In this episode of Department 12, I sit down with the Ellie Hoekman, an I-O Psychology enthusiast turned career coach, to explore the paths that lead Ellie from a rejected quantitative psychology applicant to a fervent advocate and professional in the I-O psychology space. Ellie also shares her advice for I-O students, recent graduates, and faculty…

In this episode, Ben speaks to Richard Mendelson, Ph.D. about a range of topics, including Rich's work as an expert legal witness and consultant in school violence cases. The heart of the episode is a discussion about the relationship between time-tracking and productivity. The conversation also touches on the impacts of remote work and the gig eco…

A few years ago, I talked to Shavonne Holman and Macy Cheeks about an organization they had founded: Blacks in I/O Psychology. Since then, the organization has gone from strength to strength, and, on February 22-23, 2024, BIOP will hold its Inaugural Conference & Gala in Atlanta. Register before the end of the year for an early-bird discount.…

Dr. Victoria Mattingly joins Dr. Ben Butina to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. She shares her expertise from publishing the book Inclusivelytics and running her consulting firm. Dr. Victoria opens up about battling cancer this year and how it differed from facing depression. The conversation covers how to build genuine inc…

In this episode of Department 12, Dr. Ben Butina interviews Professor Carol Kulik, co-author of the book Human Resources for the Non-HR Manager. Dr. Kulik discusses the importance of HR for all managers, even those who don't have a formal HR role. She also talks about the importance of making HR research accessible and applicable to everyday practi…

Dr. Ben Butina interviews Henri Maindidze, a third-year graduate student in I/O psychology at Portland State University. Henry discusses his experiences with mentoring undergraduate students and how he helps them navigate the challenges of graduate school. He shares some of the most common questions he receives from mentees, such as how to manage t…

Join Dr. Ben Butina in this enlightening episode of Department 12 as he engages in a compelling conversation with Dr. Rachel Baghelai. Dr. Baghelai recounts her unconventional journey into the world of Industrial-Organizational (IO) psychology, transitioning from banking to pursuing a graduate program at Elmhurst University. Delving into her evolut…

Trevor Nagle is a working actor with more than 40 speaking roles in movies, TV shows, and live theater to his credit. He also does voiceover work and industrial films. In this episode, I talk to Trevor about what a day on set is really like, the unique challenges of auditions, and what separates successful working actors from those who drop out. Th…

In this episode, Dr. Ben Butina interviews Dr. Andrew Holter about the surprising findings in his recently defended dissertation on whether self-efficacy, grit, and job satisfaction predict turnover intention among new registered nurses. Dr. Holter also discusses his background in public safety and how IO psychology is applicable in his role as a f…

Dr. Ben Butina interviews Dr. Logan Watts, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington, about his background and research. They discuss the concept of “side effects” in organizational interventions, which are unintended negative consequences that may occur as a result of a treatment or intervention. They also explore t…

Are there reliable differences between generations? Should business and HR leaders make decisions based on generational differences? Why are generations so popular on social media and in the popular business press? Are generations even a thing? In this episode, I interrogate Dr. David Costanza, Director of the I/O Psych Doctoral program at George W…

Raul Alejandro Espino joins us to share his observations about I-O psych in Central America, South America, and Spain. Be sure to visit the episode page for a full transcript.

Let's face it. We've got a bad name. In this episode, I make the case against the name "industrial and organizational psychology," consider some of the alternatives, and offer up my own suggestion for a new name. I'd love to hear your opinion about this one, so please hit me up on Twitter, LinkedIn, or email to share your perspective. Be sure to ch…

Dr. Marcus Crede has been threatened, legally and physically. His crime? Pointing out problems in published research. Lack of pre-registration, lack of power analysis, obvious calculation errors, impossible statistical results...authors, editors, peer-reviewers and readers are not doing so well. What is happening and what can we do about it? Check …

Can you validly and reliably measure a construct with just a single item? If so, what does that mean for academics and practitioners? In this episode, Dr. Russell Matthews (University of Alabama), Laura Pineault (Wayne State University), and Yeong-Hyun Hong (University of Alabama), join me to talk about their new paper, Normalizing the Use of Singl…

What can we learn about leadership from the Marvel Cinematic Universe? An awful lot, if our guides are Dr. Gordon B Schmidt and Dr. Sy Islam. In this episode, I talk to Gordon and Sy about how they first got interested in Marvel, why the MCU is such a great setting for exploring leadership practices, and how they worked together to create Leaders A…

One of the world’s foremost experts on the psychology of video games is one of us! Jamie Madigan, Ph.D. is the I-O psychologist behind the blog, podcast, and media empire called The Psychology of Video Games. In the first level, Jamie and I talk about how a good workplace is like a videogame and why that’s a cool topic for book. In the boss level, …

