Recently, the Ministry of Education announced the results of the Ninth Outstanding Achievement Awards for Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions (Humanities and Social Sciences). Three achievements from the School of Labor and Human Resources received honors:

1. Professor Zheng Gongcheng's research, 'Improving the Social Security System Requires Strengthening Systematic Thinking and Precise Policies,' won the First Prize for Consulting Service Reports.

2. Professor Zeng Xiangquan's academic team's research, '2018-2021: China Employment Market Prosperity Report,' won the Second Prize for Consulting Service Reports.

3. Professor Su Zhongxing's research, 'Going Beyond the SHRM Paradigm: Examining Four Approaches to Governing Employees,' won the Third Prize for Papers.

The Outstanding Achievement Awards for Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions (Humanities and Social Sciences) were established in 1995 by the Ministry of Education to recognize the outstanding achievements of humanities and social science scholars in universities across China. The awards are held every three years and include categories such as Monographs and Papers, Consulting Service Reports, Popular Science Books, and Youth Achievement Awards. These awards are considered the most credible and influential honors in the field of humanities and social sciences in China.

Introduction to the Award-Winning Achievements:

1. Professor Zheng Gongcheng's Winning Achievement: 'Improving the Social Security System Requires Strengthening Systematic Thinking and Precise Policies' (Consulting Service Report, First Prize)

This achievement consists of four parts: historical lessons from social security development both domestically and internationally, achievements and basic experiences of China's social security system, current major problems and challenges, and future suggestions for building a comprehensive social security system with Chinese characteristics. It argues that social security is a crucial pillar for national governance and achieving public welfare, significantly impacting long-term national development. A complete social security system is also a standard for national modernization.

The report summarizes historical lessons, noting that successful social security systems are typically rationally established and continuously improved, providing clear and stable expectations and ongoing development. These systems result in public satisfaction, social stability, and national prosperity. In contrast, unsuccessful systems often suffer from irrationality, continuous political strife, and biases, leading to unsustainability, social unrest, and national decline. Both positive and negative examples provide valuable insights.

Based on the summary of China's social security development achievements and basic experiences, the report analyzes six major existing problems: insufficient system coherence, structural imbalances, increasingly apparent institutional defects such as unclear responsibilities and imbalanced responsibilities, low quality of social insurance participation, weak material foundation, limited redistribution function, weak sustainability, low level of legal standardization and service capacity, affecting the practical effects of the system. It also addresses six major challenges: aging population and low birth rate, high population mobility and normalized separation of residence and household registration, the digital economy fostering new business models, diverse employment methods, large low-income group, conflicting demands for social security and slowing fiscal growth, and increased risks of deepening reform.

The report proposes 30 suggestions for building a comprehensive social security system with Chinese characteristics across six areas: (1) clarify system goals, promote rational development, (2) optimize basic pension insurance, medical insurance, and social assistance systems, (3) respond to public concerns, timely address shortfalls in elderly care services and child welfare, (4) focus efforts, solidly promote multi-level security development, (5) continuously strengthen the material foundation of social security, enhance redistribution functions, (6) accelerate the improvement of legal standards, enhance service capacity. The report also includes six supporting reports: 'China Pensions: System Reform, Problem List, and High-Quality Development,' 'China Medical Security: '14th Five-Year Plan' Development Ideas and Key Tasks,' 'Multi-Level Social Security System Construction: Current Situation Evaluation and Policy Ideas,' 'Historical Logic of China's Social Security Evolution,' 'Historical Logic and Future Choices of Social Security and National Governance,' and 'Historical View and Global Perspective on Contemporary Social Security Development.'

This achievement has received significant attention from national government departments, providing theoretical background and decision-making references for deepening reforms and advancing legislation in China's social security field.

