Member Spotlight: Chia Lin-Ho

Name
Chia-Lin Ho

Position/Employer
Behavioral Science Consultant at Ho & Associates

How long have you been a SIOP member?
I have been a member for 19 years.

What roles have you had within SIOP?
I served as a member of the Prosocial Subcommittee within the SIOP Visibility Committee for 2 years. Since 2021, I’ve been a member of the Work Smart Series Learning Channel within the Workshops and Learning Programs Committee. I also have served as a conference reviewer and presenter since 2006.

Interest area(s)
Impact evaluation, leadership development, and talent assessment

What sparked your interest in I-O psychology?
In college, I majored in both psychology and business administration. When determining an area of study for advanced education, I had a hard time giving up either one of them. In search for ways to marry the two, I discovered that the focus on human behaviors and individual differences in I-O psychology and the macro perspective of organizational behavior and business operations in business administration complement each other perfectly in enhancing the well-being of individuals and organizations. In addition, I-O psychology gave me an opportunity to continue to study my favorite subjects—statistics and math!

What role do you see I-O psychology playing in the future of work?
In response to an ever-changing world and postpandemic changes in our collective perspective related to work, many organizations are going through transformations. I-O psychology can make more contributions to the transformation process and have more impact on the world of work by using a scientific approach to understand how and why things happen at work and applying the findings to solving problems faced by organizations. However, our ability to connect I-O psychology with the public and to get it out there more readily and fully into the hands of decision makers and policy makers is a key to the success.

Which of the Top 10 Work Trends for 2023 do you most strongly relate to, and how can I-O psycholgy practitioners, educators, and students impact this trend?

Leadership development and coaching (Trend #9)! Declining levels of confidence in leaders, weak leadership benches in organizations, and a shortage of capable leaders indicate a leadership crisis. Concerns about the state of leadership have been reported in many global surveys over a couple of decades. Comparing increasing annual spending on leadership development with the lasting leadership concern raises questions about the impact of leadership development. One of the persistent, overarching problems that frequently undermines the impact of leadership development is the evaluation problem. People with expertise in I-O psychology can help organizations more effectively develop their leaders through evidence-based leadership development solutions and rigorous and well-planned evaluation efforts.

What advice would you give to students or early practitioners?
Keep doing what you love, and love what you do. We are fortunate to have the expertise in I-O psychology, which can truly help people and make a difference. There will be times that you feel like you’ve hit the wall, but don’t let that stop you. Take a pause to rest, and remember what sparked your interest in I-O psychology. True impact takes time and requires perseverance.

What is one of your favorite SIOP Annual Conference memories/highlights?

My favorite SIOP Annual Conference memory has been reconnecting with mentors, friends, and professors. I have gained so many valuable friendships, domestic and international, over the years of attending SIOP conferences, collaborating on research, and volunteering in SIOP committees. It’s always heartwarming to watch any of them grow and hear about their success. This important support network continues to be strengthened by reconnections and expanded through making new friends at every conference.

Please share one non-I-O-related bit of information about yourself.
Traveling is one of my passions and has been part of the professional development activities I design for myself for 15 years. Every year I take at least one wilderness adventure by myself. The solo wilderness adventures take place in different parts of the world, but they are always challenging in nature and involve stretch experiences such as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. I recently returned from a trekking trip to Everest Base Camp via Gokyo Lakes and Cho La Pass.

Is there anything you would like to add?
Yes! Earlier this month, I worked with Rob Kaiser, a thought leader in the leadership industry, in designing the SIOP Work Smart Series session “Measuring the Impact of Leadership Development.” We talked about ways to measure and demonstrate the value of leadership development. You can still purchase a recording of this session by visiting the event webpage.

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