We are a lean, proven, pace-setting talent analytics firm. Our passion is helping our clients and partners make the best decisions possible about hiring and developing employees. We know the best decisions are made with the best up front data about each job, first of all, and then, about the candidates. We help you define, discover, and differentiate that data, so that you have much better odds of achieving a great fit.

We provide top outcome standards to all of our clients–of every size and sector–next door and worldwide. We help you navigate the unknown waters of people analytics smoothly, skillfully and successfully.

Why do we do this? It’s not easy helping people choose a new way to do something so important to them…but we strongly believe in helping people and organizations make better decisions.

Our Story

In January 2001 our founder, Spencer Stang, Ph.D., an Industrial and Organizational Psychologist, started a company called SportLab to help professional sports teams select better players. Our research clearly demonstrated that advanced analytics could be used to predict – with incredible accuracy – how well a newly-drafted football player would perform.

Further research indicated that the technology we built for the NFL also worked exceptionally well for helping companies hire and develop better employees. So we converted the technology to specifically address employee hiring and development challenges . . . and Stang Decision Systems was born.

Today, we are a world leader in customized hiring and employee development processes. We help your human resources professionals by providing them with new tools and processes which help them do their job more efficiently and accurately. We help you “highlight the human” in your human resources by selecting for targeted skills, aptitude, and cultural fit.

SDS sets the “new standard” for organizations who want to avoid costly hiring mistakes and maximize their productivity, culture, and competitive advantage.

Our Team

Spencer Stang, PhDFounder & Owner

Spencer specializes in designing and implementing customized employee selection systems, with an emphasis on optimized algorithms to improve the decision making process. Throughout his 20-year career, Spencer has worked with many of the world’s largest business and sports organizations to help them identify, develop, and deploy the talent they need to gain a competitive advantage.

Scott Birkeland, PhDVice President

Scott specializes in developing and implementing assessment programs to help organizations select and develop their workforce. With over 15 years of experience as an I/O Psychologist, Scott partners with clients to identify talent-related problems and design solutions to enhance the skill level in their organizations.

David WexleyAssociate

An associate to SDS, David has 20+ years of experience in strategy, organizational development, and management consulting, as well as expertise in culture and consensus building, Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI), executive coaching, workshop design, employee selection, and personnel assessments.

Kenneth Wexley, PhDAssociate

An associate to SDS, Ken is a leader in the field of Industrial Organizational Psychology and is internationally known for his expertise. Ken has published more than 150 professional articles and co-authored nine books, and was instrumental in developing SDS’s PetroSelect, the world’s best process for hiring and developing petrochemical employees.

Jody JohnsonVice President/Human Resources & Talent Acquisition

Jody brings a diverse skillset with certification in Organizational Behavior Management, 19 years in banking (wealth management, shareholder relations, HR, marketing) and more than a decade in the world of HR. She works successfully in-house and remotely, delivering exceptional service supporting human resources by way of employee relations, strategy, emotional intelligence, reliability, system development, talent acquisition, recruiting, job posting guidance, benefits, policy administration, and best practices.

Shannon WhitehouseDirector of Operations

Shannon works hands-on with her clients to ensure the right employee is hired every time. While her main focus is in the Upper Michigan area, she supports clients all over the U.S. and Canada. Shannon has a B.S. in Psychology. Shannon strives to improve the implementation of processes in many areas of our business in order to deliver the best possible customer experience.

Cheryl GilinProject Manager

Cheryl has been ensuring clients and candidates receive the fullest extent of our talent selection capabilities since 2014. Cheryl has thrived within our company, becoming a great example of finding transferable skills and aptitudes to be the perfect fit in an organization.

Jill HayesDirector of Communications

Jill brings 33 years of experience in the hospitality, educational and retail industries focusing on delivering legendary customer service, establishing and promoting human resource procedures, and workplace safety and sanitation policy administration. Jill’s main job is to ensure that our clients and candidates have the best hiring experience possible.

Katherine MitchellProject Manager/Financial Controller

In addition to financial controller at SDS, Katherine has seven years’ experience as Project Manager at SDS. Her clients include both SDS KeyHire and industrial-based companies. Katherine has a B.S. in Psychology and a M.S. in Training, Development, and Performance Improvement. Katherine works diligently to form lasting client relationships with top-notch customer service and satisfaction.

Jamie BurzanProject Manager

With nearly 10 years of leadership experience, Jamie understands the importance of finding the right candidate for the right job. Jamie assists clients locally as well as nationally to help meet all of their hiring needs. Jamie’s education includes an MBA and a master’s degree in management, and she has experience in the hiring process, employee training, and employee retention. Jamie builds strong relationships with her clients and ensures that their hiring needs are met with great satisfaction.

Kedzie StarkOperations Designer

Kedzie works closely with Project Managers to effectively meet our clients’ employee selection and development needs. Kedzie utilizes his BS degrees in Sociology and Art & Design to help with client satisfaction and quality control.

Diego Baños FariñasLead Software Developer

Diego is a Computer Engineer graduate with a passion to design and implement elegant software solutions to solve business problems. He’s been working for Stang Decision Systems for the last 3 years and works on maintaining and improving the different software applications we use towards our goals.

Zachary HaywardSoftware Developer

Zachary is a software developer that aids in the maintaining of Stang Decisions Systems various applications. Zachary recently received a BS in Information Technology from Central Michigan University. Outside of work Zachary likes to tinker with his homelab or work on side projects.

Joey McGroartySoftware Developer

Joey started working for Stang Decision Systems as an intern in 2016. Now he works full-time as a frontend developer, designing and building pages for SDS’ applications. Joey spends most of his free time programming his own video games or playing his guitar or piano.

Lucas LeodlerSoftware Developer

Lucas is currently a junior at Central Michigan University studying computer science. In his free time, Lucas enjoys being active within his campus Association of Computing Machinery and Association of IT Professionals groups, both of which he represents within his university’s Student Government Association.

Andrew HoganSoftware Developer

Andrew is a data engineer who has been working in the process automation field for 6 years and making software since he was a kid. He’s spent most of the past year enhancing SDS’s online platforms and creating immersive simulations. He spends his free time appreciating the slice of heaven he’s been granted in the form of his tiny family.

Parker ScottSoftware Development Intern

Parker is an intern learning backend development. He is currently majoring in Cybersecurity and plans to learn the nuances of many programming languages in order to automate tasks, identify threats, and homebrew games. When not working, you will find Parker playing one of several instruments, like drums or electric bass.

Justin CarlsonMarketing Specialist

Justin helps SDS share its incredible products and service to the world, and works in tandem with our sales team to grow our list of happy clients. Justin has a B.S. in Entrepreneurship from Northern Michigan University, and brings with him more than 10 years of experience in marketing and communications.