How do practitioners learn about our research? What topics and questions do they wish we would research? How can we communicate our research more effectively? In this episode, I speak to Marc Effron, talent management consultant and author of One Page Talent Management about these questions and many more. Check out the episode page for Marc's bio, …

Robert has questions and I don't have the answers. But maybe you do. Robert is a junior at Marist College, majoring in psychology, and he plans to apply to grad schools in I-O psych after graduation. He has a lot of questions about the search and admission process that I am not equipped to answer. But you, my dear audience, have a wealth of experie…

Before she became an I-O psychologist, Courtney Keim worked as a server and bartender. In this second part of a two-part episode, Dr. Keim reflects on why bartenders make good I-O psychologists, how she chose I-O psych by a process of elimination, and how to read the early warning signs that you, too, may be a little I-O psychologist all along. Vis…

Before she became an I-O psychologist, Courtney Keim worked at a residential treatment center for traumatized boys. In this first part of a two-part episode, Dr. Keim reflects on how those six brutal weeks influenced her later career as an I-O psychologist and professor. Along the way, we discuss integrity tests, stress, coping, and those little gl…

After 12 years as a Naval Aviator and Marine Corps Officer, Jonathan Noftsier transitioned to a career in I-O psych consulting. In this episode, we talk about Jonathan's transition from Executive Officer (XO) to I-O consultant, what civilians get wrong about the military, and how to translate military experience for civilian interviewers. Visit the…

Should we should spend less time testing our own theories and more time testing business practices as they're actually implemented in organizations? Can I-O psychologists improve Lean Management? What's the difference between testing and debunking? All this, and more, in my interview with Dr. Sy Islam (Talent Metrics Consulting, Farmingdale State C…

What's the difference between an expert and a thought leader? What's the big deal about curiosity? What's the shadow side of curiosity? What does too much curiosity look like? If you're curious, check out this episode with Dr. Alison Horstmeyer (Website, LinkedIn). Visit the episode page for a full transcript.…

How should an I-O psychologist think about creativity? How do we define, operationalize, and measure it? What's the relationship between creativity and expertise? What is problem construction and why is it so crucial to creativity? What's the role of time, attention, and perspective-taking? In this episode, I talk to Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon, an I-O …

Jared Lock began his I-O journey at the University of Tulsa, studying under Bob and Joyce Hogan. These days, he heads up The JDL Group, a consulting firm he founded that employs a network of 40 licensed I-O psychologists. We start our conversation by learning about Jared's personal I-O journey and what he learned from the Hogans. We then discuss or…

Mike Urick, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Management and Operational Excellence and the Graduate Director of the Master of Science in Management program at the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. In this episode I talk to Mike about his new book, A Manager's Guide to Using the F…

Everyone who earns a PhD has a story to tell, but some stories are more interesting than others. Unfortunately, what makes a story interesting is hardship. Today's guest, Dr. Daniel Krantz, a freshly-minted PhD in I-O psych from the University of Akron, had to overcome more than his share of obstacles in the past few years. Along the way, he's lear…

Clemente Diaz is the Associate Director of College Now at Baruch College and an adjunct faculty member in I-O Psychology at the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Clemente is also a member of Bridge Builders, a SIOP sub-committee dedicated to helping make connections to students and the larger community. In this episode, we talk about the Advocac…

Sevelyn Crosby is the author of a new children's book, My Mommy is an Organizational Psychologist and Amelia Do is part of the sales and marketing team for the book. In this episode we discuss why Sevelyn was inspired to write the book and the process of writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing it. We also discuss the role of design thinkin…

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. The investigation board looking into the matter found fault in NASA's organizational culture, especially how it handled decision-making and risk assessment. That's where today's guest, Dr. Laura Gallaher, enters the…

In our frustrating and never-ending quest to explain what I-O psychology is, we could always say, at least, "No, we don't do counseling." Today's guest is taking that away from us, too. Cynthia DeVita-Cochrane joins us from the frontier of I-O psychology as she shares her experience as a business resiliency counselor. Along the way, we learn why me…

Can I-O psych save the world? At least the world of work and organizations? My guests think so. Britt Gottschalk and Ethan Sprang of ReVise Consulting join us to talk about how COVID-19 will change the world of work and how I-O psych nerds can help. Check the episode page for a full transcript and links.…

David Copeland, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at UNLV. In this episode, he joins us to talk about his book, Success as a Psychology Major, which he co-wrote with Jeremy Ashton Houska. In addition to the book, we talk about the growing popularity of "Introduction to the Psychology Major" courses, which help psych majors explore speci…

