Johanna Finnholm
Affiliated to Research
Department of Sociology and Work ScienceAbout Johanna Finnholm
Johanna Finnholm obtained her PhD in Work Science in May 2026. Her dissertation focuses on the work of the HR function in relation to organizational change. In her professional career, Johanna has worked with HR-related issues and is partly engaged in investigative work for the Västra Götaland Region. She is also affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Work Science and is involved in CGHRM. CGHRM is a research center focused on Human Resource Management (HRM). It actively collaborates with HR functions in partner organizations and works to disseminate research within the HRM field. Johanna’s doctoral position was funded through partnership collaboration within CGHRM by the Swedish Transport Administration.
The dissertation combines a competence-based and an emotion-theoretical perspective to highlight how HR professionals navigate the practical, relational, and emotional conditions that characterize work largely directed toward managers. The study design includes an integrative literature review as well as two qualitative empirical studies based on data collection with ethnographic elements in a Swedish public organization.
The overall contribution of the dissertation is to demonstrate how emotion management and relational work shape HR’s change efforts in a devolved context. Emotion management within HR is thus emphasized as a professional and strategically important capability. The theoretical contribution lies in demonstrating that HR’s work in change processes constitutes an agency dependent on both contextual and relational factors. Through emotion management via intermediaries and associated tactics, emotional labor is conceptualized at a strategic level. The dissertation shows how emotion management is part of how HR handles tensions and highlights emotional reflexivity as an important competence.
Johanna is involved in a research project on Nordic HRM and resilience, funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The project examines organizations in the private sector, including both industrial and service sectors, and includes representatives from all Nordic countries.