2. Professor Zeng Xiangquan's Academic Team's Winning Achievement: '2018-2021: China Employment Market Prosperity Report' (Consulting Service Report, Second Prize)

The '2018-2021: China Employment Market Prosperity Report' was led by Professor Zeng Xiangquan, Director of the China Institute for Employment Research at Renmin University of China, from 2018 to 2021. The report developed and released the China Employment Market Prosperity Index (CIER Index) and conducted in-depth research on China's labor market monitoring system, providing essential research results for analyzing, judging, monitoring, and forecasting national employment situations and offering employment policy consulting.

The CIER Index was developed in response to the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on China's employment market. In early 2009, under the leadership of Professor Zeng Xiangquan, the China Employment Research Institute of Renmin University organized the 'China Employment Quarterly Analysis Meeting' and used big data from recruitment platforms to compile the CIER Index and write the 'China Employment Market Prosperity Report.' This practice has proven the CIER Index to be a 'thermometer' for employment market changes, addressing the shortcomings of traditional measurement and statistical indicators in reflecting employment market sensitivity, timely monitoring, and accurate judgment. The use of big data from recruitment platforms has innovated the research paradigm of labor economics, enriching and expanding China's labor market measurement and analysis methods. It has significantly contributed to the implementation of the '14th Five-Year Employment Promotion Plan' proposed by the state, promoting the application of big data in employment statistics and monitoring, and constructing a measurement and statistical indicator system for China's labor market. The CIER Index and the main contents of the 'China Employment Market Prosperity Report' have become an integral part of the national employment market monitoring system, receiving high attention and full recognition from national government departments and generating widespread social influence both domestically and internationally.

The China Employment Research Institute at Renmin University is the only high-end employment policy think tank established in Chinese universities in early 2004. Since its establishment, it has played a crucial role in providing national employment policy consulting. Since the first quarter of 2009, multiple government departments have regularly participated in the 'China Employment Quarterly Analysis Meeting' held by the institute, studying the 'China Employment Market Prosperity Report.' This achievement has played a vital role in utilizing big data from recruitment platforms to monitor dynamic changes in the employment market, analyze and judge employment situations, and formulate policies.

The release of the 'China Employment Market Prosperity Report' has received extensive praise from various sectors domestically and internationally, generating positive social impact. Since 2016, Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, China Youth Daily, CCTV, China National Radio, and major international financial media such as Bloomberg have conducted extensive and in-depth reports. According to incomplete statistics, there have been over 20,000 related reports.

3. Professor Su Zhongxing's Winning Achievement: 'Going Beyond the SHRM Paradigm: Examining Four Approaches to Governing Employees' (Paper, Third Prize)

'Going Beyond the SHRM Paradigm: Examining Four Approaches to Governing Employees' is a representative achievement published by domestic scholars as the first author in the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM). The paper, published in the 'Journal of Management,' has an impact factor of 13.51 and a five-year impact factor of 18.02, with strict review standards and processes. The research, based on the management practices of Chinese enterprises, integrates the main conclusions and cutting-edge viewpoints of existing SHRM research and organizational theory research. It breaks through the 'either-or' thinking prevalent in Western academic research and, based on the inclusive 'both-and' thinking in traditional Chinese philosophy, constructs a new theoretical framework for employee governance.

The paper proposes a new employee governance model based on two dimensions: commitment activation and rule compliance. This model identifies four types of employee governance: bonded governance (focused on commitment activation), disciplined governance (focused on rule compliance), hybrid governance (emphasizing both commitment and compliance), and unstructured governance (neglecting both).

This achievement, grounded in Chinese management phenomena and practices and combined with international academic research frontiers, originally proposes an integrated analytical framework for employee governance models. It empirically tests the positive effects of hybrid employee governance models on Chinese enterprises, demonstrating the strong explanatory power of management concepts and theories based on traditional Chinese philosophical thinking. Since its publication, the paper has generated significant social and international academic influence, being cited by scholars in many countries. It has played a positive role in promoting the internationalization of Chinese local management research and constructing an independent Chinese philosophy and social science system. The paper also helps break the 'theoretical islands' of different research fields, promoting the integration of cutting-edge research in organizational theory and human resource management.