AOM Scholars On... Employee Training and Development to Foster Workforce Productivity

23 October 2024 |  10:00 EST (GMT/UTC-4)

Forbes and other news sources have continued to demonstrate the lasting impact that COVID brought to the workplace and the lingering impact it still has on culture, training and development. As we emerge into the new frontier of working, according to PwC’s annual Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey, almost half of employees surveyed reported that having opportunities to learn new skills is a key deciding factor in staying or leaving their current position

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Panel Moderator

Kevin Kniffin, Cornell University

Kevin Kniffin leads two active streams of research that focus on Teams and Leadership. Through studies of athletic and scientific teams, Kevin has developed two lines of investigation that utilize data from popular and important model domains. More generally, he has studied the relevance of leadership across a variety of organizational contexts. He has contributed original research to publications including American Psychologist, the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and The Leadership Quarterly. Kevin's research to study academic career paths has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and his work has been featured by outlets including Harvard Business Review and the New York Times. Kevin won the Established Researcher Award in 2019 from the Institute for Research on Innovation & Science (IRIS) and is an incoming Editorial Board Member for Academy of Management Discoveries for 2021-2023.

In the classroom, Kevin enjoys meeting students where they are by engaging their experiences in the pursuit of studying evidence-based principles of individual and organizational behavior. Winner of the Innovative Teacher Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) in 2020, Kevin employs an interdisciplinary approach to both Organizational Behavior (AEM 3245/6245) and Leadership and Management in Sports (AEM 3320/6325). Kevin has presented Ten Bottom-Line Lessons from the Big Leagues as the University's Faculty Homecoming Speaker (2016) and speaks regularly for alumni, governmental, and business organizations.

Panelist

Catherine Collins, UNSW Sydney

Catherine Collins is an Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney’s Business School in the School of Management and Governance.

Catherine researches how to develop and sustain team effectiveness. Her research examines how these changes are created from individuals’ proactivity, team processes, work design, organizational structures and systems. Her recent work focuses on how organizational ambidexterity – balancing the tension of coordination across business units for efficiency alongside front line flexibility for innovation and engagement – is needed for teams to thrive.

Her other research interests include seeking to understand why managers do (or don’t!) use research findings (i.e., evidence-based management) as well as employee well-being. Her applied research in organizations has attracted more than $1M of research funding and is published in top tier journals.

Her research has been featured in books including, The Oxford Handbook of Uncertainty Management in Work Organizations and Coaching Researched: A Coaching Psychology Reader for Practitioners and Researchers.

Panelist

Carol Kulik, University of South Australia

Carol T. Kulik is a Bradley Distinguished Professor of Human Resource Management at the University of South Australia (UniSA Business) and a senior researcher at UniSA’s Centre for Workplace Excellence.

Carol's research focuses on the effective management of workforce diversity, with a particular emphasis on gender and age. Current projects are investigating strategies for closing the gender pay gap, motivating organizations to become gender equality frontrunners, and empowering employees to negotiate better working arrangements in the next normal.

Her book, Human Resources for the non-HR Manager, makes research on human resource management accessible to line managers with no formal training in human resources.

Panelist

Christopher Myers, Johns Hopkins University

Christopher G. Myers is an Associate Professor of Management and Organization and the founding Faculty Director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. He also holds a Joint Appointment in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

His research and teaching focus on individual learning, leadership development, and innovation, with particular attention to how people learn vicariously and share knowledge in health care organizations and other knowledge-intensive work environments. He has received a variety of awards and honors for his research and teaching, including being named by Poets & Quants as one of the top 40 business school professors under 40 world-wide.

Prior to joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, Chris was an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Business School and received his PhD in management and organizations from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.