HR Research Monthly - October 2024

Dear fellow HR Professionals,

Welcome to the October edition of the HR Research Monthly newsletter! Since the first HR Research Monthly newsletter in September, over 330 HR Professionals and other People-Minded Professionals have subscribed. They will automatically receive this newsletter every month. The September edition got over 2.700 impressions and reached over 1.400 LinkedIn members, what a great foundation to kick off this pilot!

This October newsletter is packed with interesting HR research again, covering topics like: Agile, Artificial Intelligence, Leadership, Change Management, Diversity & Inclusion, Neurodiversity, Motivation, Team Development, Talent Acquisition, and Talent Management. Some personal favorites in this edition: two very nice articles on Agile leadership and how Agile teams reach effectiveness. Also, the article on team adaptation in extreme contexts is quite inspiring. This review article on Organization Design is also a highly recommended and comprehensive read if you like to further improve your knowledge in this area. The topic of (Gen)AI is close to heart, and I especially recommend to read the articles on AI and ethics in the recruitment and selection process and what if an AI (ro)bot enters the workplace. Lastly, a very nice and relevant article on the financial value of having 4-day working week has been published, it's definitely worth a read!

As always, this newsletter contains a curated selection of links to recently published HR research articles that are open access (free), 100% legitimate (all links refer to the sites of the original publishers), and non-commercial (so the content is relatively objective).

Heads up: soon, I will share an overview of the (over 40) relevant research journals I use as a basis to create this newsletter, enabling you to check out yourself. Also, I will share a pro tip on how you don't have to manually check each journal individually on new articles (hint: RSS). So stay tuned!

If you'd like to receive this newsletter every month automatically, simply hit the subscribe button at the top of this page. You can unsubscribe at any time. If you have questions or suggestions for improvement, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy reading, and good luck applying the gained insights to your work!

Maurice Laaning

Evidence-Based HR Enthusiast

Leadership, Change Management and Organization Design

• Leaders, let’s get Agile! - Agile leadership is key for successful digital transformation in companies. Agile leaders involve employees in decision-making, which boosts morale and makes the company more efficient. Key takeaway: Engaging employees through Agile leadership practices can significantly improve the success rate of digital transformation projects.
• Misrecognition of HiPos: Don't judge a leader by their reluctance - Organizations spend over $166 billion annually on high-potential employees (HiPos), but many fail, with a 40% failure rate. Moderate reluctance to lead (RTL) enhances leadership through power-sharing and self-leadership. Key takeaway: Supporting reluctant leaders can improve leadership effectiveness.
• Leading with understanding: cultivating positive relationships between neurotypical leaders and neurodivergent employees - Neurodivergent employees need empathetic leadership to enhance workplace inclusion. Interviews showed supportive leaders balance accommodation without stigmatization. Key takeaway: Empathy from leaders is crucial for supporting neurodivergent employees effectively.
• Connecting work teams in a remote workplace: an identity leadership perspective - The COVID-19 pandemic pushed remote and hybrid work into the mainstream, challenging managers to keep employees connected. Identity leadership behaviors from supervisors are crucial for maintaining team cohesion and improving work outcomes. Key takeaway: Identity leadership mitigates the negative impacts of remote work on team connectedness and employee well-being.
• Cross-cultural Leadership - This review explores how societal culture influences leadership and affects leader-follower dynamics. It examines research on cultural impacts and emerging topics like followership across cultures, highlighting challenges and practical implications. Key takeaway: Understanding cultural influences is crucial for effective global leadership.
• Use of political skills by leaders to establish successful organizational change - Leaders' political skills, like interpersonal influence and networking, help employees stay committed and reduce job confusion, even with limited interaction. However, being too socially aware can actually increase confusion and lower commitment. Key takeaway: Leaders should use political skills wisely to support employees during organizational change.
• Navigating tensions in the organizational change process towards hybrid workspace - This study identifies four main challenges in switching to hybrid work: connecting vs. disconnecting, Agile vs. sedentary work, paperless vs. paper-based tasks, and telework vs. office routines. Key takeaway: Understanding these challenges is crucial for successfully implementing hybrid workspaces.
• Organization Design - A comprehensive review that covers organization design research from 2000 to 2023, focusing on four approaches: configuration, control, channelization, and coordination. It also discusses emerging areas like AI in decision-making and flat organizations. Key takeaway: Understanding these approaches helps in developing effective and adaptable organizational strategies.

