Jean-Nicolas Reyt

��ϲ�� Desautels professors and lecturers recognized at Faculty Awards

john.sawaya@mcgill.ca — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 15:08:41 +0000

The ��ϲ�� Desautels Faculty of Management acknowledges the vital contributions of research, teaching, service, and public engagement in inspiring future leaders. Through our annual Faculty Awards, we celebrate the exceptional achievements of our faculty members across various programs and disciplines. This year, we are proud to honour the following distinguished individuals:

Research

Desautels Faculty Scholar Award: Ruslan Goyenko

Employees tend to own workplace successes, but blame external factors for failures

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 18:54:58 +0000

Nearly two-thirds of employees feel they’ve been ‘thrown under the bus’ by their colleagues—but an even higher number say they’ve never engaged in blame-shifting themselves. “The axe forgets, but the tree remembers,” says Jean-Nicolas Reyt, an Associate Professor of Organizational Management at ��ϲ�� Desautels. “When we hurt someone, we are quick to forget about it, but when people hurt us, we remember it forever. But there’s more to it than that, Reyt told HR Reporter.

The power of purpose in employee motivation

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:36:36 +0000

Motivating employees isn’t just about perks or pay—it’s about helping them see the bigger picture. According to Jean-Nicolas Reyt, associate professor of organizational behaviour at ��ϲ�� Desautels, employees who understand the broader impact of their work are often more engaged. “A manager can see the broader picture,” Reyt explains. “Remind people how their work fits into it.” He emphasizes that leaders should shift from telling employees how to do their jobs to explaining why their roles matter.

Changes in leadership can affect an entire organization

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 20:10:36 +0000

Changes at the top of an organization can have a ripple effect through its ranks—and Justin Trudeau’s resignation as leader of the Liberal Party is a case in point. An organization’s culture starts at the top, and the personality of its leader influences how decisions are made and how to get ahead, says Associate Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt in an interview with Canadian HR Reporter.

Return to office won’t necessarily increase productivity

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 20:27:09 +0000

After a sudden shift to remote work in 2020, federal public servants have been required to be on site for 60 per cent of their working days since September 2024. Productivity was among its reasons for introducing the requirement, but that’s misguided, according to Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Associate Professor of Management at ��ϲ�� Desautels.

Remote work brought unfair performance metrics – and employees are gaming them

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:03:50 +0000

According to a survey by the Vancouver-based AI human resources firm Visier, more than four out of five workers have engaged in “fauxductivity” – performative work that makes them appear to be working more time than they actually are. The problem, however, isn’t the workers– it’s the way their performance is measured according to Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour.

When wedding planning clashes with work commitments, communication is key

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:00:59 +0000

Weddings are planned many months–or even years–into the future, and that can clash with other aspects of the couple’s lives. When taking on a new job in the months leading up to such a major life event, it’s tricky to know when to tell your new employer that you’ll need time off in the first months of your tenure. “My advice is to wait until you’ve received a formal job offer before discussing it,” says Associate Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt in The Globe and Mail’s Nine to Five column.

People feel most productive at work during the heart of the workweek

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:06:48 +0000

Tuesday is the most productive day of the week—or at least it’s the day perceived to be the most productive, according to Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour Jean-Nicolas Reyt in an interview with Radio-Canada. Most individuals work from Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to -5 p.m., and perceive Monday to be less productive because they are still catching up on their work from the previous week. Tuesday is the day that people first feel immersed in the current week’s work.

Companies seeking savings in employee wages might spend more in the long run

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 20:16:30 +0000

Inflation has stretched the budgets of individuals and companies alike, and some firms have sought to find savings in the wages they pay their employees. A recent report from the Robert Walters recruiting agency found that Canadian firms are increasingly hiring underqualified employees. But that can backfire, says Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt in interview with Canadian HR Reporter.

Greece increases length of work week, bucking broader trends

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 17:58:52 +0000

While some countries contemplate shorter work weeks, Greece is heading in the opposite direction. Seeking to boost economic growth, the country recently passed a law allowing employers to implement a six-day work week, though the change is not mandatory. Greece faced a debt crisis in 2010, and its economy has long been among Europe’s laggards. As a member of the Eurozone, Greece doesn’t make its own monetary policy, explains Jean-Nicolas Reyt, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour.

Top employees will gravitate to companies that implement four-day workweek as it becomes more common

arsh.prakash@mcgill.ca — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:39:00 +0000

Some of the Toronto companies that tested a four-day workweek are sticking with it, and cite higher productivity and better work-life balance as the reasons for the change. ��ϲ�� Desautels Professor Jean-Nicolas Reyt thinks it will eventually become the norm, and companies that resist it risk losing talent. “The best employees will leave,” Reyt told Radio-Canada. “It would be a bad idea to refuse to have a conversation about it.”

New federal union contract is an historic advance in for workers’ rights

angela.l.williams@mcgill.ca — Thu, 25 May 2023 16:06:08 +0000

The potential for office work to be performed remotely has been evident since the advent of email and the web, but for decades, most employers allowed only very limited remote work. The pandemic let that genie out of the bottle and finally granted employees what many had been advocating for in vain, writes Associate Professor in Organizational Behaviour Jean-Nicholas Reyt in an opinion piece for the Montreal Gazette. The recent strike by the Public Service Alliance of Canada is a prime example of this sentiment.

��ϲ�� Desautels undergrads take 2nd at Baylor University’s Negotiation Competition

angela.l.williams@mcgill.ca — Tue, 23 May 2023 18:57:21 +0000

��ϲ�� Desautels undergraduate students Aaron Anandji (BCom’25) and Zacharie Faucillion (BCom’23), Co-Executive Directors of ��ϲ�� Ventures, took second place at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business’ National Undergraduate Negotiation Competition (NUNC) this April.

Hybrid work arrangements give employees the flexibility they need, but leverage benefits of in-person interaction

angela.l.williams@mcgill.ca — Wed, 17 May 2023 15:57:44 +0000

One of the biggest names in tech thinks the move to fully remote work is a big mistake. According to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, everyone needs to be together to create a cohesive and productive work environment. And that’s partly right, says Jean-Nicolas Reyt, an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Desautels. “The vast majority of the economy has switched to hybrid work, and not fully remote,” says Reyt. “This allows people to better manage the interface between their work and personal lives.

Case-by-case evaluation of remote work vulnerable to managerial discretion

angela.l.williams@mcgill.ca — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:44:46 +0000

Office workers adopted remote work on a massive scale during the pandemic, and many of them only want to return to the office on a limited basis. This was a major issue in the spring 2023 strike by the Public Service Alliance of Canada. In the union’s new contract, remote work requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. This makes an amount of sense, according to Desautels Prof. Jean-Nicolas Reyt. "Some jobs do require you to be on-site, but at the end of the day, it has to be case-by-case," Reyt told CBC News.