Chapter 17Career Management

Nelson & Quick

Why Understand Careers

• If we know what to look forward to, we can be proactive in planning

• As managers, we need to understand the experiences of our employees and colleagues

• Career management is good business--It makes financial sense

Career/Career Management

Career - the pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life

Career Management - a lifelong process of learning about self, jobs, and organizations; setting personal career goals; developing strategies for achieving

Career: Paradigm Shift

New Career Paradigm

Discrete Exchange

Occupational Excellence

Organizational Empowerment

Project Allegiance

Old Career Paradigm

Mutual Loyalty Contract

One Employer Focus

Top-down Firm

Corporate Allegiance

The New Career

Discrete Exchange

Occupational Excellence

Organizational Empowerment

Project Allegiance

An organization gains productivity while a person gains work experienceSkills are continually honed that can be marketed across organizationsPower flows down to business units and in turn to the employeesBoth individuals and organizations are committed to successful project completion

Personalities and Choices

RealisticRealisticstable

persistentmaterialistic

mechanicrestaurant server

mechanical engineer

ArtisticArtisticimaginativeemotionalimpulsive

architectvoice coach

interior designer

InvestigativeInvestigativecurious

analyticalindependent

physicistsurgeon

economist

Personalities and Choices

EnterprisingEnterprisingambitiousenergetic

adventurous

real estate agenthuman resource

managerlawyer

ConventionalConventionalefficientpracticalobedient

word processoraccountant

data entry operator

SocialSocialgenerous

cooperativesociable

counselorsocial worker

clergyman

Conflicts During Organizational Entry

The individual’s attemptto attract the organization

Organizational efforts toattract individuals

The individual’s choiceof an organization

Organizational selectionof individuals

42 1

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Figure in L.W. Porter, E.E. Lawler III, and J. R. Hackman, Behavior in Organizations, New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1975. Page 134. Reproduced with permission of the McGraw-Hill Companies.

Realistic Job Preview (RJP)

Realistic Job Preview - both positive and negative information given to potential employees about the job they are applying for, thereby giving them a realistic picture of the job

RJP’s help promote the image of theorganization as operating consistentlyand honestly

The Career Stage Model

Careerstage

Life stage (age)

Early adulthood Middle adulthood Late adulthood (17-40) (40-60) (60+)

Establishment

Advancement

Maintenance

Withdrawal

• Negotiate an effective psychological contract - an implicit agreement between an individual and an organization that specifies what each is expected to give and receive in the relationship

• Manage the stress of socialization– Anticipatory socialization - gather information– Encounter phase - learn job demands– Change & acquisition phase - begin to master demands

• Ease the transition through individual & organizational actions

Establishment: tasks of thenewcomer

Protectionfrom stressors

Informational

Evaluative

Modeling

Emotional

Direct assistance

Provision ofinformation

Feedback

Evidence ofstandards

Empathy,esteem, love

What are the risks?

What do l needto know?

How am Idoing?

Who do I follow?

Do I matter?

Supervisor cues newcomer

Mentor givesadvice

Supervisor offers feedback

Newcomer isapprenticed

Others (new)empathize

Type ofSupport

Function ofSupportive

AttachmentsNewcomerConcern

Examples ofInsider

Response/Action

Newcomer-Insider Psychological Contracts for Social SupportEstablishment

Advancement: Strive forAchievement

Career Path - a sequence of job experiences that an employee moves along during his or her career

Career Ladder - a structured series of job positions through which an individual progresses in an organization

Advancement: Mentoring

Mentor - an individual who provides guidance, coaching, counseling, and friendship to a protégé

Career functions provided by a mentor– Sponsorship– Facilitating exposure and visibility– Coaching– Protection

Advancement: Mentoring

Psychosocial functions provided by a mentor– Role modeling– Acceptance and

confirmation– Counseling– Friendship

Characteristics of good mentoring

relationships– Regular contact– Consistency with

corporate culture– Training in managing

the relationship– Accountability– Prestige for mentor

Advancement: Phases of Mentoring

Initiation - relationship begins

Cultivation - relationship gains meaning

Separation - protégé asserts independence

Redefinition - relationship has new identity

Advancement: Why Mentors are important

• Mentored individuals earn higher salaries

• Mentored individuals have higher promotion rates

• Mentored individuals are better decision makers

Advancement: Dual-Career Partnerships

Dual-Career Partnerships - a relationship in which both people have important career roles

Pressures of such partnerships– Time pressure– Jealousy– Precedence (which career)

Advancement: Work-Home Conflicts

• Work-home conflicts more likely affect women

• Organizations’ attempts to help– Flexible work schedule - a work schedule

that allows employees discretion in order to accommodate personal concerns

– Eldercare - assistance in caring for elderly parents and/or other elderly relatives

Maintenance: Time of Crisis or Contentment

• Midlife crisis– Slowed or stalled career growth– Burn-out

• Contentment– Sense of achievement– No need to strive for continued

upward mobility

Maintenance: Issues ofThis Stage

• Career plateau - a point in an individual’s career in which the probability of moving further up the hierarchy is low

• Firms respond with– Lateral moves – Project teams – Affirmation– Mentoring roles for maintenance stage employee

Withdrawal: Planning for Change

• Plan financially• Plan psychologically

– hobbies and travel– volunteer work– extended family– temporary work (esp. top level

executives)

SpouseHealth

Withdrawal: RetirementIssues

DualCareers

Income

Career AnchorsA network of self-perceivedtalents, motives, and valuesthat guide an individual’scareer decisions

Technical/functionalTechnical/functionalcompetencecompetence

ManagerialManagerialcompetencecompetence

Autonomy &Autonomy &IndependenceIndependence

Creativity Creativity Security.stabilitySecurity.stability

Managing Your Career: KeyQuestions

1. Am I adding real value?2. Am I plugged into what’s happening around me?3. Am I trying new ideas, new techniques, new

technologies?