‘Superstar’ researcher inspired by energy, enthusiasm of FSU

Photo by Kallen Lunt/College of Business; photo illustration by Tony Watts Jr./College of Business Click to enlarge

Behold the place where one of the world’s most prolific researchers spends much of his curious life studying workplace strife.

Wayne Hochwarter’s office in the Florida State University College of Business features a microwave, a vacuum cleaner and a mini refrigerator. It includes photos of the people closest to him, including sons Bo and Jacob and his girlfriend, Ana Marty, a research faculty member in the FSU Learning Systems Institute. His office contains maps and ball caps representing places he has lived and loved, including his hometown of Chicago. And, sometimes, it contains gym clothes hanging on hooks to dry.

His office contains what you would expect to find in that of any serious scholar, particularly an active one. 

But Hochwarter makes it look, feel and sound like home.

“I love being here,” he said. “I'm stressed if I have engagements on Saturdays and Sundays that don't allow me to come to work. I want to do my work here, not at home. The energy is here. The enthusiasm is here.”

And the exploration is here.

Hochwarter, the Melvin T. Stith Sr. Professor of Business Administration, stands among the top global researchers in organizational behavior. 

He has published or presented more than 200 articles on topics including layoffs, abusive work behaviors, personal accountability, employee entitlement and engagement, and leadership-focused motivation strategies. Overall, his research explores non-traditional areas of work motivation and well-being such as organization politics, gossip, employee rumination and leader bottom-line mentality. He also studies the effects of supervisors who continuously contact employees while they are away from work.

Hochwarter ranks in the Top 3% among global scholars in multiple categories: number of citations of his work, number of articles with at least 10 citations, number of publications and number of citations per publication. Also, references to his work have appeared in virtually every major U.S. newspaper and many others globally.

“He is a world-renowned scholar, and he is our superstar,” said Bruce Lamont, the Jim Moran Eminent Scholar of Business Administration and chair of the Department of Management in the College of Business. 

Lamont recalled attending international leadership conferences in Greece and South Africa, where Hochwarter gave keynote addresses in front of standing-room-only crowds.

“People were there just to hear Wayne talk,” Lamont said. “I got to see his reputation and impact with my own eyes, and it was impressive.”

Setting 'a high bar' for research

Hochwarter earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from FSU in 1993 and served stints at the University of Alabama and Mississippi State University before returning to FSU’s Department of Management, where he has thrived for the last 23 years. His accolades include a prestigious Literati Award from Emerald Publishing, Career Distinction and Distinguished Senior Research awards. 

He’s a fellow in the Southern Management Association’s Honor Society, and he recently was inducted into the Society of Organizational Behavior’s Scholars Honorary Society, joining 50 scholars from universities worldwide. Also, he has been named a distinguished research professor in the College of Business and Economics at the United Arab Emirates University, where he’ll spend a few weeks as a visiting research scholar next year.

“As a prolific and leading international scholar, Wayne sets a high bar for research productivity in our college,” said Michael Hartline, dean of the FSU College of Business. “He vigorously explores vital questions about the human component of today’s ever-changing global workplace and consistently produces meaningful managerial insights.”

“To me, it’s the greatest job in the world,” Hochwarter said. “I have this blank canvas for questions about the workplace that I can explore. And I love being at Florida State. I love the students and people I work with. I love the friendliness. I love the energy.”

He added: “This is the best place in the world to contribute to science and practice. I’m grateful to be here.” 

Inspired in a grocery store

Hochwarter recalled the genesis of his explorative energy: As a 20-year-old stock clerk at a Chicago-based grocery chain in the mid-1980s, he observed his store’s work structure, including multiple layers of managers and frequent shifting of people and positions. 

“I would watch the dynamics, and it all left me very curious,” he said. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis on management from St. Francis University, in Joliet, Illinois. He earned an MBA from Chicago-based DePaul University, then his Ph.D. from FSU.

Since well before 2001, the year he joined the FSU faculty, Hochwarter annually has produced multiple studies for some of the world’s top business, organizational, management, psychology and sociology journals. His recent research has explored topics such as the effects on top management of focusing on bottom-line outcomes; the role of low adaptability in burnout among passionate workers; and the implications of COVID-19 on mental and physical exhaustion among nurses.

He cites an aim to understand “contemporary workplace realities” amid changes from the coronavirus pandemic. And he’s quick to publicize his findings.

“He’s trying to help others, and he sees it as his obligation,” said Lamont, the management department chair and longtime FSU faculty member, who remembers Hochwarter from Hochwarter’s time as a Ph.D. student. “He wants his work to be impactful, not just for other researchers to build on but to help managers and workers.”

When news organizations seek his expertise, Hochwarter responds in plain and direct terms. “I don’t think the tech sector is going to heck in a handbasket,” he told one news site early last year about layoffs at Microsoft and Amazon.

He also pointed to a paper he’s working on about workers who feel neglected by their supervisors. 

“Basically, what it says is, ‘I’m your employee, and you can neglect me all you want, but frankly, I don’t really like you, and I don’t need you, because I’ve got my own resources,’” Hochwarter said.

Next year, he embarks on his first sabbatical in more than two decades at FSU, yet he’ll stay immersed in his work. His plans include trips to at least three countries in various parts of the globe, as a visiting scholar at United Arab Emirates University, the University of Auckland and the University of Western Australia and as keynote speaker at the Asian Management Research and Case Conference in the UAE.

He also notes “about 15 research projects at various stages that need my attention.”

Even while away, he’ll feel close to home. He’ll be doing or discussing research, after all.

“I’m very passionate about this,” Hochwarter said. “I always want to understand current situations and the attitudes, thoughts and behaviors of employees who are going through what many people consider unprecedented times of challenge and stress.”

-- Pete Reinwald