire recent interns for full-time roles, so the last internship as a graduate student could be instrumental in shaping your career. Whereas you might be trying different things and getting to know the different facets of I/O with your earlier internships, you might decide to treat the choices of your later internships more similarly to your eventual job-hunting process. If the option is available, try to land a role that you could see as your first job and use it both to assess the fit between your skills and interests and what the role has to offer, as well as an opportunity for you to demonstrate your capabilities to the company. A great performance as an intern could be your foot in the door.

5.    Do not take rejections personally.

If it’s been a year and a company still hasn’t responded to your application, it doesn’t always mean you have been rejected. Maybe they just lost the password to their email account.

This is undoubtedly easier said than done, but it is important to keep in mind that a number of factors that are outside of your control impact whether you receive an interview or an offer. Sometimes rejections speak more to the fit between your particular skillset and the role being filled rather than your overall competitiveness as a candidate. Sometimes companies can modify the job description due to internal considerations that make you no longer qualified. Rejections or not hearing back from organizations can be disappointing, but just remember that it often is not you.

The job search can be a stressful time, but it is also a celebration of all your accomplishments to date. Take it as an opportunity to show off who you are and to reinforce the skills that you have developed. Once you have received that first job offer, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you are successful.

Ready to Start Your Search? Below are a few helpful sites that list openings for applied and academic I/O psychology jobs and internships:

PTCMW News and Update - April 2021

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 14:23:21 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! I hope everyone is having a great Spring so far. I wanted to share a few updates on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

In March we had BetterUp’s Evan Sinar, Shonna Waters, Erin Eatough, and Ali O’Malley discuss what has been learned from coaching data in the time of COVID, civil unrest, and coping. It was a very successful event and networking session with over 50 in attendance. Members can access the recording of the session in our webinar library.

Our April event is in just a few days on April 28^th from 5-6pm EDT. This will be a post-SIOP networking and meet-up event. The event is FREE but please sign up online to attend so we can have an accurate headcount. We will leverage Zoom breakout rooms to discuss our favorite SIOP Top Workplace Trends and/or other interesting learnings from the annual conference.

In May, Scott Davies, Jim Austin and Mike Zickar will be presenting on job fit. The exact date for this event is still to be determined but registration information will be sent out by mid-May.

PTCMW is continuing to provide members the option of attending our monthly programs without being charged the normal fee – in light of COVID-19. To attend the session without charge, simply email the secretary (secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com) to receive a code for registration.

Mentorship Program

Thank you to all of the 2020-21 PTCMW mentors/mentees who responded to feedback survey last month. We are using this information to continue to improve and provide a great experience for all participants. And we are currently planning the next PTCMW Mentorship Program which run from June through November of this year. More details for this next mentoring session will be coming soon.

PTCMW Member Survey

Thank you to everyone who has already provided feedback via the PTCMW Member Survey. So far, we have just over 50 responses. We plan to leave the survey open a little longer through May 2^nd, 2021. We will then begin analyzing the data and determine what specific areas we want to focus on for improvement or expansion. If you have not already completed the survey you can access it here: https://forms.gle/JEDjky2ax1VJCRLm9

Blog and Resource Sharing

If you have resources you think would be useful for the PTCMW membership, please let us know! Additionally, we are always looking for blog content. Yesenia Avila and others have been working hard on a blog/resource sharing strategy and plan to begin posting content soon. If you are interested in participating, you can reach out to Yesenia (comm.ptcmw@gmail.com) or me directly (president@ptcmw.org).

Get Involved with PTCMW – Volunteer Opportunities

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Rob Calderón, PTCMW President

president@ptcmw.org

PTCMW President's Message - February

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 13:55:44 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! It is time for my first monthly update on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

We held our February virtual panel career discussion that focused on offering career advice to students and early career professionals. We want to thank the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) I/O Psychology Graduate Program and Blacks in I/O Psychology for co-sponsoring the event; as well as our panel members Nchopia Nwokoma (O.C. Tanner), Nastasia Fong (IREX), Pat Curtin (NSF), and Jay Goodwin (ARI). With nearly 100 people in attendance, it was a tremendous success! Members can access the recording of the session in our webinar library.

Our next monthly presentation will be on Wednesday, March 24th. Evan Sinar, Erin Eatough, Ali O'Malley & Shonna Waters from BetterUp will present research from the world’s largest database of coaching outcomes, including trends on member well-being across hundreds of thousands of coaching sessions with workers since mid-March of 2020. Registration will open soon.

Mentorship Program

The PTCMW 2020-21 Mentorship Program is wrapping up this month. We will be gathering feedback from the mentors and mentees who participated in the program to help us continue to improve and provide a great experience for all participants. And we are already planning for the next cycle which will be kicking off later this year.

SIOP Conference Updates

The 36^th Annual SIOP Conference will be all virtual this year, beginning in mid-March and extending through early May. Events such as the Master’s Consortium, Doctoral Consortium, Early Career Faculty Consortium, and Preconference Workshops will begin in mid-March and the fact that all of these events are 100% virtual this year will allow SIOP to support and engage more members from a wider array of locations. The asynchronous and synchronous sessions will then begin in April with the asynchronous sessions being available through early-May. Registration for both the SIOP conference and the pre-conference workshops is now open https://www.siop.org/Annual-Conference

Blog and Resource Sharing

If you have resources you think would be useful for the PTCMW membership, please let us know! Additionally, we are always looking for blog content. If you are interested in participating, you can reach out to me directly (president.ptcmw@gmail.com).

Get Involved with PTCMW – Volunteer Opportunities

If you are looking to get involved with PTCMW, we have many volunteer positions available – including:

Technology Support: This focuses on managing any virtual event – from managing registrations and communications to overseeing the technology aspects of the live events.
Monthly Session Planning: This focuses on identifying topics and speakers and coordinating upcoming events.
Graduate Student Consulting Challenge Support: This focuses on planning and coordinating the event this year, as well as kickstarting planning for next year.
Blog Support: This focuses on identifying content and contributors for the blog; we are always on the lookout for additional items that will be exciting and useful to our membership.
Community Organization Liaison Support: This focuses on growing PTCMWs connection with and support of other sister IO organizations in the DMV area.
Graduate Student Liaison Support: This focuses on maintaining and expanding our connections with local graduate student programs.

Please reach out and let us know if you are interested. You can email us at secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com or president.ptcmw@gmail.com!

PTCMW Member Survey – Coming Soon!

We will be distributing a survey soon to PTCMW members to gather input on their PTCMW experience. We will be asking about the value our members are getting from PTCMW as well as potential areas for improvement or expansion. So please provide your input once you receive the survey.

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Rob Calderón, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

Final 2020 PTCMW Update

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 14:52:17 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends.

It is official; today is the last day of 2020! Before we bid this year adieu, here is a final update from the 2020 PTCMW Board.

Awards and Recognition

The November virtual Fall Event (hosted on November 18) provided an opportunity for PTCMW to announce our final awards for the year: the PTCMW Service Award winner and the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge winners.

The Service Award is presented to recognize individuals for their service to PTCMW, and we are honored to name Gonzalo Ferro, Ph.D. as the 2020 recipient. Dr. Ferro has over 18 years of research and applied experience, has been a PTCMW member for nearly 20 years, and served as a PTCMW elected Board Member for 7 years. Additionally, Dr. Ferro assisted in establishing the PTCMW Fall Event, as well as the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge. Congratulations, Dr. Ferro!

The 2020 Graduate Student Consulting Challenge (sponsored by Amazon) was a great success! Students were presented with a request for proposal (RFP) that outlined a real organizational challenge. Teams then worked together to develop a written response, as well as an oral presentation, that was evaluated by expert I-O judges. And the winners are:

The first-place team included: Dhanisha Nandigama, Jinah Rhee, Chelsea Riccardi, Sarah Schaible, Sarah Sultzer, Nianqi Wu
The second-place team included: Jessie Cannon, Taylor Dotson, Andrea Garry, Heekyung Kim, Joe Meyer
The third-place team included: Julia Baines, Alec Campbell, MaryJo Kolze, Yoori Koo, Anastasia Lisina, Abbey Salvas

Congratulations to our winners and to all the students who participated!!

For more information about the PTCMW Service Award and Graduate Student Consulting Challenge, please visit out website: http://www.ptcmw.org/Awards and http://www.ptcmw.org/scc.

Monthly Educational Sessions

To end the year, PTCMW held two final events – one in November and one in December:

On November 18, PTCMW held the virtual Fall Event. Nathan Kuncel, Ph.D. and Paul Sackett, Ph.D. presented respectively on Using Decision Making Research and Theory to Enhance Hiring Decisions and New Developments in Stereotype Threat: Implications for High Stakes Testing.
On December 9, Doug Reynolds, Ph.D. and Stephanie Neal, M.A. presented Leadership in Context: Shifting Conditions, Changing Demands.

Both monthly presentations ended with a virtual happy hour. Members can access the slides and video recordings of our monthly events here: http://www.ptcmw.org/webcasts.

Hope to see you at our next event!

2021 PTCMW Board Members – Welcome!

The election process for the 2021 PTCMW Officers concluded; the new Board Members have been identified. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming:

2021 Recorder: Kira Foley
2021 Secretary: Arielle Rogers
2021 Treasurer: Richard Evitts
2021 VP for Programs: Mike Litano
2021 President-Elect: Marni Falcone

These professionals will join 2021 PTCMW President Robert Calderón and myself next year!

2020 PTCMW Board Members and Volunteers – Thank you!

As an outgoing act, I would like to thank the 2020 PTCMW Board and Volunteers. This year, PTCMW was able to provide our membership with a full set of offerings, including eight (8) recorded monthly events (two of which were the virtual Fall Event and a workshop), the restart of the Mentorship Program, the annual career panel with UMBC, and the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge.

In short, PTCMW worked hard to ensure our members were able to connect, share, and grow throughout the entire year. Please join me in thanking:

Past President: Lorin Mueller
President-Elect: Robert Calderón
Vice President: Angela Lee
Secretary: Katelyn McCoy
Treasurer: James Wilcox
Recorder and Mentoring Program Coordinator: Leah Ellison
Webmaster and Graduate Student Consulting Challenge Coordinator: Jenna Eagleson
Newsletter/Blog Editor: Yesenia Avila
Calendar Chair: Kira Foley
Technology Chair: Tessa Riley

Although PTCMW cannot wait to see you again in person, we will look for you on one of our upcoming virtual offerings.

It was my honor to serve as your president in 2020; until next year!

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, 2020 PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

PTCMW President’s Message - October 2020

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 22:13:26 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! It is time for another monthly update on the PTCMW operations.

SIOP Call for Reviewers - DEADLINE IS TODAY

On behalf of the SIOP conference committee, please consider signing up to serve as a reviewer. SIOP has received over 1000 submissions and are in need of additional reviewers to ensure a high-quality program.

All SIOP Fellows, Members, Associates, International Affiliates, and retired members who are up-to-date with their dues are eligible to serve as reviewers. Student Affiliates are also eligible to be reviewers if they have defended their dissertation proposal and have presented at a prior SIOP conference as a first author.

