This kind of long-term relationship between employees and employers requires a stable, predictable

environment and a hierarchically structured organization. As we all know, stability and predictability
have largely given way to rapid change and uncertainty.4 Peter Vaill used the metaphor permanent
white water to characterize this unstable environment.5 Organizations have frequently responded to
this turbulence with downsizing, shrinking hierarchies, reorganization, cost cutting, outsourcing, mergers
and acquisitions, technological innovation, and more performance-oriented HRM programs.
Interventions like these may address short-term financial concerns for employers, but they also have
eroded the traditional employment relationship. For example, a survey of workers in the Silicon Valley
region in California, as well as Vancouver and Toronto in Canada, found that efforts to minimize layoffs
were viewed as most likely to promote high levels of skill and effort among employees.6 In contrast,
many people are presently facing the need to make “frustration-instigated career decisions,” i.e.,
whether because of personal or organizational issues, some sense of frustration triggers the career
decision making process for many individuals today.7 As a result of organizational actions such as
downsizing and outsourcing, the employment relationship has changed to one in which paternalism has
more generally given way to an exchange relationship for the mutual benefit of both parties, from a
promise of long-term security to a situation where employees have the primary responsibility for their
own future, and from entitlement to the goal of obtaining opportunities to remain employable.8 As an
example, the following list was found on a bulletin board of a company going through widespread
layoffs: • We can’t promise you how long we’ll be in business. • We can’t promise you that we won’t be
acquired. • We can’t promise that there’ll be room for promotion. • We can’t promise that your job will
exist when you reach retirement age. • We can’t promise that the money will be available for your
pension. • We can’t expect your undying loyalty, and we aren’t even sure we want it.9 It should be
noted that the traditional employment relationship did not exist everywhere and for everyone. Many
industries and occupations, including the entertainment industry, agriculture, construction and related
trades, and professional services (such as law, accounting, and architecture), have always had significant
numbers of organizations and workers existing in short-term and medium-term relationships and career
progressions that do not neatly fit the stereotypical corporate model.10 However, for most people, the
traditional paradigm and what came with it was seen as the prototype of a career, and working for an
organization with this kind of relationship or working in a mainstream occupation was seen as having a
“real job” or a “career.” For those who entered the workforce believing in and expecting this more
traditional form of employment relationship, the realization that things have changed can be unnerving
and unsettling. Facing the realization that they, not the organization, are responsible for their own
continued employability has created uncertainty for many people.11 Yehuda Baruch writes: “This shift
has left many ‘lost generation’ employees both behind and bewildered, in a manner analogous to the
Israelites of the ‘desert generation’ in the Old Testament” (p. 241).12 In a review of articles published on
this topic, there is widespread agreement that employees are increasingly expected to (1) assume
responsibility for developing and maintaining their own skills, (2) add demonstrable value to an
organization, and (3) understand the nature of their employer’s business. At the same time, there was
strong agreement that, under the “new” (more prevalent) employment relationship, employers should
provide (1) opportunities for skill development, training, and education and (2) employee involvement in
decision making, assistance with career management (e.g., coaching and mentoring), and performance-
based compensation.13 Overall, the concept of a “boundaryless” career, that is, a career not bound to
one organization or profession, has become popular.

Some readers of this book may be baffled by our use of the term “new employment relationship” to
describe a less permanent relationship between employers and employees. That is, especially for
readers born after 1980, this expectation of change and mobility may be all one has ever known.
Understand that the study of traditional career management emphasized large North American
organizations, especially from the 1950s through the 1970s.15 The employment relationship did not
change all at once. But beginning with the turbulence in society and organizations starting in the 1970s,
we have seen an increase in “new” employment relationships, and a decline in “traditional” or long-term
employment relationships. The current employment scene has elements of both the “traditional” and
the “new” (or changed) relationship.16 Clearly, technology is driving major changes in individual careers,
in organizations, and society as a whole.

Impact of the “New” Employment Relationship on Organizational Career Management and

Development Given changes in the typical employment relationship, does the concept of organizational
career management and development still make sense? The answer is yes, for numerous reasons. First,
there will continue to be a significant number of organizations (both large and small) that have long-
term relationships with their employees, and it is in both the organizations’ and the employees’ best
interest to plan and enact a mutually beneficial future. Career management and development can be a
key part of this effort. A second reason why career management is still needed today is that the work
that organizations carry out to achieve their goals changes over time. Even organizations that use
contingent workers, outsourcing, and partnership arrangements to get work done need to maintain a
core of employees with whom they have long-term relationships. It is in the organizations’ interest to
ensure that the employees who make up the core (especially managers) are prepared and willing to
change to meet new demands. Third, within this new/changed employment environment, the
availability of careerenhancing assignments and career management activities can be used both as a
recruitment tool to attract employees and contingent workers to work for the organizations, and as a
motivational tool to gain their full effort, commitment, and creativity.

In our view, what should change, and what is changing, is that organizational career development
should be designed to fit the responsibilities and needs of both individuals and organizations, providing
the opportunities both need to prosper in a dynamic environment. Authors such as Leana and Feldman,
as well as Craig and Hall, describe strategic, proactive ways that both individuals and organizations can
react to this dynamic environment.18 Mark Roehling and colleagues provide examples of how
companies such as Allstate and Hallmark have clearly spelled out mutual expectations regarding the
employer-employee relationship, that is, what they expect of their employees, as well as what
employees can expect of them.19 We will describe in more detail how career management and
development can be done to meet both organizational and individual needs as we continue our
discussion throughout the chapter.

DEFINING CAREER CONCEPTS What Is a Career? What comes to mind when you think of the word
career? The word career means many things to many people. It also has different meanings among
researchers. Greenhaus20 and Schein21 describe several themes underlying different definitions of the
term, including: 1. The property of an occupation or organization. When used in this way, career
describes the occupation itself (e.g., sales or accounting) or an employee’s tenure within an organization
(e.g., my college career).22 2. Advancement. In this sense, career denotes one’s progression and
increasing success within an occupation or organization.23 3. Status of a profession. Some use the term
career to separate the “professions,” such as law or engineering, from other occupations, such as
plumbing, carpentry, or general office work. In this view, the lawyer is said to have a career, while the
carpenter does not.24 4. Involvement in one’s work. Sometimes career is used in a negative sense to
describe being extremely involved in the task or job one is doing, as in “Don’t make a career out of it.”25
5. Stability of a person’s work pattern. A sequence of related jobs is said to describe a career, whereas a
sequence of unrelated jobs does not.26 Each of these definitions is limiting in that it defines career
narrowly. Several authors have offered definitions that are more expansive.27 We agree with Greenhaus
and colleagues that a career is best described broadly as “the pattern of work-related experiences that
span the course of a person’s life.”28 This definition includes both objective events, such as jobs, and
subjective views of work, such as a person’s attitudes, values, and expectations. Therefore, both a
person’s work-related activities and his or her reactions to those activities are part of his or her career.
Further, this definition is consistent with the notion that careers develop over time, and that all persons
have careers, regardless of profession, level of advancement, or stability of work pattern. By not being
tied to advancement-oriented or career-as-organizational-property points of view, this definition also
recognizes the multiplicity of work-related paths and experiences that people engage in and respond to
throughout their lives. This definition of a career also underscores the influence and importance of the
individual, organization, and the environment on the individual’s work life. While the job and
occupational choices an individual makes during a career are determined in large part by forces within
the individual, the organization and other external forces (e.g., society, family, the educational system)
also play important roles. The individual is driven toward particular job choices by his or her skills,
knowledge, abilities, attitudes, values, personality, and life situation. Organizations provide jobs and
information about jobs, as well as opportunities and constraints within which one may pursue other jobs
in the future (especially if one chooses to remain employed within the same organization). Both the
individual and organization have needs and priorities, and it is important to remember that both are
critical to the development of one’s career. Finally, this definition of career takes the focus away from
the stereotypical idea of a career as a stable, long-term, predictable, organization-driven sequence of
vertical moves. It is broad enough to encompass many of the recent ideas that have been offered in the
career development literature (and discussed later in the chapter), and it can liberate individuals,
practitioners, and theorists to see the realities and possibilities that currently exist.

Relationship of Career to Nonwork Activities While the definition of career that we have chosen focuses
on work-related events and the individual’s reactions to those events, some career theorists also
emphasize the importance of nonwork events to one’s career. For example, Donald Super argues that to
truly understand and manage careers, one must consider all of an individual’s skills, abilities, and
interests.30 Placing the notion of career within the larger context of one’s life, Super argues that
organizations should offer employees opportunities to use all their talents—and thus attain real life
satisfaction. He further suggests that if organizations do not attempt to understand the whole person,
they may be less able to compete in the future as the mix of skills needed to reach organizational
objectives changes. Parker echoes this point of view.31 She suggests that career development activities
should explicitly recognize the impact and value that relationships outside of work have on employees,
such as having employees include their outside relationships during self-assessment and career
exploration. Even if one does not take as expansive a view of career management as Super and Parker
do, it is difficult to ignore the impact of nonwork influences on an individual’s career.32 People come to
organizations for specific reasons, and those reasons often change as they age. Family and society have
a strong influence on a person’s interests and aspirations and significantly influence the role that work
and career play in a person’s life. Ignoring these influences limits an organization’s ability to understand
and manage their employees’ careers. Lillian Eby and colleagues argue that, even among research
studies focused on work and family issues, there remains an over-emphasis on the work domain.33
Career Development Over the past forty years, much attention has been given to addressing the
question of how careers and adult lives develop over time. Research supports the notion that careers
frequently develop in a predictable, common sequence of stages.

