Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons^™

Does Your Agency Embrace Evidence -Based Management Practices?, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Child welfare agencies are encouraged to use evidencebased practices in all aspects of their work to try to improve outcomes for children and families. The child welfare field has made improvements in using data, research, and evaluation to inform practice and decision-making, but still has a ways to go. The primary goal of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) is to build the evidence base regarding strategies to strengthen the child welfare workforce. One means of practicing evidence-based management for improving workforce outcomes is using workforce analytics. As part of the Child Welfare Workforce Analytics Institute, the QIC-WD …

Louisiana Progress Update- Redesigning The Child Welfare Worker Position, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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When there is a high workload, there is often a lot of turnover and when there is a lot of turnover the remaining workforce has an even greater workload. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was all too familiar with this negative cycle and the impact it was having on its child welfare workforce. When DCFS became a Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) site, they were ready to make a significant change to their workforce operations. After a thorough needs assessment, DCFS decided to work with the QIC-WD on a job redesign project to strengthen …

Migrant Dreams, Egyptian Workers In The Gulf States, Rania M Rafik Khalil

English Language and Literature

Migrant Dreams is about the hopes and aspirations on which migrant workers thrive to achieve their goals. The first version of this book was published in 2017 in Arabic with the title Hatta yantahi al-naft (Until the End of Oil). Based on over a decade of fieldwork, observations and conversations, Samuli Schielke gives a detailed overview of the life of low-income Egyptian migrant laborers who relocated to the Arab Gulf States on temporary contracts, returned, then migrated again. The book focuses mostly on the story of Tawfik, an intelligent Egyptian young man from rural backgrounds who is compelled to achieve …

Informal Learning Behaviors, Megan Paul, Robert Blagg

Umbrella Summaries

What are informal learning behaviors?

Informal learning behaviors (ILBs) are self-directed, intentional activities to acquire knowledge and skill outside of formal learning environments (Cerasoli, Alliger, Donsbach, Mathieu, Tannenbaum, & Orvis, 2017). Informal learning is distinct from learning that is externally imposed or required, involves structured content or processes, or occurs accidentally (Cerasoli et al., 2017). It is the day-to-day, on-the-job learning that occurs in the workplace. ILBs include things like observing, asking questions, seeking information, and practicing (Cerasoli et al., 2017). A highly related behavior is seeking feedback, which is sometimes described as a form of informal learning but has …

Virginia Progress Update - The Timely Implementation Of A Technology Solution, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The pandemic is pushing the U.S. workforce to adapt and seek mobile solutions to carry out key tasks. Virginia’s child welfare workforce strengthening effort, supported by the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), includes a transcription service and a mobile solution (an application or app) on iPads to help the workforce manage their administrative and family engagement tasks out of the office. The effort began in 2017 but demand has been heightened by the pandemic. This post summarizes what the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) has accomplished and learned as they roll out new technology to thousands of …

A Unifying Framework To Study Workplace Decision-Making Aptitude And Performance, Nikki Blacksmith, Maureen E. Mccusker, Theodore L. Hayes

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Employers are facing a skills shortage in the labor market: there are not enough workers who can perform the complex decision-making tasks that characterize 21st-century work. This manuscript aims to stimulate research investigating the relationship among individual differences, decision-making aptitude, and decision performance. We offer guidelines for future research by laying out a framework to unify disparate streams of research from organizational science, and judgment and decision-making research. We advocate for the use of pattern-oriented analytical approaches to capture the complexities of the predictor and criterion space.

The Impact Of Nondiagnostic Information On Selection Decision Making: A Cautionary Note And Mitigation Strategies, Dev K. Dalal, Levi Sassaman, Xiaoyuan (Susan) Zhu

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Selection decision makers are inundated with information from which to make decisions about the suitability of a job candidate for a position. Although some of this information is relevant for making a high-quality decision (i.e., diagnostic information), much of the information is actually unrelated to the decision (i.e., nondiagnostic information). Although the deleterious effects of nondiagnostic information on selection decision making have been demonstrated, the prevalence and impact of this type of information is increasing, especially with recent advances in new selection methods used by employers. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to caution selection decision makers, and/or those …

Threat Of Technological Unemployment, Use Intentions, And The Promotion Of Structured Interviews In Personnel Selection, Kevin P. Nolan, Dev K. Dalal, Nathan Carter

