Chapter 9

Managing Careers

Introduction
Traditionally, career
development referred to
programs offered by
organizations to help
employees advance within
the organization.
Today, each individual must
take responsibility for his or
her career.

Introduction
Organizations now focus on
matching the career needs of
employees with the requirements
of the organization.
While many organizations still
invest in their employees, they
dont offer career security and
they cant meet the needs of
everyone in a diverse workforce.

What is a Career?
Definition
Pattern of work-related experiences that
span the course of a persons life.
Reflects any work, paid or unpaid.

What is a Career?
Individual versus Organizational
Perspective
Organizational career planning
Developing career ladders, tracking
careers, providing opportunities for
development.
Individual career development
Helping employees identify their
goals and steps to achieve them.

What is a Career?
Career Development versus Employee
Development
Career development looks at the long-term
career effectiveness and success of
organizational personnel.
Employee training and development focuses
on performance in the immediate or
intermediate time frames.

Why career development is

important for organizations
Value for the Organization
1. Ensures needed talent will be available.
2. Improves the organization's ability to
attract and retain talented employees.
3. Ensures that minorities and women get
opportunities for growth and
development.
4. Reduces employee frustration.
5. Enhances cultural diversity.
6. Promotes organizational goodwill.

What is a Career?
Value for the Individual
Individuals external career
success is measured by criteria
such as:
progression up the hierarchy, type of
occupation, long-term commitment,
and income.

Internal career success is

measured by the meaningfulness
of ones work and achievement of
personal life goals.

What is a Career?
Mentoring and Coaching
Effective coaches give guidance through
direction, advice, criticism, and suggestion in an
attempt to aid the employees growth.
Mentors are typically senior-level employees
who:

support younger employees by vouching for them

answering for them in the highest circles
introducing them to others
advising and guiding them through the corporate
system

What is a Career?
Mentoring and Coaching
Disadvantages include:
tendencies to perpetuate current styles and practices
reliance on the coachs ability to be a good teacher

Considerations for organizations:

coaching between employees who do not have a
reporting relationship
ways to effectively implement cross-gender
mentoring

Traditional Career Stages

Traditional Career Stages

Exploration
Includes school and early work
experiences, such as
internships.
Involves:
trying out different fields
discovering likes and dislikes
forming attitudes toward work
and social relationship patterns

Traditional Career Stages

Establishment
Includes:
search for work
getting first job
getting evidence of success or failure

Takes time and energy to find a niche

and to make your mark.

Traditional Career Stages

Mid-Career
Challenged to remain
productive at work.
Employee may:
continue to grow
plateau (stay competent but not
ambitious)
deteriorate

Traditional Career Stages

Late career
Successful elder states persons can
enjoy being respected for their judgment.
Good resource for teaching others.
Those who have declined may
experience job insecurity.
Plateauing is expected; life off the job
increases in importance.

Traditional Career Stages

Decline (Late Stage)
May be most difficult for those
who were most successful at
earlier stages.
Todays longer life spans and
legal protections for older
workers open the possibility for
continued work contributions,
either paid or volunteer.

Career Choices and

Preferences
Good career choice outcomes provide
positive self-concept and opportunity to do
work we think is important.

Career Choices and

Preferences
Holland Vocational Preferences
Three major components
People have varying occupational
preferences
If you think your work is important, you will be
a more productive employee
You will have more in common with people
who have similar interest patterns

Career Choices and

Preferences

Holland Vocational
Preferences
Model identifies six
vocational themes
Realistic
Investigative
Artistic
Social
Enterprising
Conventional

Career Choices and

Preferences
Holland Vocational Preferences
Preferences can be matched to work
environments; for example, socialenterprising-conventional preference structure
matches career ladder in large bureaucracy.

Career Choices and

Preferences
The Schein Anchors
Personal value clusters determine what is
important to individuals.
technical-functional competence
managerial competence
security-stability
creativity
autonomy-independence

Success of person-job match determines

individuals fit with the job.

Career Choices and

Preferences
Jung and the Myers-Briggs Typologies
Four personality dimensions:
Extraversion-Introversion
Sensing-Intuitive
Thinking-Feeling
Judging-Perceiving

Career Choices and

Preferences
Jung and the Myers-Briggs Typologies
Assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI) and identify 16 different
personality types.
Job characteristics can be matched to
individual preferences.

Enhancing Your Career

The individual holds primary responsibility for
his/her career. Suggestions on how to do that
are: