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New research on personnel management from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including dealing with toxic workers, effective recruiting, and increasing employee engagement.
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The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

Barriers to the diffusion of salary information have implications for a wide range of labor market phenomena. This study of employees of a real organization shows that individuals significantly misinterpret their peers’ salaries, partly due to pervasive preferences for concealing own salary, and a potentially strategic decision of high earners to withhold their personal information.

Make Your Employees Feel Psychologically Safe

by Martha Lagace

To do their best work, people need to feel secure and safe in their workplace. In a new book, Amy C. Edmondson details how companies can develop psychological safety. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Kids of Working Moms Grow into Happy Adults

by Dina Gerdeman

In earlier research, Kathleen McGinn and colleagues discovered that adult kids of working moms are high achievers at work. Now it turns out they are happy, too. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Monetize Happiness

Re: Ethan S. Bernstein

Is there a business model around happiness? Hitachi believes that a happy employee is a productive one, and is investing in "happiness sensors" to prove the connection. Ethan Bernstein explains why in this podcast. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Summing Up: Why Can’t Organizations Engage Their Employees?

by James Heskett

Who is responsible for generating employee engagement? The employee, or the employee's managers? Readers of this month's James Heskett column have a lot to say on the issue. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

You're Fired: Managing Gray-Area Decisions

Re: Joseph L. Badaracco

Joseph Badaracco discusses how managers can sort through difficult gray-area decisions, such as firing an employee. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Are Employees Becoming Job 'Renters' Instead of 'Owners'?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP While some employees have a mindset of "renting" their jobs while others "own" them, James Heskett's readers tend to agree that companies plays a large role in determining those attitudes. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Commuting with a Plan: How Goal-Directed Prospection Can Offset the Strain of Commuting

by Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia J. Lee, Bradley R. Staats, Jochen I. Menges, Francesca Gino

Employees often say commuting is the least desirable time period of the day. Those who use the time to think about the future in terms of goals to pursue can turn the daily hassle of commuting into something useful and meaningful. While to some extent commuting time may be outside employees’ control, they are nonetheless in charge of their commute.

Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers

by Roberta Holland

As much as a firm gains by hiring a superstar, it loses twice that much by hiring a toxic worker. Dylan Minor details the troubles brought by creepy co-workers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Is good management timing primarily a function of strategy or culture? James Heskett's readers add their opinions. What do YOU think? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Toxic Workers

by Dylan Minor

This paper identifies personality and situational factors that lead to a worker engaging in toxic behavior, including sexual harassment, workplace violence, and fraud.

What's Wrong With Amazon’s Low-Retention HR Strategy?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP Does Amazon's "only the strongest survive" employee-retention policy make for a better company or improved customer relationships? Jim Heskett's readers chime in. Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

The Quest for Better Layoffs

by Carmen Nobel

Professor Sandra Sucher wants to change the way business thinks about workforce reductions. "We want people to learn about the forces they unleash in the firm when they institute layoffs." Open for comment; 18 Comment(s) posted.

Fixing the ‘I Hate Work’ Blues

by Bill George

Many employees report they are overworked and not engaged—a recent New York Times article on the phenomenon was titled, "Why You Hate Work." The problem, says Bill George, is that the way we design work stifles engagement. Here's the fix. Closed for comment; 20 Comment(s) posted.

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

by Carmen Nobel

Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ethan S. Bernstein explains why decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity. Open for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

by Carmen Nobel

Employee orientation programs ought to be less about the company and more about the employee, according to new research by Daniel M. Cable, Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. Closed for comment; 16 Comment(s) posted.

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

by Paul Guttry

The key to operating a successful employee-suggestion program is to stop spending so much time on big-bang projects and focus on solving "low-hanging-fruit" problems. Research by Anita L. Tucker and Sara J. Singer. Closed for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.

The Power of Conversational Leadership

by Carmen Nobel

Communication is always a challenge, especially in multinational corporations. Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind discuss why it makes sense to adopt the principles of face-to-face conversation in organizational communication. Closed for comment; 24 Comment(s) posted.

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

by Carmen Nobel

When evaluating compensation issues, economists often assume that both an employer and an employee make rational, albeit self-interested choices while working toward a goal. The problem, says Assistant Professor Ian Larkin, is that the most powerful workplace motivator is our natural tendency to measure our own performance against the performance of others. Open for comment; 33 Comment(s) posted.

Horrible Boss Workarounds

by Carmen Nobel

Bad bosses are generally more inept than evil, and often aren't purposefully bad, says Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. She discusses common bad-boss behaviors, and how good colleagues can mobilize to overcome the roadblocks. Key concepts include: Common traits of bad bosses include a failure to communicate goals effectively, if at all; a failure to realize that employees have more to offer than their job descriptions dictate, and a tendency to get caught up in the details to the detriment of the big picture. Employees can work around bad-boss roadblocks by proactively mobilizing their peers toward a common goal. Closed for comment; 11 Comment(s) posted.