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Meehl (1986) proposed that an important factor underlying professional decision makers’ resistance to standardized decision aids is threat of technological unemployment – fear that using the practices would reduce the perceived value of their employment. Nolan, Carter, and Dalal (2016) provided initial support for threat of technological unemployment being a factor that contributes to practitioners’ reluctance to adopt scientifically meritorious standardized hiring practices. This study serves to further develop the theory of threat of technological unemployment in personnel selection by (a) replicating the findings of our earlier research using a within-subjects methodology that is more generalizable to the cognitive processes …

Decoy Effects Improve Diversity Hiring, Nathan R. Kuncel, Jeffrey A. Dahlke

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

A growing literature demonstrates that when making choices among multiple options, decision makers are strongly influenced by the mere presence of additional options, even when those options are largely undesirable and are never actually selected. The effects of irrelevant options on decisions, often called decoy effects, have been observed in hiring and admissions decisions where the nature of a third candidate can radically shift preferences. In this study, we examine the influence of decoy effects on diversity hiring and extend research by examining choices with more than two organizational goals. Results indicate that the presence of a second candidate who …

Does Feedback Increase Decision Aid Use Among Hiring Professionals?, Aneeqa Thiele, Alexander T. Jackson, Stacey M. Stremic, Satoris S. Howes

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

We examined the influence of formative and outcome feedback on people’s reliance on decision aids. Decision aids are tools that managers can use to increase the accuracy of their hiring decisions. In our study, participants were asked to make 20 different hiring decisions and make predictions of a candidate’s performance on the job, with the option of using a decision aid formula. We manipulated whether participants received feedback on the accuracy of their predictions, the accuracy of the decision aid’s predictions, or both. The results demonstrated that feedback failed to have a significant impact on decision aid use for both …

Communicating Validity Information To Differentially Experienced Audiences: The Effects Of Numeracy And Nontraditional Metrics, Nathaniel M. Voss, Christopher J. Lake

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

One of the biggest challenges facing organizational researchers is convincing practitioners to adopt evidence-based personnel selection practices such as the structured interview. In this study, we examined the effects of nontraditional validity metrics and numeracy by presenting validity information about the structured interview to audiences with differing amounts of interview experience (students, working adults, and hiring managers). The results indicated that nontraditional metrics were associated with higher understanding, more positive attitudes, and greater perceptions of the usefulness of the structured interview. These effects were constant across differing levels of numeracy. Additionally, the results revealed that nontraditional metrics result in more …

Pushing The Limits For Judgmental Consistency: Comparing Random Weighting Schemes With Expert Judgments, Martin C. Yu, Nathan R. Kuncel

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Consistent use of information has been identified as a critical issue that can undermine expert predictions. Using three personnel assessment datasets, we conduct Monte Carlo simulations to compare the accuracy of expert judgements for predicting the job performance of managers against four different weighting schemes: consistent random weights, completely random weights, unit weights, and optimal weights. Expert accuracy fell within the completely random weight distribution in two samples and at the low end of the consistent random weight distribution in one sample. In other words, consistent random weights reliably outperformed expert judgment for hiring decisions across three datasets with a …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Applications Of Judgment And Decision Making To Problems In Personnel Assessment, Edgar E. Kausel, Alexander T. Jackson

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

No abstract provided.

Workplace Supports For Lgbt Employees, Toby Burnham, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are workplace supports for LGBT employees?

Workplace supports for LGBT employees are organizational policies and practices that are thought to improve the work experiences of LGBT employees and foster diversity within an organization. Although there isn’t one set of specific workplace supports for LGBT employees, one way of summarizing the contextual supports in the workplace is to categorize them as (a) formal LGBT-supportive policies and practices, (b) LGBT-supportive climates, and (c) supportive workplace relationships (Webster, Adams, Maranto, Sawyer, & Thoroughgood, 2017). Formal policies and practices that are supportive of LGBT employees include things like same-sex benefits coverage, LGBT resource …

Perspectives From A Prevention Team, Jaqueta Taylor, Rynika Polk, Jackie Gooch

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Louisiana’s redesign includes the creation of prevention teams. The prevention teams include one supervisor, three child protective services (CPS) workers, two family services (FS) workers, and one child welfare team specialist. Over the course of the past year each team was established, trained, and worked together to build a cohesive unit. Team members expressed a mix of excitement and concern about their new roles. The redesign meant the supervisor was managing new team members, workers were delegating tasks they were previously responsible for, and team specialists were new to the team and had to establish trust with their coworkers. The …

