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Chapter

12

Special Challenges in Career Management

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. 2. 3. 4.

Objectives

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Design an effective socialization program for employees. Discuss why a dual-career path is necessary for professional and managerial employees. Provide advice on how to help a plateaued employee. Develop policies to help employees and the company avoid technical obsolescence.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Objectives (continued)
5. 6.

7.

Develop policies to help employees deal with work-and-life conflict. Select and design outplacement strategies that minimize the negative effects on displaced employees and survivors. Explain why retirees may be valuable as parttime employees.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Introduction
Many companies in Silicon Valley face serious career management challenges. These companies are now paying more attention to career management issues because their work force is starting to age and pay more attention to worklife balance. Many employees face long commutes because they can not afford to live close to where they work.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Introduction (continued)

If companies do not help their employees with their personal lives, they may leave for jobs with other companies in other areas that do.

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Special Challenges in Career Management

Dealing With Older Workers Coping With Job Loss Balancing Work and Life Socialization and Orientation Dual-Career Paths Plateauing

Work and Nonwork Policies

Skills Obsolescenc e

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Socialization and Orientation

Organizational socialization is

the process by which new employees are transformed into effective members of the company. purpose of orientation is to:

The

Prepare

employees to perform their jobs effectively Learn about the organization Establish work relationships

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Phases of the Socialization Process

Anticipatory Socialization Encounter

Settling In

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What Employees Should Learn and Develop Through Socialization:

History Company Goals Language Politics

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Performanc e

People

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Socialization and Orientation Programs

Play an important role in socializing employees. Effective socialization programs result in employees having a strong commitment and loyalty to the company.

This

reduces turnover.

Effective orientation programs include active involvement of the new employee. Effective programs have peers, managers, and senior co-workers actively involved.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Content of Orientation Programs

Company-Level Information
Company overview Key policies and procedures Compensation Employee benefits & services Safety & accident protection Employee & union relations

Department-Level Information
Department functions Job duties & responsibilities Policies, procedures, rules Performance expectations Tour of department Introduction to coworkers

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Characteristics of Effective Orientation Programs Employees are encouraged to ask questions. Program includes information on both technical and social aspects of the job. Orientation is the responsibility of the new employees manager. Debasing and embarrassing new employees is avoided. Formal and informal interactions with managers and peers occur. Programs involve relocation assistance. Employees receive information about the companys products, services, and customers.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Dual-Career Paths
A career path is a sequence of job positions involving similar types of work and skills that employees move through in the company. For companies with professional employees, a key issue is how to ensure that they feel they are valued. The traditional career path model has limited advancement opportunities for those in the technical career path.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Traditional career path for scientists and managers:

Assistant Director Assistant Director Principal Research Scientist Research Scientist Scientist Individual Contributor Career Path Department Manager Manager Assistant Manager Management Career Path

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A dual-careerpath system enables employees to remain in a technical career path or move into a management career path.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Example of a dual-career-path system

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Executives Functional Manageme nt Senior

Fellow

Senior Technical Staff Member

Senior

Developme nt Project
MANAGEMENT LADDER Senior Associate

Advisory

Staff
TECHNICAL LADDER

Associate Engineers, Programmers,

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Characteristics of Effective Career Paths

Salary, status, and incentives for technical employees compare favorably with those of managers. Individual contributors base salary may be lower than managers, but they are given opportunities to increase their total compensation through bonuses. The individual contributor career path is not used to satisfy poor performers who have no managerial potential.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Characteristics of Effective Career Paths

(continued)

The career path is for employees with outstanding technical skills. Individual contributors are given the opportunity to choose their career path.

The

company provides assessment resources. Assessment information enables employees to make comparisons between their interests and abilities with those of employees in technical and managerial positions.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Plateauing
Plateauing means that the likelihood of the employee receiving future job assignments with increased responsibility is low. Mid-career employees are most likely to plateau. Plateauing becomes dysfunctional when the employee feels stuck in a job that offers no potential for personal growth. Such frustration results in poor job attitude, increased absenteeism, and poor job performance.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Reasons Employees Can Plateau

Discrimination based on age, gender, or race. Lack of ability. Lack of training. Low need for achievement. Unfair pay decisions or dissatisfaction with pay raises. Confusion about job responsibilities. Slow company growth resulting in reduced development opportunities.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Possible Remedies for Plateaued Employees

Employee understands the reasons for plateau. Employee is encouraged to participate in development activities. Employee is encouraged to seek career counseling. Employee reality-tests his solutions.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Skills Obsolescence
Obsolescence a reduction in an employees competence resulting from a lack of knowledge of new work processes, techniques, and technologies that have developed since the employee completed her education. Not just a concern of technical and professional occupations. All employees are at risk. Obsolescence needs to be avoided if companies are trying to become learning organizations.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Factors Related to Updating Skills

Manager
Provide Challenging Work Assignments Encourage Employees to Acquire New Skills

Company Climate Emphasis on

Continuous Learning

Peers
Discuss Ideas Share Information

Upda ted Skills

Reward Sabbaticals System

Pay for New Ideas Pay for Employee Development

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Balancing Work and Life

Families with a working husband, homemaker wife, and two or more children account for only 7 percent of American families. The increasing number of two-career couples and single heads of households creates a challenge for companies. Companies have to carefully consider how to manage employees who are simultaneously meeting the needs of both work and family.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Balancing Work and Life (continued)

There

are two roles that training can play in balancing work and non-work.
Trainers

and managers may be responsible for developing policies and procedures. Trainers may be responsible for developing training programs to teach managers their role in administering and overseeing the use of work-life policies.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Types of Work-Life Conflict

Time-based Conflict Strain-based Conflict Behavior-based Conflict

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Company Policies to Accommodate Work and Non-work: Communicating information about work and non-work policies and job demands. Flexibility in work arrangements and work schedules. Redesigning jobs. Support Services.

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For job sharing to be effective:

The impact of job sharing on clients and customers must be determined. The employee interested in job sharing must find another employee performing the same job who wants reduced work hours. The two people sharing the job need to have similar work values and motivations. The manager must actively communicate with the jobsharing employees. All schedules and work assignments need coordination. Performance measurement should be both team and individual.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Coping With Job Loss

Important career management issue because of the increased use of downsizing to deal with excess employees resulting from corporate restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers. Companies that lay off employees can experience lowered job commitment, distrust of management, and difficulties recruiting new employees. Job loss causes stress and disrupts the personal lives of laid-off employees.

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Coping With Job Loss (continued)

From

a career management standpoint, companies and managers have two major responsibilities:
They

are responsible for helping employees who will lose their jobs. Steps must be taken to ensure that the survivors of the layoff (remaining employees) remain productive and committed to the organization.

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Coping With Job Loss: Outplacement

Companies need to provide outplacement services to help prepare employees for layoffs:
Advance

warning and explanation for a layoff. Psychological, financial, and career counseling. Assessment of skills and interests. Job campaign services. Job banks. Electronic delivery of job openings.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

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Dealing With Older Workers

Meeting

the needs of older workers. socialization.

Pre-retirement Retirement. Early

retirement programs.

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Meeting the Needs of Older Workers

Flexibility in scheduling to allow for care of sick spouses, return to school, travel, or reduced work hours. Older workers should receive the training they need to avoid skill obsolescence. Older employees need resources and referral help that addresses long-term care and elder care. Companies need to ensure that employees do not hold inappropriate stereotypes about older employees.

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved