Career anchors and paths: The case of Gay,Lesbian, & Bisexual workers

This paper develops a framework for understanding the career experiences and decisions of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual (GLB) workers. An important conceptual contribution of this paper is the focus on the self-disclosure of someone's GLB identity as an antecedent rather than an outcome in regard to that person's career. Specifically, the decision of a GLB worker to be visible/out of the closet or invisible/closeted promotes the development of need-based career anchors (security and stability, lifestyle, and autonomy and independence) and these direct their subsequent career paths. Understanding the role of stigma in the lives of GLB workers help to explains how an individual may be boundaryless but not protean and vice versa. In addition to developing propositions for understanding the careers of GLB workers, the paper also discusses implications for organizations and individuals with other diversity characteristics.     

Older and More Engaged: The Mediating Role of Age‐Linked Resources on Work Engagement

In the era of a graying workforce, individuals and their employers are concerned with the impact of the graying workforce on the level of engagement at work. Contrary to the myths about older workers being less engaged, statistics have shown that the level of engagement is higher as people age. Within the broad framework of conservation of resources theory in the area of work engagement, the current study aims to clarify how older workers are more engaged at work than younger workers. Building upon socioemotional selectivity theory and continuity theory from a life‐span perspective, we explain how individuals gain more resources as they age, including the abilities to regulate emotion and to maintain a career identity. We argue that this positive relationship between age and resources explains why older people have high levels of work engagement. We tested our predictions with a sample of 613 workers in the United States. The study demonstrates that well‐regulated emotion and strong commitment to career mediate the positive relationship between age and work engagement simultaneously. These findings contribute to the understanding of an aging workforce's engagement in the workplace. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Lost in time and space: temporal and spatial challenges facing older workers in a global economy from a career capital perspective

This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges facing older workers in a global economy. A distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital of older workers is made. This distinction is then used to highlight potential temporal and spatial challenges for older workers in their later life careers. We draw on empirical evidence from existing studies of older workers and their careers. The contribution of this paper to human resource management debates is threefold. Firstly, we contribute to debates in the HRM(Human Resource Management) literature about intelligent careers and career capital by distinguishing between high and low career capital to explain the polarisation of older workers’ careers. Secondly, we synthesise career capital issues with spatial and temporal aspects of international labour markets to conceptualise the key issues and challenges which create potential boundaries for older workers when navigating later life careers thereby contributing to ‘boundary-focused scholarship’ (Inkson, K., Gunz, H., Ganesh, S., & Roper, J. (2012). Boundaryless careers; Bringing back boundaries, Organization Studies, 33, 323–340). Finally, we develop a series of propositions to provide a basis for further research into the issues of space and time relevant to older ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital workers, their careers and HRM.     

基于无边界职业生涯视角的自由职业者管理研究

20世纪80至90年代以来,雇佣关系在世界范围内的演变导致了自由职业阶层的复新。在我国,自由职业者管理问题已成为现代统战工作中一个不可忽视的重要课题。然而,目前学术界对自由职业群体研究甚少,而且有限的研究成果多局限于社会学领域。从管理学的角度看,自由职业者的职业生涯体现了无边界职业生涯的趋势。     

Changes in cognitive function: Practical and theoretical considerations for training the aging workforce

Forecasts of the labor force supply over the next 20 years reveals a demographic bubble of older retirees that is not offset by the percentage of qualified incoming younger workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). Understanding how training may be used to retain older employees can lead to a competitive edge for firms, given the upcoming need for skilled workers. Training also carries benefits for late career workers or job seekers as a means to increase their existing skills or as a gateway to more lucrative jobs. We review shifts in major cognitive skills and information-processing skills over time and make suggestions for enhancing the training environment for older learners based on that information. We also suggest research needs targeting late-career trainees. These practical recommendations for trainers and program designers, and suggestions for future research may lead to more age-inclusive and comprehensive theories of training-based learning.     

