Raise I-O Awareness Year-Round with #SmarterWorkplace Resources

Richard Landers issued a challenge to I-O psychologists to step out of their workplace silos during his #SmarterWorkplace interview with Colin Omori on AI and Machine Learning.

He said, “’there is this unique, interesting stuff coming out of these new, modern prediction methods, and we need to figure out how to make that our own.’ If we don’t do that, then the data science/computer science communities will do it instead; they’re not going to have our values, and they’re going to run away with the farm, so to speak.”

It’s a provocative start to an informative discussion covering perceptions about, and approaches to, working with new technologies that includes some advice for cross disciplinary collaboration and advocacy for sound I-O practices.

The Landers interview is one of three articles and three videos featured for the last week of Smarter Workplace Awareness Month 2019. Together, AI and Machine Learning were voted Trend #1 on SIOP’s Top 10 Workplace Trends for 2019. The other two articles are an interview with Scott Tonidandel on Big Data (Trend #3) and an article contributed by Julie Wayne on Trend #10, Work-Life Balance Interventions.

During her 5-minute presentation on Work-Life Balance Interventions at the2019 Annual Conference Top 10 Trends IGNITE session, Tammy Allen noted that this trend has been on the Top10 list ever since there’s been a Top 10 list. Dan Putka, presenting on AI & Machine Learning, and Fred Oswald, speaking on Big Data, round out the list of videos for Week 4 of Smarter Workplace Awareness Month 2019.

The SIOP Visibility Committee has been hosting Smarter Workplace Awareness Month since 2015. Although we celebrate during September, we encourage you to use the resources gathered here throughout the year to raise awareness of the work I-O psychologists do to help make workplaces smarter, more efficient, and more humane.

SIOP’s Top 10 Workplace Trends has provided the framework for coverage of important topics this month. The two-part survey process for the 2020 Top 10 Workplace Trends list will begin in October. SIOP members will receive an invitation to participate in this survey that highlights new developments and ongoing issues receiving public attention in the workplace. Visit the Top 10 Trends web page for a historical overview the trends.

Smarter Workplace Awareness Month is coordinated by the SIOP Visibility Committee’s Media Subcommittee, chaired by Andrew Pepper. Tilman Sheets and Jerel Slaughter coordinated the member articles and interviews for 2019.