Please click here to sign up to review submissions for the conference.

Monthly Educational Sessions

For October, PTCMW and Amazon is hosting the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge!! Participating students will be engaged in challenge activities from Thursday, October 22^nd to Monday, October 26^th. Good luck to everyone! Winners will be announced during our November event.

Join us for this year’s modified ‘Fall Event’ – on November 18 (the event announcement will be up on the website soon)! We will kick off the event with award announcements – for the PTCMW Service Award and the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge winners. Then, Drs. Nathan Kuncel and Paul Sackett will present respectively on Using Decision Making Research and Theory to Enhance Hiring Decisions and New Developments in Stereotype Threat: Implications for High Stakes Testing. After the formal presentations, we will end the event with a virtual happy hour! Please join us.

Get Involved with PTCMW – Open Board Positions and Volunteer Opportunities

Interested in joining PTCMW? The following 2021 PTCMW Board positions are open for nominations:

President Elect
Vice President for Programs
Secretary
Treasurer
Recorder

If you are interested, or would like to nominate a colleague, please email us at pastpres.ptcmw@gmail.com.

If you are interested in volunteering instead, we have many volunteer positions available – including:

Technology Support: This focuses on helping with managing any virtual event – from managing registrations and communications to overseeing the technology aspects of the live events.
Monthly Session Planning: This focuses on identifying topics and speakers, and coordinating upcoming events.
Website Support: This focuses on managing and improving the website content and format.
Blog Support: This focuses on identifying content and contributors for the blog; we are always on the lookout for additional items that will be exciting and useful to our membership.
Community Organization Liaison Support: This focuses on growing PTCMW's connection with and support of other sister IO organizations in the DMV area.
Graduate Student Liaison Support: This focuses on maintaining and expanding our connections with local graduate student programs.

Please reach out and let us know if you are interested; email us at secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com!

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

PTCMW President’s Message - September 2020

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 21:59:18 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends! It is time for another monthly update on the PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

September’s workshop was held on September 23^rd. Titled “Job Analysis in the Virtual World: Maintaining Engagement with SMEs and Clients”, Alexis Avery (CBP), Marni Falcone (FMP Consulting), Josh Isaacson (KPMG LLP), and Peter Seely (CDC) provided attendees with a great session and actionable takeaways! Thank you to all who attended; members can access the recording in our webinar library.

For October, PTCMW is focused on the Graduate Student Consulting Challenge. We will be back with a presentation event on November 18! Drs. Nathan Kuncel and Paul Sackett will present respectively on Using Decision Making Research and Theory to Enhance Hiring Decisions and New Developments in Stereotype Threat: Implications for High Stakes Testing. More to come!

In Other News

On September 28, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a press release regarding their enforcement of the President’s new Executive Order: EO 13950. The EO was issued to “promote economy and efficiency in Federal contracting to promote unity in the Federal workforce, and to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating.”

Contractors should review the EO, as it can impact existing or planned training programs.

Get Involved with PTCMW

If you are looking to get involved with PTCMW, we have many volunteer positions available – including:

Technology Support: This focuses on helping with managing any virtual event – from managing registrations and communications to overseeing the technology aspects of the live events (as well as post-even activities).
Monthly Session Planning: This focuses on identifying topics and speakers, and coordinating upcoming events.
Website Support: This focuses on managing and improving the website content and format.
Blog Support: This focuses on identifying content and contributors for the blog; we are always on the lookout for additional items that will be exciting and useful to our membership.
Community Organization Liaison Support: This focuses on growing PTCMWs connection with and support of other sister IO organizations in the DMV area.
Graduate Student Liaison Support: This focuses on maintaining and expanding our connections with local graduate student programs.

Please reach out and let us know if you are interested!

Additionally, we will be sending out communications to identify upcoming, open 2021 PTCMW Board positions. Please be on the lookout for that information and think of nominating yourself or someone else!

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

PTCMW President’s Message - August 2020

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 23:34:27 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends!

2020 Bemis Award Announcement

It is with great pleasure that we announce this year’s Stephen E. Bemis award winner: Dr. Mike Aamodt!

Presented at the 2020 IPAC Conference in July, the Stephen E. Bemis award is presented to an individual in our profession who is:

An accomplished personnel measurement practitioner, recognized for their ongoing commitment to the principles of merit and fairness;
A professional who has made an impact in the field by their practical contribution(s) that have either resulted in an improved or new procedure; and
A concerned individual who is recognized for their commitment to assisting, being available, and freely calling on fellow practitioners.

See more on the award criteria here. Co-nominated by both PTCMW and IPAC, Mike is a well-deserved recipient of this award! Please join us in congratulating him.

2020 SIOP Fellows and Award Winners

As you may already know, many members of the PTCMW community were honored by SIOP this year at the 2020 Conference – as award winners and as new SIOP Fellows.

It is our honor to highlight this recognition of professionals in our community; see the list of the award winners and SIOP fellows here.

Additionally, SIOP announced their Anti-Racism Grant Winners.

Please join us in congratulating everyone!

Monthly Educational Sessions

This month’s session (cast on August 12^th) was with Dr. Shane Pittman (HumRRO) – titled “Implicit Bias – What it is, How it Interferes in Assessment Evaluations, and Steps to Manage it in Assessors”. Thank you to everyone who was able to join. Members can access the recording in our webinar library.

Join us next month (September 23^rd) for our workshop “Job Analysis in the Virtual World: Maintaining Engagement with SMEs and Clients“ led by Alexis Avery (CBP), Marni Falcone (FMP Consulting), Josh Isaacson (KPMG LLP), and Peter Seely (CDC). By registering for the workshop, you will have access to two 2-hour sessions:

Session 1 (10am – 12pm): Fundamentals of job analysis including similarities and differences between job analysis and competency modeling
Session 2 (1pm – 3pm): Best practices for engaging SMEs in our new virtual COVID-19 environment – even with kids and pets in the background

Registration just opened this week on the events page!

Other PTCMW Items

Graduate Student Consulting Challenge

Amazon is the 2020 Graduate Student Consulting Challenge sponsor!

Together, PTCMW and Amazon will host the annual event October 22-26. Please check out the website for more information (here). As we get closer to the event, we will share additional details.

2020 PTCMW Service Award Nominations

PTCMW is now accepting nominations for the 2020 Service Award. Individuals nominated for this award should emulate and provide support for the tenets on which PTCMW was founded. The award is given to individuals who have volunteered significant time to further the goals of PTCMW as a member of PTCMW, and the award will be presented during the PTCMW’s annual Fall Event (which will be virtual this year).

The deadline for receiving nominations is September 23. Please check out the website for more information on how the nomination process (here).

Job Listings

Lastly, the PTCMW job listing page (here) provides our professional community with access to available job opportunities. Please consider reaching out if your organization has a listing to include on our site.

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

PTCMW President’s Message - July 2020

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 23:31:41 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends!

I am reaching out to provide another update on PTCMW operations.

Monthly Educational Sessions

This month’s session (cast on July 15th) was with Dr. Ivan Hernandez (Virginia Tech). Titled “Applying Social Media to Study I-O Constructs”, this talk provided many examples of how to use social media to develop new insights into work-related constructs. Thank you to everyone who was able to join! If you were unable to attend, members can access the slides and recording in our webinar library.

Join us next month (August 12^th) to hear a presentation about implicit bias and rater training by Dr. Shane Pittman (HumRRO). Registration will open soon on the events page; please be on the lookout!

Community News

See below for upcoming events and noteworthy accomplishments!

IPAC 2020 Virtual Conference

The International Personnel Assessment Council (IPAC) is holding a virtual conference this year – and it is next week!

On Monday, June 20, there will be a Student and Early Career Consortium. Tuesday, June 21, the conference will continue with a program that highlights three speakers: Dr. Christina Norris-Watts, Dr. Liberty Munson, and Dr. Charles Handler.

SIOP Anti-Racism Grant

Last month, the SIOP foundation began collecting contributions for its new Anti-Racism Grant!

Now, the submission site for proposals is open; it will close at 5 p.m. ET Monday, July 27.

The grant funding pool for this first round of Anti-Racism Grants is $50,000. SIOP intends to fully fund as many top-rated proposals as possible. Potential proposers are encouraged to attend a Zoom session at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, July 22.

The 2020 Top Workplaces in the Washington-Area

In June, the Washington Post announced the top 200 best places to work in the Washington, DC area according to its seventh annual Top Workplaces survey. The full list, and profiles of some of the winners, will be featured in a special Top Workplaces magazine on October 14^th; an awards ceremony will be held in October.

Congratulations to our PTCMW members and partner organizations: Capital One, Fannie Mae, FMP Consulting, Fors Marsh Group, FTI Consulting, HumRRO, Industry Dive, and PDRI. If we missed your organization on the list, let us know! See the full list of organizations here.

Mentorship Program

The PTCMW 2020 Mentorship Program is accepting applications through the end of the month. We have had a great response from mentees and would love additional PTCMW members to participate as mentors. Please consider this opportunity to give back to the PTCMW community, especially during these challenging times!

The program is slated to run September 2020 through February 2021, and is intended to connect individuals and provide a semi-structured format to facilitate networking, discussions, and learning.

See our website for more information!

This program is currently limited to PTCMW members. We understand that this is a trying time and many are limited in funding for professional development activities. Therefore, we are offering graduate students and early career folks the option of becoming PTCMW members (or retaining membership) without being charged the normal fee through the end of 2020. To inquire more about this, simply email the secretary (secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com).

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

2019-2020 PTCMW Budget Report

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 22:26:45 GMT

Please see the attached document for the latest update on PTCMW's Budget: 2019-2020 Budget Report.pdf

Upcoming Webinar: I/O Community Call Series Addressing Systemic Issues in Law Enforcement Workplaces

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:46:23 GMT

PTCMW invites you to join, Blacks in I/O’s upcoming webinar, I/O Community Call Series Addressing Systemic Issues in Law Enforcement Workplaces.

Please visit their website to learn more and below to register for the webinar.

Monday June 29 at 5:30-7pm EDT
Eventbrite link to RSVP, see additional information & guest speakers.
The zoom link will be sent once folks RSVP through Eventbrite.

Sharing Resources II

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:25:09 GMT

Hello everyone!

We hope you found the first blog (link) helpful as we continue to navigate these times. Below are additional resources collected for our PTCMW members and friends. If you have a resources or articles you think would be helpful, please email PTCMW newsletter editor (newsletter.ptcmw@gmail.com) so we can publish it on the next post.

EEOC

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated their technical guidance on May 5, 2020. They included questions and answers related to COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act and other EEO Laws. The agency noted these laws still apply during the pandemic but employers should follow guidance from public health authorities as the pandemic evolves. Finally, the agency included additional information (link) on race discrimination and harassment toward employees of Asian Americans and people of Asian descent. For more information, please visit the EEOC’s site here.

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review recently published an article on the importance of team agility in the time of COVID-19. Please click thislink to read the article.

Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

As a reminder from our first post, SIOP has been providing I-Os many resources to help navigate ‘working through COVID-19’. Check out some of the research and resources that have been compiled related to remote work, motivation and engagement, work-life balance, organizational agility, worker well-being, and more. Use this link to read further.

Association for Psychological Science

The APS President, Lisa Feldman Barrett, wrote an article: Mind, Body, Illness: Amidst Pandemic, Opportunities for Discovery. She discussed respiratory illnesses and posed a question if they are physical or psychological illnesses? For those of you interested, click here to read further.

APS also posted an article that provides tips and recommendations for graduate students for maintaining productivity. They include day to day tips such as making a schedule and following it to long term by acquiring new skills during downtime. Those interested can click this link to read further.

PTCMW President’s Message - June 2020

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 19:04:51 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends!

I am reaching out to provide another update on PTCMW operations.

Networking and Connectivity with Membership

A priority this year is to support networking and connectivity opportunities for the membership. One way we are doing this is through highlighting upcoming events for our members and establishing opportunities to communicate with one another - like those listed below.

Blacks in I/O

Blacks in I/O, a professional networking and learning association for Black I/O psychologists, started a community call series in response to COVID -19. The community calls include field experts who participate in open discussion and offer advice on how I-O psychologists can respond to COVID. In wake of the current crisis in the black community, they are organizing another call surrounding racism while policing and what I-O psychologists can do to help. During the 1.5 hour call, they plan to facilitate a discussion with police personnel and I-O experts and then break out into groups to brainstorm actionable strategies/solutions (e.g., restructuring selection procedures, improving law enforcement culture) to this problem. If you are interested in participating, please reach out directly via email. You can also visit their website for more information: http://blacksiniopsych.com/.

Blog Discussion and Sharing

PTCMW set up a blog to encourage discussion on engaging PTCMW members in fighting racial discrimination and inequality. Our hope is that this thread encourages our members to share and access relevant resources, connect with others, and collaborate on this topic. PTCMW will continue to identify and share resources with the membership through this venue, as well as others.

SIOP Sessions

Thank you for responding to our SIOP request; PTCMW members who submitted information on their 2020 Virtual SIOP Conference sessions are posted on our website. We encourage you to check out your colleagues’ sessions next week at the conference!

Mentorship Program

PTCMW is kicking off our 2020 Mentorship Program! The program is slated to run September 2020 through February 2021, and is intended to connect individuals and provide a semi-structured format to facilitate networking, discussions, and learning.

If you are interested in participating, please complete a sign-up form – as either a mentee or a mentor. More information about this program, and the sign-up forms, can be found on our website. We will have an informational session (TBD) to provide additional information and resources, and to answer any questions you may have. More to come on this front!

Monthly Educational Sessions

We held our first, completely virtual monthly presentation in May – where Steve Stark (USF) and Chris Nye (Michigan State) presented on applying adaptive testing to personality and interest inventories. Thank you for participating! With approximately 40 in attendance – it was a great success! Members can access the recording of this session in our webinar library.

Our next monthly presentation will be on July 15th. Dr. Ivan Hernandez (Va Tech) will give a talk titled: “Applying social media to study I-O constructs”. Registration is now open on the Events Page; come join us in July!

Moving forward, we will close registration the day before our events (at 11:00PM EST). This will ensure we have all registrants signed up for our GoToWebinar in time for the session the following day. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email – to the same email you used to register. On the morning of the event, you will receive a link (unique to you) to access the webinar. Note that you will need to sign into GoToWebinar using the same email you used to register for the event.

We look forward to continuing our efforts to connect, share, and grow with you.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

PTCMW Discussion on Engaging Members in Fighting Racial Discrimination and Inequality

Thu, 04 Jun 2020 15:56:21 GMT

In the spirit of the message conveyed by the PTCMW Board Members, this thread is a placeholder to encourage our members to share and access relevant resources, connect with others, and collaborate.

The Board will be posting resources as they become available. Feel free to post your own resources, thoughts, or requests for assistance below.

Blacks in I/O is a professional networking and learning association for Black Industrial Organizational Psychologists, Practitioners, and Students. You can learn more about how to get involved and support the work they do by going to their website, here: http://blacksiniopsych.com/

The I/O Coffee House, which began as an open forum to discuss the place of I/O Psych during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, hold weekly informal discussions. This past week (6/3), the group held a meeting in conjunction with Directors of I/O Graduate Programs Internationally and Blacks in I/O to discuss what I/O can do to lead in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. This theme is likely to continue into future weekly meetings. Interested PTCMW members can email iocoffeehouse@gmail.com to express interest in joining the conversations.

PTCMW President’s Message

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:02:58 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends!

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I am reaching out to provide an update on PTCMW operations for 2020 – to highlight upcoming programs, to engage membership connectivity, and to share some useful resources (focusing on teleworking, well-being, and engagement).

Monthly Educational Sessions

As we noted in March, PTCMW is suspending in-person events for the foreseeable future. We will reconsider this approach once we can be assured it is safe to engage in these activities. Until that time, we are exploring virtual, online offerings for you.

We are excited to pick back up our monthly educational sessions in May (on Wednesday the 13^th) – with a presentation by Steve Stark (USF) and Chris Nye (Michigan State) on applying adaptive testing to personality and interest inventories. More details are coming soon! You can register for the event at this link. Additional email communications will go out related to this event in the coming days. The presentation will use GoToWebinar; we will provide attendees a list of tips and tricks to ensure a smooth and interactive experience.

In light of the Covid-19 situation, we understand that many of you may be limited in funding for professional development activities. Therefore, we are providing members and non-members the option of attending our monthly programs without being charged the normal fee. To attend the session without charge, simply email the secretary (secretary.ptcmw@gmail.com) to receive a code for registration.

Networking and Connectivity with Membership

Another goal is to support networking and connectivity opportunities for the membership. One way we are doing this is through highlighting upcoming events for our members.

Earlier in April, you received a notification that PTCMW is asking for information from PTCMW members who are participating in the 2020 Virtual SIOP Conference. Specifically, PTCMW will post information on the available sessions (as this information is finalized). Therefore, if you have a session, and are interested with sharing that information with the broader PTCMW membership, I encourage you to email me at president.ptcmw@gmail.com.

Sharing this information will allow you to be informed of the quality work PTCMW members are producing, and provide details for the Virtual Conference so that you can attend and participate.

Blog and Resource Sharing

Lastly, we are collecting resources that may be of particular interest to PTCMW members due to the Covid-19 situation – from guidance from Federal agencies, to tips from consultants and researchers, to research findings. Our goal is to compile available information into a streamlined delivery for you. The first blog on this topic is up; please check it out here.

If you have additional resources you think would be useful for the PTCMW membership, please let us know! Additionally, we are always looking for blog content. If you are interested in participating, you can reach out to me directly.

As you can see, we are continuing to invest in opportunities to expand our offerings and provide members with new and interesting ways to connect, share, and grow.

Thank you,

Emilee Tison, PTCMW President

president.ptcmw@gmail.com

Sharing Resources

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 15:27:26 GMT

Hello PTCMW Members and Friends.

We hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy!

Below are a few resources we thought would be useful to our members, especially due to work adjustments that are occurring based on the Covid-19 situation. Our goal is to collect these types of resources over time and provide to the membership as we have meaningful updates. We hope this streamlined collection and dispersion of information is useful.

EEOC

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a webinar earlier this month to answer questions regarding COVID19 and updated their pandemic guidance originally issued during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. You can click here to listen to the webinar and here for EEOC’s guidance.

OPM

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), issued guidance (link) for telework-eligible employees who have caregiving responsibilities. With many states issuing stay-at-home orders, and the number increasing, we will likely see many agencies utilizing the guidance.

SHRM

The Society for Human Resources Management (SRHM) released an article in March highlighting preparedness for organizations. You can click here for the article.

Other Resources

We have also received articles and updates from members - from HumRRO, FMP Consulting, SIOP, and our 2019 Fall Event Speaker, Steven Rogelberg! Below is a listing of these resources:

Steven Rogelberg’ s 10 Quick Tips to make remote meetings work (video)
HumRRO - Effective Virtual Management Skills for Covid-19 Teleworking
FMP Consulting - HOW FMP DOES TELEWORKING – AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR REMOTE EMPLOYEES
SIOP Resources
- Remote Work
- Employee Motivation and Engagement
- Work-Life Balance
- Organization Agility
- Worker Well-being
- Recent Press

If you identify resources you think the broader PTCMW membership would find helpful, please pass them along. You can email the president at president.ptcmw@gmail.com.

Almost One Month Telework Check-In

Wed, 08 Apr 2020 20:28:10 GMT

The Almost One Month Telework Check-in

Author: Lorin Mueller, with Gwen Fisher

Like many of you, I am on my fourth week of teleworking. The first week was a scramble – what do we need to get done now and how are we going to do it? The second week was spent cleaning up all the messes from the first week. Last week was spent peering into my cloudy crystal ball to think about how we’re going to tackle the tough stuff if we can’t have face-to-face meetings for two more months. This week it’s time for a check-in: reflecting on what is working, what’s not, and how we can make it better. I reached out to Gwen Fisher, an expert on Occupational Health Psychology, to get some tips to share with the PTCMW Community on how to stay healthy and productive under these unusual and stressful circumstances.

From Gwen:

As you set up a remote workspace, please keep some occupational health issues in mind. First, pay attention to office-related ergonomics, so that you don’t end up with a strain-related injury due to poor posture and typing positions.

Here is a free ergonomic checklist to see if you have set it up correctly: https://ehs.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WorkstationErgonomicsAssessmentChecklist.pdf

Take breaks and stretch. Here is a link with helpful information: http://rmi.prep.colostate.edu/ergonomics/stretching-and-injury-prevention/

Best practices for web conferences:

For conference calls, encourage people to join 5 at least minutes early and test the video/audio to make sure the technology is working so you don’t waste the first 5-10 minutes of the meeting doing this.
Know where the video on/off and mute on/off buttons are, and always know which is on/off. Don’t waste others’ time talking when accidentally muted, and make sure no one hears you when you flush the toilet.
If (when) you need to yell at your kids, you probably want to turn the mute button on first.
If you are only dressed from the waist up, do not stand up while on video.
If you are running the meeting, check in with everyone on the call periodically to make sure everyone is included.
Acknowledge and understand that everyone is dealing with extra stress during this time. Be as patient and as flexible as you can be.

Beyond that, here are some additional recommendations for psychologically healthy and effective telework:

Have a designated work space that is separate from where you sleep and otherwise aim to relax.
If you have family members or roommates around, try to find a space with a door and use the door (i.e., close it when you are in this space working.
Set and communicate your planned work hours to help minimize interruptions. Setting physical and psychological barriers is helpful for managing work and non-work. The more you can set reasonable expectations among those around you, the more helpful boundaries can be.
Establish a start-work and close-work routine. (Mine consists of organizing the materials I need and having a cup of tea nearby, but placed so that I won’t accidentally spill it all over my laptop… been there, done that!)
Turn off audible and visible email notifications (dings, envelopes that appear on your screen) to help minimize cognitive interruptions.
Minimize distractions from other devices.
Take breaks! During this time, change your location, take a walk, drink water, get some exercise.
Don’t eat at your workspace – take a break for snacks and meals.

