King's College London - Homepage

• People management & performance
• The contemporary workforce
• Employee engagement & withdrawal
• Employment relations
• Employer branding
• Equality & diversity
• Talent management
• HR functional effectiveness
• International HRM
• Strategic workforce planning
• HR metrics & workforce analytics
• Work-life balance & flexible working

People management & performance

This area of study is about understanding the link between effective HR practice and individual & firm level performance. It seeks to evaluate the nature of high performance work systems and what organisations can do to drive employee performance, customer service or patient care.

The contemporary workforce

King’s faculty looks at issues around the changing nature of organizations and contemporary workforces, and explores debates about the changing nature of work, including the implications for the management of people. Research analyzes current prescriptions for the management of the contemporary workforce and show how people management can contribute to innovation at work.

Employee engagement & withdrawal

King’s faculty have been studying the components parts that comprise employee engagement for many years. Recently focus has been on how organisations can measure engagement to enable an understanding of the key drivers within their own organisation and what outcomes arise when engagement increases or decreases.

Employment relations

What are the key trends in employment relations; the role of trade unions, management and the state in contemporary employment relations. What is the nature of collective bargaining, partnership, and consultation and employee representation - including the European legislative context?

Employer branding

Research looks at how, why and what employees identify with at work - their job, their employer, or their colleagues? What are the opportunities and challenges for organisations in developing an employer brand and how does this translate into HR practice? How are individuals affected when brands change such as through M&A activity?

Equality & diversity

Research evaluates the human resource challenges of managing a diverse and increasingly multi-cultural workforce; analyzing the concept of equality and diversity at work and the implications and opportunities it offers to organizations.

Talent management

What is the nature of career management in contemporary organisations; how and why should employers facilitate employee career development and what outcomes will arise? Research continues to look at talent management and what it means for both individuals and employers.

HR functional effectiveness

How is the HR function evolving and how are HR roles changing? What lessons can be learned and how can HR be effective in the 21st Century? As HR continues to reshape itself, how can HR functions operate to provide maximum value?

International HRM

Research examines the effect of firms’ globalization on the nature and role of international managers. Also, how firms address diversity challenges across international operations and what opportunities and threats are there in developing a global employer brand. Further work looks at how multinationals capture and effectively utilize knowledge within international operations.

Strategic workforce planning

King’s has extensive workforce planning experience, helping to develop complex, robust models through utilizing underlying workforce research analysis and data; developing strong planning methodology; model-building for both supply and demand sides; and understanding the employer engagement process

HR metrics & workforce analytics

King’s expertise helps organisations to develop effective ways of measuring key aspects of their workforces and use data as a strategic management tool. As HR capability increases in using metrics, work with organisations increasingly examines ways in which data can be linked to provide useful management information and help HR functions identify and evaluate areas of strategic intervention.

Work-life balance & flexible working

Research includes evaluating the impact of flexible work arrangements (e.g. part-time, reduced hours work, flexi time) on human resource management practices and employees’ work experiences; working-time arrangements, gender and the work-family/life interface.