Organizational Career Management Practices Research Articles

Howdo organizational career management activities influence employees’ career outcomes? The mediating role of career capital

Purpose This study addresses a critical research gap by examining the pivotal role of organizational career management (OCM) in shaping employees’ career outcomes while also investigating the mediating influence of career capital in this relationship. This study aims to shed light on the importance of OCM as a strategic approach for enhancing employees’ career trajectories, filling a significant gap in the existing literature. Design/methodology/approach Using a cross-sectional research design, primary data were gathered through a structured questionnaire administered to a diverse sample of 426 Turkish working adults representing various organizations. The study uses structural equation modelling with AMOS to analyse the direct and indirect relationships within the proposed research model. Findings The study findings underscore the essential connection between OCM and employees’ career outcomes, revealing its positive influence on subjective career success, employability and innovative work behaviour. Moreover, career capital emerges as a critical intermediary mechanism that mediates the impact of OCM on these career outcomes, further highlighting the strategic significance of OCM practices. Research limitations/implications It is important to note that this study relies on self-report surveys to gauge employees’ perceptions about their career outcomes and OCM. Additionally, the study data are confined to the Turkish context, which may influence the generalizability of the findings to other contexts. Practical implications Organizations can bolster career outcomes through strategic investment in OCM. Industries can customize approaches, leveraging insights to optimize workforce potential. Policymakers should integrate career development principles, cultivating a culture of perpetual learning, thus fortifying organizational resilience and fostering sustainable success. Originality/value This study adds substantial value to the current body of knowledge by investigating the mediating role of career capital in the relationship between OCM and individual career outcomes, particularly within the context of emerging economies like Turkey. The study’s comprehensive approach to understanding careers from both individual and organizational perspectives contributes to a more nuanced and holistic understanding of career dynamics.

Development of the Perceived Salient Organizational Career Management (OCM) Practices Scale in Southern China

ABSTRACT This study developed a scale of perceived salient organizational career management practices based on a survey of 420 social workers from social work organizations in Guangdong province, China. A two-factor structure OCM scale was constructed using items reflecting the components of organizational career management (OCM) practices. The scale showed sufficient reliability and validity. The results demonstrated the necessity of designing promotion ladders, relevant training, career counseling and other OCM measures to assist social workers in their career progression.

Organizational career management in the new career era: scale development and validation

Despite the widely recognized change of career management in the new career era, little is known about whether current organizational career management practices differ from previous ones. Using an open‐ended survey and literature review, this study develops a scale of organizational career management that shows some features of the new career era (e.g. boundaryless career, protean career, kaleidoscope career, etc.) in China. We conducted two independent studies (N = 320; N = 216) to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. The final organizational career management scale includes four dimensions: boundaryless work, work‐life balance policies, training and development and diversification. Further, we tested both the possible bright side and dark side of organizational career management in contemporary organizations using 179 employees over a two‐month interval. We found that both a bright side (i.e. higher organizational commitment and less turnover intention) and a dark side (i.e. higher career competency and more likely to leave organizations) exist. This article discusses the contributions, practical complications, limitations and future research directions.

Satisfaction with Organizational Career Management and the Turnover Intention of Social Workers in Guangdong Province, China

High social worker turnover is a serious challenge to the social work organizations in Guangdong Province in Mainland China. Little is understood about the relationship between the social workers’ satisfaction with organizational career management (OCM) and their turnover intentions. A quantitative survey was undertaken to gather information from 212 registered social workers employed by 43 social work organizations in eleven cities in Guangdong Province. This study reveals that social workers’ satisfaction with OCM had significant influence on turnover intentions. Implications of the study are discussed and further research can explore social workers’ career aspirations and its relation to participation in OCM practices.

Organizational Career Management in New Career Era: Scale Development and Validation

Despite the widely recognized change of career management in the new career era, little is known about whether the organizational career management practices are different from previous ones and their both possible beneficial and detrimental effects. In this paper, we developed a scale of organizational career management that reflected some features of the new career era based on an open questionnaire and literature review. Two independent studies were conducted (N=320; N=216) to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. The final OCM scale includes four dimensions: boundaryless and autonomy work, diversification, training and development, work-family balance. Further, we tested the effectiveness of the perceived organizational career management based on 179 employees over two months interval. We found both the possible benefits (i.e., higher organizational commitment and less turnover intention) and risks of perceived organizational career management (higher career competency and more likely to leave organizations). The contributions, practical complications, and future research suggestions are discussed.