For those of us who will be homeschooling our kids amidst work over the coming weeks, no doubt there will be some extra challenges! Set up a routine, stick to the schedule as much as possible, and communicate!

Those are great recommendations. Reflecting on my current situation, I could probably improve in a few key areas: ergonomics, stretching, and not yelling at the kids during web conferences. A few other things I have added to my routine:

Our leadership team has an informal weekly check-in to share information over “lunch”. It’s great to have some unstructured time to deal with odds and ends rather than have to rely on the flood of emails. It’s scheduled for an hour but we usually end it early.
Last week, I invited my team to a web conference check just to check on everyone’s mood – no work stuff. We each shared a highlight of working from home, our biggest challenge, and a shoutout to a team member who helped us out. It really seemed to lift people’s spirits.
I am repurposing all the lessons I learned from Steve Rogelberg at the Fall Event to apply to the dreaded Family Meetings, which have become may more frequent now that we’re all at home 24-7. Some truisms…
- Have food available. We have four kids, so the law of large numbers dictates that at least one of them will complain about it at any given meal. It’s always good to have something in your mouth to keep you from yelling. And beverages for proper spit-takes.
- Rather than make family meetings an hour, make them 45 minutes. You are a steward of your children’s time, and that time is apparently better spent on Fortnite.
- Frame agenda items as questions. Rather than tell your child to make sure they don’t drop anything when they take the recycling out, ask them if they know why there are six soda cans on the lawn.

I hope this has been helpful. And I hope you and everyone you care about is staying healthy in mind and body during while we do our part to get through this difficult time.

Career Pathways – Frameworks for Navigating Successful Careers in a Tumultuous Work World

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 13:20:54 GMT

Career Pathways – Frameworks for Navigating Successful Careers in a Tumultuous Work World

Author: Gary W. Carter

PDRI

There have been extraordinary changes in jobs and careers in recent years driven by rapid technological change and globalization of the economy. These changes have resulted in fundamental transformations in the skills needed to thrive in the workplace; the pace of change in skill requirements and tasks performed on jobs; how tasks are configured into jobs; how, where, when and by whom work is accomplished; and in how and through what organizational contexts services are procured. Put simply, these changes have profoundly affected careers throughout the world, with frequent job transitions and tens of millions of gig workers.

Within this context, there have been many notable efforts in both the educational and workplace contexts to help individuals gain in-demand skills, hone the ability to proactively maintain and update their skill portfolios, and successfully navigate career pathways in an increasingly tumultuous world of work. The forthcoming edited volume entitled Career Pathways: From School to Retirement (J. Hedge and G. Carter, eds., Oxford University Press, in press) brings together a host of authors representing both educational and workplace perspectives from several countries to examine how a career pathways approach can help both individuals and organizations thrive in today’s world.

As stressed by Hedge and Carter in the introductory chapter of the book:

“It is important that educational institutions focus on building workforce skills and systematically prepare students for success in the complex, messy, shifting work environment that they will face throughout their careers. It is also important for persons in the workforce to proactively manage their careers by routinely updating their knowledge and skills, seeking out experiences to help them grow in their careers, and maintaining an awareness of potential next steps on their career paths. It is important for businesses to help build a workforce that is equipped to thrive in the ever-changing world of work. Adopting a career pathways framework and approach can help guide educational institutions in teaching students competencies that will increase their employability and can also help organizations develop people strategically, build engagement, and improve retention. Creating a more holistic, data-driven perspective on career progression—for individuals, organizations, and the workforce development community—increases the likelihood that sound, equitable, and beneficial decisions will be made by all stakeholders responsible for supporting and guiding career choices and career success across the life course” (Hedge and Carter, Ch. 1).

Everything I/O Psychology Event - UMD Psychology

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 20:30:06 GMT

Hello from UMD Psychology! I wanted to invite the Personnel Testing Council to our "Everything I/O Psychology Event" we will be hosting here this coming fall. Please see details below. We will provide a lite dinner and some FREE gifts to those who participate. Just register HERE. We'd like to have one or two I/O Professional Associations at this event. I know our students will greatly benefit from PTCMW's participation. Thanks and hope to hear from you.

Everything I/O Psychology Event

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

5:00 pm-7:00 pm

University of Maryland, College Park

1140 A-B Biology Psychology Building

Organizations register HERE

*Limited space available

This FREE event is an opportunity for undergraduate students to learn more about the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology inclusive of careers, graduate school, internships, professional associations/development, and research. The Event will follow a fair style format whereas student participants will have the opportunity to freely browse and navigate the different areas and organizations in attendance. We hope your organization will consider participating! Register HERE

Steve Young

Academic Advisor

SONA Administrator/Undergraduate Internship Coordinator/Instructor

University of Maryland

Department of Psychology

College Park, MD 20742

syoung17@umd.edu

Tel: 301.405.5866

PTCMW 2019 Q2 Newsletter

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 19:46:51 GMT

Good afternoon PTCMW Members and friends!

This issue of the PTCMW newsletter covers important upcoming events, news from around the industry, and provides a brief update on our recent past events, membership and financial operations.

Upcoming Events

There is still room for folks to attend the June 18^th workshop at GW, “The diversity characteristic that affects us all… eventually: A primer on contemporary EEO issues related to age.” The workshop will be conducted by Eric Dunleavy and Don Lustenburger of DCI Consulting, and Martha Hennen of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This is an incredibly important topic for the aging federal workforce, not to mention private sector employers running into hiring issues related to low levels of unemployment and encore career applicants. If you want a better understanding of how age discrimination relates to other forms of discrimination, from legal, measurement, and intervention perspectives, this is a fantastic workshop, and a great value. The workshop is only $40 for members, $50 for non-members, and now FREE for students with code: workshop2019. Register here: http://ptcmw.org/event-3418060

On July 24^th, we have an educational event at McCormick & Schmick’s in Crystal City, VA, led by Gilad Chen, PhD of the University of Maryland, entitled “The state of I-O psychology research: Where have we been and where are we going?” Dr. Chen is a recent editor of the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP), and will cover some key issues from the JAP Centennial Issue as well as important research and publication trends from recent history and the foreseeable future. This presentation is sure to be thought-provoking for those of us looking for new ways to integrate new thinking into our practice. Register here: http://ptcmw.org/event-3418082

By the way, if you’ve never attended an event at McCormick and Schmick’s, it’s a great venue for PTCMW. It’s right on the blue and yellow lines, so it’s very convenient for Metro riders. There is also free parking at 4 PM in all the underground Crystal City lots. The venue provides free appetizers and wine, and the event is during happy hour if you prefer something else. After the event, there are plenty of nearby bars and great restaurants for dinner, including right there at M&S.

We’re also planning a networking happy hour in late July or early August. Be on the lookout – registration should open within the next few days.

We will also be making announcements soon about the Fall Event, Student Consulting Challenge, and seeking nominations for the PTCMW Service Award. So keep checking your email!

Industry News

Register now for IPAC 2019! The International Personnel Assessment Council (IPAC) conference runs from July 14-17^th in Minneapolis, MN. The theme is “MAX Assessments in MINneapolis”, which is a pretty good one if I am judging it in terms of dad humor. IPAC is always a top notch educational and networking conference for folks doing work in the private sector. More information: http://ptcmw.org/blog/7577261

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) is seeking ideas for Merit Systems Studies. If you don’t know about the MSPB’s work, it’s amazing. Their website and newsletters are incredibly informative resources for understanding how the federal hiring, evaluation, and promotion system works and much of their work can easily be applied to private sector applications. More information: http://ptcmw.org/blog/7577289

PTCMW Update

We’ve had an exciting 2019! PTCMW continues to put on thought-provoking and productive educational events, and we’ve been happy to provide networking opportunities for members and friends to get together in a professional environment.

The Point Blog. The PTCMW board is constantly reviewing our operations, event, and partnerships to better understand how we can provide better services to our members. As a first step in that process, Andrew Naber, the PTCMW Membership Committee chair, reviewed the data from our member database. The results are very interesting. You can read Andrew’s article here: http://ptcmw.org/blog/7570078

The next step in this process is to conduct a member survey to evaluate how PTCMW is doing and how we can serve you better. We will eventually use that information to conduct some strategic planning regarding the future of PTCMW. So be on the lookout for that survey! Your feedback is highly valued and if you have any thoughts about how we can serve you better, we would love to hear them!

Events. We had some terrific events in the first few months of 2019. Past President Josh Isaacson started us off with a fantastic presentation about knowing when is the right time to make a job change, and how to do it when you do. He drew on personal experience as well as getting input from other PTCMW Past Presidents. In February, UMBC and Past President Matt Fliesher hosted our Career Panel, featuring insights from Amanda Allen (Edison Electric Institute), Funda Sinani (The World Bank Group), Kayo Sady (Amazon), and Matisha Montgomery (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The event was well attended and got great reviews! In March, we went technical with Mike Aamodt discussing issues relating to the persistent wage gap, how we can better measure it, and what we as I-O psychologists can do about it. Mike always finds great ways to make the technical stuff more tangible. In April we had researchers from UVA-Darden and SHL come in to talk about leader derailment. Jasmein Khattab led the presentation with input from Mark Van Buren and Morela Hernandez. The presentation led to a rich discussion about identifying leaders at risk for derailment and what we can do about it. In May, Rich Cober (MicroStrategy), Julisara Mathew (US Dept. of State), and Allison Yost (BetterUp) discussed alternative career paths for I-O psychologists. The panel shared terrific insights on how the tools you gain through studying and working as an I-O can be utilized in a wide variety of work settings.

All of these presentations are available to members in the webcast library. Make sure you log into your PTCMW account and follow the link under “Events”. It’s a great benefit of membership to be able to revisit these presentations when you find yourself recalling their relevance!

While all of that was going on PTCMW served as a sponsor for the SIOP Conference at National Harbor. PTCMW sponsored the Newcomer Reception and made several good connections with people new to I-O psychology, many of whom will be in the DC region in the near future. We also had an ad in the conference program and hosted an unbelievably well-received hospitality suite with IPAC. Lastly, we established a number of connections with local I-O groups from other regions to exchange information on how to keep these organizations providing high levels of service to members in an ever-changing world.

Budget. Lastly, financially, PTCMW is financially well-positioned, but this year we had a number of unique expenses that have affected our net cash position in a negative direction. First and foremost, the SIOP activities represented a unique opportunity to reach out to potential new members now and in the near future, to enhance our relationship with SIOP, and to provide additional networking opportunities for our members. From what we’ve seen, that expenditure was justified. We did get a few new members, we made lots of contacts with SIOP student members, we have a few joint projects moving along with SIOP (which will be announced soon), and we received a lot of positive feedback about our networking event with IPAC.

