Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations

About

The Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations is a distinctive group of work and organisation scholars producing leading-edge research and offering essential insights with global impact. Our work is multi-disciplinary and innovative, spanning significant expertise in the fields of human resource management, organisational behaviour and employment relations.

We continually strive to be globally recognised as one of the very top international groups of work and organisation scholars.

We generate and share knowledge, new ideas and alternative perspectives, driven by a purposeful intent to inform decision-making relating to work and employment by leaders and policy-makers in London, the UK, and internationally, thereby enhancing the quality of jobs for all and the effectiveness of organisations.

Study

MSc in Human Resource Management & Organisational Analysis

The MSc in Human Resource Management & Organisational Analysis is designed to prepare you for key challenges in human resources, learning and development, organisational development, and organisational change.

Today's organisations are characterised by constant change. For people professionals, success depends on acquiring the tools needed to navigate this turbulent landscape.

Through our research-led, evidence-based, innovative teaching approach, we provide the foundation on which to build your career as a leading people professional of the future.

MSc in Global Human Resource Management (online)

The MSc in Global Human Resource Management, launched in 2024, takes all of the elements that have made our on-campus MSc a huge success and re-imagines them for an online-only, part-time audience.

The world of work is busier now than ever. This course is for people who demand a flexible approach to further study.

Research

Research from the Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations cuts across national, organisational, and individual levels of analysis, involving methodological and theoretical plurality. Within the private, public and not-for-profit sectors our research involves large-scale field studies that include quantitative surveys, diary studies, qualitative interviews, ethnography and visual approaches, as well as laboratory-based experiments.

Our research is published in leading international journals including Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Industrial Relations Journal, Human Resource Management Journal, Human Relations, Work Employment & Society, and Journal of International Business Studies. We have been awarded grants from a very wide range of major funders including the ESRC, National Institute for Health Research, British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust.

Department members are involved in editing journals such as the Academy of Management Review, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Work, Employment and Society, Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, and the International Journal of Management Reviews.

The department’s core research themes are:

The role of human resource management within contemporary organisations
Job quality, skills, fair work, employee voice and representation
Careers, callings, job crafting and meaningful work
The future of work, flexibility and hybrid work, and precarious work
Comparative human resource management and comparative employment relations.
Motivation, affect, employee proactivity and the psychological contract
Worker health and wellbeing
Leadership and leadership development
Injustice and inclusion at work

The Department seeks PhD students under these themes and offers studentships each year.

Engagement

Our work involves collaborations with large organisations (e.g. PwC, the International Labour Organisation, Government departments) and people management bodies, such as the Institute for Employment Studies, Involvement and Participation Association, London HR Connection and the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), as well as with numerous trade unions and employers.

The Work/Place: London returning project, led jointly by the Policy Institute at King’s and the King’s Business School, is bringing together London-based employers and policy stakeholders to understand how Covid has altered the way Londoners now work and what the future of employment in the city will look like.

We host several employer groups, including the Meaning and Purpose Network, Disability@Work research group, and the People Futures Community of Interest (in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence).

Members of our Department regularly speak at practitioner conferences and events. These connections ensure that our research influences both policy and practice.

We welcome further opportunities to engage in research, consulting, and knowledge exchange with policy makers and practitioners, so please get in touch.