Episode 2: The Evidence-Based HR Backpack – Scientific Research
A happy employee is a productive employee, right? Evi, the HR manager of BisonBikes, is convinced this is true. Although it sounds logical, scientific studies show that while job satisfaction is important for employee well-being and other outcomes, it is only weakly related to performance. Evi didn’t know this kind of science exists, let alone where to find it. Are you ready to discover how to find the evidence you need and avoid investing in interventions based on disproven assumptions?
In this article, we offer four easy steps on how to achieve that, together with several free resources to help you. Welcome to the amazing world of evidence-based HR.
But first, let’s make it clear: science isn’t just lab rats and cool laser experiments. It’s a way of thinking that aims to collect information in a systematic way, so that we can explain and predict things that happen around us.
Science isn’t just experimenting in a lab, it’s a way of thinking.
The results of scientific research in the fields of management, organisations and psychology cast light on HR topics such as:
If you work in HR, these topics probably spark your curiosity about the scientific findings around it.
How can you know and use the answer as one of the four sources of evidence in EBHR to make work better? Well, read on.
An easy start is to search online for scientific studies instead of opinion pieces. There are also several free resources that make scientific insights more accessible.
As anticipated in our introductory article about EBHR, you can use science throughout the decision-making process of the 6 A’s: asking, acquiring, appraising, aggregating and finally, applying and assessing. In this article, we’ll be focusing on the first 4 A’s, as these are specific to each of the four sources in EBHR:
For Evi’s problem with job satisfaction, research indicates that this is an important cause of employee turnover. However, she has also discovered many other causes of employee turnover, like job characteristics, and she needs to take this into consideration when building a solution.
Scientific research is a crucial source of evidence, because it is objective and trustworthy. However, evidence from the other three sources – organisational data, professional expertise and stakeholders – is also useful.
Follow our blog to read the next articles on how to find and use evidence from these sources of evidence as well as on the final 2 A’s: how to apply the evidence, and how to assess the outcomes.
For more inspiration and freely available resources, check the websites of our partners CEBMa and ScienceForWork.
Would you like to interact about EBHR and learn together with other people? Then you’re welcome to join our knowledge sharing forum for EBHR-learners on Facebook, and our open workshops. We're also happy to provide a custom session for your organisation, online or offline.