PhD student: Newcomers' expectations and emotions in the workplace: An experience-based perspective

Job description
The Department of Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University is looking for a PhD student in the field of employee experience. Specifically, the research aim will be to understand how expectations and emotions interact in shaping newcomers’ experiences in the workplace and how organizations can intervene to optimize those experiences. This research will combine insights from psychology, strategic HRM, and marketing. 

This position is primarily dedicated to carrying out the proposed research (see project description), with the aim to write a dissertation consisting of academic articles that are publishable in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, you will frequently disseminate your insights in practice through presentations or popular articles. The employment also involves (minor) contributions to teaching allowing you to gain teaching experience.

The PhD student will be working under the supervision of Dr. Sanne Fijneman-Ghielen (1st daily supervisor), Dr. Keri Pekaar (2nd daily supervisor), and Dr. Karina van de Voorde (promotor). Our supervisory team brings expertise from diverse backgrounds including employer branding and candidate experience (Sanne), workplace emotions and interventions (Keri), and HRM, well-being, and performance (Karina). We are committed and enthusiastic to guide you throughout your PhD trajectory. We aim for open communication in both directions to create fruitful conditions for an inspiring learning experience.

Project description
The research that you will be working on, relates to the following project:

Experiences have become central to today’s modern economy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). While the need for managing customer experiences was quickly recognized, there has only been a recent shift towards managing employee experiences in the workplace (Plaskoff, 2017). The newcomer phase is an impactful period regarding how employees experience work and has far-reaching influences on well-being and turnover. However, research in this area is still limited, and the existing studies lack a holistic view integrating both cognitive (e.g., expectations) and affective (e.g., emotions) employee experience elements. The research aims of this project are threefold: (1) to identify which work and HR-related events matter most in newcomer socialization, (2) to explore how individual and organizational factors shape newcomer experiences, and (3) to investigate how organizations can intervene to manage and enhance newcomer experiences. As a PhD researcher on this project, you will combine multidisciplinary insights from the psychology, strategic HRM, and customer experience literature to develop a comprehensive understanding of antecedents and consequences of newcomer experiences and generate fruitful insights to optimize experiences in the workplace. Note that this project will be built on extensive collaborations with practice (various partner companies will be involved) in the form of co-creation to generate insights that are both practically and theoretically relevant.