At various ages, people generally face common issues and pressures that they attempt to resolve in their
lives. The stages affect, and are affected by, the career activities and choices the individual makes. The
overall process of career development can be defined as “an ongoing process by which individuals
progress through a series of stages, each of which is characterized by a relatively unique set of issues,
themes, and tasks.”35 We will present several models of career development in the next section of this
chapter. However, it is useful to distinguish between two sets of activities that can be subsumed within
career development: career planning and career management. Career Planning and Career
Management As stated earlier, both the individual and the organization have interests in an individual’s
career, and both parties may take actions to influence that career. These sets of related activities are
referred to as career planning and career management. These activities can be viewed as existing along
a continuum.36 Career planning is defined as “a deliberate process of (1) becoming aware of self,
opportunities, constraints, choices, and consequences; (2) identifying careerrelated goals; and (3)
programming work, education, and related developmental experiences to provide the direction, timing,
and sequence of steps to attain a specific career goal.”37 Viewed in this way, career planning is an
activity performed by the individual to understand and attempt to control his or her own work life. The
individual need not perform these activities alone. Assistance from counselors, supervisors, and others
within and outside an organization can be helpful, but the focus of career planning is on the individual.
For example, completing a career awareness workbook that helps the employee understand his or her
skills, abilities, and preferences would be considered a career planning activity. If career planning is done
successfully, the individual will know what he or she wants and have a set of action steps that, if
followed, should lead to the achievement of these goals.38 The two exercises at the end of the chapter
provide two different ways for students to engage in career planning for their futures. On the other end
of the continuum is career management, defined as “an ongoing process of preparing, implementing,
and monitoring career plans undertaken by the individual alone or in concert with the organization’s
career systems.”39 Career management may include activities that help the individual develop and carry
out career plans, but the focus is on taking actions that increase the chances that the organization’s
anticipated HR needs will be met. At its most extreme, career management is largely an activity carried
out by the organization. An example of such an activity is succession planning, which is typically carried
out by senior management to determine which employees can and should be prepared to replace
people in positions of greater responsibility.40 Figure 12-1 describes where various career development
activities fit along the career development spectrum.41 These activities vary according to (1) the amount
of influence by the individual, (2) the amount of information provided to the individual, (3) the amount
of influence by the organization, and (4) the amount of information provided to the organization. Career
management and career planning activities can be complementary and can reinforce each other. For
example, it is difficult to monitor the career plans of an individual who has not made specific plans. A
balance between the two (management and planning) makes for effective career development.42 The
organization can support actions at any point on the spectrum, assisting the employee with career
planning, as well as conducting career management activities. Jeffrey Greenhaus and colleagues use the
term career management to refer to all phases of career development activities, from gaining self-
awareness, to developing career goals and plans, to enacting those plans.43 Because planning is a
significant activity within management, we adopt this more inclusive use of the term career
management and use this model to form the framework of our discussion of how individuals and
organizations can influence career development. Before discussing how one can influence the course of
one’s career, however, it is important to examine the career development process.

STAGES OF LIFE AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT One way to characterize a person’s life or career is by
identifying common experiences, challenges, or tasks most people seem to go through as their life or
career progresses. For example, psychologists such as Freud and others have long argued that aspects of
human nature such as personality, intelligence, and morality all develop in a predictable, common
sequence closely tied to a person’s age. 44 Research by Levinson and Erikson suggests that adult life
follows a series of common stages.45 Work done by Schein, Super, and others suggests that careers also
develop in stages.46 Visualizing career development as unfolding in stages helps us to understand why
some experiences occur, for example, difficulties in adjusting to one’s first position, or experiencing mid-
career problems, and why they are so common. From a practical perspective, a stage view helps both
the individual and the organization to predict likely crises and challenges andtherefore plan ways to
resolve or minimize them. For example, if challenge in an initial job is an issue for most young, new
employees, then these individuals can be assisted in understanding the nature of the problem, and
organizations can ensure that initial assignments have sufficient challenge to overcome this problem. It
is also true that stage views of development have their limitations. First, they describe what happens to
the typical individual. Of course, all individuals are unique and will not have the same experiences. For
example, many people experience a period of self-questioning and re-evaluation at midcareer, but not
all people do. Levinson and colleagues found that 80 percent of the men they interviewed had
experienced such a crisis, but 20 percent had not.47 So when using a stage approach, one gets only an
average view, not one that applies to all people. In addition, many stage views use age or life
experiences, or both, to define when a stage is likely to begin and end. Some criticize using age as a
criterion, arguing that major life events such as marriage and one’s first job occur at different ages for
different individuals. However, Levinson argues that the age ranges he uses, while flexible, are based on
empirical research evidence.48 He states that it is hard to ignore the data, though more research needs
to be done to confirm the validity of age anchors. We believe that the usefulness of stage views
outweighs the limitations. While age ranges may have to be interpreted liberally, and any given
individual may not fit the stage model, there is enough evidence to support the usefulness of stage
models as a way to understand and respond to career development. Stage Views of Adult Development
A person’s career is one part of life, influenced by (and influencing) major life events. Therefore, it is
useful to briefly examine two stage models of adult development before we discuss a model of career
development. Erik Erikson and Daniel Levinson offer stage models of adult development that provide a
meaningful basis for understanding career development.49 Erikson’s Model of Adult Development.
Erikson proposes that people progress through eight stages during the course of their life.50 These
stages focus on both psychological and social issues, as depicted in Table 12-1. In each stage, the person
is faced with a challenge that he or she must resolve in order to develop. For example, the fifth stage,
which occurs during adolescence, is defined by a conflict between identity and role confusion. If
individuals successfully resolve this issue, they will enter adulthood with a clear sense of who they are in
relation to others in the world. If they do not successfully resolve this issue, they will enter adulthood
with confusion over who they are and what their role in the world is to be. It is the positive and negative
experiences in each stage that determine its outcome. The last three stages of Erikson’s model focus on
the issues facing adult development. As a young adult, one is faced with the challenge of developing
meaningful relationships with others, or intimacy. If the individual successfully resolves this stage, he or
she will be able to make a commitment to other individuals and groups; otherwise, the individual is
likely to experience feelings of isolation. In middle adulthood, the challenge is to develop the capacity to
focus on the generations that will follow, which Erikson calls generativity. This can take the form of
becoming more involved in the lives of one’s children, social issues affecting future generations, or in
serving as a mentor for younger colleagues. Erikson argues that failure to resolve this stage will lead to
feelings of stagnation, in that one has made no contribution to the world that will last after he or she is
gone. Finally, in maturity, the individual faces issues of ego integrity, which involves developing an
understanding and acceptance of the choices one has made in life. Successful development of ego
integrity permits one to be at peace with one’s life as one faces death. Failure at this stage can lead to
despair over the meaninglessness of one’s existence. Erikson’s view of adult development identifies
issues (ego integrity, generativity, and intimacy) that can affect the career choices that employees make.
Organizations can serve as places where individuals can resolve some of these challenges. For example,
participating in mentoring programs serves the needs of young adults to develop meaningful
relationships, as well as the needs of middleaged adults to find a way to give something back to
members of future generations. Knowledge of these challenges also helps an organization understand
some of the changes employees go through. Employees nearing retirement are facing many sources of
stress (e.g., the loss of work and part of their social support system). Preretirement counseling and
motivational programs geared toward older workers can yield benefits for both the individual and the
organization. Finally, Erikson’s model also provides evidence that there is a predictable order to the
issues individuals face as they develop. Levinson’s “Eras” Approach to Adult Development. Levinson and
his colleagues developed a view of how adults develop based on the notion that adult lives progress
through seasons, not unlike the seasons of the year.51 He discovered these stages by collecting
intensive biographical information from individuals in different walks of life over a period of years.
Levinson, like Erikson, argues that there is an underlying order to adult life called the life cycle. He uses
the metaphor of seasons to indicate that major phases of a person’s life (called eras) are like seasons of
the year in the following ways: 1. They are qualitatively different. 2. Change occurs within each season.
3. There is a transitional period between each season that is part of both seasons. 4. No season is
superior or inferior to another season. 5. Each season contributes something unique to life. 6. There are
four seasons or eras in a person’s life.52 The four eras proposed by Levinson are pre-adulthood, early
adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Each era contains a series of stable and transitional
periods. The stable periods last about six years, and the within-era transitional periods last about four or
five years. The transitional periods between eras, called cross era transitions, last about five years and
signal the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. Figure 12-2 depicts Levinson’s eras model. The
general pattern of progress through life is not from an inferior mode of being to a superior one. Rather,
the transitional periods raise issues that cannot be dealt with by the life structure that exists at the
current stage of a person’s life. During these transitions, the individual questions and re-examines that
structure and searches for new, different ways of dealing with these issues. New life structures supplant
the old until the next transition period.

Levinson also discovered that the stages of a person’s life are closely related to age. For example, pre-
adulthood, which ranges from infancy to age twenty-two, is a period in which individuals work to
develop a sense of self. Levinson’s research showed some variation in the age ranges among individuals,
but also amazing constancy. Because careers occur primarily during Levinson’s eras of young adulthood
and middle adulthood, it is useful to examine each of these eras in more detail. Early Adulthood (Ages
17–45). Early adulthood includes four periods: the early adult transition (ages 17–22), entry life
structure for early adulthood (ages 22–28), age thirty transition (ages 28–33), and the culminating life
structure for early adulthood (ages 33–40). In general, early adulthood is a period of great energy and
great stress. During this era, the person is at a biological peak and is striving to attain the goals and
desires of youth. Finding a place in society, obtaining meaningful work, realizing a lifestyle, establishing
meaningful relationships (including marriage for many individuals), and raising a family are all a part of
this period. Many people experience occupational advancement during this period as well. However, the
stresses present are also great. Family and society place demands on the individual at the same time he
or she is dealing with individual ambitions and passions. Of particular note in early adulthood is the age
thirty transition. For those in Levinson’s studies, this was a time of questioning and re-appraisal about
the path they had initially chosen and whether it was adequate for helping the individual realize major
life goals. Levinson refers to major life goals as The Dream. If the age thirty transition is successfully
resolved, the individual experiences a period of stability in which The Dream is vigorously pursued and
work is done toward becoming “one’s own person.” Middle Adulthood (Ages 40–65). The midlife
transition (ages 40–45) leads from early adulthood to the beginning of middle adulthood. Research by
Levinson and others shows that a person’s life changes significantly between early and middle
adulthood.53 During this period, there is a major questioning of the life structure (goals, ambitions, etc.)
and of The Dream that was so vigorously pursued at the end of early adulthood. Questions often asked
during this transition include, “What have I done with my life? What is it I want to accomplish before I
die? What do I want to leave behind for my family and others?” It is not surprising that this transition is
so universal and so powerful. At this time in life, the individual is experiencing declines in physical
functioning as his or her children are growing up or becoming adults. The individual’s parents may be in
significant physical decline or may die, and the individual may also witness the deaths of friends and
peers. The midlife transition can lead to an even stronger sense of self, allowing one to become more
accepting of oneself and others, and more compassionate. Unsuccessful resolution of this transition,
however, can lead to bitterness and stagnation (notice the similarity to Erikson’s idea of generativity).
The midlife transition is followed by a period of stability (ages 45–50), the age fifty transition (ages 50–
55), and another stable period (ages 55–60) that leads to the end of middle adulthood. One’s late forties
and fifties can be a period of great satisfaction or great frustration as the individual becomes a senior
member of the groups and organizations with which he or she has been involved.

