SIOP Task Force Wants You for a Membership Persona Focus Group

SIOP is exploring how to better serve its stakeholders, from students to business leaders and everyone in between!

Historically, the membership and services of SIOP and its predecessors were reflective of their origins, which were originally focused on a narrow audience. Much like the Society today, the goals of these organizations were to support people practicing applied psychology in the workplace and connect members.

However, as SIOP has recently celebrated its 40^th Societal “birthday,” there have been many changes to this audience over the years that have implications for what kind of supports people want and need. Although academics and practitioners still work alongside and inform one another, there are unique content interests that each prioritize. Recent years have shown more members identifying as female as well as more master’s degree holders. Most recently, with the addition of the Affiliate membership, which does not require an I-O psychology degree, SIOP has even more opportunity to directly inform and support organizational professionals who have taken interest in the value of our field’s work.

Upon recognizing this core audience shift, the Executive Board supported the formation of the Task Force to Identify Core Audiences and Build Personas, which kicked off earlier this year. The task force began its work by exploring Society membership data, which yielded several statistically distinct audiences.

The next phase of research requires your specific insights to learn about how to best provide valuable and relevant information to you. Targeted focus groups are scheduled to begin early in 2024 and are the prime opportunity for you to provide feedback about the types of content, resources, and development opportunities you would find most useful to your career stage, educational and professional background, and membership type.

For example, you might be very interested in a SIOP Work Smart Series workshop about Measuring the Impact of Leadership Development, whereas another SIOP member may be seeking Career Center job postings. Hearing directly from YOU will help us target future content and resources shared across the Society.

Please consider volunteering an hour of your time to participate in a focus group about how SIOP can better meet your needs. Sign up through this form.

Because we’ll be matching focus group volunteers to targeted member subgroups, and because we are randomly sampling among those who volunteer, not all volunteers will be selected for participation. Whether you are selected or not, we greatly appreciate your willingness to donate your time to making SIOP better for everyone!

If you are selected and participate in a focus group, you will be entered into a drawing for a $250 credit toward SIOP event registration or membership dues as a thank you for your time. More details will be available to participants.

For more information, feel free to contact task force Chair and Instruction and Education Portfolio Officer Richard Landers.