Research @ HEC Liège

Changing Workplace & Strategic HRM

May, 2023



Discover what our strategic research field “Changing Workplace & Strategic HRM” has published these past months

Teleworking in Belgian Firms: HR Managers' Perceptions in the Context of the Pandemic

Gregory Jemine’s will soon publish a paper in the International Journal of Information Technology and Management. This paper explains how HR managers experienced telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a new and big change for organizations and people. By asking 126 HR managers (or company directors when the first were not available) from Belgian French-speaking companies, the results showed that HR Managers had four types of reactions to telework induced by the pandemic: entrepreneurs, preservers, adapters, and questioners. The paper is available here.

Middle managers have an impact on shaping digital transformation

Gregory Jemine and François Pichault have just published a chapter in the book “Responding to Uncertain Conditions: New Research on Strategic Adaptation”. By studying the practices of a major aeronautics company, our researchers reveal that digital transformation can be largely driven by middle managers in charge of specific technological projects, who operate in the absence of a well-defined, overarching strategy. They identified four tactics used by middle managers to ensure that their projects make it to the strategic agenda of the firm. The chapter, named “Behind the Scenes of Strategy: Middle-Management Tactics for Shaping Digital Transformation”, can be read here

New insights on managing project-based workers and freelancers

As companies are increasingly turning to project-based or task-based workers for a limited period of time, they face many unanswered questions. Who is responsible for managing these workers? Should they have a formal HR strategy? And how can we ensure these workers feel secure and engaged in their jobs? François Pichault and Frédéric Naedenoen published a book chapter that explores the emerging concept of total talent management, which includes both external and internal talents. Their research shows that most organizations manage external workers informally and in a decentralized way. They thus propose a framework around the concept of total talent management that takes into account the work status, work content, and working conditions of external workers. On a similar note, Jêrome Sulbout and François Pichault published a paper in Personnel Review, which explains how freelancers and consulting firms' employees (known as Skilled Contingent Workers or SCWs) often don't receive career support from organizations. However, job placement agencies (known as Labor Market Intermediaries or LMIs) are stepping in to fill this gap. They found that LMIs do offer career support through different practices and account managers play a significant role in providing support. Even though SCWs are considered independent, they still seek support from LMIs and they still want and need career support.

Modernizing the Notarial Profession: How Digitalization Empowers Belgian Notaries

The notarial profession in Belgium has been modernizing since the early 2000s, with the adoption of digital tools and services. The digitalization of activities has become an opportunity for notaries to showcase their added value to citizens, while enhancing their position in the Belgian legal system. Simon Wuidar (PhD candidate under the supervision of Professor Pichault) and Pierre Flandrin (ULB) examine in a paper the implementation of two digital applications (eRegistration and Biddit) in Belgian notary offices, which have impacted the registration of authentic acts and the public sales of real estate. Their study reveals how digital tools have influenced the professional identity of notaries and the role of the notaries' professional federation (Fednot) in driving the digitalization of the profession. However, this digitalization has also created tension between the notary's roles as a state officer and entrepreneur.

How HR Tech Vendors and Consultants Drive HR Innovation Adoption

In today's business world, Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) are becoming increasingly important. But most research on HRIS adoption has focused solely on the customer organization's perspective, that's why Grégory Jemine and Kim Guillaume (ULiège) analyzed the adoption process of HRIS from the supply-side perspective, looking at the practices of vendors and consultants in the Benelux region. In their paper, they found that vendors and consultants play a systematic and active role in the adoption process of HRIS within firms. The authors identified nine types of pressures exerted by HRIS vendors and consultants on customer organizations. These pressures illustrate how the social shaping of HR innovations takes place and highlight the importance of supply-side actors in the adoption process.

Five ways to think about project work and careers in current research

Project-based work has become more common in organizations, and researchers are studying its effects on career development and management practices. Previous research has mainly focused on individual perspectives and project managers but has not accounted for the multiple stakeholders involved in project workers' careers. With that in mind, Gregory Jemine, Jérôme Sulbout and David Stuer (Antwerp Management School) explored the literature review and proposed five perspectives for studying project work and careers: career management, career transitions, career orientations, career advantages, and role transitions. Their paper urges for more research from an organizational and multi-stakeholder perspective. You can access it here

How Local Labor Intermediaries Shaped the Nachtigal Dam Project in Cameroon

Simon Wuidar has co-published a paper (in French) discussing the role of labor intermediaries in the job market, specifically in the construction of the Nachtigal hydroelectric dam project in Cameroon. Based on ethnographic research, the results show the importance of local contexts in the recruitment process, highlighting the pre-existing political and social structures in the project area. The paper contributes to the literature on labor intermediation in sub-Saharan Africa, by discussing the impact of project politicization on recruitment, the emergence of new intermediary actors, and the necessary adaptation of HR functions based on the structuring of these local arenas. 

New research projects at Lentic

Support for Improving Social Dialogue in a Territorial Directorate of the Walloon Transport Office (Office du Transport Wallon), which includes a diagnosis and recommendations regarding absenteeism management, strengthening managerial skills in social dialogue, amending job descriptions and training actions, drafting a code of conduct and values, and standardizing work regulations.

Cat Foundation: Based on a review of scientific literature on the human aspects of Industry 4.0, researchers from Lentic will co-design a training initiative for vulnerable groups affected by Industry 4.0 in consultation with institutional partners in each country (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium).

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