Diversity & Inclusion and Well-being

• Neuronormativity as ignorant design in human resource management: The case of an unsupportive national context - HR practices often marginalise neurodivergent individuals by not recognising their contributions, enforcing neurotypical standards, and maintaining a superficial approach to inclusion. It's recommended to involve neurodivergent employees in policy design and to train HR Professionals on neurodiversity. Key takeaway: HR needs to become more inclusive to support neurodivergent employees.
• Digitalization and inclusiveness of HRM practices: The example of neurodiversity initiatives - Digital transformation is crucial for diversity and inclusion. This study highlights how technologies can reduce biases, enhance well-being, and accommodate different thinking styles. Key takeaway: Using technology is essential for creating inclusive environments in the digital age we're in.
• Not detaching from work during leisure time - Not mentally detaching from work during free time can lead to unfavorable affective states and poor well-being. Key takeaway: It's crucial to mentally detach from work to maintain well-being.
• The impact of a compressed workweek on shareholder value: An event study analysis of Belgium's 4-day workweek legislation - Belgian firms' stock prices rose after the compressed workweek (CWW) announcement. Employees are expected to work harder, especially in firms with lower past productivity and those relying on knowledge workers. Key takeaway: A compressed workweek can boost the average stock price by increasing employee effort.

Artificial Intelligence and Hybrid & Remote Working

• A colleague named Max: A critical inquiry into affects when an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot enters the workplace - This study examines the introduction of a humanized AI in a media consultancy, revealing that giving AI human traits affects workplace emotions and amplifies conflicts. Managers are excited about AI's future, while employees are frustrated with its current flaws. Key takeaway: Humanizing AI can complicate its acceptance and impact workplace dynamics.
• What is hybrid work? Towards greater conceptual clarity of a common term and understanding its consequences - Hybrid work involves switching between traditional and non-traditional modes like face-to-face and virtual, office and remote, and synchronous and asynchronous. This study provides a clear definition and framework for hybrid work. Key takeaway: Hybrid work is dynamic and multifaceted in how, where, and when work is done.
• How remote work changes the world of work - Remote work is more complex than just physical distance from the office. This review breaks it down into four types of distance (psychological, temporal, technological, and structural) and three types of resources (material, social, and symbolic). Key takeaway: Understanding these distances and types of resources helps us better navigate and optimize remote work.

Talent Acquisition and Talent Management

• Is the devil in the details? A qualitative exploration of differentiated mindsets during job search - Job seekers can have both fixed and growth mindsets for different abilities, like networking and interviewing, especially during job loss. The article highlights the complexity of holding mixed mindsets. Key takeaway: Recognizing these mixed mindsets can improve job search support.
• How does bias enter the employment interview? Identifying the riskiest applicant characteristics, interviewer characteristics, and sources of potentially biasing information - High risks of bias in job interviews are related to certain applicant traits, interviewer characteristics, and sources of information. This study highlights how interviewers rationalize their judgments in job-relevant terms. Key takeaway: Understanding these biases can help reduce unfairness in the hiring process.
• A systematic literature review on artificial intelligence in recruiting and selection: a matter of ethics - This study reviews how ethics apply to AI in recruitment, focusing on efficiency, fairness, and legal rights. It examines 120 articles to outline key ethical debates and future research areas. Key takeaway: Applying ethical theories to AI in recruitment ensures fairness, efficiency, and respect for rights.
• Bridges and gatekeepers: Employees' willingness to refer qualified candidates on the autism spectrum - This study examines how employees feel about referring neurodivergent candidates, finding that disclosing an autism condition can help, especially for men, but social expectations in job ads deter referrals. Key takeaway: Understanding referral behaviors can improve recruitment of neurodivergent talent.

• Global talent management: A critical review and research agenda for the new organizational reality - Global talent management (GTM) focuses on attracting and retaining top employees in multinational firms. This article reviews GTM literature, highlighting challenges like identifying talent pools and global mobility. Key takeaway: Effective GTM is crucial but challenging for multinational enterprises.
• Developing new understanding of how global talent flow impact individual and firm performance by using big data - Global mobility can boost company performance (6.7% higher revenues after labor costs) and individuals' wages (10%-20% higher salaries), but cultural differences matter. Key takeaway: HR strategies need to address cultural distance to maximize the benefits of global talent mobility.
• The hazards of performance management: An investigation into its effects on employee absenteeism and presenteeism - Performance management (PM) practices were conceived to improve employees’ performance. However, they also have unintended and accompanying consequences on employee well-being. Key takeaway: Be aware that PM can take a toll on employees’ well-being, and the organizational and social context of attendance behaviors matter.

