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Recent criticisms of organizational science theory have lamented a lack of depth and a growing “maturity” that is impeding empirical advances. The purpose of this paper is to propose that organizational scientists can address this problem by embracing “evolutionary awareness” (EA). EA builds on theories and constructs developed in the evolutionary sciences that serve to add depth to theory building.

The design of the paper is first to introduce the concept of EA and identify its four key constructs. Next, the authors apply EA to three areas of research within organizational science: human motivation, interpersonal communication and leadership. The authors’ intent is to show that EA constructs extend and deepen traditional organizational science theorizing. Thereby, the authors show that the problems noted above, i.e., lack of depth and maturing theories, can be addressed by embracing EA.

The findings are that EA substantially enhances and freshens theorizing in the organizational sciences in the areas of human motivation, communication and leadership. By extension, other areas of interest will also benefit by embracing the EA perspective.

The implications of the research are many. Organizational scientists can advance theory building, research and practical prescriptions by embracing EA. They can also engage in interdisciplinary research programs with scholars in the evolutionary sciences eager to see their work having practical implications. The limitation of this work is that the authors were only able to show a limited application of EA to three areas of interest to organizational science scholars.

The practical implications of this research are potentially far reaching. At this very moment, scholars in a wide array of disciplines are re-casting their views of humanity, cognition, values and other constructs based on the acceptance of evolution and its primary mechanism, variation and selection based on consequences. These changes will usher in new ideas about leadership, work-life balance, organizational purpose and many others.

A much-needed “consilience” across the human sciences through embracement of the EA perspective may provide insights that will advance human flourishing in organizations and beyond. The authors believe that an increasingly veridical understanding of humanity will produce substantial social impact.

This work will provide an encompassing perspective that will assist organizational scholars in advancing their theory building and research questions. A much-needed “consilience” across the human sciences may provide insights that will advance human flourishing in organizations and beyond.

To discover Nigel Nicholson's views of the implications of evolutionary psychology for business.

Nigel Nicholson speaks to editor Sarah Powell about the implications of evolutionary psychology for business. Nigel Nicholson has been a professor at the London Business School since 1990, holding the positions of Chairman of the Organisational Behaviour department (twice), Research Dean, member of the governing body and Deputy Dean. He is widely known for pioneering the introduction of the new science of evolutionary psychology to business. Current major research interests include the psychology of family business, personality and leadership, and people skills in management. Before becoming a business psychologist, he pursued a career as a journalist.

Reveals Nigel Nicholson's views on the implications of evolutionary psychology for business.

Provides the views of a pioneer in the field of business studies.

This article continues the story of graduates’ early career development which the authors began in the Vol. 18 No. 3 issue of Personnel Review. In recounting graduates’ early career experience in four departments of a multinational company, the authors reflect on such issues as: person‐environment fit and its consequences, how employees cope with thwarted expectations, the changing bases of commitment, the use of job change as an employee, development strategy, and the design of organisational career systems.

Graduate adjustment to employment is focused on. How expectations are formed and behaviours rehearsed prior to entry, how expectations, illusions and promises are transacted through recruitment, and how first steps are taken into a new world of opportunities, obligations and relationships are analysed. The ways in which the transition might be used and casualties minimised at all stages are highlighted.

The industrial relations climate of a steelworks was investigated through a programme of structured interviews with shop stewards and managers at all levels. Interviewees were asked how often they handled different types of industrial relations issues, how often they interacted with their opposite numbers at different levels to solve those problems, how satisfied they were with the way each of the problems were handled and, how satisfied they were with their opposite numbers' handling of industrial relations problems generally. Results shows that there was union‐management agreement about the nature of the local climate, but that the climate differed across departments in accordance with data from independent sources. The findings also indicated that in this plant the climate was more ‘issue‐centred’ than ‘person‐centred’. It was concluded that the technique could be similarly useful in other settings for the speedy appraisal of industrial relations at plant level, but that more comparative research on industrial relations climate was needed.

A ward‐winning US company NYF has doubled its sales over the past three years and enjoyed massive growth thanks to a new program based on teaming and gainsharing. The privately‐owned distributor of electronic hardware, assembly components and mechanical fasteners achieved New Jersey’s Silver 2002 Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence by evolving an empowered team culture that makes employees want to work well and use their initiative.

This is a report on the major themes to emerge from a national research project which examined the effects of job changes on the personal and career development of 2,304 female and male managers and professionals. The overall impression demonstrated a high level of general frustration for both males and females alike in relation to their present job and future career development, which in the case of females is compounded by experiences of discrimination.

In any given year, it has been estimated that over 300 million work days are lost in Britain due to employee absenteeism. This figure amounts to about 13.5 days lost per employee. Daily absenteeism among blue‐collar workers in many industries runs as high as 17 per cent of the work force with rates often much higher on Mondays and Fridays. These estimates include absenteeism due to illness, as well as other reasons. High rates of absenteeism have been cited as contributing to industrial slumps in some areas of Britain. Productivity losses, loss of good will, extra labour costs to replace the absent employee, overtime costs, and sick pay are all costs associated with absenteeism. Clearly, employee absenteeism is a major area of concern for personnel managers.