Late Adulthood (Age 60–Death). Late adulthood begins with the late adulthood transition (ages 60–65).
During this period, the individual faces additional major life events, typically including retirement,
further physical decline, and the loss of family and loved ones. The major challenge in this era (similar to
Erikson) is to come to terms with one’s life and accept things as they have been, rather than dwell on
what might have been. Until recently, less research had been done on this era than on the earlier
ones.54 Contributions of Levinson’s Model to Career Development. Levinson’s ideas are significant. His
model is based on empirical evidence and expands upon earlier ideas (e.g., Erikson’s) about adult life
development. While Levinson acknowledges that the model must undergo additional refinement,
research supports the sequence of events that the model suggests and the age boundaries he has set. In
addition, there is evidence that the model, which was developed initially with white men, also applies to
black men, women, and those in other cultures.55 In particular, research done with women from a
variety of occupations (including homemakers) has provided evidence that the era model accurately
describes the seasons in a woman’s life, although the content of the life structures differs in some cases
from those of men.56 There are similarities between the Levinson and Erikson models. For example,
both rely on age ranges as markers for development, and they identify similar issues that all adults must
deal with as they develop (e.g., identity and intimacy). Levinson’s model differs, however, in that it
makes finer distinctions and describes adult development as progressing through alternating periods of
stability and transition. More important for our purposes, the notion that early adulthood, middle
adulthood, and late adulthood represent a predictable sequence of life events provides a useful way to
examine career development.57 A career is a part of a person’s total life and will be affected by these
life issues. HRD professionals can use these ideas to help identify the particular issues employees in their
organizations may face and plan career development programs accordingly. In addition, Levinson’s
model also suggests that there are periods of stability in a person’s life that can be both productive and
satisfying. This notion challenges the traditional assumption regarding career plateaus (periods lacking
significant increases in responsibility) as consistently problematic.58 MODELS OF CAREER
DEVELOPMENT Just as it is possible to depict adult development as progressing through a series of
stages, it is also possible to depict career development in this way. We will discuss two approaches to
modeling career development: one traditional and the other more contemporary. Traditional Models of
Career Development Numerous models of career development have been offered to explain the
sequence of stages that adults progress through during their work lives.59 These models emphasize the
notion of an orderly series of career stages linked to age ranges, place the career into the context of a
person’s life, and contain overlapping concepts. Given the similarities among these models, Greenhaus
and colleagues combine these approaches into a four-stage model, which is shown in Table 12-2.60 Each
stage is described here.
Stage 1: Occupational and Organizational Choice: Preparation for Work (Age 0–25). Concerning
occupational choice, the major tasks during this period involve forming and defining an idea of the
occupation one would like to engage in, and making necessary preparations for entry into that
occupation. These activities include assessing possible occupations, selecting an occupation, and
obtaining the necessary education. A great deal of research has been done to identify the factors that
influence occupational choice.61 The choices one makes during this stage represent initial decisions
rather than final ones, and establish the first direction of the individual’s career.62 Concerning
organizational entry, the individual selects a job and an organization in which to begin employment in a
chosen career field. The amount and quality of information obtained can affect whether the initial job
choice will be a fulfilling introduction to one’s career or a disappointing false start. The remaining stages
in the model are organized around Levinson’s life eras (e.g., early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late
adulthood). Each of these eras presents significant issues that affect a career. Stage 2: The Early Career
(Age 25–40). During this stage, the individual is dealing with finding a place in the world and pursuing his
or her life dream; this also involves becoming established in a career and in an organization. The specific
challenges that must be met to do this include becoming technically proficient and becoming
assimilated into an organization’s culture (i.e., learning its norms, values, and expectations). Successful
resolution of these challenges can result in job satisfaction, advancement in terms of position and
responsibility, and increased financial and social rewards. In short, the early career stage is about
becoming established and “making it.” Stage 3: The Midcareer (Age 40–55). The mid-career stage begins
at the same time as the midlife transition. Therefore, one of the tasks the individual faces at mid-career
is a re-examination of the life structure and choices adopted during the early career. An individual may
reaffirm or modify The Dream, make choices appropriate to middle adulthood, and remain productive at
work. These challenges are congruent with the popular notion of a mid-career crisis. The crisis may be
severe for some and not even seen as a crisis by others. Two events that often occur during mid-career
are plateauing (a lack of significant increases in responsibility and/or job advancement) and
obsolescence (finding one’s skills are not sufficient to perform tasks required by technological change).
As stated earlier, the individual who successfully resolves these challenges will remain productive, while
one who does not will experience frustration and stagnation. Stage 4: The Late Career (Age 55–
Retirement). The individual faces two challenges during the late career. First, he or she must strive to
remain productive and maintain a sense of self-esteem. This can sometimes be hampered by the
negative beliefs that society has regarding the performance and capabilities of older workers. Second,
this individual faces the challenge of disengaging from work and retiring. Retirement brings many
emotional, financial, and social changes and should be planned for well in advance of the actual
retirement date. Given current trends in the Social Security system, the abolition of the mandatory
retirement age for most jobs, and questions about the management of pension funds, many people will
be facing a career without an adequately planned retirement. Rather than facing retirement, the
individual may have to face occupational change at an age at which his or her parents were dealing with
a shift from work to non-work. Pressures toward early retirement by organizations trying to reduce labor
costs may at the same time force some workers into retirement sooner than planned, creating an
additional set of problems. This model is useful for identifying the normal, or typical, sequence of events
and experiences that occur within one’s working life. Some individuals, such as those who begin new
occupations late in life, will deviate from the age ranges suggested in the model. Even though the ages
will vary, many of the challenges are likely to stay the same, but the individual will perceive and respond
to them in light of the other issues he or she is facing at that particular stage of life. Other Views of
Career Development. Certainly, the trends in globalization, demographics, technology (both information
and otherwise), the changing employment relationship, team-based work, and new organizational
structures significantly impact the way careers are viewed. In light of this changing landscape, some
question the relevance of traditional notions of career stages.63 These other views of career
development share the notion that individuals (and organizations) must be flexible and adaptable to
succeed in a highly changeable and uncertain environment. Two sets of ideas illustrate this line of
thinking. For example, Douglas Hall and colleagues advanced the idea of the protean career. 64 The
protean career concept (named for the Greek god Proteus, who could change his shape at will) argues
that individuals drive their own careers, not organizations, and that individuals reinvent their careers
over time as needed. As individuals go through life, they are on a search for meaning and self-fulfillment,
and their careers are made up of their choices and experiences (work, educational, and otherwise). Each
person’s career will be unique. Instead of progressing through a series of discrete and predictable
changes, the protean career “encompasses any kind of flexible, idiosyncratic career course, with peaks
and valleys, left turns, moves from one line of work to another, and so forth.”65 That is not to say
individuals do not have common elements in their careers. The protean view embraces the idea that
lifelong learning and personal development are at the center of career development. As a result, a
person’s career will likely be made up of a “succession of ‘mini-stages’ (or short-cycle learning stages) of
exploration-trial-mastery-exit, as they move in and out of various product areas, technologies, functions,
organizations, and other work environments.”66 In this view, it is not a person’s chronological age that
is important, but the so-called career age, or number of years the individual has spent in a particular
cycle. Therefore, the issues in the exploration part of the cycle, for example, will likely be the same each
time the individual enters it. The implication of the protean career is that career management must be
proactive. 67 However, while the protean career can be liberating and exhilarating, it also carries a dark
side. This includes fear, uncertainty, a rapid pace of change, and a removal of the typical supports that
individuals have used to identify themselves and make sense of the world (e.g., defining oneself by job
title or in relation to one’s employer). A second example of a contemporary view of career development
is the notion of differing career patterns, called the multiple career concept model. 68 This model
suggests that there are four different patterns of career experiences, called career concepts. These four
concepts differ in terms of the “direction and frequency of movement within and across different kinds
of work over time…. Distinctly different sets of motives underlie each of the four concepts.”69 The four
career concepts are: • Linear—a progression of movement up an organizational hierarchy to positions of
greater responsibility and authority; motivated by desire for power and achievement; variable time line;
in the United States, this has been the traditional view of a “career” • Expert—a devotion to an
occupation; focus on building knowledge and skill within a specialty; little upward movement in a
traditional hierarchy, more from apprentice to master; motivated by desire for competence and
stability; rooted in the medieval guild structure • Spiral—a lifelong progression of periodic (seven to ten
years) moves across related occupations, disciplines, or specialties; sufficient time to achieve a high level
of competence in a given area before moving on; motives include creativity and personal growth
Transitory—a progression of frequent (three to five years) moves across different or unrelated jobs or
fields; untraditional; motives include variety and independence70 Brousseau and colleagues argue that
these four concepts can be combined to form a wide variety of hybrid concepts. They state that the
traditional model of career management has favored individuals with a linear or expert career concept,
but that the shifts going on in the world now tend to favor those with a transitory or spiral career
concept. The challenge to organizations and individuals, then, is to conduct career management in what
they call a pluralistic fashion that matches the organization’s strategy and career culture with
individuals’ career concepts. (We will discuss this idea further in the section on career management.)
Reconciling the Contrasting Career Models At this point, it may be fair to ask which of the models best
depicts our present reality. A glib, but not entirely wrong, response is that it depends on whom you are
talking about and where that person works. Some organizations and some industries still fit the
traditional model fairly well. For example, even in the face of technological change, competition, and
political pressures, the U.S. Postal Service has remained relatively stable in terms of the employment
security its employees enjoy. In other organizations and industries, the traditional model does not fit
well. For example, in the information technology industry, the rapid pace of change has led to a
proliferation of new organizational structures, nontraditional employment arrangements,
unprecedented growth, and instability. Also, in some industries, there have always been alternatives to
the traditional model. For example, in professional service firms (e.g., accounting, law) and the arts and
entertainment (e.g., the film industry), career patterns have rarely fit the traditional hierarchical
progression for many, if not most, employees (see Malos and Campion, as well as Jones and DeFillippi,
for examples of career issues in professional service firms and the film industry, respectively).71
Individuals, organizations, and theorists do not simply trade one set of ideas about careers for another;
as mentioned earlier, there has been and always will be a multiplicity of views about careers.72 In that
sense, we welcome the contemporary ideas such as the protean career and various career concepts. We
believe that such ideas open people’s minds to look past stereotypes to the variety of possibilities
available, and encourage individuals and organizations to come up with ways to manage and plan
careers that will satisfy their needs and objectives.73 Clearly, one size does not fit all. Further,
individuals should take responsibility for their lives and employability. But organizations also bear a
responsibility for career management, both for their own interests, and for the well-being of those who
work within their organization.74 That having been said, we believe it would be foolish to ignore age-
based stage models of life and career. While we are all unique, we also share many common
experiences. There seem to be events and transitions that many people experience at similar life and
career stages, and the decisions and actions made at each stage should be studied. In addition, as
mentioned, stage theories are not to be interpreted as narrow categorizations that must fit all
individuals. The goal is to facilitate understanding concerning how people relate at different stages of
their careers and lives.

