Organisational influences upon the development of occupational expertise throughout the career

The present study describes the relationship between four organisational predictor variables and the degree of occupational expertise of higher‐level employees in three different career stages. The factors in question are: social support from immediate supervisor, social support from near colleagues, organisational facilities and attention from immediate supervisor for a further career development. Hypotheses have been tested with original survey data from 420 higher‐level employees and 224 direct supervisors working in large organisations both in the profit and in the non‐profit sector. The results indicate that the focus of attention is, in general, restricted to the employee's present contribution and to the familiar job domain. Activities aimed at enlarging the outlook are virtually non‐existent. That is to say, management has a preoccupation with instrumental leadership, i.e. aimed at the here‐and‐now and less future‐oriented, instead of appropriate people management.