Emma Findlay

Profile

Emma is undertaking PhD research in the field of Organizational Behaviour with a specific focus on motivation and goal conflict in multiteam systems. After an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Emma completed a General Leadership graduate programme in a UK bank. Subsequently she worked as an Employee Experience Manager, responsible for engagament, insight and employee digital experience across the business. This role allowed Emma to develop a strong set of diverse skills and sparked a curiosity in the human experience of work. 

Inspired to learn more, Emma pursued further qualification and completed a MSc in Organizational Psychology at LUBS. This course highlighted the importance of an evidence-based approach to managing organizations and resultantly she is pursuing her PhD to contribute to the ongoing development of robust knowledge in the field of Organizational Behaviour. 

Fascinated by the complexity and myriad tensions of modern organizational life, Emma’s PhD  research focusses on how goal conflict can arise in multilevel systems of teams and how the people operating within them manage their often competing goals. 

Emma is currently serving as a PGR representative for the Management Division. This role involves championing and engaging with the divisional PhD cohort to support the continuous improvement of the PGR experience within LUBS. She is also a mentor on the pilot of the ‘Leeds Masters Scholarship: Next steps’ programme. 

Passionate about how organizational psychology can benefit society, Emma is also a volunteer board trustee at a local community and social action centre. Here she supports the strategic direction of the charity by applying her evidence-based approach to issues such as organizational design, community research, change management, process design and strategy development. 

Awards and scholarships 

Awarded the Outstanding Academic Performance Prize for Organizational and Business Psychology 2017/18.

PhD funded by the Leeds Doctoral Scholarship 

Research interests

Emma is interested in motivation at work. She is currently exploring how collective and individual level motivations interact and cause potential conflicts. She is interested in undertaking multilevel research that acknowledges the dynamic and complex nature of motivation. 

Emma is also interested in the context of the health and social care workforce and has a strong desire to contibute to projects that support the integration of services both together and into other facets of society. Please do get in touch if you need RA support on a project of this nature. Additionally, she is interested in charitable organizations and the motivation and performance of volunteer trustee boards. 

Qualifications

• University of Leeds: MSc Organizational Psychology (Distinction)
• University of Edinburgh: MA Psychology (2:1)

Research groups and institutes

• Workplace Behaviour Research Centre