Motivation, Teams and I-Deals

• Why is generation Z motivated at work? - This study explores what motivates Generation Z at work, using the self-determination theory (SDT) and identifies seven key themes like the nature of work and future opportunities. It shows intrinsic motivation and identified regulation are crucial for their motivation. Key takeaway: Understanding these factors can help develop HR practices to better motivate Gen Z employees.
• What makes a workday meaningful? - Meaningful work depends on competence and task significance, and is stronger for employees who see their work as meaningful in the long term. Key takeaway: Improving competence and task significance enhances meaningful work experiences.
• The future of motivation in and of teams - This study shows how team motivation has evolved, influenced by societal, cultural, economic, and technological changes. It reviews five major changes in team dynamics. Key takeaway: Understanding these major changes can improve team motivation.
• Understanding how Agile teams reach effectiveness - This study reviews 74 Agile team studies, highlighting key themes in how Agile teams manage uncertainty. So far, this is the best research article on the Agile way of working I've seen. Key takeaway: Managing uncertainty is crucial for Agile teams, and this article provides very valuable insights to better understand this.
• Team values and team performance - Team performance is influenced by both team members' and leaders' personal values. This study shows that benevolence and achievement values affect performance, with leaders' achievement values having an even greater impact. Key takeaway: Team leaders' values significantly impact overall team performance.
• Team adaptation in extreme contexts: Evidence from an Antarctic summer campaign - This study shows how teams adapt to sudden events in extreme environments like Antarctica. It found that effective adaptation relies on modifying transition and interpersonal processes. Key takeaway: Team adaptation is crucial in extreme conditions, and understanding this is inspiring.
• From negotiation to integration: Mastering the art of idiosyncratic deals - Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are personalized work arrangements that meet both employee needs and organizational goals. They can increase motivation and productivity but may cause perceived unfairness among colleagues. Key takeaway: Effective i-deals require careful management to balance benefits and challenges.

Career, Coaching and Training

• More to life than promotion: Self-initiated and self-resigned career plateaus - Some employees choose to stay in their roles instead of seeking promotions, due to personal reasons or doubts about the promotion system. This study interviewed 75 law enforcement officers to understand these choices. Key takeaway: Career plateaus can be a deliberate choice influenced by individual preferences and views on promotions.
• Exploring the inner compass: How career strivings relate to career self-management and career success - Career goals like self-promotion and continuous learning influence career success and satisfaction. Self-enhancement goals lead to higher positions and workplace status, while personal growth goals improve career satisfaction. Key takeaway: Knowing career goals helps manage careers better and achieve success.
• Ethics in digital and AI coaching - Digital and AI coaching has grown popular due to its flexibility and accessibility, but it also brings ethical risks because of the unregulated nature of the coaching profession. This paper highlights the need for proper training, supervision, and the need for coach selection based on ethical competencies. Key takeaway: Consider a complementary approach of AI alongside a human coach.
• From words to action: a new generation of workplace training - This paper explores creating effective workplace training programs that move participants from learning to action, emphasizing the importance of preparation and follow-up. It finds that restorative practices, mediation, and reteaming improve participants' self-efficacy and agency. Key takeaway: Facilitators need a coaching mindset to improve training program effectiveness.

Very useful link: AI-driven research assistant

Elicit.com is definitely worth checking out! It's a (free) AI-driven research assistant that helps you analyze research papers at superhuman speed. Really a nice resource if you're looking to find relevant research on a certain HR topic and you don't know where to start your search or if you want quick insights/references. Making an account takes less than 1 minute. Thanks for the tip, Elias Corneillie !

Overview of HR Research Monthly newsletters

• January 2025 edition
• Special extra edition: The best Talent Management articles of 2024
• December 2024 edition
• November 2024 edition
• October 2024 edition
• Special extra edition: 40+ relevant research journals & how to stay top of mind
• September 2024 edition