Life Stage and Career Models as the Conceptual Base for Career Development Taken together, models of
life stages and careers provide a rich foundation for the practice of career management and
development. By understanding the issues raised in these models, individuals can be better equipped to
think about, anticipate, and manage the transitions they will experience during their lives. Similarly, this
knowledge can help organizations develop strategies and tactics to manage the career transitions their
employees will experience and create career management systems that will both meet the
organizations’ HR needs and satisfy the needs of employees. THE PROCESS OF CAREER MANAGEMENT
So far, we have discussed issues that provide a context within which career management occurs. We
turn our attention now to the specific activities individuals and organizations can use to actively manage
employee careers. As discussed earlier, career management involves both planning for career activities
and putting those plans into action. First, we will present a model of career management that offers a
prescriptive approach individuals can use to manage their careers. Then, we will present several models
that focus on how organizations may structure their career management systems. An Individually
Oriented Career Management Model As discussed earlier, individuals face a number of decisions in
managing their careers. Greenhaus and colleagues present a model of how individuals should manage
this process.76 This model represents an ideal career management process—the way people should
conduct career management, not a description of what the typical person actually does. The model
states that effective career management begins as the individual responds to the need to make a career
decision. That response includes eight activities: career exploration, awareness of self and environment,
goal setting, strategy development, strategy implementation, progress toward the goal, feedback from
work and non-work sources, and career appraisal. These activities are described in greater detail in
Table 12-3. To perform them, the individual uses information, opportunities, and support from family, as
well as from educational, work, and societal institutions. The model suggests that career management
occurs in a series of steps, though the order of progression through these steps may vary. The process
may be summed up this way: The career management cycle is a problem-solving, decision-making
process. Information is gathered so individuals can become more aware of themselves, and the world
around them. Goals are established, plans or strategies are developed and implemented, and feedback
is obtained to provide more information for ongoing career management.77 It is important to note that
the career management process is cyclical and ongoing. The need to make career decisions can result
from changes within the individual (e.g., questioning done at mid-career) and changes in the
environment (e.g., organizational decisions such as firing and downsizing, or a merger or acquisition). As
discussed earlier, individual advancement and satisfaction may not be reliable indicators of success.
Effective application of the career management model, including knowledge of both self and the
environment, realism of goals, career strategies, and continual feedback, are more meaningful
indicators of career success.78 A recent study found that individuals with higher levels of career
exploration exhibited higher levels of performance after training to work as call center agents.79
Following such a model can assist both employees and organizations in understanding what should be
done to effectively manage careers. Obviously, employees benefit when they establish and work toward
career goals. But it is also beneficial for organizations to encourage their employees to manage careers
in this way. An organization’s needs change over time, given the loss of key employees through turnover
and retirement, and in response to competitive and other environmental challenges. Assisting
employees in conducting this process can help the organization ensure that the human resources
available will be adequate to perform important tasks and accomplish organizational objectives.
Organizationally Oriented Career Management Models As you have seen, the model from Greenhaus
and colleagues is more individually focused. Other authors present models that are more
organizationally focused.80 These models share the idea that the organization’s structure and needs
should guide the organization’s career management system. We will briefly describe three of these
models. The Pluralistic Approach. As described earlier, Brousseau and colleagues believe that there are
at least four career concepts that represent patterns employees’ careers can take.81 They argue that
organizations can have career cultures that mirror these career concepts (i.e., linear, expert, spiral, and
transitory). An organization’s career culture is defined by the organization’s structure, what forms of
performance it values, and the rewards it offers employees. At the same time, the organization’s career
culture should support its strategic direction (e.g., an organization seeking diversification should adopt a
spiral career concept culture).82 Brousseau and colleagues present a pluralistic approach as a way to
align the organization and the individual. They state: “We suggest that both organizations and the
workforce as a whole might benefit from a pluralistic approach that combines varied amounts and types
of organizational structure with an array of quite different career experience opportunities.
Organizations would retain sufficient structure to maintain certain core competencies and
organizational leadership, while utilizing less structured arrangements to meet the demands of external
change and flux” (pp. 55–56). Operationally, Brousseau and colleagues offer three types of career
management methods: (1) counseling, (2) individual career development program contracts, and (3) a
cafeteria approach that includes a variety of “career-track options, training opportunities, performance
evaluation schemes, and reward systems” (p. 62), from which employees may choose to fit their own
career goals. Designing and managing a pluralistic career culture involves an ongoing process of
assessing the gaps between an organization’s strategy and employees’ career concepts and motives,
identifying the optimal organizational structure, and then identifying and implementing the proper
career management practices.

A Systems View of Career Management. Nicholson proposes that there are three main elements of a
career development system: (1) the people system, which includes the activities involved in selecting,
nurturing, and motivating human resources; (2) the job market system, which includes the structure for
developmental opportunities; and (3) the management and information system, which facilitates the
exchange of people, ideas, and information.83 Given the environmental forces most organizations now
face, Nicholson believes that linking these three systems is vital to career management. He suggests
“career management must link the people system and the job market system via the management and
information system” (emphasis in original, p. 48). This linkage can be made within organizations by
ensuring that information is available and usable, and can include between-company cooperation in the
form of creating and maintaining databases of people and jobs. Doing so would provide individuals and
organizations with a way to gain and use knowledge to accomplish their goals. Nicholson suggests that
individual outcomes of such a system will include better job-person fit, competency, and leadership.
Organizational outcomes will include better teamwork, flexibility, and dynamism. Team-Based Career
Development. As many organizations are shifting toward more team-oriented structures, it is possible
that team experiences can be used for career management. Cianni and Wnuck note that in team-based
organizations, career development responsibility can be shared among the individual, the team, and the
organization.84 A team model for career development can enhance an individual member’s growth and
ensure that teams develop as well.85 Cianni and Wnuck suggest that the basic attributes of a team-
based career model include the following: • Team members serve as role models • Teams reward
behaviors that enhance team performance and growth, and personal growth and development • Teams
determine training opportunities both for the team and for individuals • The team moves collectively to
higher organizational levels • People move laterally within the team • The organization evaluates the
team; the team evaluates the individual This model offers different developmental activities for different
team career stages. Stage 1, designed to integrate the individuals into the team, includes team
competency and project management training, team building, and skill and personal style assessment.
Stage 2, designed to continue team development, includes team problem solving and performance
monitoring training, task rotation, and coaching. Finally, stage 3, intended to make the team more
independent and accountable, includes training in learning organization tools, leadership potential
assessment, leadership rotation, and the possibility of having members lead a stage 1 team. Benefits of
the team model include higher productivity, commitment, organizational flexibility, and retention of
high performers. However, not all teams benefit from this approach. Cianni and Wnuck argue that this
most benefits cross-functional teams intended to help an organization expand into new markets or
create new projects or services, as well as internal consulting teams charged with implementing change
or serving internal customers. These organizationally oriented career models emphasize the role of
organizational structure and organizational goals as a driving force in career management, making
career management a more strategic endeavor. They differ in terms of their applicability to particular
organizations. While the pluralistic approach is intended for use in a wide range of organizations, the
career systems and team models will likely fit best in a particular range of organizations.86 Further
research and practical experience is needed to determine their effectiveness and the best ways of using
them. We find them intriguing and think they are expanding career development in new and exciting
directions. ROLES IN CAREER MANAGEMENT The Individual’s Role Despite the melodrama of article and
book titles proclaiming We are All SelfEmployed and You are Absolutely, Positively on Your Own, it has
always been true that each person bears the primary responsibility for his or her own career.87 The
definition of career presented in this chapter makes it apparent that a career is an individual
phenomenon. While many workers in the past felt they had the luxury of turning over responsibility for
their career progress to their employers, the changes in the social contract between employers and their
workers has necessitated that everyone recognize and accept personal responsibility. The thrust behind
many of the “you-are-on-your-own” articles is to get workers to see changes that have taken place and
to change their attitudes toward career management, from passive and complacent to proactive. The
career management model from Greenhaus and colleagues, which we discussed earlier, provides a
useful framework for career planning and management. It is a rational model, in that it assumes that the
best way to approach career management is through careful information gathering, planning and goal
setting, decision making, action and follow-through, and follow-up. What competencies are needed for
effective career management? Hall emphasizes careers as a lifelong learning process, and argues that
people must learn how to learn and gain self-knowledge, and must become more adaptable.88 Other
authors suggest that individuals should make decisions and take assignments that provide them with an
opportunity to learn and continuously develop new and existing skills.89 Jones and DeFillippi present six
competencies that are possessed by people who have successfully navigated the boundaryless careers
and network-type of organizations found in the film industry, which they argue typifies the new career
landscape.90 These competencies are: • Knowing What—understanding the industry’s opportunities,
threats, and requirements • Knowing Why—understanding the meaning, motives, and interests for
pursuing a career • Knowing Where—understanding the locations and boundaries for entering, training,
and advancing within a career system Knowing Whom—forming relationships based on attraction and
social capital that will gain access to opportunities and resources • Knowing When—understanding the
timing and choice of activities within one’s career • Knowing How—understanding and acquiring the skill
and talents needed for effective performance in assignments and responsibilities Each of these
competencies creates challenges, such as dealing with uncertainty, managing career demands, creating
a career path, mastering relationships, developing career timing, and enhancing collaboration. In fact,
Jones and DeFillippi and others argue that forming and working within relationships is one of the most
essential tasks or competencies needed to successfully manage one’s career.91 The six competencies
are interrelated. Jones and DeFillippi suggest that knowing what, where, and when form a map of the
industry, whereas knowing why, how, and whom provide the self-knowledge and skill to navigate the
career system. We support this emphasis on learning. Many career development activities are based on
acquiring and using these competencies. Even if you are in an organization or industry characterized by a
traditional career system, developing these competencies will better enable you to attain your career
goals.92 The Manager’s Responsibility The career management process just described presents a
number of opportunities for managers and supervisors to become involved. For example, during career
appraisal, a supervisor can serve as a source of information about an employee’s capabilities and
limitations through the performance evaluation process. The supervisor can also provide accurate
information about career paths and opportunities within an organization, support an employee’s career
plans (e.g., nominate the employee for training, or adjust the employee’s schedule to permit attendance
in a training program), and serve as a key source of feedback to an employee on career progress.
Supervisory involvement and support has been cited as a key component of successful career
development programs.93 There are four roles that managers and supervisors should be trained to
perform in order to fulfill their responsibility as career developers.94 These roles include: 1. Coach—one
who listens, clarifies, probes, and defines employee career concerns 2. Appraiser—one who gives
feedback, clarifies performance standards and job responsibilities 3. Adviser—one who generates
options, helps set goals, makes recommendations, and gives advice 4. Referral Agent—one who consults
with the employee on action plans and links the employee to available organizational people and
resources The HRD and Career Development Professional’s Responsibility In many ways, an HRD
professional’s role is the same in career management as it is in any other HRD activity: to ensure that
the organization has programs and activities that will help the organization and its employees to achieve
their goals. This role involves all of the foundational activities in needs assessment, design,
implementation, and evaluation.95 In addition, in light of the changes in the career landscape, Hall
offers the following suggestions for career development and for HRD professionals to help individuals
become “masters of their own careers”: 1. Start with the recognition that each individual “owns” his or
her career 2. Create information and support for the individual’s own efforts at development 3.
Recognize that career development is a relational process in which the career practitioner plays a broker
role 4. Become an expert on career information and assessment technologies 5. Become a professional
communicator about your services and the new career contract 6. Promote work planning that benefits
the organization as a whole over career planning that is unrelated to organizational goals and future
directions 7. Promote learning through relationships at work 8. Be an organizational interventionist, that
is, someone willing and able to intervene where there are roadblocks to successful career management
9. Promote mobility and the idea of the lifelong learner identity 10. Develop the mind-set of using
natural (existing) resources for development96 Finally, HRD professionals must examine the
employment practices used by their organization and determine the extent to which these practice
promote or work against the kinds of career management behaviors they want employees to engage
in.97 In the next section of this chapter, we will present some common career development practices
and activities used by organizations. These practices can serve multiple purposes in the career
management process. CAREER DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AND ACTIVITIES Organizations have a wide
range of possible career development tools and activities from which to choose. Some of these, such as
self-awareness workshops, are intended primarily for career planning and development, while others,
such as recruitment, are a part of normal HR management activities. A study of career development
activities at large organizations groups career development activities into six categories: employee self-
assessment tools, organizational-potential assessment processes, internal labor-market information
exchanges, individual counseling or career discussions, job matching systems, and development
programs.98 Table 12-4 lists the categories, the career development practices included within each
category, and the organizational responses concerning their use of each practice. For comparison
purposes, data from three different countries are provided in this table. A related survey of medium to
large-size organizations in India found that the most frequently used methods were succession planning,
career counseling by supervisors, career counseling by HR professionals, and assessment centers,
whereas in Canada, the most used methods were job enrichment, job posting, in-house developmental
programs, and specialized internal counselors.99 Two studies of Korean employees found differences
amongst employees in their preferences for different types of career development activities.100 We use
this framework for describing these activities and will discuss various types of career development
practices separately. However, it is important to keep in mind that many organizations use these tools
and activities as part of an integrated or overall career development program.101 A recent study
combines these individual practices into “career management bundles,” and finds that particular
bundles (e.g., future strategic planning) are related to high satisfaction with the promotion process and
lower perceptions of plateauing.