Are skilled contingent workers neglected? Evidence from a cross-sector multiple case study on organizational career management practices

The study aims to discover the extent to which organizations support the careers of skilled contingent workers (SCWs) by providing them with organizational career management (OCM) practices. Analyzing three Belgian companies from different sectors, we find that SCWs do benefit from OCM practices. Such practices cover three dimensions: formalization, individual focus, and differentiation. Subsequently, we explain the three dimensions, respectively, through three contextual variables: the legal and regulatory framework, companies’ human resource management (HRM) configurations and the value of human capital, and the roles of third-party actors. The association of the variables with such dimensions enables the development of three research propositions. This study paves the way for additional research on SCWs and their careers as well as incorporating this population in HRM strategies, including that of OCM practices.

Organizational career management and turnover intentions: mediating role of trust in management

PurposeThe contemporary career development models argued more for self-management of careers, yet few researchers emphasized importance of organizational career management. The purpose of this paper is to check association between perceived organizational career management practices, trust in management and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, authors proposed a model based on social exchange theory. Data for this study were collected from 405 IT professionals employed in India. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling.FindingsResults showed significant direct and indirect negative effect of perceived informal organizational career management on turnover intention. In case of perceived formal organizational career management only indirect effect was significant. Trust in management mediated relationship between both types of organizational career management and turnover intentions.Originality/valueFirst, this study delineated effect of formal and informal perceived organizational career management practices on turnover intentions. Second, this study introduced trust in management as mediator to explain relationship between organizational career management practice and outcome.

Linking career management practices with individual outcomes: The mediating role of perceived employability

This study addresses organizational and individual career management practices in an attempt to identify their effects on three individual outcomes: organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and burnout. The role of perceptions of internal employability as a mediator in this relationship is also tested. The study tests hypotheses derived from the literature with a sample of 410 participants from Portugal. For organizational career management practices, results indicate that organizational support is associated with the three dimensions of organizational commitment and colleagues’/superiors’ support is associated with affective commitment, turnover intentions and the three dimensions of burnout. For individual career management practices, networking is associated with affective commitment, turnover intentions, and depersonalization; critical expertise is associated with continuance commitment and exhaustion; and career guidance is only associated with affective commitment. Perceptions of internal employability mediate between three practices – organizational support, superiors’/colleagues’ support, and networking – and all outcomes except continuance commitment.

Why do millennials stay in their jobs? The roles of protean career orientation, goal progress and organizational career management

In this paper we report a time-lagged study over six months analyzing the indirect effect of protean career orientation on changes in turnover intentions via personal work goal progress in a sample of millennial employees. Consistent with protean career theory and social exchange theory, we found that protean career orientation indirectly leads to decreases in turnover intentions over time and this effect was moderated by organizational career management practices. This effect was observed because the relationship between goal progress and decreases in turnover intentions became less salient when organizations were perceived to offer high levels of formal career practices. We discuss the implications for research and practice.

Understanding and addressing unequal career opportunities in the ‘new career’ era: an analysis of the role of structural career boundaries and organizational career management

By bringing together the literature on ‘new careers’, career boundaries and organizational career management (OCM), on different social identity groups, and on diversity management, this article aims to contribute to debates on unequal career opportunities and career boundaries in the ‘new career’ era. First, it develops propositions on the way structural career boundaries involving qualifications and labour market scripts contribute to unequal opportunities to share in the promises of the ‘new career’ discourse. We specifically argue that these boundaries affect the careers of different social identity groups to different degrees because common sense views of ‘ideal’ qualifications and ‘ideal’ labour market scripts are infused with social identities. Second, this article develops propositions on the way different types of OCM practices address career boundaries and whether they can contribute to equal opportunities. We argue that traditional OCM practices will only result in equal opportunities if common sense views of ‘ideal’ qualifications and ‘ideal’ labour market scripts are changed. Finally, we propose that incorporating inclusive common sense views of qualifications and labour market scripts in bundles of OCM practices enables these to effectively contribute to equal career opportunities.

To Leave or Not to Leave? A Multi-Sample Study on Individual, Job-Related, and Organizational Antecedents of Employability and Retirement Intentions.

