In today’s climate, organizations need leaders who can turn on a dime. Identifying, and investing in, those potential leaders early in career or tenure to the organization is important.

Although learning agility--the ability to learn from experiences and then apply that knowledge to new conditions and environments--is starting to be seen as an important construct trait when it comes to identifying organizational leadership, there hasn’t been a lot of work done on how that trait impacts learning and performance over time. Erin Laxson, PhD, a managing consultant with Hogan Assessments, found that curious. After all, organizations were starting to invest in employees who demonstrated behaviors associated with learning agility, but how did that predict future career success for individuals, and in turn how those individuals contributed to their organizations?

In her presentation, “The Impact of Learning Agility on Career Success,” at the 2019 SIOP Annual Conference she took an in-depth look at the links between learning agility and learning and performance—two indicators of career success. 

Many university and college students across the U.S. report lacking access to a reliable supply of nutritious food, a concept known as food insecurity, which can affect their ability to learn, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.  

“Food insecure students were more likely to fail assignments and exams, withdraw from classes or the university, and had lower grade point averages than their counterparts,” said Yu-Wei Wang, PhD, of the University of Maryland-College Park, who presented at the meeting. “Additionally, they reported missing out on professional development opportunities, such as internships, which may affect their future career ambitions.”

A study by the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice of nearly 86,000 students from 123 U.S. educational institutions found that 41% of university and 48% of two-year college students reported food insecurity, according to Wang.

“With increasing wealth inequality and student loan debt in the United States, we need to address the food insecurity problem on college campuses and make sure it does not restrict a student’s ability to succeed,” she said. 

If you’re one of the many voting members who has taken the time to cast your ballot in this year’s SIOP election, thank you! 

If you haven’t done so yet, please invest some time in the next few days reviewing the candidates' information and casting your ballot. 

The election will close on December 2, at 12:00 midnight ET.

November is a month that gives us the opportunity to not only reflect on what we are grateful for but to also celebrate freedom and what it takes to maintain it with Veterans Day. This past month SIOP has allowed the Military and Veterans Initiative Task Force to present to you a two-part series on increasing our general military and veteran’s literacy and highlight some of the significant strides the work of I-O psychology has enabled for the military by highlighting the work of Dr. Ed Salas. This week we want to bring the month of November to a close with a message of gratitude for the symbiotic relationship that exists between the field of industrial-organizational psychology and the performance of our military, military family members, and veterans.

SIOP’s Visibility Committee asks you to share your insights on which workplace trends will be important in 2020. What are your clients, peers, and colleagues outside the profession talking about around the water cooler and the conference table?

Working with Amanda Woller, Visibility Committee Chair in Training, and Andrew Pepper, Media Subcommittee Chair, Dan Eisen, the Survey Analysis Coordinator, has compiled your suggestions from the first-round survey into a short list of 37 topics.

Now it’s time for you to help choose the final 10.