Dr. Steven Kilroy

My line of research focuses on the effects of HR practices (high performance work practices; sophisticated training and development, rewards and performance management, recruitment and selection etc.) on employee well-being and/or performance outcomes. Specifically, my research largely attempts to uncover how such HR practices work, and under what conditions. Another primary research strand (although related to the above) is the investigation of the factors that lead to (and can prevent or reduce) health care workers burnout and retention. A key focus of my research in both of these areas above is the role of leadership, and this is particularly the direction that my research is now focusing on. Simply put, my current research direction largely concerns investigating the role of line managers leadership behaviours with respect to the impact of HRM practices on employee and organisational performance outcomes. This is especially given current debates/gaps in the literature due to the fact that leaders (line managers) are the ones responsible for HR implementation and determining whether they actually succeed.

Through my research, I have currently published 27 peer reviewed articles (many of which are in top tier journals such as ABS 3, 4, 4* and in the Financial Times (FT) list), 2 books, 8 book chapters, and have presented or organised symposia at over 40 conferences worldwide. I also have numerous papers ongoing and am an editor of an upcoming book and special issue on the topic of the interplay of HRM and leadership. The invitation to edit a book and special issue with other leading scholars on this topic, together with numerous invitations to give talks/lectures at other universities and events, and an invitation to be a panelist in various professional development workshops at the Academy of Management conference (the leading management conference), is testament to my research expertise on the topic as perceived by the schoalrly community.

Overall, my research has received numerous accolades such as the such as the Trinity Business School research excellence award, best paper award at the Dutch HRM network conference, best dissertation award sponsored by a Dublin based consultancy organisation (Pearse Walsh award) and appearing in the best paper proceedings at the Academy of Management Annual Conference (one of the best accepted papers on two occasions). I am regularly invited to provide guest lecturers/talks, chair tracks at leading international conferences and act as a regular reviewer for the leading management (e.g. Journal of Management), HR (e.g. Human Resource Management), organisational behaviour (e.g. Journal of Organizational Behavior) and health care management (e.g. Journal of Nursing Management) journals. I am currently on the editorial review board of one of the leading HR journals (Human Resource Management Journal (HRMJ), which is a 4* ABS outlet). I regularly supervise masters and PhD students on the topic, have been invited as an external examiner at other universities, and regularly provide practical advice to practitioners on the topic.