The importance of reflective practices for decision makers: A possible part of the solution for helping the field

Abstract

This commentary expands on the focal article's (Hyland, 2023) notion about the importance of reflective and reflexive practice in the field of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Hyland states that reflective practices could be beneficial to everyone, bringing out that it could have benefits across all types of stakeholders in the field of I-O. Nevertheless, with the aim of developing the field, we feel that there is a specific group of I-O professionals that should be targeted first, rather than simultaneously getting everyone on board with reflective and reflexive practices. We argue that reflective practices within the field will be most effective when exhibited by stakeholders with decision-making rights and responsibilities. Although we agree that teaching reflective practices as part of official education would improve the professional (and personal) capacities of I-O psychologists and thus further develop the field, a focus on junior I-Os seems to omit key decision makers (e.g., executives, journal editors, and those in similar leadership positions) who actively shape the field now. We introduce the importance of reflectivity across generations of I-O professionals and discuss the benefits of extending the emphasis of reflective practices to key stakeholders, decision makers, and practitioners in addition to trainees.