Navigating Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Human Resources and Talent Analytics

An introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its application in HR and Talent Analytics with focus on hype versus reality, and opportunities versus pitfalls

Jasmit Kaur

Jasmit Kaur is the founder and CEO of Culturebie, a talent analytics company. Until 2014, she held several roles in HR at Microsoft. In her last role at the company, she designed and implemented a talent analytics strategy that was critical to the annual HR strategy for Microsoft’s 50,000-person sales and marketing business. Prior to Microsoft, Jasmit worked as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers where she focused on large-scale change management projects involving infrastructure development, poverty alleviation and e-governance, with funding from the World Bank, UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the Asian Development Bank. Jasmit received her MBA from XLRI School of Management and a master’s in data science and human-computer interaction at the University of Michigan.

Jasmit is a co-author of SHRM-SIOP white paper on Trends and Practices on Talent Analytics

Developing Work Simulations: Building a Rich, Accurate Assessment

Work simulations provide a rich assessment of candidate capabilities and are generally well-accepted by candidates. Simulations such as role-play, analysis, and in-basket exercises can be a very informative, powerful method for evaluating general and technical job competencies. This workshop will provide an overview of various types of simulations and the types of competencies or job activities for which they are best suited. Next, the presenter will describe how to follow a content-oriented strategy to develop valid simulations and to develop appropriate scoring methods. The workshop will include a discussion of different response formats and the pros and cons of using video-based versus live simulations.

Key activities will be illustrated with small group exercises and participant discussion will be encouraged. The workshop is best suited for participants who already possess working knowledge of best practices for developing, delivering, and scoring employment assessments.

Participants will come away with a richer understanding of how to build a work simulation suitable for a target job. This knowledge can also help them ask informed questions when considering or evaluating commercial work simulations offered by vendors.

Dr. Cheryl Paullin

Dr. Cheryl Paullin is HumRRO’s Vice President of Talent Management and Analytics.  Throughout her career, Cheryl’s technical work has focused on development, validation, and implementation of many different custom assessments for a variety of talent management purposes, from pre-employment screening to promotion to employee and leader development, often in high-stakes situations. She has worked with a wide variety of public- and private-sector clients, including several Fortune 500 clients and clients at all levels of government. She has published a book chapter and best practice guidelines for HR practitioners on the aging workforce, and has presented on development and validation of high-stakes assessments at numerous conferences. Cheryl has served in volunteer leadership roles to support the profession of I-O Psychology at the local and national levels. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Creating a Comprehensive Leadership Assessment & Development Program

Over the past 10 years PepsiCo has experienced a number of business challenges in the marketplace that have driven the organization to transform both the ways we execute and deliver against our business goals, and the ways we manage our talent.

Not only must we identify leaders at senior levels who can transform the way we operate, but we need the ability to make decisions of how best to leverage their talents today, as well as identify and develop the capabilities deeper in the organization among those future leaders with the right characteristics, skills, and interests in leading the way for the future of PepsiCo.

To address this, PepsiCo has been assessing our key talent via our Leadership Assessment & Development (LeAD) program, a multi-trait, multi-method approach across multiple job level tiers. It is theoretically grounded in I-O psychology models on leadership potential, has been empirically validated, and was designed by a team of I-O psychologists. The program has also benefitted from thought leaders, assessment partners, leading I-O psychologists, business school professors, and consulting practitioners. This cutting-edge program has been recognized by multiple groups and has received several awards including the 2018 HRM Impact Award and 2018 Brandon Hall Gold for Best Advance in Leadership Simulation Tools.

LeAD reflects a comprehensive end-to-end assessment and development system that has been fully integrated with PepsiCo’s talent management processes and internal HR systems. The purpose of LeAD is to build a robust, future-focused talent pipeline at all levels using a valid and consistent framework.

Since 2013, LeAD has helped PepsiCo accurately and consistently identify and develop our internal talent, from early career to senior executives, to deliver against our business objectives and focus on the future capabilities needed for success.

Participants of this workshop will learn about:

1. History, conceptual models and validation underlying the program

2. Knowledge of the components of each level of LeAD

3. Review data-based findings on employee attitudes and outcomes

4. Peek into what’s on the horizon

James A. Scrivani, Ph.D., a Director in PepsiCo’s Global Talent Assessment & Development COE, has over 16 years of combined experience as an internal HR business partner, organizational development practitioner and external talent management consultant. He currently leads a high performing team responsible for the design and execution of PepsiCo’s award-winning suite of multi-trait, multi-method Leadership Assessment & Development (LeAD) programs. He has an M.A. in Organizational Management and a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. He is adjunct faculty at Sacred Heart University.

