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Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Function Researcher “Enabling human impact”, professor Organizational behavior & HR, assistant professor Global Leadership skills

Email kathleen.vangronsvelt@ams.ac.be

Phone +32 3 265 98 31

Discover publications

Expertise

Personal well being & resilience at work
Human Resource Management
Leadership
Workplace values
Engagement/connection
Perspective taking/open mind

References:

B-Tonic
Bpost
Etex
Janssen Pharmaceutica
Mensura
SD Worx

Kathleen combines a broad business experience as HR Professional (DHL Aviation, AB Inbev, H.Essers, Belfius) with academic skills (PhD in Business Economics “Values at work” – KU Leuven). Her work was published in both top-ranked academic and practitioners’ journals and presented at national and international conferences. She taught at Rotterdam School of Management, IESEG Paris and – up until today - Antwerp Management School.

At AMS, she is assistant professor “Global Leadership Skills” and “Organizational Behavior & HRM” and senior researcher in "Next Generation Work" research team. She also teaches, facilitates and consults customer specific program.

The combination of business and academia enables her to translate a wealth of scientific knowledge into hands-on insights and workable solutions. Her domain of expertise focuses on realizing individuals’ potential in a work context and spans topics such as well-being and values at work, leadership, enabling diversity in teams and strategic HRM.

Her background in psychology (Master - KU Leuven) and mediation (Post Graduate – KU Leuven) empowers her to optimize the learning experience for a group, and to understand the deeper motivations and processes behind some questions and events.

Recent publications

Wellbeing impact

Only 4 out of 10 employees find work pressure reasonable.

Since the pandemic, we have been looking at work differently. Job satisfaction and work pressure are receiving increasing attention, as evidenced by research from Antwerp Management School. At the same time, the survey highlights differences in the perception of what employers and employees consider as reasons for stress-related absenteeism.

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Human Resources

Results corona

Research results after two years of working in times of Corona

After lockdowns, vaccinations and boosters, it is clear: we have been quietly learning to live (and work) with COVID. But what lasting impact did the pandemic have on the role work plays in our lives? And what about that impending burnout wave? AMS professors Kathleen Vangronsvelt and Ans De Vos conducted research over the past two years into the impact of the pandemic on employers and employees, interviewing (in collaboration with Ghent University) 8848 employees. Employees indicate that they are increasingly confident and expect more from their employer, but do not always find ways to engage in dialogue. People in their twenties form a special vulnerable target group. Let's guide you to the results.

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

AMS HR2030 3 holding spaces

HR in 2030: Let leaders primarily create 'holding spaces'

In 2030, what will our jobs look like? What skills will be "hot"? How will employees and employers engage with each other? What will leaders do? How do team members connect? And what about 'employee experience'? How do people build their careers sustainably in 2030? Are we evolving toward more flex workers? Our knowledge partner Janssen Pharmaceutica presented these questions and many others to us as part of a strategic talent exercise 2030. Based on our current insights and storylines, we started working on a future forecast. This resulted in five concrete innovation slopes, based on 5 central themes within our Competence Center 'Next Generation Work'.

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Talent & labor organization

Mental health thuiswerkers

How leaders can help home workers stay mentally healthy

Many of us have been working from home in an effort to slow down the coronavirus and ensure business continuity. At the same time, we've been taking care of our family, distracted by news updates, worried about the future, checking our smartphone 100 times a day. And at the end of the day, we've been tired, but not always satisfied. Because hey, did our work make sense today? Was what we did adequate? Gabriel García Márquez has already showed us how to keep love in times of cholera, but how can leaders help their employees stay mentally healthy and productive in times of corona? As extraordinary as our situation has been, in essence it's been about motivation. How do you keep your employees motivated in a context that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous? Science offers the answer. Decades of research in psychology show that you need to fulfill three fundamental psychological needs to achieve autonomous motivation and psychological well-being (Self-Determination Theory; Deci & Ryan, 2000). In other words, you need three elements (the "ABC needs") to create well-being and productivity. Let's take a closer look at these three elements.

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Mental health 2 1

4 mechanisms that play a role in absenteeism

Absenteeism is defined as a "failure to show up for scheduled work" (Johns, 1997). Whether involuntary or voluntary, legitimized or not, white or black or grey… Many researchers don't make the difference. The line is often thin, and as a manager or HR professional, you will rarely know for sure. That is why it is important to always keep a dual focus: a focus on health promotion and illness prevention (~involuntary absence) and a focus on employee motivation and mindset (~voluntary absence) (Lokke, 2022).

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Human Resources

Mental health 1

Preventing sick leave, burnout and psychosocial distress in the workplace: what does work?

Over the past decades, the focus on mental well-being in the workplace has been growing slowly but steadily. After the acceleration that covid brought on, and with the tight labor market in mind, more and more organizations are launching initiatives to give their employees a mental boost. Unfortunately, they are usually organized from a (well-meaning) gut feeling, rather than opting for avenues with scientifically proven effect.

Human Resources

What makes an absenteeism intervention work?

Human Resources

Impact COVID-19 on human capital in organizations

Kathleen Vangronsvelt, PhD

Human Resources