Benjamin Schneider Receives Michael R. Losey Human Resource Research Award

From 2009 SHRM Annual Conference Blog (http://blogs.shrm.org/annual-conference-2009/?p=1370)

SHRM presented the $50,000 Michael R. Losey Human Resource Award to Benjamin Schneider Tuesday, June 30th during the 2009 SHRM Annual Conference.

The Losey award recognizes human resource researchers whose contributions significantly advance the field of human resource management. The award acknowledges major research accomplishments and aims to help fund and facilitate future individual contributions to the field.

As one of the world’s leading experts on service quality, Schneider has had worldwide impact on research and practice in this area. He has also been a leading contributor to human resource management research over the last four decades, having authored or co-authored over 130 articles and 10 books.

“Dr. Schneider is in a league of his own,” said SHRM President and CEO Laurence G. O’Neil. “He is a master of explaining complex topics to management teams and showing them how research findings can make substantial improvements in their operations.”

Schneider’s careful, high quality research, spanning viewpoints from micro to macro, has succeeded in identifying the components of the work environment that affect customers’ perceptions of service.

“Management gurus have preached about the customer service value chain for years, but Ben Schneider has gathered the data and shown us the links,” said Milton D. Hakel, psychology professor at Bowling Green State University and Schneider’s primary nominator. “He was the first mover in service quality research, and that put him at the head of the line for the Losey Award.”

Schneider’s research on service quality has been especially powerful in helping finance-oriented MBA students and faculty to understand the value chain connecting corporate financial results back through its set of causal factors – customer retention, customer satisfaction, employee behavior, employee attitudes, unit and organizational climate, and ultimately, leadership.

Further, Schneider’s ability to link employee data with customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and business revenues has provided important tools that companies can use to improve their competitiveness. His work promotes HR’s role in creating smart and sophisticated business strategies in today’s competitive work environment.

The award, named in honor of former SHRM President and CEO Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE, was endowed with a $1 million gift in 2000. SHRM, the HR Certification Institute, and the SHRM Foundation continue to jointly fund the endowment.

Schneider was selected by a panel of seven experts, including representatives from the three funding organizations. The panel was chaired by Debra Cohen, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM’s chief knowledge officer.

Schneider is a senior research fellow at Valtera Corporation in La Jolla, California (headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois). He is also professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Maryland, where he served as head of the industrial and organizational psychology program.

Schneider’s work has been recognized through numerous previous awards.

Schneider received his bachelor of arts in psychology and business administration from Alfred University, his MBA in industrial psychology from City University of New York (Baruch College), and his Ph.D. in organizational and social psychology from University of Maryland.

For more information please visit: http://www.shrm.org/about/awards/Pages/loseyaward.aspx.

About Valtera
Valtera is a professional services firm that provides premier human capital consulting and technology solutions to organizations worldwide. Valtera offers science–based solutions in the following areas: Leadership Assessment, Testing & Selection, Surveys & Analytics, Employee Engagement, and HR Audits & Legal Support. The company was founded in 1977.

Media Contact:

Valtera Corporation
Jennifer Stoll
847-472-5710
jstoll@valtera.com

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