99 Conference: A Little Fun in the Sun and a Whole Lot More

Beverly Waldron

The 1999 IPMAAC conference was held in from June 6 -1 at St. Pete Beach, Florida. 240 attendees been enjoyed Florida's Gulf Coast, networking with friends and colleagues, and an excellent program. A lot happened in those for half days. So much, but this can only be a brief summary. To try and keep things organized we will divide this into four sections: program, awards, business, and social (realizing, of course, that there is much overlap between the sections).

The Program

David Hamill and Déonda Scott did an excellent job as program chairs. The program consisted of 59 total presentations: 8 workshops, 28 papers, 14 symposiums, and 9 tutorials. There was something for everyone! Keynote addresses included:

Adaptability in the Workplace: What It Means and Implications for Selecting and Training an Adaptable Workforce, presented by Dr. Elaine Pulakos, Vice President and Director of Personnel Decisions Research Institute and current President of SIOP. She discussed the increasing speed of change in business and society, the need for lifelong learning, and how globalization of the economy forces adaptation. We can enhance adaptability by how we select, train and assess. We need to assess the adaptability requirements of jobs and use this information in building selection systems. We also need to use the information in individual, team, and organizational training.
WRIPAC invited Dr. Neil Schmitt, University Distinguish Professor of Psychology and Management at Michigan State University and Director of Applied Research at the human resources consulting group of AON, who spoke on assessment without adverse impact. Dr. Schmitt's session focused on how we can eliminate or at least greatly reduced adverse impact from the testing process. The traditional methods used to assess a person's qualifications have been shown to be valid but they have high adverse impact. His solution to this problem is to use test with low or no adverse impact. Some of the options discussed include the use of computer or video based testing, using portfolios of accomplishments (E &T), coaching or orientation procedures, and changing the way that test scores are used. He also discussed studies which use biodata and personality measures. His primary point was that by using other predictor's we gain a larger picture of the applicant's qualifications and lower adverse impact in the process. In summary, Dr. Schmitt says we need to consider the following factors when assessing individuals: consider the full range of outcomes, use measures that reflect the full range of abilities, pay attention to face validity, continue research in this area, improve ratings of experience and training, preparer employees to move up the organization, and recognize real differences and develop programs to remedy the differences.
On Wednesday, MAPAC invited speaker Dr. Walter Borman discussed citizenship performance and its importance for organizational effectiveness. Dr. Borman is the CEO of Personnel Decisions Research Institutes and Director of the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program at the University South Florida. He described "citizenship performance" as behavior that supports the social and psychological fabric of the organization and described research on the development of a taxonomy of citizenship performance. The taxonomy included behavior such as: volunteering for extra work, persisted with extra effort, helping and cooperating with others, following organizational rules and procedures, endorsing and supporting the organization's objectives. The following three dimensions were identified in recent dissertation research on a taxonomy of citizenship personal performance:
1. Personal support
  - Helping
  - Cooperating
  - Motivating
2. Organizational support
  - Representing
  - Loyalty
  - Compliance
3. Conscientious
  - Persistence
  - Initiative
  - Self-development
Dr. Borman contrasted task performance and citizenship. For example, tasks very across jobs, whereas citizenship activities are more similar across jobs. Personality, motivational and predispositional variables are more likely predictors of citizenship behavior. Dr. Borman described CARS (Computerized Adaptive Rating Scales) which use adaptive testing principles to assess citizenship performance. The conclusions he offered are:
1. Citizenship performance is important to consider in assessment.
2. Overall job performance contains components of citizenship performance.
3. When citizenship performance is a criterion component, personality dimensions are likely to be predictors.
CARS shows promise for measuring citizenship performance. He also noted that citizenship performance will likely increasing in importance because of global competition, team based organizations, downsizing, and customer service orientation. Citizenship performance can be part of assessment, training and performance appraisal. It can also be taught.
Dr. James Sharf, President of Sharf and Associate's and formerly EEOC Chief Psychologist and Special Assistant to the Chairman, discussed What's your Job-Bias Liability? Dr. Sharf provided guide and information related to risk management in assessment. One of his observations was that increased use of the web is likely to lead to risk management problems, such as counting all persons who hit on your web site as applicants. His analysis of litigation statistics showed:
1. Employers are 400 times more likely to be seen by private plaintiff attorneys them by the U.S. Department of Justice
2. 57% of lawsuits on employment are brought under common law so the cases can be heard by a jury, and to avoid legal limits of liability claims. The average tort claim was $500,000.
3. EEOC filed suit in less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the cases where there were charges. Most cases were resolved prior to trial.
4. Charges of race discrimination are decreasing.
5. An AMA survey of legal charges found of 47% of charges relate to discharge cases, 0.3% to testing (206 out of over 80,000), and 7.7% to hiring,.
One growth area in risk management is EPLI (Employer Liability Risk Insurance). The need for such insurance is illustrated by the recent settlement against Texaco 4 $156 billion. He noted that plaintiffs were twice as likely to win with a jury as compared to a judge, they were also twice as likely to win with a disparate treatment argument (which gets punitive damages). The U.S. Department of Justice is supporting the current administration' view that encourages gender and race conscious interpretations of the civil rights laws. Dr. Sharf expects the Clinton administration to focus on gender comparable worth issues in the last two years of the administration. Concerning use of biodata, Dr. Sharf found that local statutes and regulations prohibit many areas of inquiry in biodata questionnaires. He pointed out that he is an advocate of the use of legally defensible employment tests. He also sees courts as getting less patient with adverse impact claims.

