Human Resources

The scientific work carried out by the Human Resources research group is concerned with the transformations affecting work, employment relationships and organizations, in a variety of spaces and situations. The meaning of work is an emerging and unifying theme, which led to the publication of the first collective work "Sens au travail. Enjeux de gestion et de société" in 2022. This new direction enriches the three structuring research areas: 1/ Health at work, 2/ Territories and responsible HRM, 3/ New forms of Organization, Employment and Work.

The Human Resources research group has existed on the Montpellier site for over 20 years, and is currently headed by Anne LOUBES and Claude FABRE. The aim of this research is to make a theoretical contribution to the field of human resources management, while responding to managerial and societal demands. In most cases, they emanate from internal collective frameworks, but also from collaborations with other MRM theme groups and research laboratories at other universities. It should be noted that a researcher may be involved in several thematic areas, and that some research projects are at the interface of several areas.

The research group's current scientific policy is in line with the two transversal research axes of the MRM research laboratory (Santé et Management et Pratiques Responsables) and the scientific orientations of MUSE (Montpellier Université d'Excellence), Soigner et Protéger.

The Human Resources research group has set itself the objective of producing research that meets the needs of all those involved in organizations, in particular HR, QWL-RPS and CSR professionals, executives and managers, employees of all categories and employee representatives.

With this in mind, we pay constant attention to the social, societal and territorial dynamics and changes at work in and around our organizations. Links with professional networks and civil society players are also strengthened.

research topics

Research theme 1: Occupational health

While this first area of research is a continuation of the work carried out by the team's researchers in the early 2000s on role tensions, which are factors in work-related stress, the theoretical perspectives and objects of study have been renewed. Particular attention is paid to the prevention of psychosocial risks and, more specifically, work-related stress, and more recently to quality of working life and well-being at work.

Faced with worsening working conditions and, more specifically, the growth in emotional demands, work pace constraints, declining autonomy at work (cf. DARES surveys on working conditions and RPS 2016) in private and public organizations, researchers attached to this theme will continue over the next few years to conduct research on health at work, focusing on the identification of action levers leading to well-being at work and quality of life at work and their effects on work performance and organizational performance, particularly in the public sector and in new forms of work organization.

Research theme 2: Territory and responsible HRM

The Territories and HRM thematic axis brings together researchers who have been working for around ten years on the emergence of an HRM model extended to the territory and permeated by Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This new HRM space requires us to revisit traditional HRM interpretative frameworks, action logics and governance models.

As an emerging field of research for the business sciences, researchers in this theme will continue to gain a better understanding of the logics of action between prescribed and constructed territory, between public and private logics integrating new players for responsible, social and partnership-based innovations.

In this emerging field of research, and in the context of emerging management situations, the role of the HRD is being reconsidered. The territory is becoming a new HRM space, with new players forming a collective actor and differentiated governance logics emerging. Our aim is to contribute to the development of actionable knowledge on these new systems (e.g. GPEC in territories). At the same time, we want to strengthen our understanding of the forms of inter-company dialogue within the framework of Territorialized Organization Networks (RTOs), and of dedicated governance mechanisms, so as to gain a clearer understanding of the induced effects (CSR, responsible innovation, employment-skills dynamics, etc.). More broadly, in addition to a new positioning for HRM, we examine the prospects for a new form of territorial regulation.

Research theme 3: Changing forms of organization, employment and work patterns 

Research in this area focuses on the evolution of organizations and organizational structures, impacted, for example, by the emergence of digital technology. An analysis of these constantly-changing organizations is backed by a strong interest on the part of researchers in understanding job forms and their evolution. One of the keys to understanding this is the evolution of the skills of the various players, evolving in public, private and hybrid organizations. The development of skills, innovation, creativity, identity, etc. all play a key role, and are the focus of attention of the researchers participating in this theme. As a result, we are also interested in managerial practices adapted to these changing organizations and consistent with emerging forms of employment and work modes, and in the tools developed to generate involvement and commitment.

Group managers

Anne LOUBES
Group Manager
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Claude FABRE
Deputy Director
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Permanent members

Associate members

Doctoral students

Published by EMS 2022: Collective work "Le sens au travail, enjeux de gestion et de société" coordinated by Nathalie Commeiras, Claude Fabre, Florence Loose, Anne Loubès and Sylvie Rascol-Boutard.

Highlights

Pr. Nathalie Commeiras has been promoted
to the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

ADERSE/ORSE 2024 thesis prize: Anne valérie Crespo (2023), Le dialogue de coresponsabilité comme levier de l'engagement RSE des managers, : une illustration par les collectifs interentreprises, under the supervision of Anne Loubès.

AGRH-Didier Retour 2024 thesis prize: Stéphanie Bouchet (2023), l'apport des espaces de coworking pour l'apprentissage entre pairs et le bien-être au travail, une lecture par la théorie de la conservation des ressources, under the supervision of Anne Loubès and Nathalie Commeiras.

AGRH "Best Papers" Award 2023, article published in @GRH magazine: Florence Nande, Marie-Laure Weber, Stéphanie Bouchet, Pierre Loup, "La raison d'être des organisations, levier de sens au travail : proposition d'un modèle adapté de l'Ikigai" (The raison d'être of organizations, a lever for meaning at work: a proposed model adapted from Ikigai).