Second, we needed to replace the PTCMW laptop and some accessories so that we could provide more reliable webcast service. If you attended a webcast in late 2018 or early 2019, you might have noticed a high rate of technical glitches. In some cases, we issued refunds as a result. We updated our equipment, and delivery method, and that seems to have addressed the problems. Special thanks goes out to Semret Yibass for her work on this issue!

We’re looking for sponsors for our educational events. So if your organization is interested in sponsoring a PTCMW educational or networking event, please let us know: president.ptcmw@gmail.com.

Cheers!

The PTCMW Board

MSPB Seeks Ideas for Merit Systems Studies

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 12:55:28 GMT

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) conducts studies of the executive branch workforce to ensure that Federal personnel management continues to be implemented consistent with the merit system principles and free from prohibited personnel practices. Most studies are drawn from a multi-year research agenda that MSPB develops after reviewing suggested topics from the public. MSPB is updating that agenda and seeks suggestions about possible topics of study.

MSPB has conducted research on many aspects of Federal workforce management, including employee recruitment and selection; fair treatment; employee development, motivation and engagement; and effective management. Recent studies have addressed topics such as preventing nepotism in the Federal civil service, training and development in the Senior Executive Service, adverse personnel actions, and how the merit system principles guide management of the Federal workforce. MSPB study publications are available at www.mspb.gov/studies.

MSPB will solicit research ideas from Federal employees and supervisors, unions and other employee groups, agency Chief Human Capital Officers, and other stakeholders during the next several weeks. We also invite the public’s participation in identifying the most important workforce management issues facing the Federal government. Anyone interested in providing input to this effort may use the feedback form available through the “Research Agenda 2020” link at www.mspb.gov under “Of Note” (the preferred method) or may email ideas to researchagenda2020@mspb.gov. All submissions received may be posted, without change, to MSPB’s website (www.mspb.gov) and may include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. There is no requirement to include any personal information with your submission.

MSPB is an independent, quasi-judicial agency that protects the merit system principles and promotes an effective Federal workforce free of prohibited personnel practices.

Contact: Vernetta Johnson

(202) 254-4517

TDD/Videophone Users:

Please Call Via Relay

Upcoming IPAC Conference

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 12:53:40 GMT

The International Personnel Assessment Council (IPAC) conference is rapidly approaching, and we are very excited to share that IPAC has been named one of the "Best Government Conferences of 2019" by GovLoop. IPAC is the leading organization of applied HR selection and assessment professionals, with members actively engaged in practice, research, and training to meet the needs of both public and private-sector organizations. Our annual conference provides a venue for thought leadership, best practices, and networking with top professionals, academics, and talent in HR, I-O Psychology, and related fields.

Practitioners and academics will be traveling from all over the world to join us in Minneapolis, Minnesota from July 14-17th. We currently have a wide range of international and domestic presenters from over 20 different organizations. Join us as we explore this year's conference theme: "MAX Assessments in MINneapolis!"

If you are interested in attending the conference in any capacity or would like additional information, please contact Lindsay McFarlane at Conference@ipacweb.org or visit our conference website. If your organization is interested in partnering with IPAC through becoming a sponsor, please reach out to Alexis Avery at sponsor@ipacweb.org.

PTCMW Membership Update

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 13:26:55 GMT

Andrew Naber has created a membership update. Please see the attached document.

PTCMW Membership Update.docx

PTCMW Monthly Presentation Series

Tue, 28 May 2019 14:55:21 GMT

Author: Emilee Tison

Come join us for our upcoming speaker series! Here is what we have on the books for the next few months:

May 29, 2019 – Panel Presentation:

Taking the Path Less Traveled: Non-Traditional I-O Roles

Richard Cober (MicroStrategy), Julisara Mathew (U.S. Department of State), and Allison Yost (BetterUp) will provide insights and experiences from their I-O careers – highlighting how the I-O skill set can be leveraged across a variety of settings, even in seemingly non-traditional roles.

Shonna Waters(BetterUp) will moderate this session.

http://www.ptcmw.org/event-3376072

June 18, 2019 - Workshop:

The diversity characteristic that affects us all ….eventually: A Primer on contemporary EEO issues related to age

Eric M. Dunleavy (DCI Consulting Group), Martha E. Hennen (U.S. Security and Exchange Commission), and Don Lustenberger (DCI Consulting Group) will review recent case law and EEO agency activity, and focus on key issues in evaluating, both legally and analytically, age-related EEO and civil rights issue.

http://www.ptcmw.org/event-3418060

July 24, 2019 - Presentation:

The state of I-O Psychology research: Where have we been, and where are we going?

Gilad Chen (University of Maryland) will summarize key milestones and trends in the I-O psychology research (based on the recent JAP Centennial Issue), discussing emerging trends and the important interplay between academic/scientific and practice/applied issues in the field.

http://www.ptcmw.org/event-3418082

PTCMW President's Message

Thu, 23 May 2019 17:06:51 GMT

Author: Lorin Mueller

The 2019 SIOP Conference at National Harbor represented a good opportunity for PTCMW to broaden our reach. PTCMW worked with SIOP to make the most of these opportunities. Below are some of the highlights of PTCMW’s activities at the conference.

In exchange for helping promote the conference locally, SIOP gave PTCMW a discount on sponsoring the Newcomer Reception. PTCMW leadership and volunteers attended the reception, passed out some leftover giveaways from previous Fall Events, and introduced ourselves to new prospective members. The PTCMW Board thought the Newcomer Reception was a good opportunity to identify new SIOP members who are local to the DC area, or soon would be. We also promoted the PTCMW webcasts to people who were not local to the DC area.
As part of the sponsorship, PTCMW got a full page ad in the program. We offered a discount to new members in the month of April. A few people have made use of this discount and presuming that they attend a few PTCMW events and maintain their membership for more than a year, the expenditure should be cost-effective, other benefits of sponsorship notwithstanding.
PTCMW leadership participated in a couple of executive sessions focused on local I/O groups. We made some good connections and shared some ideas on the topics of maintaining a leadership pipeline, getting routine maintenance activities done, identifying event speakers, and generating revenue.
As an exclamation point on the conference, PTCMW and IPAC jointly sponsored a hospitality suite for our members and a few guests. To describe it as “wildly successful” would be an understatement. Although we had some hiccups getting the room set up, the event was highly attended, and guests reported having a great time. Several people noted that it was the highlight of their conference. It was great seeing our members relax and connect after a long day of conference activities.

Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out with the conference! We expect to see the benefits of our efforts pay off in the years to come.

PTCMW Budget Overview

Sun, 14 Apr 2019 23:38:19 GMT

Author: James Wilcox

Please see the attached document for an update on PTCMW's budget: 2019 Budget Overview.docx

Advice on Explaining Your Research to Others

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 18:58:24 GMT

Author: Daniel Shore

In the Spring of 2018, I won a competition (and cash prize!) being hosted by George Mason University called the 3-Minute Thesis (3MT). The idea behind the competition, which was first held at the University of Queensland and is now annually held at over 200 universities around the world, is to push PhD students (who have successfully proposed their dissertation) to distill their entire dissertation into a succinct 3-minute pitch. The pitch must clearly and engagingly explain their work to a lay audience. The goal of the competition is to enhance presentation and communications skills for doctoral students.

As a doctoral student in an applied field such as I/O Psychology, I view it as imperative that I can communicate with those outside of the academic world about I/O research. In particular, my line of research in graduate school has focused on the “unintended consequences of employee recognition” (that’s the opening to my elevator pitch). Thinking in lay terms, my 3MT pitch based on my dissertation was framed as, “how do those working hard react when those hardly working are rewarded?”

Guided by the 3MT guidelines, my pitch had three sections. Below, I share some excerpts from the script I wrote for my presentation.

Section #1: Connect to the audience with a relatable analogy for the research concept.

“IMAGINE. You’re assigned a partner on a class project. And YOU end up doing all of the work. You submit the project with both names on it. You get an A for all the hard work you did. They get an A for all the hard work…you did. Project #2. Same partner. This time, you start by assigning tasks. And immediately, your partner starts… asking you for help on their tasks. A lot. So then you have to decide how and how much do you help. And are you willing to keep working with them on Project 3? Or 4? Or what about a 6 month project when they’re your co-worker?”

Section #2: Explain the study design.

“I examine two personality traits. One trait is how strongly you feel that that your rewards should be proportionate to the work that you put in. A second trait is how sensitive you are to fairness in team settings. I measure these with a survey at the beginning and then the fun begins. It’s a Lego building activity where a participant works with an undercover research assistant of mine. On Task 1, my assistant barely helps. After completion, rewards are given, and my assistant, gets a larger reward. Overclaiming when underperforming. In Task 2, they work separately, and my assistant asks for help. A lot of help.”

Section #3: Bring it back home with the WHY for why the research matters at all.

“In some industries such as tech, where a majority of employees are already Millenials, recent surveys have shown that over 1/3 of employees who are quitting their jobs are quitting because of…unfair treatment. So, we need to make sure that employees perceive their treatment as being fair which means becoming more aware about what practices induce these feelings and understanding how and why employees perceive fairness differently…If we want them to stop quitting their jobs.“

The full video of my 3MT pitch, if you have time for a 180-second break, can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/266941313#t=1441s

Feel free to reach out (dshore@gmu.edu) if you want to talk more about distilling your research and/or if you are interested in entering your university’s 3MT competition!

PTCMW President's Message

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 02:02:09 GMT

Author: Lorin Mueller

Hello PTCMW Members!

I am reaching out to welcome new board members and key volunteers, share some great news about PTCMW’s recent agreement with SIOP to sponsor and help promote the 2019 SIOP Annual Meeting, announce new board members and committee chairs, review 2018 highlights, and share some goals for 2019!

Welcome New Board Members

I am pleased to welcome newly elected 2019 PTCMW Officers: Recorder Semret Yibass, Secretary Angela Lee, Treasurer James Wilcox, Vice-President for Programs Emilee Tison, and President-Elect Shonna Waters. Joining this fantastic group are committee chairs and key volunteers: Andrew Naber (continuing Membership Committee Chair), Lauren Lanzo (Special Events chair), Kira Foley (Calendars chair), Cliff Haimann (continuing Blog Editor), Winnie Kirkos (incoming Webcast Producer) and Jenna Eagleson (incoming Webmaster). I want to thank these professionals for their support over the incoming year. PTCMW is lucky to have them!

We’re always looking for committee members and volunteers, so if you’re interested in helping out with a committee, event or project, please let one of us know!

Exciting Partnership with SIOP!

For several years, PTCMW and SIOP leaders have been working hard to identify ways that we can better work together to serve our members and promote our profession. We are pleased to announce that PTCMW and SIOP have reached an agreement to partner for the 2019 SIOP Annual Meeting in National Harbor, MD.

PTCMW will receive a full page ad in the conference program and sponsorship of the Newcomer Reception on Wednesday, April 3, from 5:00-6:00 PM. PTCMW leadership felt that the Newcomer Reception gave us the best opportunity to promote our organization to people who are new to I/O psychology, and in the DC region now or in the near future. If you are interested in attending the Newcomer Reception as a PTCMW representative, let us know!

In return, PTCMW is helping to promote the conference to our members.

Preconference Workshops: You might have already seen PTCMW Rob Michel’s article on the preconference workshops on The Point blog (http://ptcmw.org/blog/7142705). If not, it’s worth a read. Several PTCMW members are involved in the workshops as committee members or presenters. Having been a workshop committee member, presenter, and attendee, I can tell you they are well worth your time and money!

Special Preconference Event: SIOP is hosting an event for HR leaders at the National Press Room on Tuesday, April 2 at 5:30 PM called “Top Minds Bottom Lines”. This event will discuss how HR professionals from some of the most innovative and reputable companies in the world are using HR data to generate meaningful insights, drive action, and improve business.

An expert panel will share actual examples of the various ways their organizations (Google, Capital One, & Twitter) have applied data-based decision making and organizational science to business-relevant talent issues throughout the employee lifecycle. Tickets are $20 and include a catered networking reception and cash bar before and after the formal presentation.

Please share this event with HR leaders in your organization or broader professional network!

Sponsorship Opportunities: The SIOP conference is just seven weeks away! Let the attendees know your company is there. Support SIOP as a sponsor or exhibitor and get your company’s name in front of 5,000 IO Psychologists and HR professionals. Contact Susan Rogers, SIOP Manager, Business Development, at srogers@siop.org ASAP for details or visit http://my.siop.org/Conferences/2019-Conference/2019-Partners.

You can get an idea of what SIOP events and promotion opportunities are still available here: http://ptcmw.org/announcements/7149172.

2018 In Review

I want to thank Past-President Josh Isaacson and the members of the 2018 PTCMW Board for doing such a great job providing us with educational and networking opportunities. We’re lucky to have a deep bench of committed professionals to run an organization like this.

Last year was highlighted by another outstanding Fall Event, which was attended by over 200 professionals and 30 sponsors with PDRI as the Platinum Sponsor. In addition to the Fall Event, our 9 educational events were well attended and informative. We were pleased to honor Ilene Gast as the winner of the PTCMW Service Award (http://www.ptcmw.org/blog/7131640), and the team consisting of Sabina Diyarova, Cierra Everette, Alexander Fernandes and Jerod White took top honors at the 2018 Consulting Challenge, sponsored by Aon.

Looking Forward to 2019

The current PTCMW board is lining up a great series of events for 2019, including a strong slate of educational sessions, and some new ideas for networking events. We’re actively seeking sponsors for our events. If you or someone in your organization is interested in promoting their organization through sponsoring a PTCMW event, please reach out to us. We hope to be able to use sponsorship money to bring in some interesting speakers from outside of the DC region.

We’re also gearing up for a member survey to learn how we can better serve our members in the future. Your feedback is important – we really do listen! We’re hoping to use the information from the member survey to undertake a strategic planning process in the latter half of the year. If you have thoughts or suggestions on how PTCMW can continue to provide an excellent level of service to our members, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

And if you have some colleagues who aren’t involved in PTCMW, send them our way. Our educational sessions and networking events are fantastic places to meet new people and share ideas.

Thanks,

Lorin

President.ptcmw@gmail.com

SIOP 2019 Preconference Workshops

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 17:33:15 GMT

Author: Rob Michel

The Annual SIOP Conference is taking place right in our backyard this year (for most PTCMW members, anyway), which presents a unique opportunity to take advantage of SIOP’s preconference workshops. The workshops occur on Wednesday, April 3, the day before the conference begins, and provide an intimate setting to learn from some of SIOP’s leading experts. Each workshop is 3.5 hours, with both a morning and an afternoon session, allowing participants to attend two different workshops. If you cannot afford a full day out of the office, there is also a half-day option that allows you to attend a single workshop in either the morning or the afternoon. This year’s list of workshops includes several topics of particular interest to PTCMW members, including new approaches to pre-hire assessment, validation 201, structured interviews, contemporary EEO developments, and many others. The full list, including detailed descriptions of each workshop and presenter bios, can be accessed on SIOP’s website by clicking here.

In addition to learning from some of SIOP’s leading authorities on cutting-edge topics, the workshops offer an opportunity to interact with colleagues who share similar interests and are facing many of the same challenges. And the networking extends beyond the workshops themselves, with a sit-down lunch in between the morning and afternoon sessions (full-day participants only) and an evening workshop reception, considered one of SIOP’s premiere social events.

Registration for the workshops is done via the online conference registration process. If you have already registered for the conference, it is easy to go back in and modify your registration by adding the workshops. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity!

Winner of the 2018 PTCMW Service Award: Ilene Gast, PhD

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 15:25:03 GMT

Author: Lorin Mueller

The Personnel Testing Council Metro Washington (PTCMW) is pleased to honor Dr. Ilene Gast as the winner of the 2018 PTCMW Service Award. The award is given to members who have volunteered significant time to further the goals of PTCMW, and the winner is selected by a vote among the past presidents of PTCMW.

Dr. Gast has a long history of serving as a PTCMW board member, presenter, and perhaps most notably served as the organization’s President in 1987. She was nominated by Martha Hennen and Kathlea Vaughn. From her letter of nomination:

“Ilene Gast is a true reflection of the scientist‐practitioner. She has demonstrated her commitment to the I/O profession through her education, career pursuits, and her active professional membership in PTCMW, SIOP, APA, and IPAC. Ilene currently serves as an Emeritus Personnel Research Psychologist providing expert consultation on employee selection and survey design projects with Millefiori Associates. Ilene retired from her long tenure as a Senior Personnel Research Psychologist at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where she spent the bulk of her long and fruitful career. Ilene’s work at the U.S. CBP pioneered efforts to embrace authentic assessment, including in‐basket and computerized assessment, in the federal government. Dr. Gast was part of the CBP team supporting the design of logic based measurement (LBM) for purposes of employee selection and promotion. She spent the bulk of her time with CBP working on promotional exams for supervisors, managers, and executives. Ilene earned her doctoral degree from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from American University.”

In her acceptance, Dr. Gast noted “how thrilled I am to be honored by PTC — being especially grateful to those who nominated me, and to my esteemed colleagues who made it possible for me to be selected. I’ll also touch on how important PTC was to my own development—participating on committees and taking various roles on the board was some of the best leadership training that I received during my career. PTC also provides a means for members to remain current, to exchange information and ideas with others, and to receive mentoring and mentor others.”

Past recipients of the Service Award include Lance Saberhagen, Ted Hayes, Ted Rosen, and Dan Putka. The following is a link to PTCMW’s awards page: http://www.ptcmw.org/Awards

Research on Employee Wellness, Telework, and Team Effectiveness

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 13:54:38 GMT

Author: Seth Kaplan

I am an associate professor of IO psychology at George Mason. I have a few different streams of research. Here are brief descriptions of my research in these areas.

Improving Employee Wellness

My main program of research focuses on improving wellness at work. Colleagues (including many graduate students) and I have completed various projects trying to enhance wellness. One strategy involves developing and evaluating workplace positive psychology exercises. In this research, we use experimental designs to evaluate the effectiveness of simple activities that can facilitate the everyday thoughts and behaviors that ultimately lead to greater well-being. These activities include: maintaining a workplace gratitude log, changing social interaction patterns (e.g., fostering new workplace social ties, reducing workplace interruptions), and “job crafting” by making small tweaks to one’s job and how to perform it. In a series of studies, we have found that these activities can lead to better work-related mood. Interestingly, though, the activities do not seem to translate into higher ratings of job satisfaction. We suspect this is because the activities impact the everyday experience of working, but job satisfaction measures more so capture overall evaluations of the job.

A second strategy we have begun to purse entails highlighting inaccuracies in predictions about reactions to different work events. Thus, for example, we may overestimate the disappointment we will feel from failing in a challenging work task but undervalue the experience of having tried the task at all. Following from these ideas, we are developing ways to make people aware of these discrepancies and, in turn, to change their corresponding thoughts and behaviors.

Improving the Implementation of Telework Programs

Another area in which I do research – and a potential way to improve well-being - is by improving the implementation of telework initiatives. Although the majority of large U.S. organizations offer formal telework programs and most jobs are amenable to at least some amount of teleworking, most employees telework very little, if at all⁽¹⁾. Thus, a paradox seems to exist wherein organizations offer telework programs but employees cannot utilize them. If nothing else, this situation has the potential to create unrealistic and unmet expectations. Using various methodologies, colleagues and I have found that direct supervisors are the “bottleneck” who do not assent to their direct reports’ requests to telework. Moreover, we found that supervisors’ views about particular employee’s conscientiousness drive these decisions. Other factors (e.g., the availability of technology allowing for enhanced virtual contact) matter much less than do these interpersonal attributions.

In other studies, students and I have examined whether telework actually does translate into the presumed gains in well-being and performance. Using a within-person design, we showed that employees exhibit higher objective performance on days they are teleworking than when working in the office. We also have demonstrated that whether or not people experience better moods while teleworking depends on their personality. Thus, teleworking appears not to be universally beneficial for well-being.

Enhancing Teamwork in High Reliability or Extreme Contexts

My other main research stream focuses on enhancing team effectiveness in high reliability and extreme contexts. Through this work, my colleagues and I seek to understand fundamental team phenomena and to make practical improvements for these specific teams/contexts. Colleagues and I have studied various different kinds of teams/settings, including nuclear power plant control room crews, trauma teams, cockpit crews, mine rescue crews, and surgery teams. Most of our work has centered on team communication, in particular. Repeatedly, this work has demonstrated that the pattern of communication, not the amount of communication, relates to team outcomes/ effectiveness. For instance, we have shown that, during non-routine events, teams are more effective if they hold frequent, brief, unplanned meetings versus, longer planning meetings at regular intervals.

Also, colleagues and I recently have explored strategies for enhancing surgical team effectiveness by considering the composition of the team. A few studies in the surgical domain have shown that teams composed of more familiar members (those who have worked together more frequently in the past) tend to be more effective than less familiar teams. We extended this work by examining for which particular pair of team members familiarity is most important (e.g., familiarity between the surgeon and the scrub versus familiarity between the surgeon and the anesthesiologist). Our findings showed that the pair that is most important in terms of surgery length and patient length of hospital stay differed across procedures and healthcare systems. Thus, recommendations to hospital administrators need to be nuanced – apparently depending on contextual factors.

My graduate students and I always are looking for collaborations and for ways to use this research to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness. . . so please feel free to reach out to me at skaplan1@gmu.edu.

Thanks for reading!

⁽¹⁾ WorldatWork. (2015). Survey on workplace flexibility. Retrieved from WorldatWork website

Sample Articles on these Topics

Kaplan, S. Bradley-Geist, J., Ahmad, A., Anderson, A., Hargrove, A., & Lindsay, A.

(2014). A test of two positive psychology interventions to increase employee well-being. Journal of Business and Psychology, 29, 367-380.

Kaplan, S., Engelsted, J., Lei, X. & Lockwood, K. (2018). Unpackaging manager

mistrust in allowing telework: Comparing and integrating theoretical perspectives. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33, 365-382.