In view of the aging and dejuvenation of the working population and the expected shortages in employees’ skills in the future, it is of utmost importance to focus on older workers’ employability in order to prolong their working life until, or even beyond, their official retirement age. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between older workers’ employability (self-)perceptions and their intention to continue working until their official retirement age. In addition, we studied the role of potential antecedents of their perceived employability at three different levels: training and education in current expertise area as well as in an adjacent expertise area (individual level factor), learning value of the job (job level factor), and organizational career management practices (organizational level factor). Data were collected by means of e-questionnaires that were distributed among two groups of Dutch older (45-plus) white collar workers. The samples consisted of 223 employees of an insurance company, and 325 university workers, respectively. Our research model was tested separately in each sample using Structural Equation Modeling. We controlled for effects of respondents’ (self-)perceived health and (self-)perceived financial situation. Similar results were found for both samples. First, the relationship of perceived employability with the intention to continue working until one’s retirement age was positive, whereas the relationship between a perceived good financial situation with the intention to continue working until one’s retirement age was negative. Secondly, as regards the potential antecedents, results showed that the learning value of the job was positively related to perceived employability. In addition, an employee’s perception of good health is a relevant correlate of perceived employability. So, whereas perceived employability contributes to the intention to continue working until one’s retirement age, a good financial situation is a push factor to retire early. In order to promote the labor participation of older workers, this study indicates that organizations should focus on the learning possibilities that are inherent to one’s job rather than on providing additional training or career management. Further research is needed to test the generalizability of our results to other samples.

Career construction in social exchange: a dual-path model linking career adaptability to turnover intention

Although the negative relationship between career adaptability and turnover intention has been established in previous research, understanding of the mechanisms and boundary conditions is still incomplete. In this study we attempt to address this gap by developing a dual-path moderated mediation model based on career construction theory, social exchange theory and trait activation theory. Specifically, we propose two mediators - career satisfaction and perceived organizational support (POS) - to explain the negative effect of career adaptability on turnover intention. Moreover, following the trait activation perspective, we propose that organizational brands, including symbolic and instrumental brands, could separately moderate these two mediation paths. We collected multi-source data among a sample of 1013 employees and 200 HRs from 200 organizations in China to test these ideas. The results show that both career satisfaction and POS mediate the negative effect of career adaptability on turnover intention. Moreover, the mediation path through career satisfaction to turnover intention is stronger in companies with more favorable symbolic brands, and the mediation path through POS to turnover intention is stronger in companies with more favorable instrumental brands. The findings have important implications for both career construction research and organizational career management practices.

Organizational career management practices

PurposeOrganizations profoundly create development paths of individual’s careers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to gain understanding about how organizational context (shaped by the complex relationship between trade union strength and HRM strength) influences the application of organizational career management (OCM) practices seen through the lens of the theory of cooperation and competition (Deutsch, 1949; Tjosvold, 1984).Design/methodology/approachInferential statistical analyses (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) were applied to test the CRANET survey data collected from 92 large-sized private-sector organizations within an EU country characterized by a medium to high-trade union density.FindingsResults offered consistent empirical evidence that a comprehensive set of OCM practices are applied differently across four distinctive modalities of the union-HRM relationship. Specifically, the “union-HRM synergy” relationship (high-HRM/high-unionization) has been recognized as the most promising for adopting such developmental practices, providing an evidence of complementarities between trade unions and HRM professionalism.Practical implicationsThe research suggests that synergistic collaboration between trade unions and HRM might provide employees with even more career development opportunities than when organizations pursue the asynchronous single-sided “Total HRM strategy.”Originality/valueThis study rejuvenate a traditional career management research agenda by introducing a new theoretical lens for studying the interplay between trade unions and HRM and have put an emphasis on how their strength is related to the incidence of OCM practices.

Organizational career management practices, career satisfaction, and intention to quit among Indian employee: Examining the moderating effect of ‘four types of work experience’

This study examined the interactive effect of organizational career management practices and different types of work experience on career satisfaction and intention to quit the organization in 386 Indian employees. The results showed that after controlling for the effect of the demographic variables and organizational career management practices, different types of work experience played unique roles in predicting career satisfaction and intention to quit the organization. It was found that that organizational career management practices correlated positively with career satisfaction and negatively with intention to quit the organization. The results further showed that organizational experience moderated the relationship between organizational career management practices and career satisfaction, and organizational tenure moderated the relationship between organizational career management practices and intention to quit. These findings carry implication for research and practice on career satisfaction and intention to quit the organization.

Organizational career management practices and objective career success: A systematic review and framework

The theorization of the relationship between organizational investments in career development and individual success remains underdeveloped, and empirical tests of this relationship, which have been dispersed among several disciplinary areas, have produced inconsistent results. Addressing these issues, the purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical framework that illustrates why and how organizational career management practices translate into career success and under what circumstances the relationship is effective. Using a systematic review of empirical studies on career management practices and objective success, we identify three theoretical mechanisms - developmental, informational, and relational - and two groups of contingency factors that explain this relationship. Our framework advances the extant literature on organizational career management and provides suggestions to companies for designing effective career management systems.

