Taking Control of Your Career

Sandra Haase & Catherine SteeleCentre for People @ Work

Careers today

• Dramatic transformations in organisations

• New Career Realities– Careers are boundaryless

– Individuals need to take ownership of careers

• Definition of career changed

Work to live or live to work?

• Schein (1990) Internal vs External Career

– Internal = subjective, individual-oriented view– External = objective realities and constraints in the

world of work

Definition of Career• Objective career - ordered movement of

individuals among a patterned sequence of positions

• Subjective career - sense that individuals make of their careers, their personal histories, and skills, attitudes and beliefs that they have acquired

• Definition career“the sequence of employment-related positions, roles, activities and experiences encountered by a person” (Arnold, 1997)

Career Success• Objective career success (OCS)

– Perception of an individual’s career by other people or by society - reflecting shared social understandings

– Generally measured on external standards e.g. pay or number of promotions

• Subjective career success (SCS)– Individual’s perspective, their internal interpretation and evaluation

of their careers

– Generally measured on internal standards e.g. perception of success with regards to payment, job success, life success etc.

Career Competencies• Introduction of competency concept to career

context• Definition career competencies

“behavioural repertoires and knowledge that are instrumental in the delivery of desired career related outcomes”

• Operationalised: Career Competencies Indicator (CCI)

Career Competencies II• Goal setting and career planning (5)• Self-knowledge (5)• Job-performance (5)• Career-skills (7)• Knowlege of (office) politics (5)• Networking and mentoring (8)• Feedback seeking and self-presentation (8)

Data collection• Measures in online questionnaire:

– CCI– OCS – income and number of promotions– SCS – career satisfaction, job success and life success – demographics incl. age, gender, education, marital status– Career salience and personality

• Sent to random sample of 1000 police officers in collaborating organisation and all employees of UW

• 406 responses (269 police, 110 UW) received

Analysis and outcomes

• Multiple regression analysis showed that CCI sub-scales jointly contributed significantly to the prediction of SCS and OCS

• For SCS the contribution of the CCI sub-scales was even significant over and above the impact of demographics, career salience and personality

Importance of Career Self-Management

• Career competencies not only important for OCS but also for SCS

• Ability to manage own career effectively may:– Provide individuals with sense of control– Prevent them from interpreting situations as stressful – Function as coping strategy and help overcome barriers– Encourage more positive work attitudes and lower stress

levels

Career Anchors

Career anchors describe a constellation of selfperceived attitudes, values, needs and talentsthat develops over time, and which whendeveloped, shapes and guides career choicesand directions. (Schein, 1975)

• General Management – rise to a high level in the organisation

• Functional Expertise – seek high levels of challenge in expertise

• Autonomy – want working life to be under your control

• Security & Stability – need to feel economically secure & stable

• Sense of Service – job must fulfil the values you hold

• Pure Challenge – enjoy overcoming impossible barriers

• Creativity – want to create a product/service of your own

• Lifestyle – want work to integrate with other areas of your life

The 8 Career Anchors

• 40 item on line questionnaire to assess career anchors

• Sent to various organisations in the UK

• 606 responses

• Participants received personal profile in return for completion of questionnaire

Data Collection 1

Popularity

Tan & Queks (2001) method

Lifestyle 222Sense of Service 145Security 107Functional Expertise 89Autonomy 82Pure Challenge 56Creativity 39General Management 14

Frequency

Lifestyle 225Functional Expertise 96Sense of Service 87Security 66Autonomy 53Pure Challenge 41Creativity 25General Management 13

Person Job Fit Study• Matching anchors to jobs• Measures used:

- Job Satisfaction, - Organisational Commitment, - Career Salience- COI

• 180 WMC employees

Analysis & Outcomes

• Multiple regression analysis found that fit between job profile and career anchor profile predicts both JS & OC

• No moderating effect was found for career salience

But……• Between 1988 and 1998 the male part time workforce increased by

138% from 556,000 to 1,320,000.

• Research suggests a link between the “traditional” view of careers and stress (Cooper, 2005)

• Most organisations still only operate a vertical career progression model (CIPD 2003). Only 26% of organisations offer career management for all staff

• Most common strategic objectives of career management are “growing future senior management” or “retaining key staff” (Hirsh 2005)

Recommendations• Be aware that fit between career values and job role is

likely to impact on performance

• Encourage organisations to take a broader view of career management

• Recognise importance of subjective side of career and career success

• Support individual career management by helping individuals to develop career competencies

Contact Details

Sandra: s.haase@worc.ac.uk

Catherine: c.steele@worc.ac.uk