Stachowski, A. 1, Kaplan, S.A.1, & Waller, M.J. (2009). The benefits of flexible team

interaction during crises. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1536-1543.

These and other articles can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seth_Kaplan

An I-O Psychologist at Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences

Mon, 26 Nov 2018 21:09:36 GMT

Author: Erica Young, University of Maryland - Baltimore County

As a working professional, you know it can be difficult to dedicate non-working (and working) time to your personal and professional growth. Commitments, limited time, or money hold us back from taking the opportunity to focus on our growth and the growth of I-O psychology.

However, opportunities do exist. One of the most prestigious and well-known of those opportunities is the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences (CASBS).

Since 1954, CASBS has been hosting a cohort of 40 fellows per year at the center, where they have no departmental or teaching commitments. Instead, they are given a study, each other, and the creative space to further their professional goals.

Most of the fellows came to the center at crucial moments in their career (after applying and being accepted) and used their time at the center to write books, complete research, and develop theories. Among past CASBS fellows, 26 won Nobel Prizes, 24 won Pulitzer Prizes, and 51 won MacArthur “Genius” Awards. The Tyler Collection library holds all of the texts written at CASBS by the fellows, including (but certainly not limited to), Who Governs, by Ronald Dahl, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn and Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

In addition to the center’s prestige and many accolades, the major draw for scholars is the collaborative environment. The CASBS website states that the environment allows fellows to gain “exposure to new methods, perspectives, theories, and problems.” Once per week, one of the fellows delivers a presentation on their area of interest to their peers. In addition, scholars from across the world often visit and meet with the current fellows.

You might be wondering if any I-O psychologists have been part of CASBS. Many well-known social psychologists and organizational behavior scholars (e.g., Richard Hackman, Ed Lawler) have been CASBS fellows. For the first time, they hosted an I-O psychologist in 2016-17. That psychologist is Tara Behrend, P.h.D., Associate Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the George Washington University. Tara’s interest and research focuses on how people’s experiences at work have been impacted by technology. She is also interested in how I-O psychologists can build more fair and equitable workplaces and socioeconomic systems. Tara is the director of the Workplaces and Virtual Environments (WAVE) lab at GW.

To apply for a CASBS fellowship, she proposed a project she would work on during her time there. However, like most CASBS fellows, the experience of being exposed to new perspectives changed the nature of the project. Tara is writing a book on privacy and surveillance; she also used her time at CASBS to develop a second book about Workforce Effectiveness that will be part of the SIOP Frontiers series. Tara said her time at CASBS, contributing to a book and collaborating with the other fellows allowed her to “seek refuge from the world and to think and collaborate in a very enriching environment”. Tara was able to choose the office she conducted her work in and she said she chose her office based off the influential social psychologists who had used the office previously. Because Tara is inspired by the work of Albert Bandura and Harold Kelley (among others), she chose to start her book in the space they once occupied while at CASBS.

Overall, Tara had a fulfilling, inspiring and uplifting time as a fellow at CASBS. Tara said she enjoyed being an advocate for I-O, in a space that I-O has not traditionally participated in. Tara compared her experience to returning to college, where she was encouraged to interact with different people of different disciplines and from it “gained a deep appreciation for other social scientists” in addition to deepening her appreciation for I-O. After finishing her fellowship at CASBS, she returned to Washington, DC to continue her research and teaching, and continues to work on her books. Keep an eye out for her literature and work. It will be inspiring to see the next I-O psychologist attend CASBS and work in the “Behrend” study.

PTC Legal Update

Mon, 19 Nov 2018 14:54:33 GMT

Authors: Ryan O’Leary, Brian O’Leary, & Cliff Haimann

In a recent review for the International Personnel Assessment Council (IPAC), Ryan O’Leary and Brian O’Leary wrote about various court cases that are relevant to HR professionals and I/O psychologists. Their overview is below along with additional updates about the EEOC and OFCCP.

The Supreme Court

Class Action Cases

China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh. China Agritech manufactures and sells farming products. It began listing shares on the NASDAQ in 2005 and in 2011 issued a public financial filing that resulted in several lawsuits. A market research company reported that the filing made grossly inflated claims of China Agritech’s revenue and value. Shareholders sued for having been misled and China Agritech faced a series of class actions. The third was by filed Resh (after the first two) and has relevance for employment law. The issue in this case was whether Resh could take advantage of a tolling rule, a rule allowing more time to file a case. If not, the Resh case would have been filed too late and would have to be dismissed. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that the filing of a putative class action (a lawsuit brought by one or more named plaintiffs on behalf of a potential group of similarly situated individuals [known as a class] who allegedly suffered a common claim) does not toll (i.e., pause) the statute of limitations for follow-on class action when class certification is denied. In other words, this means that plaintiffs may not resurrect a failed class action by filing another class action after the limitation period has expired.

In this decision, the Court distinguished its precedent from two earlier cases (American Pipe and Construction Co. v. Utah, 1974; Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker, 1983) which held that the filling of a class action does toll the limitations period for individuals who are seeking to intervene in the suit or to file their own individual claims after class certification is denied. Legal analysis suggests that these two rulings were meant to encourage class action cases. Class action cases generally help the courts save time and money. As such, courts would rather hear one big case on the same issue than many, smaller individual cases on the same issue. If there is a class action going on that would include an individual’s claim but the individual is considering otherwise filing an individual lawsuit, the individual can wait to see how the class action turns out – the time period during which one must file is paused (i.e., tolled) while the class action is ongoing. Court efficiency appears key and class actions which save the court resources should go first. Individuals are encouraged to see what happens in the class action case before pursuing their individual claims. Class claims should be ruled earlier and the Court will not allow class claims to be filed later.

As it relates to employment law, in their opinion the Court noted that following the denial of nationwide class certification in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes (2011) (the class of approximately 1.6 million women who claimed gender discrimination in pay and promotions at Wal-Mart which was denied certification because they did not have enough in common), numerous plaintiffs had either amended the original complaint to repeal subclasses or separately asserted geographically regional subclasses within the limitation period. The China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh suggests we may see future plaintiffs file multiple parallel complaints raising different possible putative subclasses with employers moving to stay the subclass actions until the court resolves whether to certify the larger class.

Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis. In May 2018, the Court ruled that companies can use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from banding together and taking legal action over workplace issues. This means that employees who sign arbitration agreements can be precluded from participating in class action lawsuits and must therefore litigate their cases on individual bases. The 5 to 4 vote upheld the use of arbitration agreements in the workplace. The court majority stated that the ruling was a logical reading of the law and reflected Congress’ preference for using arbitration to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. The Court had earlier ruled that companies doing business with consumers may require arbitration and forbid class actions in their contracts. Arbitration clauses with class action waivers are now commonplace in contracts for things like cellphones, credit cards, and rental cars. The issue in Epic Systems Corp v. Lewis was whether these same principles apply to employment contracts.

The decision applies to three separate cases relating to three employers: Epic Systems, Ernst and Young, and Murphy Oil. In all three cases, plaintiffs filed in federal court stating that their employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying them overtime. However, in each case employees all signed arbitration agreements stating that they would arbitrate any disputes before a single arbitrator whose decision would be final and binding. Claims relating to different employees had to be heard in separate hearings.

Writing for the majority, Justice Gorsuch stated that in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Congress has instructed the federal courts to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms – including terms providing for individual proceedings. Plaintiffs had asserted that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) makes illegal any contract that denies employees the right to engage in “concerted activities” for the purpose of “mutual aid and protection” and therefore some form of collective action cannot be prohibited. The Court asserted that since the NLRA does not expressly approve or disapprove of arbitration, the FAA prevails. Some legal scholars predict the impact of the Court’s ruling will be to largely eliminate the threat of employee class actions in cases such as a failure to pay overtime or systemic discrimination.

Hiring of Federal Administrative Law Judges

In Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Court ruled in a case involving federal Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the agency. ALJs conduct trial-like hearings within federal agencies related to disputes over decisions such as claims for benefits and enforcement actions against individuals or businesses. This case was brought by a former financial advisor, Raymond Lucia, who promoted a retirement strategy he called “Buckets of Money” through radio shows, books, and seminars. The strategy suggested that retirement investors should first sell safer investments, giving riskier investments time to grow. In 2012 the SEC charged Lucia with violating federal law and SEC rules, claiming he had mislead investors in presentations to potential clients. Lucia and his company were fined $300,000 and he was barred from working as an investment advisor. Lucia challenged the case and argued that the ALJ who heard his case was improperly appointed.

Central to the case is the Appointments Clause in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution which states in part “[The President] shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint…Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointments of such inferior Officers as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.” At issue is whether SEC ALJ’s are “officers” and in particular “inferior officers” who may be appointed by heads of departments. SEC ALJ’s were selected by the Chief Judge and approved by the Commission’s personnel office as opposed to being appointed by the Commissioners.

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that SEC ALJ’s are not “Officers of the United States” but are instead mere employees, officials with lesser responsibilities who are not subject to the Appointments Clause. However, the Department of Justice, who had long contended that the judges were employees and not officers, switched positions and urged the Court to grant review in the case even though it had won in the appeals court.

In a 7 to 2 decision the Supreme Court ruled that SEC ALJ’s are officers rather than mere employees since the judges exercise significant authority in hearing and ruling on disputes. It did not matter to the Court that the judges’ decisions were subject to review by the Commission. Since the ALJ’s were appointed by staff members rather than by the Commissioners, their selection violate the Constitution’s Appointment Clause which requires “inferior officers” to be appointed by the president, the courts, or heads of departments. The Commission itself is a “head of department”, while its staff members are not. Since the SEC ALJs were not properly appointed, Mr. Lucia was entitled to a new hearing. This decision has a significant impact on how ALJs are selected and appointed.

Union Dues

In Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, Mark Janus (a child-support specialist at the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services) sued the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union. Janis contended that he did not agree with AFSCME’s positions and should not be forced to pay fees to support its work. Under Illinois law, state employees represented in a bargaining unit are not compelled to be members of the union or pay union dues. However they must pay an “agency fee”, an amount equal to that portion of union member dues spent directly on bargaining and administration of the bargaining agreement.

The Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that public sector employees who are non-members of a union cannot be legally required to pay an agency or “fair share” fees as a condition of employment. This decision overturned a 40-year-old precedent established in the Abood v. Detroit Board of Education decision that said that states could allow public-employee unions to collect fees from non-members to cover the costs of workplace negotiations over salaries and benefits but not the union’s political activities.

Racial Balancing and Affirmative Action in Academic Admissions

In Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA) v. Harvard, SFFA (which includes more than a dozen Asian-American students who applied to Harvard and were rejected) has accused Harvard of intentionally discriminating against Asian-American applicants by limiting their admission numbers each year. The suit, initially filed in Federal District Court in 2014, accuses Harvard of “racial balancing” – keeping roughly the same distribution of racial groups year after year despite changes in application rates and qualifications. Harvard denies that it conducts racial balancing or discriminates against Asian-Americans. They claim they use a “whole person evaluation” and that race is one of many factors considered in the pursuit of diversity.

