CoNtact ME

University of Zurich

Department of Business Administration

Plattenstrasse 14

8032 Zurich, Switzerland

E-mail: Lauren.howe at business.uzh.ch

As rapid advances in technology and forces like the COVID-19 pandemic transform the world of work, people are not just passive recipients of the future of work, but play a fundamental role in proactively shaping it.

In my research as an Associate Professor in Management at the University of Zurich, I focus on studying this 'human side' of the future of work. I ask questions such as: How do human beliefs shape our approach to the future of work? How does showing one's human sides make leaders more effective?

Previously, I investigated how human connection and mindsets matter for leaders and organizations as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Zurich Chair of HRM and Leadership working with Jochen Menges, and in healthcare as a postdoctoral scholar in the Stanford University Mind & Body Lab working with Alia Crum.

I earned my PhD in Social Psychology from Stanford University, where I was the Shaper Family Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow, supervised by Benoît Monin. At Stanford, I explored aspects of social relationships, mindsets, and trust in experts. Click here to read my speech on embracing your own expertise from the Stanford Psychology Department's graduation ceremony!

As an undergraduate, I double majored in Psychology and German Language and Literature at the University of Virginia, working with Jon Haidt and Tim Wilson. After graduating, I spent a year abroad on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Reutlingen, Germany.

Beyond research and teaching, I love to spend my time writing about science for the popular press, reading fiction, swimming, and learning about local history. Hiking in the Swiss mountains and watching so-bad-they're-good-again movies are two of my favorite pastimes.

LATEST NEWS AND EVENTS

April 2024. What can encourage employees to take up mental health support offerings at work? Find out the results of an intervention we tested in a Harvard Business Review article.

February 2024. A social norms intervention I published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is included in a 63-country "global tournament" of climate interventions, published in Science Advances.

February 2024. My research on what happens when CEOs show their humanity in calls with financial analysts is accepted for publication in Academy of Management Discoveries.

June 2023. How can leaders issue more effective criticism? Our new research on expressing "dual concern" is published in the Journal of Business Ethics.

March 2023. My innovative teaching where students tackle human future-of-work challenges is featured in the University of Zurich news.

September 2022. My paper on how exposing flaws can sometimes help entrepreneurs win over investors is covered in The Times.

June 2022. I'm honored to have been selected for the OB Division AOM Meeting "Best Paper with Entrepreneurship Implications Award!"

March 2022. To attract and retain talent, leaders can create "passion opportunities" to help employees pursue out-of-work passions. To find out how, see my Harvard Business Review article.