New SIOP White Paper Examines Value of I-O Psychology

As shared in the latest SIOP white paper, the workplace is undergoing dynamic changes, significantly driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and evolving cultural landscapes. These transformations are reshaping how organizations operate and how employees interact within their professional environments.

Authors Alexis Fink, SIOP President and Fellow, and Cole Napper, SIOP Member, explore how HR teams are responding to these trends and how I-O psychology can help companies and HR teams navigate this quicky changing world in The World of HR Is Changing Rapidly: I-O Psychology Can Help. 

Napper says I-O psychology is more relevant than ever. In addition to writing, podcasting, and being a thought leader in the field of people analytics, Napper, currently with FedEx, has built and led people analytics functions at Fortune 500 companies and at startups backed by venture capital. 

“Organizational transformation has never been more salient than what the global workforce is going through currently,” he said. “The world of work needs I-O psychologists to help guide this transition.” 

This help includes science-backed support in:

• advanced analytics techniques
• selection and performance management
• organizational effectiveness
• optimizing talent management
• employee engagement, well-being, and culture
• organizational development, learning, and change management
• consulting

Each of these areas is explored in depth in the white paper.

In addition to these core skills of the modern I-O practitioner, Fink emphasized the advantages I-O psychology holds over roles that may be more familiar to senior leaders.

“I-O psychology takes a data-driven, data-informed approach to people questions in organizations,” she said, explaining that I-O practitioners support organizations making savvy decisions about how they approach work. The difference is that I-O psychology also balances those organizational needs with employee needs; in the process, both are strengthened. 

Fink has spent more than 2 decades leading talent analytics, workforce strategy, talent management, and large-scale organizational change teams at leading global organizations, including Meta, Microsoft, and Intel. 

Technology figures prominently in today’s rapidly evolving workplace.

“We’re at an inflection point in the capabilities of technology,” Fink said. “AI capabilities, for example, have grown to a point that many of the ways we think about work and working have to shift pretty fundamentally.” 

Actions that were successful just 2 years ago may no longer be effective or competitive, Fink said: “I-Os are experts in figuring out jobs and work and teams and selection. They are important partners as organizations seek to evolve to take advantage of these new capabilities.” 

You can read more information about the intersection of I-O psychology and technology, including people analytics, recruitment and selection, job analysis and design, and HR in the white paper.