Self-Assessment Tools and Activities Self-assessment activities, such as self-study workbooks or career
planning workshops, focus on providing employees with a systematic way to identify capabilities and
career preferences. Self-assessment is best used as a first step in the process (i.e., at the stage of self-
exploration) rather than as the only activity in a career management program.103 In interviews with
experienced HR professionals, “ongoing self-assessment and selfawareness” was a major element
stressed for success in a rapidly changing environment.104 Self-assessment activities can be done by an
individual alone, in groups, or in some combination of the two. Effective self-assessment should (1) set
the stage for the self-assessment experience and (2) help an individual explore his or her values,
interests, skills, feelings, personal resources, goals for timing, and decision-making styles.105 This
information can help answer questions such as “Who am I?” “What do I want out of my life and my
career?” and “How can I best achieve my career goals?” Self-assessment workbooks provide information
and a series of exercises to help an individual discover his or her values, abilities, and preferences. These
workbooks can be purchased from a third party or designed specifically for an organization. For
example, Richard Bolles’ best-selling book What Color is Your Parachute? includes many self-discovery
exercises, along with information about various occupations and job search skills.106 Similarly, John
Holland’s The Self-Directed Search helps an individual reader identify his or her interests and suggests
possible occupations that match these interests.107 The advantages of self-assessment exercises
developed by third-party sources are that they are readily available and have been designed by career
development experts. However, they are not designed to fit within an organization’s specific HRD and
career development strategy. The HRD staff may need to make modifications or develop supplementary
material to fill these gaps. Workbooks designed to complement an organization’s overall HRD strategy
may do better at making employees aware of resources and opportunities within an organization. Such
workbooks can include a statement of the organization’s career development policy and associated
procedures; information on the organization’s structure, career paths, and job specifications;
information about related training, education, and development programs; and instructions on how
employees can obtain further information, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers of resource
persons within the organization.108 The activities included within a workbook can also be delivered via
computers and the Internet.109 For example, the U.S. Army uses a computer-based self-assessment
system for officers called Officer Career Information and Planning System (OCIPS), and the American
College Testing Program publishes a computer-based system called DISCOVER. These programs provide
career information and self-discovery exercises similar to those found in workbooks. One of the
advantages of using self-assessment workbooks and computer programs is that they can be completed
at the employee’s convenience. However, it can also be beneficial to provide self-assessment
information in an interactive group session where employees can share and discuss their insights. Career
planning and pre-retirement workshops are well suited for this purpose. Like other self-assessment
approaches, career planning workshops provide a structured experience in which participants develop,
share, and discuss personal information about their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and values.110
Workshops can be made up of one or more sessions that focus on what career planning and
management is all about, self-discovery, reality testing of insights gained during self-discovery through
discussions with a facilitator and other participants, identification of possible career directions and
opportunities, and career goal setting.111 The advantages of workshops include the ability to reach
many people at once, opportunities to gain support from peers and to develop networks, and exposure
to other people’s ideas and reactions. In addition, feedback from the facilitator and other group
members may help an individual recognize any self-deception or self-ignorance that might go
undetected if a self-assessment workbook were used alone. Potential disadvantages include scheduling
problems, difficulty in designing an experience that suits all the participants’ needs (especially if they
come from different organizational levels), and the possibility that some people may be intimidated by
the group setting.112 If performed effectively, self-assessment activities can provide an individual with a
sound basis on which to develop realistic career goals and strategies. As suggested above by Greenhaus
and colleagues, self-assessment and evaluation of an environment are important first steps in
establishing effective career goals and strategies. Career counseling and information about the internal
labor market can also provide useful information for this task. These career management activities will
be discussed next. Individual Counseling or Career Discussions Individual career counseling involves one-
on-one discussions between an employee and an organizational representative. Organizations primarily
use HR professionals, supervisors, or line managers as career counselors.113 Such counseling sessions
can range from brief, informal talks, to the annual performance evaluation discussion, to a series of
discussions with a manager or counseling professional.114 Individualized counseling can answer a wide
range of questions and either stand alone or supplement other career development activities. The
career counseling process can be viewed in three stages: 1. Opening and Probing—this stage establishes
rapport and determines the employee’s goals for the counseling session(s). 2. Understanding and
Focusing—this includes providing assistance in self-assessment and establishing career goals and
strategies. 3. Programming—this stage provides support for implementing the career strategy.115
During this process, the counselor can suggest actions to the employee and provide support and
feedback about ideas and results of actions taken by the employee. Counseling can be used for
continuing employees as well as employees who are approaching retirement, are about to be laid off, or
are terminated. Outplacement counseling focuses on assisting terminated employees in making a
transition to a new organization.116 The use of outplacement counseling has been common since the
1980s, especially in the wake of the downsizing, mergers, and acquisitions that organizations
experienced during this period. These sessions can focus on job search skills, stress management, and
career planning. Of all the forms of individualized counseling, outplacement counseling is the most likely
to be performed by a counselor who is not an organization member. Many consulting firms offer
outplacement services for hire. Pre-retirement counseling and workshops involve activities that help
employees prepare for the transition from work to nonwork. Retirement is often filled with great
uncertainty on both personal and financial levels. Pre-retirement counseling programs typically involve
discussions about financial planning, social adjustment, family issues, and preparing for leisure activities.
With the aging of the Baby Boom generation, pre-retirement counseling is being expanded to include
“gerontological counseling,” which covers more than the transition from work to retirement.117 An
important issue in individualized counseling centers on the individual selected to be the counselor. In
some ways, managers and supervisors are well suited to serve as counselors. They are knowledgeable
about the organization and should be familiar with the employee’s performance and his or her
capabilities. In addition, they are in an ideal position to offer support and to follow up on actions taken
by an employee. However, there are disadvantages to using supervisors and managers as career
counselors. First, unless they receive training in career development issues and counseling skills such as
listening, questioning, and clarification, they may lack the skills to perform effective counseling. Second,
even with training, some supervisors and managers lack the abilities and/or desire to perform the task
well. They may view it as an added burden and may not be rewarded by the organization for performing
it. Finally, employees may be reluctant to discuss their career plans with current bosses or to take advice
from a nonprofessional.118 If managers and supervisors are to be used as counselors, the following
steps should be taken: 1. Their role in the career development process must be clarified. 2. They must
be trained to perform this role. 3. They must have the opportunity to discuss their own career
development concerns. 4. The role of counselor or developer should be incorporated into the
organizational reward system (e.g., included in managers’ performance evaluations).119 Internal Labor
Market Information Exchanges and Job Matching Systems Employees engaged in career planning need
accurate environmental information in addition to an accurate self-assessment. To this end, an
organization should provide employees with information about job opportunities within the
organization. Two commonly used methods for doing this are job posting systems and the establishment
of career paths. (We will discuss succession planning in the next section.) Job posting is one of the most
common career development activities. It involves making open positions in the organization known to
current employees before advertising them to outsiders. In a typical job posting program, the
organization publishes the job description, job requirements, pay range, and an application procedure
for vacancies, and it provides a form for employees to submit. The vacancies can be posted in a common
area, such as on a bulletin board reserved for that purpose. Increasingly, such postings are done online,
using the organization’s website or intranet. Interested employees can then apply and be considered for
the vacant positions. Job posting systems are widely used in both government and private organizations.
Job posting is a source of career information as well as a recruiting and selection tool.120 Employees can
learn which skills and abilities are needed for various positions and can use that information as a
springboard for career development discussions and to establish career goals and strategies. If they are
administered openly and fairly, job postings can help employees realize that they have a future in the
organization, and this can improve morale. However, job posting systems can also create problems if
employees suspect that only low-level or undesirable positions are being posted, or if the job
requirements listed are rigged to ensure that an “inside” candidate is the only one qualified for a
position. A career path is a sequence of jobs, usually involving related tasks and experiences, that
employees move through over time.121 For example, a career path in a city police department may
include the positions of patrol officer, desk sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and chief of police. Career
paths communicate to employees the possibilities for job movement. Together with job descriptions and
job specifications, these paths can aid the employee in developing a career strategy. Career paths can be
developed using either a traditional or a job/behavioral approach.122 In the traditional approach, the
career path represents what has typically happened in an organization and usually represents a
consensus among managers about logical job movements within a particular department. For example,
if computer operators typically become technical advisors before becoming supervisors, the career path
will reflect this. In the job/behavioral approach, the path is created by analyzing the similarities and
differences among jobs in the organization. For example, if the positions of market research analyst and
human resource research analyst require similar skills, these jobs may be listed on the same career path,
even though they exist in different departments. The job/behavioral approach can include jobs from
throughout an organization and, as a result, open up more possibilities for movement than the
traditional approach.123 Some organizations use a dual career path or dual-track system in which the
path to greater responsibility includes both management and nonmanagement tracks.124 The presence
of nonmanagement paths, with relatively equivalent esteem and pay, can serve the needs of employees
who lack the skills or the desire to become managers. For example, the Exploration Division of British
Petroleum established dual career paths for areas such as engineering and product development. Teams
of managers and employees established the system, and trained colleagues in how to use the new
system.125 Such an approach opens up more possibilities than the traditional pyramid structure
provides. While career paths can help provide information to employees about career progression
possibilities, they may rely too heavily on what the organization has typically done rather than on what
it is likely to need in the future.126 Given the changes in the career landscape that we noted, vertical
progressions may be unavailable, or they may be shorter than have traditionally been available,
unappealing to employees with spiral or transitional career concepts, or not in keeping with the
organization’s strategy and career culture. Therefore, career paths should be developed within the
context of each organization’s strategic and human resource planning activities. In addition, care should
be taken to identify possible alternative paths, such as lateral career movement.127 This is included in
the career grid approach, in which career grids, based on job content, specify possible vertical and
horizontal sequences of positions employees may hold.128 The grids can communicate not only the
potential paths but also the competencies required for each position and developmental ideas for
moving through these positions.129 From an organizational viewpoint, this approach is beneficial in that
it provides skilled and valued employees (e.g., the organization’s top engineers or accountants) with a
career option that promises progression, while allowing them to remain in their specialty area. It also
provides a learning and developmental incentive for employees who are not interested in becoming
managers. Beyond using career paths and job posting, internal information can also be supplemented by
publishing booklets and flyers that inform employees of career enhancement possibilities. Knowledge of
available resources such as upcoming training programs and tuition assistance programs can help
employees develop and implement their career strategy Another source of internal labor market
information is a skills inventory. 130 A skills inventory is a database that contains information about
employee skills, education, performance evaluation, and career preferences. It is often part of an
organization’s human resource information system (HRIS). HRD professionals can use this information
during a needs assessment phase to identify the capabilities of the workforce and pinpoint any skill
shortages that should be addressed. Skills inventory information is usually collected from voluntary
reports from employees. Potential shortcomings of voluntary self-reports include the possibility of
incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated information, though the recent growth in network and personal
computer-based HRIS has made these issues easier to deal with than they once were.131 Organization
Potential Assessment Processes Organizations have a vested interest in ensuring that they have
individuals available who are ready to fill key positions when these positions become vacant. To this
end, many organizations evaluate the potential, or promotability, of managerial, professional, and
technical employees. Those judged as high-potential employees can then be groomed for these
positions. Three ways that potential assessment can be done are through potential ratings, assessment
centers, and by succession planning. Potential ratings, or promotabililty ratings, are typically completed
by an employee’s manager or supervisor.132 They measure multiple dimensions, and include a
summary or overall rating of the employee’s potential for advancement. The main difference between
potential ratings and performance ratings is that potential ratings focus on the future rather than the
past or present. This method requires the rater to judge whether an employee is likely to be successful
in jobs requiring skills he or she may not currently use. Also, the results of potential evaluations are
unlikely to be made known to the employee. Ratings of potential are subject to the same problems as
performance evaluations (i.e., rating errors and biases). Raters should be trained in the proper way to
conduct such an evaluation. Assessment centers, which can be used as part of the employee selection
process, can also be used to assess potential for advancement.133 In an assessment center, small
groups of employees perform a variety of exercises while being evaluated by a group of trained
assessors. The exercises can include simulations, role plays, group discussions, tests, and interviews. The
exercises should measure relevant skills and aptitudes for a given position. The assessors are typically
managers who are one or two organizational levels above those being evaluated (assessees). Assessors
should be specifically trained for this task. The assessors write a detailed report on each assessee and
usually make an overall judgment about the assessee’s promotability. When used for developmental
purposes, the intensive assessment feedback is provided to the employee to increase self-awareness.
The feedback from a developmental assessment center can be used by the employee to develop career
goals and a plan for future development. While career development assessment centers can be
expensive to use, they provide a rich source of data. Care should be taken in designing assessment
center procedures to include assessment of skills that can be developed in a reasonable amount of time
and exercises that permit multiple opportunities to observe participants in each dimension.134
Examples of this approach include developmental assessment centers at AT&T and Kimberly Brothers
Manufacturing Company.

