The American Psychologist for December of 2008 includes an article on "Reporting Standards for Research in Psychology." These standards are intended to bring psychology in-line with other groups adopting standards for evidence based practice. In that many disciplines adopt APA Publication Standards, any such set of guidelines will be very influential. The standards will impact areas such as HRM and Management. There are standards for research studies as well as meta analysis.

My complaint - thy cite an APA Presidential Task Force in stating that evidence based practice means "the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise." You have to wonder if there is a recognition that areas of psychological practice exist outside of health care.

Ideas come from diverse places. I was recently reading my high school Alumni newsletter, Saint Ignatius Magazine, when I came across an article "Daddy Does Diapers" by Brian Kantz. The article covers the phenomena of men who stay home to take care of the children, while their wives are at work. the "stay-at-home-Dad."

Kantz estimates that the number of stay at home Dads is around 150,000. That seems low, but it may be difficult for the Census Bureau to collect accurate data.

Results from an Akron Public Service Lawsuit. A federal jury awarded 23 Akron firefighters nearly $2 million after finding that a 2004 test Akron used for lieutenant and captain positions skewed against white applicants for captain's rank and black candidates for lieutenant.

The jurors, who delivered their verdict this afternoon before U.S. Judge John R. Adams, also found that the results of the lieutenants' test also discriminated against candidates over the age of 40.

The I-O Program of the University of Akron now has a newsletter. For a copy, go to the link for the Akron U I-O Newsletter.

Another announcement of an opening for a Human Resource job in Northeast Ohio, Cleveland. This job is for a Human Resource Manager and would require a degree and several years of human resource experience. If you have an interest, contact or send a resume to Rosanna Miguel [mailto:rmiguel@oestrategies.com].

The ESADE is a private university located in Barcelona, Cataluna, Spain. ESADE has an Institute of Public Management (ESADE IDGP), which offers a free newsletter. You have to subscribe to get the free newsletter, but it does have quite a few interesting articles for those who are interested in public sector management. For example, the recent newsletter included articles on Talent Management and Public Sector Motivation.

The Cleveland Metroparks has a job opportunity for an Associate Director of Human Resources - Recruitment and Diversity. This job requires an appropriate degree plus relevant HR experience.

Cleveland has a very nice metro park system, providing a number of opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The University of Akron held its fall commencement on Saturday, December 13th. We had two new I-O Psychology Ph.D.s.

James E. Kuthy. Jim is already employed with Biddle Consulting Group.

News reports indicate the Arena Football League might close down. I was willing to do without Archway cookies and even american automobiles, but football (even played indoors)? Losing football is just going too far.

There is a new issue of the Business of Government out from the IBM Center for the Buisness of Government. This is an excellent free resource. Some of the articles include:

We have a new article out on the issue of aging and changing demographics. The article is Supersize Me: Health and the Workforce Participation of Mature Adults. It can be found in the IPMA-HR News Magazine for December of 2008.

The article deals with the projection that baby boomers will work and live longer. There is now data that indicates that this may not be true. The reason -- the high rate of obesity in America and among Baby Boomers. Being overweight leads to health problems and reduced the likelihood a person will remain in the workforce.

The House Test - Your Test for the Weekend (This idea comes from one of my graduate students)

The following is a great test of your dedication to HR role in Executive Level strategic thinking. It tests the idea of which is more important - a high producer or espoused values.

Old Book Review of W. Edward Deming (1994). The New Economics: For Industry, Government, Education

I am reread Deming's The New Economics the other day. For those of you unfamiliar with Deming, he is generally credited with helping to rebuild Japanese manufacturing after World War 2 and with the introduction of the quality revolution. Briefly, this book can be described as being about "people who are living under the tyranny of the prevailing style of management." It is basically an anti-competition, anti-top leadership book.