Consulting 101 Panel

Panelists Include:

Matthew Merbedone, Ph.D.

Director of Talent Management

Marriott International

Laura Steighner, Ph.D.

Principal Research Scientist

American Institutes for Research

Deborah Whetzel, Ph.D.

Manager of Personnel Selection and Development

Human Resources Research Organization

Facilitated by: 

Sara Trevino, M.S.

Research Associate

American Institutes for Research

• Doors open at 4:15 pm
• Presentation from 4:30-5:30 pm
• Networking 5:30-6:00 pm
• Food included on-site
• Email questions for the presenter to vp.ptcmw@gmail.com by 12pm ET the day before

• Crystal City Shops, 2010 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 (map)
• Metro Access and Parking Available

Summary of Session: 

The purpose of this interactive session is to have a discussion about various topics encountered in managing client interactions. This session will involve presenting the audience with a series of scenarios and plausible response options (similar to a Situational Judgment Test) and asking the audience what they believe are the Best and Worst responses. The audience responses (collected by a show of hands) will be compared to responses previously provided by SIOP panel members. The scenarios and subsequent discussion will focus on topics such as time management, scope creep, and challenging client decisions. This session will be facilitated by Sara Trevino.  

Bios:

Sara Trevino is an Industrial and Organizational Psychology Research Associate for the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Her primary skills and responsibilities have included managing the development of content for a professional certification exam; generating training materials and conducting training sessions for subject matter experts; creating surveys and analyzing results; facilitating technical reviewer training sessions; generating and delivering item writer feedback; supporting project management activities; contributing to generation, review, and revision of test forms; and writing technical reports. Ms. Trevino holds a Master’s degree in the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and her professional experience focuses on work related to human capital and talent management

Matthew Merbedone is the Director of Talent Management Analytics & Solutions at Marriott International. In this role, Matthew leads the function responsible for global, enterprise-wide employee engagement, performance management, and succession planning. During his tenure, he has also been responsible for job infrastructure (job descriptions, occupation codes, competencies), pre-employment assessments (hourly and management), and interviewer certification programs. These programs impact approximately 200K employees, 3M applicants globally, 19 different brands, and are offered in up to 52 languages. Prior to joining Marriott, Matthew earned his PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology and his BAs in Psychology & Business Administration from Washington & Jefferson College.

Laura A. Steighner is a Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research, has over 23 years of experience contributing to applied research in the fields of industrial and organizational psychology and healthcare workforce research. Currently, she serves as the Project Director for the development of test items and forms for a nationally administered, high-stakes standardized exam. Her areas of expertise include test development, program evaluation, training development and evaluation, and performance measurement. In 2007, she contributed to the development of TeamSTEPPSTM, a medical team skills training program for which AIR received the M. Scott Myers Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Dr. Steighner received her masters and doctoral degrees in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida.

Deborah Whetzel is manager of the Personnel Selection and Development Program at the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO). She oversees numerous projects dealing with various public and private sector clients. Her areas of expertise include job analysis, leadership competency models, performance appraisal systems, and developing and validating assessment processes, including structured interviews and situational judgment tests. She has co-edited two books, Applied Measurement: Industrial Psychology in Human Resources Management and Applied Measurement Methods in Industrial Psychology. She earned her PhD at George Washington University specializing in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and is a Fellow of SIOP.