Succession planning is a third way of conducting potential evaluations.136 This process is most often
done for upper-level management positions. It requires senior managers to identify employees who
should be developed to replace them. Information generated during succession planning may not be
communicated to the employee. If potential evaluations are made known to the employee and his or
her superiors, this information can be used to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, if managers
believe the employee has a high potential for advancement, they may be more likely to evaluate the
person favorably and promote him or her more quickly than actual performance warrants.137 If
succession plans are not communicated to the employee, the organization runs the risk of a mismatch
between the employee’s career plans and its plans for the employee. Making this information available
to the employee can ensure that the employee develops realistic career plans and reduces the chances
that the person will refuse the position.138 In the case of management development, the notion of
succession management can be seen as a way for succession planning to better serve organizations in a
rapidly changing environment.139 One of the main properties of succession management is viewing the
goal of the process as one of creating a cadre of individuals who have the competencies needed to work
as part of a senior management team. Future competencies, in the form of a “leadership template,” are
used as the criteria toward which groups of individuals should be developed. The role of senior
management is not to identify specific individuals to replace them, but to identify developmental
opportunities, create challenging assignments that are central to the business and create a
team/network orientation, and mentor and serve as role models for those who are being developed.
Developmental Programs The final group of career management activities we will examine are
developmental programs. These include job rotation, in-house HRD programs, external workshops and
seminars, tuition assistance and reimbursement plans, and mentoring programs. These programs
provide employees with opportunities to learn new ideas and skills, thus preparing them for future
positions as well as introducing new challenges. Job rotation involves assigning an employee to a series
of jobs in different functional areas of an organization. These assignments are typically lateral rather
than vertical moves, and can involve serving on task forces or moving from line to staff positions. Job
rotation is a good way to introduce variety into an employee’s career. In addition, it provides the
employee with a chance to learn and use new skills and to better understand different organizational
functions. It can also serve to help the employee build networks within the organization and be better
prepared for future promotion opportunities, when they become available. There is some research to
support the effectiveness of job rotation as a career development tool.140 One study finds that job
rotation is related to outcomes such as salary, promotion, and satisfaction, and is perceived to be
related to improved knowledge, skills, and other career benefits.141 This study also reports that
rotation tends to occur for employees early in their career and for employees who are performing well.
Professional non-managerial employees are more interested in rotation than others. With regard to
implementing job rotation, care should be taken to ensure that the job assignments used offer
developmental opportunities, rather than just the chance to do something different.142 Mentoring
refers to a relationship between a junior and senior member of an organization that contributes to the
career development of both members. Mentoring relationships can be important from both a life
development and a career development perspective. From a life development perspective, recall from
Levinson’s era approach to adult development that young adults seek to establish meaningful
relationships, whereas middle-aged adults often want to make an impact on the generation to follow
them. From a career development perspective, the younger employee wishes to become established in
the organization, while the middle-aged employee wants to remain productive at work. From either
perspective, the mentoring relationship serves the needs of both members.143 The mentoring
relationship serves both career and psychosocial (e.g., social support) functions.144 The mentor
provides the protégé with career support—by opening doors, “showing them the ropes,” creating
potential opportunities to demonstrate competence, enhancing visibility, and ensuring that the protégé
has challenging work. The protégé provides the mentor with a meaningful, mutually reinforcing
relationship that demonstrates the value and commitment of both parties to the organization. The
mentor has a chance to serve as a role model and share what he or she knows with someone who can
benefit from such knowledge. In return, the mentor receives respect, support, and in many cases,
friendship. In many organizations, mentoring relationships are formed as a result of the parties’ mutual
attraction. Organizations such as Federal Express, Apple Computer, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago,
and Rockwell Collins have created formal mentoring programs in which mentors and protégés are paired
by the organization and provided with support for the relationship.145 Many organizations and
individuals benefit from informal mentoring efforts.146 Research shows that mentoring can yield
numerous organizational benefits, including facilitating the socialization of new members into an
organization, reducing turnover, minimizing midcareer adjustments, enhancing transfer of beneficial
knowledge and values, and facilitating the adjustment to retirement.147 Mentoring relationships are
complex. While they serve a variety of needs for both mentor and protégé, they are also subject to
potential limitations and problems. Limitations of formal mentoring programs include the small number
of mentor pairs that they can accommodate, and such unintended negative consequences as
dissatisfaction with the relationship and negative feelings of those not involved in the program.148 It is
not clear whether informal mentoring is superior to formal mentoring in terms of the depth and scope
of the mentor-protégé relationship. While one research study finds that the protégés in informal
relationships receive more career related support and have better career outcomes,149 a separate
study finds no difference.150 Research by Eby and colleagues sought to understand negative
experiences that protégés have with their mentors.151 Questions have been raised concerning the
extent to which problems exist in cross-gender mentoring relationships.152 Research supporting this
contention reports findings suggesting that: 1. Concern exists between the parties about intimacy and
sexual attraction153 2. There is an inclination for men and women to rely on sex-role stereotypes.
Dissatisfaction with the role-modeling aspect of the relationship may be felt155 4. The relationship is
subject to public scrutiny (e.g., jealous spouses, office gossip)156 5. Peer resentment may occur157
Other studies have found no gender differences in the amount of career mentoring that protégés
receive.158 It may be that in male-dominated occupations, gender roles have more to do with
differences in the amount of mentoring received than biological sex.159 Research also finds that women
are just as likely as men to become mentors, report intentions to mentors, and to see the costs and
benefits of entering a mentorship relationship similarly.160 A study of a tenyear organizational change
effort reports positive gains for female protégés and for the organization.161 Efforts at Xerox used their
existing Women’s Alliance to promote the successful matching of female mentors and protégés.162
Research on cross-racial mentoring suggests another source of potential concerns.163 For example,
Thomas found that black protégés with white mentors report less satisfaction with the mentoring
relationship and less support than do members of same-race mentoring relationships.164 Even within
same-race and same-sex mentoring relationships, lack of support from the organization and
incompatibility of the parties can undermine the relationship.165 For example, the way that participants
in a cross-race developmental relationship prefer to deal with racial issues affects the dynamics of such
relationships.166 When both parties share the same strategy for addressing racial issues, the
relationship has both career advancing and psychosocial elements (i.e., it becomes closer and more
personally supportive). When the parties prefer different strategies for dealing with racial issues, the
relationship is primarily oriented toward career advancement only, and lacks the psychosocial element.
Given the problems that can occur, some authors question the value of mentoring. Clawson argues that
mentoring is not essential, and that employees can gain some of the same benefits by learning from
their current supervisors while seeking sponsorship at the appropriate time from someone else.167
Kram suggests that it may not be necessary for employees to look for everything that mentoring can
provide in a single relationship.168 In addition, relationships with peers can also provide some of the
same functions that mentor relationships do (e.g., information sharing, career strategizing, emotional
support, personal feedback), and may be more suitable for individuals without mentors or for those who
do not want mentors.169 Recent writing recommends the value of a mentoring network, where
employees foster relationships with multiple mentors.170 Given the potential benefits for both the
individual and the organization, we believe mentoring is a viable and appropriate career development
strategy.171 A recent study of racial and gender disparities at higher organizational levels concluded
with a recommendation to “embrace mentoring at both the individual and organizational level” as one
means of addressing these issues.172 If an organization chooses to develop a formal mentoring
program, three conditions seem to increase the chances of success: 1. The program should be clearly
linked to business strategy and existing HR policies and practices, so as to increase the chances that
potential participants and senior management will accept and actively support the program.