组织支持对新生代农民工职业发展的影响研究——以浙江省为例

随着中国社会经济发展,新生代农民工已经成为农民工群体主体,但其身份、社会地位仍处于边缘地带。基于此,文章从组织和员工双赢的视角,以浙江省189名新生代农民工为研究对象,采用实证研究方法探讨组织支持对农民工职业发展影响机理。研究发现:在控制社会-人口和人力资本特征,组织支持对新生代农民工职业发展有显著正向影响;组织支持对新生代农民工职业发展各个维度有正向影响。     

Career Management in High‐Performing Organizations: A Set‐Theoretic Approach

The aim of this study is to investigate the elements of organizational career management (OCM) that can lead to strong organizational performance. The growing unpredictability of careers requires a different organizational approach of careers. Yet, new career models all focus on the individual as the central actor, leaving the role of the organization rather underdeveloped. Based on a combined perspective integrating insights from the literature on careers, high performance work systems, and idiosyncratic deals (I‐deals), we address four dimensions of OCM: supportive and developmental practices, development I‐deals, individual responsibility, and consensus. We study their relationships with company performance, thereby including the firm's human capital composition. Surveys were administered to the HR directors of 293 organizations. We apply a relatively new method, fsQCA (fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis), and complement this with more conventional structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM analyses suggest that only supportive and developmental practices are positively associated with high performance. However, based on the fsQCA, three configurations are identified in which OCM is associated with high performance. The most prevalent configuration combined supportive and developmental practices with I‐deals and individual responsibility for career management. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings, and address the utility of adopting a configurational approach in career research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

浅谈辅导员在大学生就业指导中的作用

新时代背景下,大学生的就业形势日趋严峻,毕业生的就业观也在逐步发生改变。辅导员是与大学生接触最为紧密的一个群体,在大学生就业指导中起着举足轻重的作用。研究新形势下辅导员在大学生就业指导中的作用,对于当前做好高校学生就业工作有重要的意义。本文就目前大学生就业现状,辅导员在大学生就业工作中的角色定位,以及辅导员如何发挥在就业指导工作中的角色作用等问题进行了相应的阐述。     

Career plateauing: reactions and moderators among managerial and professional employees

Questionnaire data obtained from managerial and professional employees in Singapore (N = 141) were used to examine reactions to and moderators of career plateauing. Zero-order correlation coefficients revealed that the perceptual measure of career plateauing was more significantly negatively related to the work attitudes and behaviours than was job tenure. Moderated regression analyses results also revealed that, in general, the perceptual measure of career plateau explained more of the variance in the work attitudes and behaviours than did job tenure. Further, the moderated regression analyses revealed that of the three moderators (job tenure, supervisor support and job characteristics) and the six work attitudes and behaviours examined, supervisor support and job challenge significantly positively moderated only the effects of career plateauing on in-role behaviours. Limitations of the study, directions for future research and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Career planning and development

The career planning process is often illustrated as the last step in an ever-changing work environment. The technical, professional, managerial, and interpersonal skills to successfully perform and succeed in this rapidly changing work environment are essential. There is a very real and immediate threat that many of the professional skills that we have learned yesterday and today will be obsolete and insufficient to cope with the inevitable changes in the future. While most professionals are aware of the very real threat of skill obsolescence, few take the opportunity to do definitive career planning regarding their future. The career planning process is designed to help individuals examine their careers; evaluate their training and educational needs; and develop some specific action plans to maintain, enhance, and reevaluate the relevance of their professional and managerial skills in a work environment that values rapid change and adaptation.     

