Chapter 11

Careers and Career Management

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Career development is important for
companies to create and sustain a
continuous learning environment.
The biggest challenge companies face is
finding a balance between advancing
current employees careers while
simultaneously attracting and acquiring
employees with new skills.
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Introduction (cont.)
The concept of careers is influenced by
the growing use of teams to produce
products and provide services.
Project careers a series of projects
that may not be in the same company.

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Why is Career Management

Important?
It is the process through which
employees:
become aware of their own interests, values,
strengths, and weaknesses.
obtain information about job opportunities
within the company.
identify career goals.
establish action plans to achieve career goals.

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Why is Career Management

Important? (cont.)
From the companys perspective, the
failure to motivate employees to plan
their careers can result in:
a shortage of employees to fill open positions.
lower employee commitment.
inappropriate use of monies allocated for
training and development programs.

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Why is Career Management

Important? (cont.)
From the employees perspective, lack of
career management can result in:
frustration due to lack of personal growth and
challenge at work.
feelings of not being valued in the company.
an inability to find suitable employment, in
case of mergers, acquisitions, restructuring,
or downsizing.

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Why is Career Management

Important? (cont.)
Career motivation refers to employees:
energy to invest in their careers.
awareness of the direction they want their
careers to take.
ability to maintain energy and direction
despite barriers they may encounter.

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Figure 11.1 - The Value of Career

Motivation

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What is a Career?
It is the individual sequence of attitudes
and behavior associated with workrelated experiences and activities over
the span of the persons life.
The concept of careers can be described:
as an advancement.
as a profession.
a lifelong sequence of jobs.
a lifelong sequence of role-related
experiences.
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What is a Career? (cont.)

Protean career - based on self-direction
with the goal of psychological success in
ones work.
Psychological success - the feeling of
pride and accomplishment that comes
from achieving life goals that are not
limited to achievements at work.
Psychological contract - the
expectations employers and employees
have about each other.
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Table 11.1 - Comparison of Traditional

Career and Protean Career

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Table 11.2 - Suggested Characteristics

of Different Generations of Employees

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Table 11.2 - Suggested Characteristics of

Different Generations of Employees (cont.)

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Table 11.2 - Suggested Characteristics of

Different Generations of Employees (cont.)

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A Model of Career Development

Career development - process by which
employees progress through a series of
stages.
Each stage is characterized by a different set
of developmental tasks, activities, and
relationships.

Career development models:

Life-cycle models
Organization-based models
Directional pattern model
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Table 11.3 - A Model of Career

Development

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A Model of Career Development

(cont.)
Recycling - changing ones major work
activity after having been established in a
specific field.
Career management system - helps
employees, managers, and the company
identify career development needs.

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Career Management Systems

Self-assessment
Use of information by employees to determine
their career interests, values, aptitudes, and
behavioral tendencies.
Involves psychological tests.

Reality check
Information employees receive about how the
company evaluates their skills and knowledge
and where they fit into the company plans.
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Career Management Systems

(cont.)
Goal setting
Employees develop short- and long-term
career objectives usually related to desired
positions, level of skill application, work
setting, or skill acquisition.

Action planning
Employees determine how they will achieve
their short- and long-term career goals.
May involve training courses and seminars,
informational interviews, employee
volunteerism programs, etc.
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Table 11.5 - Design Factors of Effective

Career Management Systems

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Table 11.6 - Elements of Career

Management Web Sites

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Figure 11.4 Shared Responsibility:

Roles in Career Management

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Table 11.7 - Managers Roles in

Career Management

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Table 11.8 - Characteristics Of

Successful Career Discussions

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Evaluating Career Management

Systems
Career management systems need to be
evaluated to ensure that they are
meeting the needs of employees and the
business.
Evaluation can be based on:
reactions of the customers who use the career
management system.
objective information related to the retention
rates of key employees or managers of the
career management system.
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