Core components of the program (objectives, guidelines, training and education, communication
strategy, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination) should be designed for effectiveness, rather than
expediency. 3. Voluntary participation and flexible guidelines are critical to success.173 In addition,
formal mentoring programs should be used as just one part of an organization’s overall development
strategy. Mentoring should be tied to strategic business needs and take advantage of natural learning
opportunities in the organization, as well as HR systems that encourage mentoring.174 Recent writings
describe web-based or “e-mentoring” efforts at organizations such as Marshall & Ilsley Corporation and
LaSalle Bank Corporation, as well as between business students and managers.175 The critical role of
HRD in addressing ethical issues in mentoring has also been addressed.176 ISSUES IN CAREER
DEVELOPMENT Several other issues should be considered when formulating or modifying an
organization’s career development program. These include fostering career motivation, career
plateauing, career development for nonexempt workers, and career development without
advancement. We will discuss each of these issues briefly. Developing Career Motivation Developing
career motivation is a significant career management goal.177 According to Manuel London, career
motivation affects how people choose their careers, how they view their careers, how hard they work in
them, and how long they stay in them.178 London sees career motivation as a set of characteristics
grouped into three facets: career resilience, career insight, and career identity.179 Each of these facets
is defined in Table 12-5. Ray Noe and colleagues developed scales to measure each facet.180 A person
can have a high, moderate, or low level of career motivation depending on his or her position in each of
these categories. For example, a person with high career motivation will continue to pursue career goals
in the face of obstacles and setbacks (career resilience), formulate and pursue realistic career goals
(career insight), and be highly involved in work and aggressively pursue career goals (career identity).
While career motivation is partly determined by an individual’s life experiences, career activities and
practices can help develop a person’s career motivation.181 For example, self-awareness workbooks
and personal journals can be used to build career insight. Because career motivation can affect both
decision making and commitment to one’s career, it is beneficial for organizations to offer career
development activities to enhance such motivation. Table 12-6 provides some suggestions for how this
can be accomplished. Career motivation can be important in addressing the issues facing workers who
have lost their jobs because of downsizing, layoffs, or some personal issue or setback.182 Efforts to
redeploy such workers can be more effective if career motivation issues are addressed, whether the
methods are government and community programs to assist unemployed workers to obtain jobs,
retraining for displaced employees, joint union-management retraining programs, or internal contingent
workforces.183 London offers a variety of suggestions concerning how managers and executives can
address career motivation issues to successfully redeploy displaced workers and how organizations can
support career motivation in older workers.184 Both Lopes and Chen call for greater research on career
motivation for foreign-born workers.

The Career Plateau The pyramidal structure of many organizations together with a shrinking number of
management positions typically means that a time will come in an individual’s career when he or she
will no longer be able to move up in an organization. In addition, career progress is not likely to be a
continuous upward journey, but rather one that includes periods of movement and periods of stability.
These factors contribute to what has been termed a career plateau. A career plateau has been defined
as “the point in a career where the likelihood of additional hierarchical promotion is very low” (p.
602).186 Early writing on career plateaus suggested that this was a traumatic experience for many
employees (especially those who desire career growth), accompanied by feelings of stress, frustration,
failure, and guilt.187 Later writers suggest that a plateau can also be seen as a “time of change,
transition, re-evaluation, and reflection” (p. 229).188 The empirical research on the consequences of
career plateaus is mixed, with some verification of negative consequences of plateauing, coupled with
other data suggesting that employees at such a plateau can be happy and productive.189 At least two
explanations for these mixed findings have been offered. First, Feldman and Weitz argue that the factors
that lead to a plateau affect the consequences of the plateau. For example, if employees become
plateaued because they lack the skills and ability to advance, they will likely exhibit poor performance
and job attitudes. Alternatively, if the plateau occurs because of selfimposed constraints or a low need
for growth, the employee will likely continue to perform well and have positive job attitudes. Feldman
and Weitz suggest a model that specifies six causes of career plateaus together with their impact on
performance and attitudes and possible managerial interventions to address them. This model presents
an encouraging approach to career plateaus. It has been used recently to discuss issues of career
plateauing among auditors.190 Georgia Chao offers a second explanation for the mixed findings
regarding the consequences of career plateaus. This explanation centers on the way the concept has
been measured.191 Studies have tended to define a career plateau operationally as a dichotomy (as in
plateaued versus not plateaued) and have used job tenure (e.g., number of years since last promotion)
to indicate whether the individual has plateaued. Chao observes that viewing plateaus as a dichotomy
ignores the fact that individuals gradually become aware that their careers are plateaued, and that
different levels of awareness may lead to different consequences. Second, Chao argues that what is
critical to defining career plateaus is the individual’s perception of being plateaued, because the
individual’s perception of career progress will likely determine how he or she feels about it and reacts to
it. Consequently, she hypothesizes that a perceptual measure of career plateaus will better explain the
consequences of being plateaued than the traditional job tenure approach. Chao developed a
perceptual measure of plateauing and finds that perception accounts for more variance in four
outcomes (including satisfaction and career planning) than does job tenure.192 Similar findings were
obtained by Lee.193 Chao also found that the negative effects of a plateau were worse during the early
years of an employee’s career. Other researchers have reported similar results.194 These findings
suggest that career plateauing is more complex than previously thought.195 Based on this research, it is
recommended that HRD professionals (1) assess whether employees are plateaued by determining
employees’ perceptions of the extent to which their careers are stalled and attempt to identify the
reasons for the plateau, and (2) tailor the action used to resolve an employee’s problem according to
the cause of the plateau. Given the flattening of organizational hierarchies, some plateauing is
inevitable, and it is important for organizations to find a way to maintain employees’ motivation and
effectiveness. Ettington finds that managers can be successfully plateaued (i.e., exhibit effective job
performance and satisfaction with the job and life). She argues that organizations should engage in HRM
practices that facilitate successful versus unsuccessful plateauing. In the area of career development,
Ettington suggests practices such as broadening opportunities to grow on the job, removing obstacles to
lateral and downward career moves, and helping employees identify and prepare for new
challenges.196 Tremblay and Roger find that attitudes and behaviors are most positive for plateaued
managers who feel that their jobs are richer, and that they have more opportunity to participate in
decision making.197 This leads to a distinction between job content plateauing (the employee is no
longer challenged by his or her job) versus hierarchical plateauing (where there is little likelihood that
the employee will be promoted).198 Career Development for Nonexempt Employees Although much of
the career development literature focuses on developing managers and professionals, the career
development needs of blue-collar and nonexempt employees (e.g., clerical and support staff and
technicians, who are paid hourly or weekly rates and are entitled to overtime) have often been ignored.
One reason for this disregard is an assumption by many researchers, managers, and HR professionals
that these employees do not have long-term ambitions that need to be addressed.199 However, given
the large number of such employees and the critical role they play in organizational effectiveness, HRD
professionals need to consider career development activities that allow organizations to better use the
potential of these employees and serve their long-term needs. Some HRD professionals are examining
this issue.200 A survey of career development professionals about the development needs of
nonexempt employees reveals the following: 1. Job satisfaction often comes from the work itself, which
is problematic if the work is repetitive and unchallenging. 2. Changing current status (e.g., union to
nonunion, blue collar to white collar) requires both a significant personal investment and a significant
cultural adjustment. For example, white-collar positions may require higher education levels than blue-
collar positions, and employees who cross the “collar line” may not receive the support they need from
coworkers. 3. Nonexempt employees may become more frustrated during their careers than exempt
employees because opportunities to make a vertical transition are more limited for them.201 Some
organizations, such as Corning and Lockheed Marine, have implemented career development programs
for nonexempt employees to better serve them and ensure that future employment needs of the
organization will be met. Both programs recognize that nonexempt employees need to be encouraged
to take the initiative in their career development and be supported by management for doing so.
Lockheed Marine’s program includes career/life planning workshops (open to all employees), a career
development resource center, and support for lifelong learning activities (e.g., tuition reimbursement
for relevant courses, in-house seminars).202 Corning’s program includes four components: career
exploration and planning software, videos, information books describing career possibilities at Corning,
and supervisory training in career counseling.203 Both programs have been successful in terms of high
levels of employee participation and greater levels of career development actions on the part of
nonexempt employees. Both of these programs serve as good examples of how organizations can
address both their own needs and the career development needs of this large pool of employees. It is
our hope that these initiatives stimulate more research and practice in this area. Enrichment: Career
Development without Advancement Many organizations find themselves faced with the prospect of
downsizing their workforces and reducing the numbers of management positions in response to
competition and changing business conditions. However, even with fewer employees, organizations still
have to engage in career development activities, because HR needs will change as business strategy and
technology changes. These forces increase the likelihood that organizations will have to develop career
development programs, without being able to offer upward movement or the promise of job security as
benefits to employees. Further, ideas about career development, such as the protean career and career
concepts discussed earlier, make clear that not all individuals desire upward movement, even if it is
available.204 Instead, career development efforts will have to focus on enriching employees in their
current jobs or areas of expertise if they are to increase employee satisfaction, maintain the skill base
the organization needs, and offer employees a sense of career security by providing them with the best
chance of gaining meaningful employment if they are laid off.205 Career development options within an
enrichment strategy include: 1. Certification programs and mastery paths that specify selection criteria
and identify performance expectations, and training requirements to move through various levels of
expertise within a job 2. Retraining programs 3. Job transfers or rotation206 Enrichment programs raise
the level of skills and professionalism of the workforce, and they can increase employees’ sense of self-
esteem and self-determination in guiding their own careers. Given the changes that are occurring in the
organizational landscape, as well as the aging of the “Baby Boom” generation, enrichment and other
career development practices that encourage self-determination, continuous learning, and
employability are especially important.
DELIVERING EFFECTIVE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS It should be clear by now that any HRD
program has the best chance of succeeding if attention is paid to performing thorough needs
assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation. The same is true for career development programs
that, as we noted in Chapter 1, should be a key part of human resource development.208 Our earlier
discussion highlights some of the relevant issues in the design and implementation of an effective
system. Table 12-7 provides a systematic approach to creating, delivering, and evaluating an effective
career development system. Using this approach, it is critical to obtain senior management support and
to conduct and evaluate pilot programs before implementing a full-blown program. As we stated earlier,
it also needs to be seen as a joint effort between managers, HR professionals, and the individual
employee.