What's it like to be Black in I-O psychology? When Shavonne Holman and Macy Cheeks graduated from Howard University—the country's most prestigious historically black university—and entered graduate programs in I-O psych, they weren't prepared for how alone and isolated they'd feel. Over dinner and drinks, they talked about forming a LinkedIn group …

In our final episode with Sherif al-Qallawi (Twitter, LinkedIn), Sherif reflects on his long and winding journey to I-O psych. We'll travel from pharmaceuticals to the United Nations, by way of a coin flip. Be sure to check out If Only I Had Known Back Then on the GIT SIOP blog and tell your psych instructor friends about www.teachiopsych.com. And …

I-O psychology is WEIRD: Most of our research is conducted with samples of Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies. How confident can we be that our evidence generalizes to non-WEIRD workplaces around the world? To gain some insight on that question, I asked our friend Sherif al-Qallawi (Twitter, LinkedIn) to talk about th…

Sherif al-Qallawi (Twitter, LinkedIn) is a PhD candidate at Florida Tech. In this episode, Sherif explains what the Fulbright Scholarship is and how it can change the lives and work of IO psych grads and graduate students. Be sure to check out the episode page for a full transcript.

Let's talk about qualitative research in IO psych. What is it? What kinds of research questions can you ask with it? What are the methods like? How can you get started? In this episode, I'm joined by Julia McMenamin (Twitter), Dr. Jennifer Pickett (Twitter), Dr. Deborah DiazGranados (Twitter), and Dr. Scott Davies (Twitter). Be sure to check out th…

I've got a great episode on qualitative research in IO psychology coming up. In the meantime, here's a brief clip from one of the guests on that show, Dr. Scott Davies of PointLeader Predictive Analytics. Be sure to check out the episode page for a transcript and more links.

Kyana Beckles, Founder and CEO of Leverage Assessments, Inc. based in New York City, discusses pre-employment testing processes for law enforcement. Kyana works with the NYPD and has a wealth of practical experience and insights on how IO can help address recent challenges with law enforcement. She also shares her perspective on the "Defund the Pol…

Hello, friends. Are you teaching a class this fall? Are you teaching it online or in some hybrid format? Then today's guest has some advice for you. Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. Better than okay, even. Take a listen to Daniel Maday. He has some good advice for you. Oh, and be sure to check out this episode's page for a transcript and …

Everyone is speculating about how COVID-19 has changed work, but in this episode, I speak to a man who has more than an opinion: he has data. Dr. Alexander Schwall, Chief Scientist and Co-Founder of Rhabit Analytics, joins me to discuss what's changed for employees--and what hasn't--since COVID-19. Are employees more or less concerned about pay? Wo…

Gudela Grote is a past president of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP) and the current president of the Alliance for Organizational Psychology (AOP). In this episode, we talk about the mission of the AOP and the importance of global collaboration among work and organizational psychologists and practitioners. Visi…

Ali Salihoglu is starting a podcast for the Hofstra IO Psych Student Association and he's got questions! If you're thinking about starting an IO psych podcast of your own, this is definitely the episode for you. We talk equipment, marketing, show length, and a lot more.

What's more grueling, writing a dissertation or running for President? What the are KSAs for a national political candidate? How is campaigning for a third party like teaching and consulting? How is managing a political campaign different from managing a company? In this episode, I talk to Dr. Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party candidate for Presi…

Lisa Kath used to be a chemist. Now she's an IO psychologist. What the hell happened? In this episode, I talk to Lisa about her career transition, how she found out about IO psych to begin with, and what she misses about chemistry. Follow Lisa on Twitter. (Pssst...she's also the ringmaster behind I-O Psych Memes on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.…

Well, folks, this COVID-19 business is messing up a lot of plans, including Chrissy Mackey's dissertation research plan! In this episode, Chrissy joins me to talk about how she's pivoted so she can move forward with her original research on the use of Dungeons and Dragons for leadership development. I've never played D&D, so I asked Chrissy to walk…

Katrina Burch, an Assistant Professor of IO Psych at Western Kentucky University, joins us to talk about the open road. Or subway. Or whatever. Is commuting a transition or a life domain in its own right? How does work spill over into the commute? Why is it so hard to get good commuting data? What about people who really enjoy their long commutes? …

Stefanie Mockler joins the show to talk about her work coaching leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. We talk about information and decision overload, isolation, communication, and how our send of professionalism may be changing. Connect with Stefanie on LinkedIn Read Stefanie's article, Playbook For Leaders: Checking in on Employees, Maintaining P…