Kelly Monahan, Ph.D.

Future of work initiatives promise lots of noise and lots of activity, but to what end?

How Behavioral Economics Influences Management Decision-Making: A New Paradigm critically reexamines the management function in 21st century workplaces. The book seeks to examine and explain the real-world behaviors of employees and acknowledge the human nature that binds us all together and how to appeal to these characteristics in order to help organizations prosper. It explores well-observed but rarely understood features of employee cognition and irrationality, challenging the dominant… Show more

How Behavioral Economics Influences Management Decision-Making: A New Paradigm critically reexamines the management function in 21st century workplaces. The book seeks to examine and explain the real-world behaviors of employees and acknowledge the human nature that binds us all together and how to appeal to these characteristics in order to help organizations prosper. It explores well-observed but rarely understood features of employee cognition and irrationality, challenging the dominant discourse and offering an alternative to gain greater competitive advantage in today's complex markets. It also provides an effective new framework on the best ways to develop relevant management skills as they pertain to hiring, performance management, change management, employee engagement, and goal setting. As the knowledge economy continues to grow, the social bonds within companies will prove to be a key differentiation to deliver on the next big idea.

Developing productive decisions with staff in the talent-driven global economy increasingly requires the development of "intrinsic" meaning in work, a human-centered work-place culture, and human-focused working practices. This book tackles these topics in comprehensive and efficient detail.
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​Millennials’ participation in the gig economy continues to rise and organizations are eagerly tapping into this pool of workers to hire more people off their balance sheets. But how are the millennial gig workers faring? In which fields are they likely to find jobs? Are they earning enough to support themselves? A decade of data and research offer some answers.

One key factor: Leaders’ ability to take risks and accept failures.

Older generations may need to strip away what they think they know about millennials. The data suggests we simply misunderstood their strengths and how they like to work.

With Generation Z entering the workforce and the nature of entry-level jobs changing, how can organizations redesign these jobs in a way that can both attract and engage Gen Z and ensure that these jobs continue to generate a pipeline of future talent?

Rather than just relying on the subjective opinions of executives, some companies are using assessment tools to identify high-potential talent.

When people lack the tools and resources needed to operate effectively, they fall prey to the scarcity mind-set. If left unchecked, scarcity can have deleterious effects on performance. The good news is, leaders have an opportunity to help prevent scarcity before it happens.

Research shows that most large change management efforts fail. Why? Something’s been left out of the equation: the human element. Organizations can draw on new behavioral economics lessons to powerfully connect change to human behavior—and keep employees engaged in the process.

When people lack the tools and resources needed to operate effectively, they fall prey to the scarcity mind-set. If left unchecked, scarcity can have deleterious effects on performance. The good news is, leaders have an opportunity to help prevent scarcity before it happens.

Wearables and other IoT-based devices are helping millions of us better ourselves. Can employers convince everyone to use the same technology to make work more efficient, productive, and pleasant? All that data offers great potential for workplace gains—as long as everyone’s on board with the program.

Gaming can be addictive and there is psychological evidence why so many of us have trouble putting down our phones when absorbed in a game. Is there a way we can use the psychological allure of gaming to help close the leadership readiness gap faced in many organizations? We believe so. In this article we explore what makes gaming a promising mechanism for leadership development programs.

Additive manufacturing can be transformative, yet many engineers use these technologies only rarely. Behavioral economics suggests why many companies are holding back, and how to move past both organizational inertia and engineers’ mental blocks and fears about expanding the use of AM.

A research proposal conceptualizing the construct of responsibility in the workforce.

This study is an attempt to understand and clarify the moderating role of individual work values on the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and work satisfaction within the American workforce. Data collected from a sample of 122 full-time working employees
across various U.S. based organizations is assessed. A multiple regression analysis is used to
determine the direct impact of leader-member exchange dimensions on extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction, and a… Show more

This study is an attempt to understand and clarify the moderating role of individual work values on the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and work satisfaction within the American workforce. Data collected from a sample of 122 full-time working employees
across various U.S. based organizations is assessed. A multiple regression analysis is used to
determine the direct impact of leader-member exchange dimensions on extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction, and a hierarchical regression analysis is used to determine the moderating influence of self-enhancement and self-transcendence values. It is found that while LMX has a direct positive relationship with both facets of job satisfaction, LMX has a greater statistically
significant influence on extrinsic facets of job satisfaction. The moderating analysis reveals that self-transcendence values significantly moderates the relationship between extrinsic work job
satisfaction and LMX dimensions. These findings encourage managers to continue to develop the attributes of LMX, which in return will likely result in high employee extrinsic job satisfaction.
The results also note the importance for managers to realize that they represent the organization for their employees, and their level of support and values is concurrent with how their employees
view the entire organization.

Keywords: Leader-member exchange, job satisfaction, work values Show less

An academic presentation reviewing the current literature on informal learning in the workplace.

A pragmatic research presentation on the different communication, learning and leadership preferences across all four generations in the workforce.

The following article explores the literature regarding the topic of
ethical leadership. Thirty-eight articles were identified that are written by authors who
focused on four main topics. These topics are the definition of ethical leadership, the
personal integrity and morality of a leader, how a leader ethically influences followers
and current challenges facing ethical leaders. These four topics are explored in further
detail within the literature review.