We have often noted that rapid changes in the environment (e.g., demographics, technology,
competition) have led to changes in organizational operations, which then has an effect on employees
(e.g., downsizing). Managing career development efforts well in a turbulent environment makes it even
more important that such activities be tied to an organization’s strategic plan. As noted in Chapter 4,
this means that needs assessment data should include organizationlevel data on goals, strengths,
weaknesses, resource availability, organizational climate, and on the current human resource plan.
Career development, like all HRD activities, should fit into the overall HR strategy. Recruiting, selection,
compensation, benefits, and HRD activities have an impact on career development, and all can be used
to facilitate the process. HRD practitioners should also consider benchmarking their career development
practices by examining effective approaches used by other organizations. The practitioner literature
(e.g., T&D, Training, HR Magazine) regularly feature articles profiling effective practices. Career
development practices can also be benchmarked through discussions with other professionals and visits
to leading organizations. Increasingly, organizations are providing career development assistance via the
Internet and other new technology.210 Another issue in developing and delivering career development
activities is the attitude held by many people that, if career development is primarily an individual’s
responsibility, then this is not a beneficial area for organizational activity. In our view, this takes the
individual responsibility notion to an unhealthy extreme that could encourage employers to abdicate
any involvement in the career development process.211 This attitude must be overcome if a career
management system is to gain wide acceptance. One way to overcome this attitude and benefit both
the organization and the individual is to make clear from the start what purposes the career
development program will serve. Are these programs intended to enhance employee growth and
decision making? Address EEO and affirmative action pressures? Improve the organization’s image?
Ensure that the organization has the necessary talent to remain effective? Whatever the purposes, they
should be clearly stated. Achievement of these goals should then be evaluated once the program is in
operation. The use of a steering committee, together with input from a variety of employees as to the
planning, design, and testing of these programs, can further build support, understanding, and
commitment. In addition, many organizations are finding that career management works best when
activities are coordinated within an integrated career development system.212 Examples of
organizations that have effectively used this approach include 3M, Eastman Kodak Company, and
Boeing.213 According to Gutteridge and colleagues, career systems like these have four elements in
common: (1) involvement of senior management early to gain visible, up-front support; (2)
establishment of guiding principles from the beginning; (3) development of the systems from the line
upward, involving employees from all levels and areas of the organization; and (4) flexibility so that
organizational units can tailor the system to fit their needs. A scale developed by Lee and Bruvold taps
employee perceptions of organizational investments in employee development.214 Items concerning
both training and career management are included in this scale and may prove helpful as organizations
seek to involve employees with designing and improving their career management systems On a more
negative note, a large-scale survey of HR professionals in England provides some troubling findings: •
Less than 50 percent of these professionals say that their organization has a formal career management
strategy. • Twenty-six percent say that their organization’s career management strategy covers all
employees. • Thirty-four percent think that senior managers in their organization are “firmly
committed” to career management. • Fifty-six percent feel that line managers do not take career
management seriously. • Five percent report that line managers in their organization are trained to
support employee career development.215 Such findings suggest considerable room for improvement!
Future research on career development issues will hopefully be one part of addressing such
concerns.216 Another topic that needs to be addressed more fully is the extent to which career
development issues differ across diverse employee populations, for example, by gender, ethnicity,
religion, age, and other considerations.217 Clearly, perceptions of career success differ greatly between
individuals, as do the extent to which individuals perceive meaning and a sense of belonging from
work.218 Douglas Hall and colleagues write about the need for individuals to feel a sense of purpose or
“calling” in order to experience psychological success.219 While this has most often been linked to
religious beliefs, both secular and religious views of a calling have been presented.220 What seems
important is that work have meaning to an individual, that it come out of a sense of strong inner
direction, and that it be seen as a means of using one’s gifts or talents to serve a common or greater
good. To tie things together, we close the chapter with recommendations concerning how to enhance
organizational career development efforts: 1. Integrate individual developmental planning with
organizational strategic planning 2. Strengthen the linkages between career development and other
HRM systems 3. Move career development systems toward greater openness 4. Enhance the role of
managers in career development through both skill building and accountability 5. Develop and expand
peer learning and other team-based developmental approaches 6. Stress on-the-job development;
deemphasize traditional training programs that are isolated, one-shot events 7. Emphasize enrichment
and lateral movement 8. Identify and develop transferable competencies 9. Include values and lifestyle
assessments in career development activities 10. Implement a variety of career development
approaches to accommodate different learning styles and the needs of a diverse workforce. 11. Tie
career development directly to organizational quality initiatives 12 Expand career development
measurement and evaluation 13. Continue to study best practices and organizational career
development in a global context.

SUMMARY A career is the pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life.
Each individual is ultimately responsible for his or her own career, which includes developing a clear
understanding of self and environment in order to establish career goals and plans. Organizations can
assist an individual by providing information, opportunities, and assistance. By doing so, the organization
can enhance its internal labor market and be more effective in recruiting and motivating employees
(both contingent and long term). In turn, the individual gains an opportunity for enhanced
employability. This is especially important given the changes that have occurred in the employment
relationship over the past thirty-five years. Erikson describes our lives as progressing through a series of
stages, with each stage presenting the individual with a challenge he or she must meet in order to
develop further and achieve happiness and a clear sense of self. Levinson similarly describes adult life as
progressing through a series of stages, with each era representing a season in a person’s life. In each
season, the demands on the individual change, and the individual works to make changes in his or her
life to meet those demands. Both models teach us that change is a normal and inevitable part of adult
life and that the challenges faced in life will affect career plans and decisions. Several models of career
development are presented, from a traditional age-related model, to others (e.g., protean careers and
career concepts) incorporating current trends in the organizational landscape. Greenhaus and
colleagues describe the process of career management from the individual’s perspective as one in which
the individual (1) explores the environment, (2) develops a clear sense of environment and self-
awareness, (3) sets career goals, (4) develops a strategy to reach a goal, (5) implements the strategy, (6)
makes progress toward the goal, (7) obtains feedback on progress from work and non-work sources, and
(8) appraises his or her career. Using this process can enable an individual to achieve career satisfaction
and greater life happiness. Three organizationally focused models of career management, the pluralistic
model, the systems model, and a team-based model, are presented as examples of how organizations
may be able to link their career management process to an organization’s structure and strategy. The
roles to be played by the individual, HRD practitioner, and manager in career development are also
presented. In particular, we discuss the competencies, such as adaptability, learning how to learn, and
relationship formation and maintenance, that individuals need to effectively manage their careers.
Organizations use a variety of tools and techniques to manage employee careers. These include self-
assessment tools and activities, such as workbooks, workshops, and computer programs, individual
career counseling, job posting exchanges, organizational potential assessment, and developmental
programs such as job rotation and mentoring. These activities and practices help employees gather
information to develop career awareness, formulate career plans, and offer opportunities to implement
these plans. Designing a career management program involves steps similar to those for developing any
HRD intervention: conducting a needs assessment, identifying the goals and components of a program,
establishing criteria to measure effectiveness, implementing the program, and evaluating its
effectiveness. In addition, organizations should consider the issues of career motivation, career plateaus,
and career development for non-exempt workers when designing career development programs.