As the psychological contract has changed between the Organizations and the Employees, the tie that brought them together has been weakened – supposing that loyalty is less valued and the commitment is made in the short-term. This transformation had a repercussion on the way line managers consider the career management of their team. Letting them the duty to develop employees but also the fear to see them leave their team. The objective of this research is to understand how line managers perceive the Boudnaryless Careers and to see if it has an impact on their commitment towards their team. And it appears that the boundaryless careers do not weaken the managers’ promise to support employees in their career paths even if there are different managers ‘stance. Two main factors influence the line managers’ perception of boundaryless careers: their own experience, and the Organization’s posture. Finally, all the line managers agree on the necessity to anticipate more to avoid suffering too much from the loss of a collaborator.

1. By Claire Blandin-Party – Neoma BS student, 2017 promotion
Are boundaryless careers
changing the line managers’
commitment in developing
employees ?

2. The Boundaryless Careers
Boundaryless
Careers (Arthur &
Rousseau, 1996)
 individuals are not
longer attached to one
single organization but
to several ones during
their career
 Individuals are
responsible of their own
career achievement
Hybrid Psychological
Contract (Rousseau, 2004):
- Open-ended Contract
- Renegotiation of the
contract terms
- Short-term
commitment
Career self-
management behaviors
(King 2001):
- Networking
- Visibility
- Positioning
Employability (Finot,
2000)

3. What’s the issue?
 Determine if the unpredictable trajectory of
individuals supported by autonomous behaviors impacts
the line managers’ commitment in developing
employees

4. The line managers’
commitment remains strong
• Important commitment in developing employees and
supporting their career evolution
“supporting” “coaching” “advising” “communicating”
“motivating” “improving skills” “leading” “empowering” *
• Line Managers consider that « employability » matters for
every employee regardless they are « core employees »
or « peripheral employees »
• The Boundaryless Careers do not weaken the managers’
promise to support employees in their career paths,
BUT...
* Words given by line managers in the
qualitative interviews

5. ..Yet there are some misgivings
about Boundaryless Careers
Shared opinion: “Costly trainings” “not profitable” “investment loss”
for core employees
+A negative perception :
- Considered as a « threat »
- Can Damage the team and
the Organization
- Associated to “selfish”
behaviors
- Calls into question the
established functioning of
the team & the
Organization
 Mistrust and reluctance
A positive perception:
- Considered as a dynamic
- This an opportunity the
Organization should grasp
- A sort of “mental agility”
- Support the Organization’s
transformation
 Encouragement and
acceptance

6. Why these Differences in
managers’ perception?
ORGANIZATION’s:
- Background
- Structure
- Vision
- Culture
Personal BACKGROUND
:
- Past Experiences
- Own attitude towards
change
- Personality

7. How to cope with?
• For both categories of Manager’s the promise remains the
same BUT…
• ... They are calling for more anticipation from them and from
the Organization to prepare possible departures of “core
employees”
ANTICIPATION
Avoid a dependence
on « employees »
Enable resilience
Monitor the
information delivery

8. Line Managers & Boundaryless
Careers
 No change in the intensity of manager’s commitment to
develop employees
 Necessity to empower employees in the Career self-
Management, especially the employability (to fit both the
internal and external labor market’s expectations)
 But… Loyalty and long-term commitment are still valued by
managers – the contrary is perceived as “selfishness”
 Slow down in the career development to avoid damages
and failures
 A key competence for the managers : Anticipation

9. To go further…
• Are every Organizations able to benefit from
Boundaryless Careers? How Managers and
Organizations can capitalize on Boundaryless Careers?
• Is the importance for Line managers to empower
employees on their Career Management the reflection
of the Organization’s Transformation?
• Will the tomorrow’s managers be « conductors » - as
Project managers are – managing flexible teams and
taking advantage of Boundaryless Careers?

10. THANKS
Claire Blandin-Party
Neoma BS Student – HR & Consulting specialization
Claire.blandin-party.14@neoma-bs.com