Brent Reed

Front page of an article in JOB on cyberloafing and creative performance

More organizations are monitoring computer use to see if employees are “cyberloafing.”

But this recent article suggests that browsing the web can actually boost creativity, likely by increasing knowledge acquisition... as long as job demands aren’t too high.

Link: doi.org/10.1002/job....

Figure from the article showing how cognitive engagement worsened with depletion when there was misalignment between family-supportive supervisor behaviors and schedule flexibility (one high and one low).

In this study recently published in JBP, researchers found that remote workers who felt professionally isolated also reported higher levels of depletion and lower engagement. Family-supportive supervisors and schedule flexibility helped, but only when the two were aligned: doi.org/10.1007/s108...

Article front page showing title, authors, and other article information.

Thoughtful editorial in LQ on how AI is transforming every stage of the research life cycle. I especially appreciated the guidance on using AI for idea generation, literature review, data analysis, and writing. And without spoiling anything, they also show AI in action: doi.org/10.1016/j.le...

In achievement-oriented organizations, failure was more strongly related to risk aversion, whereas in supportive, growth-oriented organizations, success was more strongly tied to proactive improvement. 3/3

Read more here: doi.org/10.1111/apps...

But failures were also linked to cautious, risk-avoidant responses. Only the proactive changes were related to better performance. 2/n

Workplace climate also mattered.

What happens after we succeed or fail at work, and how does it influence what we do next?

In this study, researchers found that learning from successes *or* failures predicted proactive job crafting, such as seeking new challenges. 1/n

Article abstract page for "Sound of Silence: Using the Stereotype Content Model to Understand Perceptions of Introverts and Extraverts at Work" in Occupational Health Science

Interesting series of studies showing introverts are perceived as less warm and competent at work—even by other introverts! doi.org/10.1007/s415...

Introverts shouldn’t be expected to act like extraverts, so how do we address the ways workplaces may unintentionally penalize them?

I don’t want to give up on BlueSky, but I’m having a hard time finding content related to organizational research, especially workplace stress and well-being. Many researchers whose work I follow aren’t active here (yet?), so lists haven’t helped. Am I missing something? Any tips?

Figure showing inverse relationships between positive/negative work events and partner self-esteem.

We know work doesn’t just affect the person in the job—it can shape how their partner feels, too. But in a recent study, sharing *positive* work events also lowered partners’ self-esteem, perhaps by inviting social comparisons. doi.org/10.1007/s415...

How does this compare to your experiences?

Interested to hear how others are approaching this, especially what’s working in your courses. 4/4

I don’t prohibit AI tools because I think they can be helpful, and I use them myself. But I’m wrestling with how much I can use application activities in the future. I don’t love the idea of relying so heavily on exams, but I don’t know how else to keep things fair for those putting in the work. 3/x

I used best practices for making assignments resistant to outsourcing to AI (and reducing the motivation to do this). Still, its use was pretty frequent and impressive at simulating thoughtful work. I often only caught it when students cited concepts we hadn’t actually covered in the course. 2/x

I just wrapped up teaching an online asynchronous course on organizational behavior. It’s been a couple of summers since I last taught it, and I was struck by how much AI tools have advanced, and how widely they are being used. 1/x

Moderation plot showing how human-AI teaming attenuated the relationship between AI control and stress.

As more workplaces integrate AI, it’s important to understand its impact on stress.

In this study, researchers trained an LLM to analyze social media posts and found that feeling controlled by AI increased stress, but working *with* AI buffered these effects: doi.org/10.1002/job....

Screenshot of article title page

Does telework reduce work-family conflict?

A new meta-analysis finds it slightly lowers work interfering with family but not the other way around. Men seemed to benefit, but women didn’t—likely because they used the flexibility to juggle more non-work responsibilities.

doi.org/10.1007/s415...

Loved this LQ piece on “zombie leadership”: debunked ideas about leadership that simply refuse to die: doi.org/10.1016/j.le...

The authors take on myths like “leadership is always good” or “we know a leader when we see one” and offer more evidence-based ways of thinking. Worth a read!

The person you knew in grad school who was never broke, never unsupported, and never rejected is now an academic authority on grit

Why are we all so burned out in Charlotte? Here’s what we can do about it. How to tackle the people, tasks and responsibilities weighing you down in the workplace.

Grateful for the chance to weigh in for this Charlotte Observer piece about workplace burnout—a challenge that’s more about how work is structured and supported than it is about personal resilience.

Read more here: www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefiv...

Congratulations! Excited to see what you do in your new role!

Now that it’s official, I’m excited to share that I’ve accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at UNC Charlotte.

I’m grateful for all the support along the way, and I look forward to being part of our I-O and OS programs--can’t wait to get started!

dominance analysis (for better or for worse) is used to determine predictor importance in linear regression

here is a colorized/annotated example found in Azen & Budescu (2003) psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-...

When we take part in unproductive meetings, the effect isn't just the immediate impact of wasted time. The effect can go on for hours. It's called a "meeting hangover": a period of diminished focus, motivation or productivity following a bad meeting. hbr.org/2025/02/the-.... V brentreed.bsky.social

The Hidden Toll of Meeting Hangovers Over one quarter of workplace meetings leave employees with lingering negative effects such as lowered engagement and productivity that can last hours. This is called a meeting hangover .  To avoid th...

Excited to share our new article in HBR exploring the hidden toll of meeting hangovers—how bad meetings can leave employees disengaged and less productive… sometimes for hours after the meeting ends!

We also share evidence-based strategies for prevention and recovery: hbr.org/2025/02/the-...

Unfortunately, this doesn’t add to your citation count, but I’ve started referencing this paper in my syllabi when covering the importance of class attendance.

The take-home? Don’t disregard academic performance as not being a predictor of future success, though not all metrics are created equal. And as always, pairing it with other predictors, such as structured interviews, can lead to better hiring decisions. 6/6

Professor evaluations outperform grades or class rank. Why? Likely because they capture a broader range of skills and behaviors relevant to job success. 5/

Job relevance matters. Academic performance in one’s major or in specialized education programs (think law school or medical school) is a better predictor than general coursework. 4/

The predictive power of academic performance varies by educational level. Graduate-level performance is a better predictor than undergraduate or high school performance. 3/

Academic performance is a moderate predictor of job performance (ρ = .21), putting it on par with personality tests and situational judgment tests. It’s even better at predicting performance in training programs (ρ = .34).

But, there are a few important caveats... 2/

Front page of a 2024 article in the Journal of Applied Psychology entitled "Making the Grade? A Meta-Analysis of Academic Performance as a Predictor of Work Performance and Turnover." Link to article: https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001212

How well does academic performance (GPA, class rank, instructor evaluations) predict job performance?

Contrary to some recent headlines, it’s actually pretty good! Here are a few highlights from a recent meta-analysis 🧵, available here: doi.org/10.1037/apl0...