The components of career capital for knowledge workers in the global economy

The impact of globalization, demographic changes and technological advancements among other factors, have been driving new forms of organization, new ways of working and new characteristics in individuals and employees (Ohmae 2001). The purpose and direction of a knowledge worker's career is no longer confined to a single employer boundary and is seen to be the responsibility of the employee. Therein lies the opportunity for individuals to understand, manage and leverage this dynamic context for career progression and growth through the accumulation and implementation of relevant and valued career capital. This research investigated empirically the components, formation, differentiating features and interplay between the components of career capital. A de facto model of career capital emerged from the research that represents an integrated view of the components of career capital that are recognized in the new global economy, thereby validating the literature review and contributing new insight. The outcome of this research could facilitate knowledge workers in enhancing their career capital and could provide a platform for the management of knowledge workers.     

Boundary conditions for turnover intentions: exploratory evidence from China,Jordan, Turkey,and the United States

Over the past decade, employability has been presented by its advocates as the solution to employment uncertainty, and by its critics as a management rhetoric possessing little relevance to the experiences of most workers. This article suggests that while employability has failed to develop into a key research area, a deeper probing of its message is warranted. In particular, it is suggested that employability may have resonance with employees as workers rather than as employees of their immediate employing organization. This demands a slightly different approach to studying employability than some other related phenomena such as employee commitment, which has resonance only in relation to the employing organization. In adopting a social identity approach, the significance of the employability message is shown to lie not only in employees' willingness to disassociate from their existing work groups and pursue individual mobility, but also in its capacity to undermine workers' collective responses to grievances and unwanted organizational changes. A future research agenda is presented which highlights the need to address recent attempts to develop employability expectations among graduate career entrants, and for a closer critical engagement with management writings that attempt to justify the unnecessary espousal of the self-development message.     

Nothing ventured,nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices to their older workers

Employability-enhancing practices usually refer to training or courses, but also practices directed towards older workers to sustain their work capability can be embraced by this term. In the context of an ageing population and workforce, older workers' labour market participation gains an increasingly important role. Therefore, the importance of employability-enhancing practices is noted as a solution to sustain their employment. In this study, we focus on employer-provided employability practices for older workers. We answer the following research question: which practices do employers use to enhance their older workers' employability and under which conditions are these practices adopted. Analyses on Dutch corporate data (N = 860) show that employers mainly provide employability-enhancing practices that are easily implemented and not expensive. This finding replicates prior research and clarifies that job redesign should be considered as a possibility to keep older workers in the labour market. Furthermore, our study shows that both organizational and labour market characteristics affect employers' decisions whether to provide employability-enhancing practices for their older workers. This suggests that policy measures might be necessary to assimilate investments in employability-enhancing practices across organizations.     

Career coordination strategies among dual career expatriate couples

The combination of two trends common in working life – international work and a dual career situation – is challenging for both genders. In order to cope with the situation, international dual career couples have to be able to coordinate their careers. The purpose of this article is to identify how dual career expatriates view their career coordination strategies with their partners, and how these views differ between the genders. Semi-structured interviews were carried out among 39 expatriates on assignment who had a partner working, at least before the assignment. Our findings identify three career coordination strategies applied by dual career couples, and confirm gender plays an essential role in the formation of those strategies. Male expatriates predominated among the group adopting a hierarchical strategy and female expatriates predominated among the group adopting an egalitarian and a loose coordination strategy. Strategies also seemed prone to change over time. Companies should pay attention to both the career development of the partner and the relationship coping skills of the couple to maximize the chances of dual career expatriate assignments being successful.     

Employers' attitudes,practices and policies towards older workers

Despite policy emphasis on the importance of older workers (i.e. those aged 50 and above) to current and future labour markets, relatively little is known about the ways in which employers' attitudes, policies and practices influence their recruitment and retention. Drawing upon previous work by Taylor and Walker, this article reports qualitative research among employers across Scotland, which sought to investigate further the relationships between employers' policies, practices and attitudes towards older workers. The findings indicate a complex set of relationships, and challenge the simplistic causal link between attitudes and practice. The conclusions discuss the implications of these findings for the future employment of older workers, and assess the extent to which the forthcoming age discrimination legislation in the UK is likely to tackle discriminatory attitudes, practices and policies.     