Organizational career management in a protean and boundaryless world: A mixed-methods study

Employee development is integral component of strategic human resources management. Many career theorists have said that organizational responsibility for career management has decreased, yet few studies have examined these changes. We place organizational career management (OCM) under the research microscope in two linked studies. First, data on the types and frequencies of individual OCM practices used and reported in the 1996, 1999, 2006, 2008/2009, and 2015 Australian Cranet surveys was examined. Counterintuitive findings indicate that the use of more than half the OCM practices increased over time. Second, we interviewed 17 employees to investigate their perception of OCM. Employees identified both formal and informal OCM, and findings highlighted that rather than operating in opposition, individually- driven career development and OCM are working in partnership. These findings indicate OCM remains an important component of an overall human resources strategy.

CAREER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN SRI LANKA: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION

Career management is considered as one of the fastest developing areas of Human ResourceDevelopment. This paper explores the career management practices in Sri Lankan organizationsand bringing the discussion in international perspectives. The authors surveyed 216 Sri Lankanorganizations, which were listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange. The data was gathered fromeither the human resource manager or the manager who is responsible to handle humanresource development activities. Factor analysis, independent sample t- test and one-way anovamethods were used to test the hypotheses of the study and findings of the study revealed, amongthe 19 organizational career management practices, 17 applied beyond the moderate level andthey were clustered into four groups. Resulting clusters were not significantly associated withcertain demographic factors. The implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Career anchors and preferences for organizational career management: a study of information technology professionals in three European countries

Careers research has moved beyond the notion of traditional careers in a stable, predictable work environment to a more individual perspective. However, individual agency in career management is still likely to involve interactions between organizations and individuals. This is particularly evident in organizational career management (OCM). Career anchor theory has shed light on the work preferences of professionals but little research has examined relationships between career anchors and how people enact their careers, or how these constructs and their relationships might differ between countries. We report a quantitative study of 1629 IT professionals from 10 organizations in Switzerland, Germany and the UK. After allowing for control variables, career anchor scores explained statistically significant amounts of variance in preferences for five of the six categories of OCM practices. Some of the connections between career anchors and OCM preferences followed naturally from their content, but others were less self-evident, or even seemingly contradictory. There were some significant differences between nationalities, with the UK tending to be the outlier. These differences were partly but not entirely consistent with prior research. This study expands understanding of the interplay of individual values and OCM and draws on previous work to offer a new classification of OCM practices.

Generalizability of career orientations: A comparative study in Switzerland and Great Britain

This study examined the generalizability of types of career orientation. Exploratory latent class analyses were used to examine whether structurally the same career orientations can be found across a large sample of Swiss German (N=737), Swiss French (N=319), and British (N=1,002) employees. The finding showed that the generalizability of career orientations was not supported across the two countries and not even between the German‐ and French‐speaking parts of Switzerland. At least four career orientations were found in all samples. Country‐specific inspection of these four career orientations showed that they differed in terms of their combinations of specific components (boundaryless, protean, advancement, and time orientation). Mixtures of types of career orientations exist and make it difficult to identify fully the same type of career orientation across different cultural contexts. Explanations for differences in career orientation are discussed focusing on the cultural and economic context of Switzerland and Great Britain. Implications for organizational career management practices as well as theory of the career orientation concept are discussed.

To move or not to move?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore professional employees' career move preferences and the impact of both individual and organizational career management. Departing from theoretical work on the “new career”, different types of career moves employees can make on the internal labor market are discussed and related to the literature on both organizational and individual career management.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypotheses, a cross‐sectional survey of 472 professional employees from one company is presented.FindingsThe preferences for both vertical career moves and moves relating to job enrichment and temporary moves are significantly affected by individual career management, but not by organizational career management practices. The preference for making lateral moves could not be explained by our antecedent variables.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should involve a larger sample of organizations in order to collect empirical data about the extent to which OCM practices impact career preferences. Our results provide evidence for the relationship between individual career management and career move preferences and thereby adds to the literature on the “new career”.Practical implicationsThis study has a number of practical implications that relate to the ways in which organizations can stimulate different career moves among their employees through the enhancement of personal career initiatives.Originality/valueThe value of this paper is the contribution it makes to the career literature by relating to different streams of research, about career mobility on the one hand and individual and organizational career management on the other.