AGRH "Best Papers" 2022 Award, article published in @GRH magazine: Florence Nande, Marie Laure Weber Stéphanie Bouchet, Pierre Loup, "Learning from the health crisis: are there conditions conducive to the well-being of home-based teleworkers?"

AGRH - FNEGE 2021 Thesis Prize + AIRMAP 2021 Thesis Prize : Véronique Achmet, (2020), "Les modalités de gestion de l'absentéisme des infirmiers : entre influence des relations entre leaders et subordonnés, présentisme et conséquences sur la santé. A study in the French public hospital sector", under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras.

Prix de thèse AGRH-Didier Retour 2021 : Dominique Lecerf, (2020) " S'extraire d'une identité de groupe forte pour réussir sa transition professionnelle : le cas de la reconversion des militaires ", under the supervision of Anne Loubès.

2nd SPHINX 2019 Thesis Prize: Florence Nande, "multiple identities of an employee, work well-being and individual performance at work", defended on November 29, 2018, under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras.

AIM 2019 Best Paper Award: Pierre Loup and Johanna Habib: "Quand l'adoption d'une application perçue comme anodine engage une transformation profonde du système de santé: le cas Doctolib".

Theses defended or in progress

Theses defended (since 2019)

  • 2023 : Anne-Valérie Crespo, Le dialogue de coresponsabilité comme levier de l'engagement RSE des managers, : une illustration par les collectifs interentreprises, defended on November 29, 2023 at IAE Montpellier under the direction of Anne Loubès.
  • 2023: Kenza Belmoeiti, "La transmission intergénérationnelle des compétences individuelles : quelles conditions de réussite ? Une étude dans le secteur du numérique en France", defended on March 23, 2023 at 9 a.m. at IAE Montpellier, under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras and Sylvie Rascol-Boutard.
  • 2023: Stéphanie Bouchet , "l'apport des espaces de coworking pour l'apprentissage entre pairs et le bien-être au travail, une lecture par la théorie de la conservation des ressources", defended January 4, 2023, under the supervision of Anne Loubès and Nathalie Commeiras.
  • 2022: Véronique Csanyi-Virag, "L'entrepreneuriat renouvelé par une démarche inclusive en contexte de handicap", defended on November 26, 2022 at the University of Montpellier, under the supervision of Marion Polge.
  • 2020 : Véronique Achmet, "Les modalités de gestion de l'absentéisme des infirmiers : entre influence des relations entre leaders et subordonnés, présentisme et conséquences sur la santé. Une étude dans le secteur hospitaliers public français", defended October 23, 2020, under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras.
  • 2020 : Dominique Lecerf, "s'extraire d'une identité de groupe forte pour réussir sa transition professionnelle : le cas de la reconversion des militaires", defended on October 30, 2020, under the supervision of Anne Loubès.
  • 2020: Céline Duplàa, "Compétences et technologies de l'information et de la communication dans un contexte hypermoderne : le cas des gestionnaires de proximité d'une banque régionale", defended November 3, 2020, under the supervision of Sylvie Rascol-Boutard and Christine Pagnon-Maudet.

Theses in progress

  • BADIATA Narcisse, "La gestion des risques psychosociaux pour le bien-être au travail", under the supervision of Sylvie Rascol-Boutard and Laurence Dreyfuss, co-supervisor (1st thesis registration 2018).
  •  BOUDAOUINE Houyam, "Construction du sens au travail dans les " sales boulots " : Le cas des travailleurs des déchets", under the supervision of Anne Loubès and Florence Loose, co-supervisor (1st thesis registration 2022)
  • EL YACOUBI Aurélia, "La reconversion professionnelle choisie : L'impact de l'accompagnement sur les individus en quête d'un changement professionnel", under the supervision of Sylvie Rascol-Boutard (1st thesis registration 2022)
  • HELWANI Annabelle, "Comment construire et opérationnaliser une raison d'être d'entreprise responsable, source de création de sens et de valeur partagée pour ses parties prenantes", under the supervision of Anne Loubès and Magalie Marais (1st thesis registration 2021)
  • LABELLE Ophélie, "Les réseaux d'acteurs et leur contribution à la performance hospitalière", under the supervision of Sylvie Rascol-Boutard and Laurence Dreyfus (1st thesis registration 2022)
  • THEODORE Charlène, "QVTC et sens, conséquences sur l'engagement organisationnel, la performance individuelle et l'intention de rester dans l'entreprise dans un environnement néo- taylorien", under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras (1st thesis registration 2022)
  • VIGUIER Julien, "Les Groupements d'Employeurs : un dispositif de Gestion des Ressources Humaines Territoriale au service du Dialogue Social Territorial ?", under the supervision of Anne Loubès and Isabelle Bories-Azeau (CIFRE thesis due July 2023)
  • KOFFI Flore, "L'effet des transformations numériques à l'hôpital sur le bien-être des soignants", under the supervision of Nathalie Commeiras and Pierre Loup, co-supervisor (1st thesis registration 2024).

Activity reports

Review 2022-2023

Review 2021-2022

Review 2020-2021

Review 2014-2019

Meeting minutes

Academic year 2024/2025
Academic year 2023/2024
Academic year 2022/2023
Academic year 2021/2022
Academic year 2020/2021
Academic year 2019/2020

The HR team IN PICTURES