My Experience With Cfs Strong, Lana Sayre

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I am a child and family services specialist supervisor with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. A few years ago, I volunteered to take over for another member of the workforce retention team that was working with the QIC-WD to develop/select an intervention that Nebraska could implement to reduce employee turnover among child and family services specialists (CFSS), our frontline worker position. Employee retention is a constant, ongoing challenge. Our work is challenging and very stressful. You have to be an expert in child safety and have a broad understanding of all of the issues which affect the …

Presenteeism, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is presenteeism?

Presenteeism is not simply a matter of attending, or being physically present, at work. Rather, it refers to going to work while ill and, in some cases, also includes the concept of lost productivity as a result (Johns, 2010; McGregor, Sharma, Magee, Caputi, & Iverson, 2017). Unlike absenteeism, which can be measured through personnel records, presenteeism is measured by employee self-report via surveys or interviews. For the more limited definition (going to work ill), employees are asked whether or how often in the past they showed up to work when they were sick and should have taken …

Grit, Maggie Thompson, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is grit?

Grit is a personality trait that is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087) and as “… not just resilience in the face of failure, but also having deep commitments that you remain loyal to over many years” (Perkins-Gough, 2013, p. 14). It has been conceptualized as a higher-order trait comprised of two lower order facets: perseverance of effort (the tendency to work hard even in the face of setbacks) and consistency of interest (the tendency to not frequently change goals and interests). The two primary self-report measures …

Perspective: Responding To The Well-Being Of Health Care Workers And Learners In Academic Medicine During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cherie C. Hill, Paula G. Gomes, Alayna H. Feng, Cricket C. Gullickson, Carla I. Haack, Sheryl L. Heron

Journal of Wellness

No abstract provided.

Diversity Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is diversity training?

Diversity training refers to a “distinct set of instructional programs aimed at facilitating positive intergroup interactions, reducing prejudice and discrimination, and enhancing the skills, knowledge, and motivation of participants to interact with diverse others” (Bezrukova, Spell, Perry, & Jehn, 2016, p. 1,228). In the absence of a standard approach, there has been significant variation in the design and context of diversity training.

The following characteristics have been identified as differing across trainings reported in the research literature (Bezrukova et al., 2016):

► Content Focus: Group-specific training focuses on learning about one or more specific groups (e.g., …

Organizational Dissent: The Implications Of Race And Dissent Outcomes, Siera N. Bramschreiber

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Dissent, the public expression of a minority perspective, is valuable to organizations due to its connections with improving decision-making processes within teams. The current study sought to integrate what is known about diversity in thought and diversity in people and how this influences the dissent process. Specifically, I examined if positive perceptions of dissenters (i.e., worthy of respect or courageous) differ based on the race of the dissenter. Second, I examined if stories of successful articulated dissent influence subsequent willingness to dissent. In developing a scenario to manipulate dissent outcomes ranging from negative outcomes (i.e., hostility) to positive outcomes (i.e., …

I-O Can Has Meme? Using Memes To Engage Others With I-O Psychology Content, William P. Jimenez, Lisa M. Kath, Sayeedul Islam, Gordon B. Schmidt

Psychology Faculty Publications

Memes are ubiquitous, and they have become a major part of online interactions (Kitchener, 2018). Memes may be an accessible medium that organizations can use to connect with potential employees, customers, and the general public. Not only have memes been used by companies for marketing (e.g., Murray et al., 2014), but they also have been used for outreach by organizations as diverse as academic libraries (e.g., Woodworth, 2018), government influence campaigns (e.g., Zakem et al., 2018), and political campaigns (e.g., Graham, 2020). In this paper, we discuss the current state of Internet memes in the I-O psychology community as well …

Knowledge Creation Enhancement In The Royal Malaysian Navy (Rmn) Fleet, Rusland Shaftdean Lufty

Student Works (2020-2029)

This study aims to gauge the extent of knowledge creation processes in the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) fleet with the use of the SECI (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization) knowledge creation process model proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). This is in order for the researcher to propose a knowledge creation enhancement framework to the organization. Case study method was utilized in this study and both descriptive and interpretive analyses were employed to achieve the research aims. The descriptive data were used to triangulate the interpretive data and documentation reviewed by dividing the findings in accordance to the SECI conversion process. …

Factors Influencing Employees’ Ethical Behavior: Empirical Study Of Employees In Iraqi Organizations, Alhaboose Husam Mohammed Kamil

Student Works (2020-2029)

In contemporary organizations, ethics has become one of the most vital aspects of organizational sustenance in today’s competitive business world. Earlier studies have considered employees as a potential source of success for an organization. Moreover, prior studies have designated the essential role of ethical leadership in influencing employees’ ethical behavior. Therefore, this study tries to contribute to the literature by examining the direct effect of ethical leadership on employees’ ethical behavior via the two-mediating role of ethical climate and organizational justice. Most importantly, moral identity was also identified as a boundary condition on the relationship of ethical leadership, ethical climate, …

The Relationship Between Personality And Online Game-Playing Motivations Among College Students, Johari @ Underwood Jasnina Jaslind

Student Works (2020-2029)

The present study attempts to investigate the relationships between personality and online game-playing motivations amongst college students. A total of 200 college students who are actively playing PUBG (Player Unknown’s Battle Ground) were approached and voluntarily answered a set of questionnaires which consists of Mini- IPIP (Mini-International Personality Item Pool Scales) and Motivation for Play to measure type of motivations in playing online games. Descriptive analyses were used to analyze the personality traits and in-game motivation of players, Independent Sample T Test to examine gender differences in playing PUBG and Pearson Correlation to examine the relationships between personality and motivations. …

The Impact Of Positive Psychological Resources On Career Success Among Academic Staff In Sudan, Mohammed Yousif Fadul Mohammed Mustafa

Student Works (2020-2029)

Career success is important in shaping individual vocation’s identity. Different individual will have various perceptions about their career accomplishment; whether they feel successful or otherwise. This research aims to investigate the impact of positive psychological resources on career success among academic staff in public universities in Sudan. This due to the importance of career success in contributing to both individual’s performance and organisational growth. The research is guided by protean career theory (PCT), conservation of resource theory (COR), and self-determination theory (SDT) for explaining the theoretical framework. On the other hand, the conceptual framework informed by protean career orientation (PCO) …

What We Know About Pandemics And The Stress They Cause, Anita Barbee

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Pandemics are not new, but they significantly impact how we work, socialize, and manage our health. This can be especially difficult for those in the helping professions for whom face-to-face contact and travel are part of their daily routine. This blog post explains what a pandemic is and the stress that it causes. What is a Pandemic? When the spread of a disease escalates, it can become a pandemic, affecting a wide geographical area and a significant portion of the population. Pandemics are marked by uncertainty, confusion, and a sense of urgency which may be exacerbated by the inundation of …

Managing Stress While Working From Home During The Pandemic: Strategies For Self-Care, Andrew Winters

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Stress is often driven by feeling a lack of control over things you once had control over. This lack of control can create feelings of anxiety, depression, and even anger. This blog post highlights some elements of self-care that can help you stay present and regain a sense of control where you can. Manage your newsfeed How much information are you consuming about the pandemic? Too much news can add to your stress. Try to minimize your consumption of news about the outbreak to once a day, preferably in print format (e.g. magazines, newspapers) and limit your exposure to media …

Mindfulness, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is described as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 22). Instead of being on autopilot and reacting in reflexive and mindless ways, perhaps with a focus on the past or the future, it is about being fully aware of and present in the moments of our lives. The nonjudgmental aspect is about not leaping to “likes and dislikes, opinions and prejudices, projections and expectations” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 23) and instead observing without evaluating. Mindfulness is considered both a trait and a state. Trait mindfulness refers …

Side Effects Associated With Organizational Interventions: A Perspective, Logan L. Watts, Bradley E. Gray, Kelsey E. Medeiros

Cambridge University Press Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

Drawing on examples from published research, the authors offer a perspective on the side effects that are associated with organizational interventions. This perspective is framed in the context of the many hard-won positive influences that industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists have had on individuals, groups, organizations, and social institutions over the last century. With a few exceptions, we argue that side effects tend to receive less attention from I-O psychology researchers and practitioners than they deserve. A systematic approach to studying, monitoring, and advertising side effects is needed to better understand their causes, consequences, and the contexts in which they …