Differences in Promotion Stress across Career Stage and Orientation

Promotion stress is the experienced feelings of anxiety, concern, or tension with one's career reality in terms of the level one has reached in the organization. This study considers how promotion stress may differ depending on an individual's internal career orientation (balance, high, free, ahead, secure) as well as an individual's external, professional career stage (apprentice, colleague, mentor, sponsor). The results suggest no clear pattern of differences based on internal career orientation; however, there is a clear pattern with regard to external career stage such that as an individual progresses in his/her professional career, promotion stress decreases. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Perceived HRM practices,organizational commitment,and voluntary early retirement among late‐career managers

Using a sample of 514 French late‐career managers representing a variety of occupations and organizations, we investigated the relations among perceived HRM practices, organizational commitment, and voluntary early retirement. We found that the provision of training opportunities was associated with the most favorable outcomes. It was related to higher affective and high‐sacrifice commitment, lower lack of alternatives commitment, and reduced voluntary early retirement. On the other hand, we found that flexible working conditions and the assignment of older workers to new roles (for example, mentor or coach) did not have the expected positive effects. In addition, our results highlight the importance of disentangling the components of continuance commitment, as high‐sacrifice commitment was associated with reduced likelihood of voluntary early retirement, while lack of alternatives commitment had the opposite effect. These findings suggest that voluntary early retirement should be incorporated as a major outcome in future organizational behavior research. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Effect of PhD Funding on Postdegree Research Career and Publication Productivity

This paper explores the extent to which PhD funding encourages postdegree research career and leads to publications. Using novel data on Italian PhD graduates, I find positive modest effects of funding both on pursuing a research career and on publication productivity within a few years after graduation. The results are robust to a battery of checks and different model specifications. I also provide evidence that funded students invest more in research‐oriented activities and spend less time on outside (non‐research) work during the PhD, thus highlighting mechanisms that potentially account for the effect of funding.     

Affective commitment among knowledge workers: the role of pay satisfaction and organization career management

Knowledge workers are highly sought after to help organizations establish their competitive advantage. However, getting them to want to stay with an organization is a challenge indeed. Furthermore, with claims that they are different from traditional workers, it remains unclear as to what will influence them to want to stay. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to determine whether pay satisfaction and career management (opportunity for skill enhancement and mentoring relationship) can influence the level of affective commitment among knowledge workers. Data measuring the abovementioned variables was gathered from 350 respondents representing varied occupation to ensure representation of all levels of knowledge work. Findings indicate that the proposed factors significantly influence the level of affective commitment among knowledge workers engaged in low knowledge work category. For their counterparts involved in high knowledge work, these factors had minimal influence. This paper implies that organizations should refrain from employing generic strategies to improve affective commitment among knowledge workers. Instead, attention should be paid onto the level of knowledge work when selecting the appropriate strategy. This paper incorporated the micro-level characteristic of knowledge work to traditional relationship with emphasis on how different strategies appeal to different knowledge work categories.     

Chance Events and Executive Career Rebranding: Implications For Career Coaches and Nonprofit HRM

We conducted and analyzed interviews with 20 executives from the for‐profit sector who had transitioned into second careers in the nonprofit sector. Our qualitative study provides an in‐depth analysis of the critical events that triggered career agency and stimulated the change process. At each stage of transition, the executives revisited their personal brands, deciding how to best position their skills, knowledge, and values within the context of their new nonprofit organizations. This research contributes to academic and practitioner knowledge of new career paths open to mid‐ and late‐career executives and insights for nonprofit leadership, as many nonprofits can anticipate major shortages of qualified executives. Each stage in the career transition process provides opportunities for human resource professionals to contribute to successful nonprofit leadership change: first, by creating opportunities for “chance events” motivating transition, followed by career coaching opportunities before and throughout the transition. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.