2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. The New Career
Discrete Exchange
Occupational Excellence
Organizational Empowerment
Project Allegiance
An organization gains
productivity while a person
gains work experience
Skills are continually honed that
can be marketed across
organizations
Power flows down to business
units and in turn to the
employees
Both individuals and
organizations are committed
to successful project completion
8. Conflicts During Organizational Entry
The individual’s attempt
to attract the organization
Organizational efforts to
attract individuals
The individual’s choice
of an organization
Organizational selection
of individuals
4
2 1
3
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.
9. 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 the
organization as operating consistently
and honestly
10. The Career Stage Model
Career
stage
Life stage (age)
Early adulthood Middle adulthood Late adulthood
(17-40) (40-60) (60+)
Establishment
Advancement
Maintenance
Withdrawal
11. • 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 the
newcomer
12. Protection
from stressors
Informational
Evaluative
Modeling
Emotional
Direct
assistance
Provision of
information
Feedback
Evidence of
standards
Empathy,
esteem, love
What are the
risks?
What do l need
to know?
How am I
doing?
Who do I
follow?
Do I matter?
Supervisor
cues newcomer
Mentor gives
advice
Supervisor
offers feedback
Newcomer is
apprenticed
Others (new)
empathize
Type of
Support
Function of
Supportive
Attachments
Newcomer
Concern
Examples of
Insider
Response/
Action
Newcomer-Insider Psychological
Contracts for Social SupportEstablishment
13. Advancement: Strive for
Achievement
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
14. 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
15. 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
16. Advancement: Phases of
Mentoring
Initiation - relationship begins
Cultivation - relationship gains meaning
Separation - protégé asserts independence
Redefinition - relationship has new identity
17. Advancement: Why Mentors
are important
• Mentored individuals earn higher
salaries
• Mentored individuals have higher
promotion rates
• Mentored individuals are better
decision makers
19. 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
20. 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
21. Maintenance: Issues of
This 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
22. Withdrawal: Planning for
Change
• Plan financially
• Plan psychologically
–hobbies and travel
–volunteer work
–extended family
–temporary work (esp. top level
executives)
24. Career Anchors
A network of self-perceived
talents, motives, and values
that guide an individual’s
career decisions
Technical/functionalTechnical/functional
competencecompetence
ManagerialManagerial
competencecompetence
Autonomy &Autonomy &
IndependenceIndependence
CreativityCreativity Security.stabilitySecurity.stability
25. Managing Your Career: Key
Questions
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?
