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Article on I/O Psychology in Saint Louis Post Dispatch
On May 30, 2006 by Jamie Madigan
The Saint Louis Post Dispatch recently ran a story on Industrial/Organizational Psychologists, or "Work Psychologists" as they described us. They kind of spotlight a guy by the name of Joel Philo at Frito Lay (I've actually met Joel and found him pretty sharp myself) and overall the piece is a pretty good representation of what I/O Psychologists do. Here's a quote:
"As talent becomes scarcer than capital, identifying, developing and retaining that talent becomes a top priority," [Philo] said.
"People in my field are specialists in such talent management and can use our knowledge of statistics, proper research design and psychology -- especially around motivation, individual differences, leadership and social psychology -- to contribute verifiable value to the bottom line."
Workplace psychologists facilitate many tasks, including promotion, computer-based learning and team design. They also guide organizations in mergers and acquisitions, human resource management and statistical analysis.
Yep, pretty much. What cracked me up about this piece, though, was how they couldn't resist punching it up a bit towards the end with a kind of crime drama zest:
"We know how to go into an organization, diagnose a problem and study it scientifically so that the ultimate solution is based on data and not short-term, superficial analysis. I-O psychologists are deep thinkers," said Wendy S. Becker...
One of her projects involves crime labs. While technology such as DNA testing and fingerprint databases can help solve more crimes quickly, these labs are hampered by their inability to attract, develop and retain forensic scientists, said Becker, an assistant professor of management at the State University of New York at Albany.
"There is a national case backlog -- crimes not being solved -- because of the need for trained employees," she said. "
To assist labs in getting over these humps, Becker documents employee issues, creates surveys and designs performance measures. She also aids labs with accreditation.
I would TOTALLY watch a CSI-esque show about I/O Psychologists that diagnose and solve organizational problems. How fun would it be to see that crazy camera work zooming in on a nonsignificant correlation coefficient, accompanied by a dramatic "DONG-DONK!" sound? Or have a sepia-toned flashback to an ineffective meeting by a dysfunctional team? Or have an hard boiled I/O Psychologist (maybe played by Rick Schroeder) confronting a middle manager over his failure to close feedback loops or evaluate training effectiveness? I would totally have my TiVo record that and consider watching it when there was nothing better on. Totally.
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