Career Anchors as a Meta-Capacity in Organizational Career Development

Abstract

The contemporary career paradigm acknowledges the unpredictable, turbulent and globally market-sensitive context within which individuals’ careers unfold (Savickas, Journal of Career Assessment 19:251–258, 2011) . Individuals are drawing on their personal resources and capacities (i.e. strengths, intrinsic motivation, values, aspirations, and coping capacities) to be more resilient and adaptable in negotiating the person-environment fit harmonics in a more turbulent employment context (Ferreira, Constructing a psychological career profile for staff retention, 2012) . The research literature furthermore suggests that individuals will increasingly have to rely on internal definitions and measures of career success in the construction of their careers (Savickas, Journal of Career Assessment 19:251–258, 2011; Schreuder and Coetzee Careers: An organisational perspective, 2011) . Schein’s (Career dynamics: Matching individual and organizational needs, 1978, Journal of Occupational Behavior 5:71–81, 1984, Career anchors: Discovering your real values, 1990, Academy of Management Executive 1, 80–88, 1996, Encyclopedia of career development, 2006) exploration of the dynamics of the internal career, through his career anchor concept, poses interesting implications for career counseling and guidance in the contemporary career paradigm. Individuals’ subjective measures of career success are generally driven by their need for meaningful work that matches their personal motivations, career interests, abilities, motives , and values (internal career anchors). Career anchors act as the motivational forces (meta-capacities) that guide individuals’ career decisions and preferences for work and work environments (Schein Career anchors: Discovering your real values, 1990). Achieving a harmonic fit between their internal career needs and the characteristics of the external occupational environment results in enhanced levels of career well-being and career and life satisfaction (Coetzee et al. South African Journal of Human Resource Management 8:13, 2010). This chapter explores the relevance of Schein’s career anchor theory to contemporary career development by presenting an overview of various research findings that show how people’s career anchors influence their subjective experiences of their work and careers.