1 PhD postion on secrecy in strategic HR differentiation in Belgium | KU Leuven

The PhD project will be part of a larger-scale long-term research program on strategic HR differentiation. Many organizations nowadays struggle with the balance between HR standardization practices (i.e. all employees are allocated the same resources through the same HR practices) and HR differentiation practices (i.e. HR practices and resources are differentially allocated between employees based on their performance, potential, human capital or needs). Theoretical arguments in the strategic HRM literature put forward that organizations should opt for HR differentiation. Yet, empirical evidence is lacking. Moreover, little attention is devoted to the potential drawbacks of HR differentiation. HR differentiation creates outcome differences between employees (e.g. regarding compensation, developmental and promotion opportunities, autonomy, flexibility). Since employees are inclined to compare their own outcomes with the ones of co-workers, some employees might feel disadvantaged. This can subsequently lead to negative attitudes and reactions. To avoid this, most organizations choose to keep HR differentiation and the resulting outcome differences secret. A small minority opts for open communication regarding differentiation as honest and transparent communication is believed to pay off. In the literature, convincing arguments for both options (secrecy versus open communication) are put forward. Yet, these arguments mainly relate to differences in compensation (cf. literature on ‘pay secrecy’). It is therefore not clear to what extent these arguments can also be raised for other types of HR differentiation (such as differences regarding training, development, responsibilities, autonomy, flexibility). The purpose of this project is to determine the boundary conditions of communication regarding differentiation, i.e. the conditions under which differentiation can actually be fruitful for organizations. In other words: How damaging or beneficial is ‘secrecy’?

Within the borders of this broader research program, the doctoral researcher that would be hired will have the freedom to carve out his/her personal PhD project.

The job will consist of the following activities:

• Design and analysis of a series of quantitative studies (i.e. survey, experiments);
• Writing of English scientific articles;
• Active participation in (international) seminars and conferences;
• Successful completion of the PhD program of the Faculty of Economics and Business;
• Provision of educational support and/or engagement in teaching activities (e.g., supervision of master’s dissertations, supervising and grading exams).
• Duration of the project will be 1 year, counting from the first day of employment, extendable to 4 years after a positive evaluation.

Your Profile

• You hold a master’s degree in a Humanities and Social Sciences domain (e.g., Management, Psychology, Applied Economics, Business Engineering, Sociology, or other);
• You have received at least two ‘honours’ (i.e., cum laude, distinction) mentions over the course of your higher education;
• You have demonstrable experience with, or a strong interest in designing and executing quantitative studies;
• You have strong interest and affinity with topics related to HRM and/or Organizational Behavior (OB);
• You are a good writer, and you are not afraid of public speaking (e.g., delivering a conference presentation, teaching a class);
• Your written and spoken English is excellent;
• You are an intellectually curious, analytical ‘dea person’, with a knack for academic research and a proactive, self-directed approach to work.