Multiple times the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that universities may take race into account as one factor among many to achieve a diverse class. But there are limits on what colleges may do. The Court prohibits racial quotas and encourages colleges to consider whether they can achieve their goals through race-neutral alternatives such as using financial aid and other recruiting tools to ensure socioeconomic and geographical balances.

SFFA is viewed by many as an anti-affirmative–action group and the lawsuit part of an ongoing effort to do away with race-conscious affirmative action. In August 2018, the Department of Justice filed a legal brief in the case lending its support to the plaintiffs. Alternatively, a large number of Harvard supporters have filed briefs in the case, claiming that a failure to consider race would effectively threaten diversity at all American colleges.

The case went to trial in October, and it may have far-reaching implications for the nation’s colleges and universities that consider race in their admission processes. The case may end up at the Supreme Court, which is likely to be more conservative than in 2016, when it upheld narrowly tailored race-conscious admissions in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin in a 4-3 decision.

Sexual Orientation as a Protected Class Under Title VII

A case that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) cited as one of the top 10 employment cases of 2017 has finally come to an end. Kimberly Hively, the professor in the Seventh Circuit’s landmark ruling that protection under the Civil Rights Act extends to sexual orientation has settled with her former employer, Ivey Tech Community College. The parties filed a joint mediation summary on August 1, 2018 announcing the settlement. The terms of the agreement were not released.

Kimberly Hively was an openly lesbian, part-time adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College. In 2014 she claimed that she had been repeatedly denied full-time employment and promotions because of her sexual orientation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The District Court dismissed her case, ruling that Title VII does not recognize sexual orientation as a protected class. The case then went to the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals where a three judge panel affirmed the District Court’s ruling. Hively filed for a rehearing and the majority of the 7^th Circuit found that the Civil Rights Act protection does prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and became the first U.S. Court of Appeals to rule that sexual orientation discrimination was prohibited under Title VII.

EEOC Updates

The EEOC’s recent actions relate to many arenas within HR that are important to IO psychologists.

Sexual Harassment.On October 4th, 2018, the EEOC released a statement highlighting its preliminary FY 2018 sexual harassment data. In the release, Acting Chair Vicki Lipnic praised her staff for responding to the increased demand resulting from the #MeToo Movement. According to the statement, “The EEOC filed 66 harassment lawsuits, including 41 that included allegations of sexual harassment. That reflects more than a 50 percent increase in suits challenging sexual harassment over fiscal year 2017.”

Criminal Background Checks. In September, the EEOC reached an agreement with Rooms To Go, which resolved race discrimination allegations brought by an African American applicant whose employment offer was rescinded because of the employer’s background check policies. Rooms To Go has now removed blanket exclusions and those with convictions can proceed via an individualized assessment process. This agreement is a reminder to employers that they should consider the EEOC’s 2012 Enforcement Guidance relating to criminal background checks.

Disability Discrimination. Disability discrimination continues to be of the utmost importance to the EEOC, a fact that has resulted in many recent lawsuits. For instance, according to the Agency, Wal-Mart interviewed an applicant with a physical disability but refused to hire her because the employer assumed she could not perform the job duties. Another large employer, Target, failed to interview a qualified candidate because the individual was deaf. Similarly, Safeway Grocery Stores was recently sued for failing to hire a deaf applicant. Aside from these hiring lawsuits, disability discrimination extended to other areas of the employee life cycle according to the EEOC. As an example, the Agency sued Crossmark for failing to accommodate a class of individuals who needed to use a stool during their typical duties as employees who offer samples to customers at stores such as Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.

Compensation. The Agency continued its fight to ensure equal gender pay, even though compensation lawsuits were not as common as other types of suits (e.g. those relating to hiring). To illustrate, alleging a violation of the Equal Pay Act, the EEOC sued First Metropolitan Financial services for paying female branch managers less than male counterparts. Interim Healthcare of Wyoming and Fastenal Company also faced pay-related suits.

Other Administrative Law Updates

Under the Trump Administration, the Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has released various new directives, which impact the HR programs of federal contractors. Of note, Directive 2018-08 describes the Agency’s efforts to promote transparency in its work. The Directive highlights many areas, such as the Agency’s scheduling methods and the timelines for finishing audits. Another directive (Directive 2018-09) describes the Agency’s new Ombud Service, which seeks to improve relationships between OFCCP and federal contractors. Last, the Agency released Directive 2018-05, which describes OFCCP’s approach for evaluating contractors’ compensation systems during audits.

PTCMW: The First 40 Years

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 17:59:09 GMT

Authors: Lance Seberhagen and Nikki Blacksmith

PTCMW was established in March 1977. Only one person has been a continuous member of PTCMW since Day One. That member is Dr. Lance Seberhagen, Director of Seberhagen & Associates, Vienna, VA. He is a Founding Member of PTCMW and has held various positions in PTCMW over the years, including Recorder (1977), President (1989-90), and Calendar Chair (1982-2017). In 2014, he received the PTCMW Service Award for his service to PTCMW.

PTCMW celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2017. As part of that celebration, Dr. Nikki Blacksmith, PTCMW’s past Newsletter Editor, interviewed Dr. Seberhagen to recall some highlights from PTCMW’s first 40 years.

1. To begin, tell us a little about yourself and your background.

I was born in New York City and grew up in Scarsdale, NY (about 20 miles north of NYC). My dad worked for an advertising agency on Madison Avenue, just like Mad Men on TV. In 1958, we moved to Minnesota when my dad joined an advertising agency in Minneapolis, and I attended high school there. My dad’s work got me interested in consumer psychology, but he warned me not to go into advertising because it was too cutthroat (like Mad Men). Eventually, I found my way to industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology.

I earned degrees at Brown University (BA, psych), Southern Methodist University (MA, I-O psych), and University of Minnesota (PhD, I-O psych). While at SMU, I worked as a Personnel Analyst for the Dallas Civil Service Department – in the same building where Ruby shot Oswald. While at the University of Minnesota, I worked as the Test R&D manager for the Minnesota State Personnel Department. I hired several other Minnesota graduate students to work in my unit, including Norm Peterson (later a PTCMW President), Ron Page, Gail Drauden, and Jean Barsaloux, all of whom became PhDs in I-O, plus Bob Etzioni (MS in I-O, George Washington University).

As part of my duties for the State of Minnesota, I got a grant from the U.S. Civil Service Commission (USCSC) to write a book on Legal Aspects of Personnel Selection in the Public Service, which IPMA published in 1973. As part of my work on the book, I made several trips to Washington, DC to meet with Steve Bemis, Chief Psychologist at OFCC (later OFCCP); Jim Sharf, Chief Psychologist at EEOC; and various I-Os at USCSC (now OPM). I liked DC so much that I moved there in October 1973 to work as an I-O consultant for Planning Research Corporation in McLean, VA. From December 1976 to present, I have had my own I-O consulting and expert witness practice as Seberhagen & Associates in Vienna, VA.

2. As a Founding Member, can you tell us about the impetus for starting PTCMW?

When I moved to DC in 1973, I knew Steve Bemis, Jim Sharf, and a few other I-Os, but I suspected that there were many more I-Os in the DC area. The problem was how to meet them. I gradually met more local I-Os through my consulting work and attending professional conferences (e.g., APA, IPMAAC, and BNA). This helped, but there was still much room for improvement.

Steve Bemis came to the rescue in March 1977, when he called me and a few other DC I-Os to explore the possibility of starting a local I-O professional association for DC, MD, and VA. This small group of I-Os became the Founding Members of PTC/MW. (PTC/MW later changed its name to PTCMW, as described below.)

Steve was the perfect person to lead the creation of PTC/MW. He was a friendly and helpful I-O who already knew most of the I-Os in DC (and across USA) from his work for the federal government (Labor/OFCCP) and various DC consulting firms. He was also committed to the development of employee selection procedures that identified the best candidates, while maintaining equal employment opportunity. Steve felt this goal could be achieved if there were greater sharing of ideas among I-Os, lawyers, and other interested parties.

To continue reading, download the entire article HERE

Greetings PTCMW Members to our NEW Blog!

Tue, 23 Oct 2018 02:00:31 GMT

Author: Josh Isaacson, PTCMW President

PTCMW is constantly evolving with the times and our memberships needs. This new format aims to maintain the quality of content that the newsletter has provided since its inception while allowing for a more interactive online forum for discussions and ease of access. Our plan is to publish blog posts throughout the year on the PTCMW website, which will allow authors and members to engage in discussions on current topics of interest. We really hope you enjoy this new look!

Please join me in an overdue acknowledgement and THANK YOU to the 2017 PTCMW board and committee members for a job well-done. In 2017, PTCMW had an all-star line-up of speakers, provided several networking opportunities for members, produced a newsletter filled with insightful columns, and engaged I-O psychology graduate students through our consulting challenge. 2017 also marked PTCMW’s 40^th anniversary and we ended it with a bang throwing the largest happy hour event in PTCMW’s history. Finally, PTCMW’s annual Fall Event welcomed 200 attendees, 22 sponsoring and participating organizations, and speakers Nancy Tippins and Elizabeth Kolmstetter highlighted the event discussing successes and challenges in personnel selection across the public and private sectors. Thank you to everyone who made these events possible and to the members for keeping PTCMW strong!

Your current PTCMW board and committee members have been very hard at work continuing to provide high-value resources and networking opportunities to members over the past 10 months. We’ve hosted 12 well attended events including six presentations, two panel discussions, one workshop, our annual graduate student consulting challenge, and two networking happy hours. Topics have been diverse including a discussion on reducing mean group differences on cognitive ability tests, coaching and I/O Psychology, astronaut selection, data visualization, machine learning approach to job analysis, and generational differences in workplace attitudes and job satisfaction. Our membership is also looking strong with 325 active members and over 40 new members in 2018.

The Annual Fall Event: November, 5th!

Panelists Liberty Munson, Dave Dorsey, and Seymour Adler will present on “Cutting Edge Technology: Transforming the World of Work and I/O Psychology as We Know It”. We also have a record 23 sponsoring organizations this year and there will be plenty of fun *New* prizes to give away during the networking and talent connection portion of the event!

Please secure your spot and register now as space is limited! Click here for more information.

Newsletter Blog Naming Competition!!!

Please send us ONE creative name for PTCMW’s Newsletter Blog by November 9th. Following the Fall Event we will send out a poll to have members vote on a winner. The winner will get FREE admission to one of our monthly events in 2019. Send your name to our new Newsletter/Blog Editor, Cliff Haimann, here.

We Need Authors and Volunteers

We are looking for people interested in writing articles and facilitating discussions on our new blog! If interested, please send an email to our Newsletter/Blog Editor here.
Although we have several great volunteers lending their service to PTCMW we are always looking for more help and fresh perspectives. If you are interested in helping out, even for just an hour a month, please get in touch!

We want your feedback

If you have any suggestions for making PTCMW and this newsletter better please email the President directly here – or feel free to leave a comment below!