Human Resource Management & Employment Relations

We lead and contribute to important national and international debates about how the changing nature of work and employment affects individuals, organizations and society. Our multi-disciplinary research spans the fields of human resource management, organizational behaviour and employment relations. We explore these issues across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors using a wide range of methodologies, including large-scale field studies that include quantitative surveys, diary studies, qualitative interviews, ethnography and visual approaches, as well as laboratory-based experiments.

Research from our group has been published in leading international journals, including the Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Work, Employment and Society, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management Journal and the Industrial Relations Journal. We have been awarded grants from a very wide range of major funders including the ESRC, National Institute for Health Research, British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.

Group members are involved in editing journals such as the Academy of Management Review, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Work, Employment and Society, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior and the International Journal of Management Reviews.

In addition, we collaborate globally and nationally with policymakers such as the ILO, Migration Advisory Committee, OECD, Scottish Office, Ministry of Defence, NHS and World Health Organization. We also work with organizations such as the Institute for Employment Studies, Involvement and Participation Association, London HR Connection and the CIPD, as well as with numerous trade unions and employers. We host several employer groups, including MaPNet (the Meaning and Purpose Network) and the People Futures Community of Interest (in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence), and members of our group regularly speak at practitioner conferences and events. These connections ensure that our research influences both policy and practice.

The group’s core research themes are:

• Human resource management and its links with employee well-being and performance
• Job quality, skills, fair work, employee voice and representation
• Careers, callings, job crafting and meaningful work
• The future of work, flexibility, precarious work and inequality
• Motivation, affect, employee proactivity and the psychological contract
• Leadership and leadership development