The SIOP Exchange

Airline Industry Investigation and the Role of the I/O Psychologist

By: Karin Soweid, Capella University

The recent article in The New York Times about the commuter flight that crashed in Buffalo, NY in February raises a lot of issues that an I/O Psychologist is concerned with, from compensation to fatigue and illness on the job.

To what extent does the National Transportation Safety Board employ I/O Psychologists to assist with these investigations, and how can we make our expertise known in this domain?

Every Wednesday?

By Jeffrey Saltzman, Kenexa 

There is an old joke that goes something like this: A union leader is addressing the crowd at a union meeting. From the podium he begins talking, “We have agreed on a new deal with management. We will no longer work five days a week.” The crowd roars in approval. “We will finish work at 3pm, not 4pm.” The crowd roars again. “We will start work at 9am, not 7am.” Once again the crowd roars. “We shall have a 150% pay raise”. The noise level was deafening. “We will work only on Wednesdays.” There was then a silence that immediately engulfed the room. You could hear a pin drop. Then from the back of the crowd a voice asks, “Every Wednesday?”

In spike of jokes like this that make the rounds, the evidence is overwhelmingly clear. The vast majority of workers want to do a good job at work.

Check Out SIOP’s New Web Site!

The SIOP office has been working for months to develop a new Web site that better meets the needs of SIOP’s growing membership while serving the public, media and educators. Launching May 4, the new SIOP.org features numerous upgrades and changes to make it easier than ever to find what you need. 

Visit the SIOP.org here. 

Some aspects of the old site have moved, some have been omitted, and new information and resources have been added. One of the biggest changes is the new member page. The member page serves as a Web portal where SIOP members can find information that is not available to the general public. To access this members-only area, login to the site with your SIOP user name and password. If you can’t find something you need on the SIOP.org site, it is probably located on the member page, so remember to login every time you visit SIOP.org! 

From the Executive Board: Should SIOP Change Its Name?

By The SIOP Executive Board

There have been multiple initiatives to change the name of our field – and SIOP – over the past 30 years. As noted by Highhouse (2007), the most recent effort occurred in 2004 when 554 members voted for a name based on a choice between five alternatives, including the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Society for Organizational Psychology, and the Society for Work Psychology.  As Highhouse noted, “although there were more votes from the membership to change the name than to retain the I-O label …, no name change occurred.” That is, SIOP was retained as the name for our society, even though it received less than 50% of the votes. A number of SIOP leaders including Milt Hakel and, more recently, Frank Landy, have opined that in a vote of two alternatives, members would likely vote for an alternative to the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.