Robert E. Lewis, Ph.D., is a vice president in APTMetrics’ Executive Assessment Solutions practice, and APT’s Chief Assessor. He has more than 30 years of experience in the field of human resources as a line and project manager, and as an external consultant. His work has involved the psychological assessments of many hundreds of managers and executives, and his peer-reviewed articles are in journals spanning the fields of industrial-organizational psychology (I-O), human factors and industrial engineering. He presents regularly at professional meetings on topics related to talent management, executive assessment and development, personality testing, and competency modeling.

Lewis earned his Ph.D. in I-O psychology from Rice University. He is a licensed psychologist in Washington and Kansas states. He maintains memberships in the American Psychological Association, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and is an adjunct faculty member in the psychology graduate program at Seattle Pacific University and the business school at University of Washington-Bothell.

How to Measure Personality Right: Know-How and Tips for the Practitioner

Deniz S. Ones, University of Minnesota

Dr. Deniz S. Ones is a Professor of Psychology, the holder of the Hellervik Professorship of Industrial Psychology and the Distinguished McKnight University Professorship at the University of Minnesota, both research-based honors. She holds the prestigious title of Distinguished University Teaching Professor, based on her doctoral student mentoring and training of world-class industrial-organizational psychologists. Several of her students have won the best dissertation and early career contributions awards. She currently directs the top-ranked Industrial-Organizational Psychology program of the University of Minnesota.

She received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa under the mentorship of Frank Schmidt. Her research, published in more than 220 articles and book chapters, focuses on the assessment of individual differences for employee selection and measurement of personality, integrity, and cognitive ability constructs for the prediction of job performance, especially counterproductive work behaviors. Her research has been cited over 20,000 times in scientific literature. 

Dr. Ones has received numerous awards for her work and accomplishments. Her specific papers have been recognized by several best paper awards. She has co-edited first and second editions of the multi-volume Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology (2001; 2018), and several special issues of journals focused on cognitive ability tests, counterproductive work behaviors, and personality measurement for work applications.

In her applied work, she focuses on helping organizations design and implement assessment and measurement systems targeting maximization of task performance, citizenship behaviors, motivation, engagement, and employee health, while minimizing counterproductive work behaviors. In 2012, she received the Association for Test Publisher’s (ATP) Lifetime Professional Career Contributions and Service to Testing Award. She is ranked in the top 100 most influential management scholars in the past three decades as well as ranked in the top 15 most influential management scholars in the world who have received their Ph.D. in the past 20 years.  Most recently she was recognized as currently being among the top 10 most referenced I-O psychologists.   

Student, Early Career, and Future Leader

Inaugural IPAC Consortium

Are you a graduate student with an interest in assessment or working in the public sector? Are you an early career professional looking to network with others new to the field and maybe even develop some connections that last a lifetime? Would you like discover how you can become involved in a leadership role in IPAC?

Then, please join us for what is sure to be an exciting event, the first ever Student, Early Career, and Future Leader Inaugural IPAC Consortium. By attending this consortium-workshop you will:

• Network with other like-minded individuals.

• Obtain valuable information and answers to question regarding some of the unique features of working in the assessment field.

• Become aware of some of the unique career opportunities available.

• Learn about IPAC as an organization, opportunities to become involved in IPAC, and on PAD, the IPAC journal.

Featured events include:

• A talk by Dennis Doverspike on the History and Basics of Public Sector Assessment and Merit-Based Testing;

• A panel on Careers in Personnel Assessment moderated by Bharati Belwalkar, and featuring Michael Blair, Natasha Riley, John Ford, Marty Alber, and Abbie Caudill;

• A panel on Becoming Involved in IPAC, moderated by Ryan Thibodeau, and featuring Scott Highhouse, Mary Ann Haskins, George Vaughan, Matisha Montgomery, Emily Steinau, and Frank Igou; and

• Networking opportunities.

Ketaki Sodhi

Serving as Consortium organizer and host of events, Ketaki Sodhi is an Ph.D. student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology program at The University of Akron. In her current role as the Managing Director of the Center for Organizational Research (COR), Ketaki runs the day-to-day operations of University of Akron's consulting center.

Dennis Doverspike

Serving as a speaker and presenter, Dennis Doverspike, Ph.D., ABPP, is President of Doverspike Consulting LLC, also doing business as HR Litehouse. He is a People Scientist, is certified as a specialist in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and in Organizational and Business Consulting Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), and is a licensed psychologist in the State of Ohio. Dr. Doverspike has over forty years of experience working with consulting firms and with public and private sector organizations.

Bharati Belwalkar

Assisting with organization and as a moderator, Bharati Belwalkar works as a Personnel Administrator in the Civil Service Department of the City of New Orleans. Her key areas of responsibility include selection, training, and performance management. Bharati has previously worked for the City of Jacksonville and Aon Hewitt specifically on the projects related to job analysis, test development, and data analytics. As an early-career practitioner, she cares deeply about issues related to I-O education and training. Bharati has earned her Master’s degree in I-O psychology from Florida Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in the same field from Louisiana Tech University.