Do career anchors matter to IT personnel?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Due to the significant role of IT personnel (ITP) in the 21th century, how to retain the qualified ITP should now be considered as a critical issue in the e-era. Career planning has been a critical issue for the turnover rate of the ITP. IT researchers have identified many anchors among the ITP, but these career anchors are too difficult to manage. Although Wils et al. [1] provides a model which has classified these career anchors into different categories; however, whether it can be suitable to ITP, and expect the management to easily manage the career anchors of the ITP emphasized anchors. OBJECTIVE: This study expects to provide a suitable Category of Career Anchors to ITP, and management to easily manage the career anchors of the ITP emphasized anchors. METHODS: This study conducted a multiple-case study as the research strategy, and followed a positivist process while allowing sufficient evidence to suggest additional relationships. Therefore, a qualitative study involving 16 ITP was conducted to validate the propositions. RESULTS: The results have provided these new propositions: (1) The quadrants relationship of a circumplex career anchor model of Wils et al. [1] is not appropriate to an ITP, hence, this study provides three new sub-propositions (P1 - 1new, P1 - 2new, and P1 - 3new); (2) management should provide the ITP desired and complementary anchors, as it is a way to increase their job/career satisfaction (P2new). CONCLUSIONS: This study has explored the different results from Wils et al. (2016) [1], and it should mention that scholars and experts in different professional fields could have a different aggregated way of career anchors. Organizations should provide career anchors that not only are desired by ITP, but also are complementary anchors for the ITP, instead of opposite anchors for increasing their job/career satisfaction. Thus, this study provides a correct and valuable direction for future study, and both academic and practice can refer to it.