Chapter 17Nelson & Quick

Career Management

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 the goals, and revising the goals based on work and life experiences

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 ExchangeAn organization gains productivity while a person gains work experience

Occupational ExcellenceSkills are continually honed that can be marketed across organizations

Organizational EmpowermentPower flows down to business units and in turn to the employees

Project AllegianceBoth individuals and organizations are committed to successful project completion

Personalities and Choices

Realisticstable

persistentmaterialistic

mechanicrestaurant server

mechanical engineer

Artisticimaginativeemotionalimpulsive

architectvoice coach

interior designer

Investigativecurious

analyticalindependent

physicistsurgeon

economist

Personalities and Choices

Enterprisingambitiousenergetic

adventurous

real estate agenthuman resource

managerlawyer

Socialgenerous

cooperativesociable

counselorsocial worker

clergymanConventionalefficientpracticalobedient

word processoraccountant

data entry operator

Conflicts During Organizational Entry

The individual’s attemptto attract the organization

Organizational efforts toattract individuals

The individual’s choiceof an organization

Organizational selectionof individuals

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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

Career Stages

Establishment – the person learns the job and begins to fit into the organization and occupation

Advancement – people focus on increasing their competence

Maintenance – individual tries to maintain productivity while evaluating progress toward career goals

Withdrawal – individual contemplates retirement or possible career changes

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 Make the transition from organizational outsider to

organizational insider

Establishment: tasks of thenewcomer

Protectionfrom stressors

Direct assistance

What are the risks?

Supervisor cues newcomer

Informational Provision ofinformation

What must l know?

Mentor givesadvice

Evaluative Feedback How am Idoing?

Supervisor offers feedback

Modeling Evidence ofstandards

Who do I follow?

Newcomer isapprenticed

Emotional Empathy,esteem, love Do I matter? Others (new)

empathize

Type ofSupport

Function ofSupportive

AttachmentsNewcomerConcern

Examples ofInsider

Response

Establishment: Newcomer-Insider Psychological Contracts for Social Support

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

Initiation - relationship begins

Advancement: Phases of Mentoring

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 Partnership - 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 Burnout

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

Maintenance:Sharing the Knowledge through Mentoring

Successful formal mentoring programs require:1. Voluntary participation2. Support from top executives3. Training for the mentors4. Graceful exit opportunities

Withdrawal: Planning for Change

Plan financially Plan psychologically

Bridge Employment – employment that takes place after a person retires from a full-time position but before the person’s permanent withdrawal from the workforce

Spouse

Health

Withdrawal: RetirementIssues

DualCareers

Income

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

Technical/FunctionalCompetence

ManagerialCompetence

Autonomy &Independence

Creativity Security/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?