There were many other great presentations but we don't have room to cover all of them. We hope to have information on all the presentations on IPMAAC Online, but that is dependent on the presenters providing us with information on their presentations. So, please check the web site for information on the other presentations and presenters, please provide information on your presentation for IPMAAC Online.

Again, our compliments to David Hamill, Déonda Scott, the Program Committee, and the presenters for an excellent conference program.

Awards

The 1999 Student Paper Award was presented to Michelle A. Dean of Louisiana State University for A Response Option Examination of Biodata Adverse Impact and Criterion Validity.

The Stephen E. Bemis Award was presented to James C. Johnson. Please see the article on the Bemis Award for additional information on Jim and the other nominees.

Chuck Schultz was presented with the Clyde J. Lindley Exemplary Service Award in recognition of generous contribution of time, energy and talents to IPMAAC. Please see the article contained in this issue of the ACN for more information.

Business

The IPMAAC Board of Directors met on Sunday, June 6 to discuss business issues related to IPMAAC. Among the items discussed at the Board meeting and at the business meeting on Wednesday afternoon:

At the business meeting on Wednesday it was announced that in a close vote, T.R. Lin was selected by the members of IPMAAC as President for the year 2001. He will serve as President-Elect during the coming year. Ilene Gast was also elected to the Board of Directors beginning January 1, 2000.
Doris Maye, our IPMA Executive Council Representative, provided a report of IPMA Executive Council activities. (For more information please see her report contained in this issue of the ACN.) Doris's term as IPMAAC's representative will end in December and we would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her excellent work in representing IPMAAC. It is much appreciated! The Board selected David Dye as our next Executive Council Representative. He will attend the October Executive Council meeting with Doris and will take over the full duties on January 1, 2000.
The Board of Directors also approved the 2000 budget presented by President-Elect Kristine Smith. The budget becomes effective on January 1 as Kris moves from President-Elect to President.
The Y2K IPMAAC Conference will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Pentagon City, Arlington, VA. In order to obtain a more favorable room rate the traditional conference pattern of Sunday thru Thursday is being shifted to Saturday thru Wednesday. The dates for next year's conference are June 3 - 7, 2000. A final vote on the 2001 conference will be held at the IPMAAC Board of Directors meeting in October but it appears that the 2001 conference will be held in Newport Beach, California.
The Board of Directors also approved a change to the publication schedule for the ACN. Four full issues will be published in February, April, August, and October. The June and December issues will be published in abbreviated formats.

Social

Whenever IPMAAC'ers get together you can be sure a good time will occur. The beach resort of the TradeWinds made a fine setting for the good times and networking. A number of individuals took advantage of the beach and the Florida sun. You could tell by the "red" faces, arms, and even feet. But no serious burns were seen so we believe that all the advice on sun screen usage was taken to heart.

Sunday night's President's Reception gave everyone a chance to greet old friends and make new ones. As always, conversations ran the gamut - catching up with personal news and discussions about what was going on at work.

Monday night, WRIPAC graciously sponsored a reception. Originally scheduled for an outdoor pavilion, the threat of thunderstorms moved the party indoors. Needless to say, this didn't stop the fun. We would like to thank WRIPAC for providing this opportunity for everyone to get together.

At the end of Tuesday afternoon's sessions the group gathered for a cool break before heading out on their own. We had fruit, sorbet, and juice, but once again conversation was the main course. We would like to thank PTC/NC for their contribution which helped provide this break.

We're really sorry that all of you couldn't join us for Wednesday night's Tacky Tourist Party. There were some sights to behold!! Prizes were given for the "tackiest" tourist attire. The judges had a difficult job -- they couldn't even be sure who all was actually participating . . After much difficult discussion the following "winners" were selected:

5th place - David Hamill
4th place - Phillis Lyons
3rd place - Ilene Gast
2nd place - Mike Aamodt
1st place - Chuck Schultz
Grand Prize - Chuck Gerhardt

Chuck Gerhardt may have had an unfair advantage. As a "local" he has seen enough examples to know what a truly tacky tourist looks like. But he still gets credit for being willing to look like that in public! Curious to know how "bad" they looked. Check out the IPMAAC website. We've got pictures!

A D.J. was on hand to provide music for dancing and many of those attending took advantage and hit dance floor. To help get things started the D.J. presented the IPMAAC Village People performing "YMCA." It truly was a sight to behold! Mike Willihnganz, Nathan Jones, David Orr, David Hamill, and Charley Sproule demonstrated that they had the moves! You must stop by the website to see the pictures! Unfortunately all we have are stills. I would have given a great deal to have had a video camera with me that night. . .

For those who weren't into dancing we had volleyball of a different kind. SIGMA Data Systems, Inc. sponsored our glow-in-the-dark beach volleyball game. Neon body paints, a neon ball and black lights! Thanks SIGMA, those playing and those watching both enjoyed the spectacle!

This social side of this year's conference was a great success. Thanks to:

WRIPAC, SIGMA, and PTC/NC for their generous sponsorships and contributions to the social events;
WRIPAC, TECO, and other organizations for their contributions to our "goodie bags" and door prizes;
the members of the Host Committee who helped pull it all together and make it a success;
the TradeWinds Resort and its wonderful staff for a great site and lots of assistance. (Special thanks to Jim Rausch for all his help!);
Marianne Ernesto and Sarah Shiffert for all their hard work, patience, and assistance;
and to those who attended and participated. We hope you had a good time!

This year's casual conference in the surf & sand of Florida is over but be sure to join us next year as we're puttin' on the Ritz in D.C.! June 3- 7, 2000.