Chapter 9: Managing Careers
Chapter 9:
Managing Careers
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Differentiate between career development and employee development.
2. Explain role of the organization in employee career development
3. Identify the role of managers in employee career development
4. Outline employee responsibilities for career development.
5. Explain the four typical career stages.
6. Describe the relationship between personality, career choice and fit.
7. Identify several suggestions for effective personal career management.
Chapter Overview
The Principal Financial Group helps employees manage their careers resulting in a loyal and
devoted employee base. The first part of the chapter presents basic career development concepts,
including the rationale for career development, traditional career stages, and tools for assessing
career preferences and styles. The latter part of the chapter presents extensive suggestions to
students on how to manage their own careers in today’s economic environment, which requires
individuals to take responsibility for their own success.
Additional features of this chapter:
Exhibits
9 – 1: Overlapping Goals and Activities
9 – 2: Career Development
9 – 3: Career Stages
9 – 4: Holland’s General Occupation Themes
9 – 5: Structure of Holland’s Themes
9 – 6: Characteristics Frequently Associated with Myers-Briggs Types
Boxed Features
These features are located within the text and address current issues in HRM within the context
of the relevant learning objectives. They are short and thought provoking with thought questions
at the end providing a great opportunity to provide a break in class lecture to check student
understanding. Questions may be posed to students individually, in small groups, as quick
cooperative learning assignments or as large group discussions.
Contemporary Connection – Career Development at Baxter page 198 Baxter is
possibly the biggest company your students have never heard about. Their exemplary
commitment to employee career development is profiled.
Did You Know – Where Are the Jobs? on page 202 highlights the fastest growing and
the biggest declining jobs in the United States through to 2022.
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
Tips for Success – Entrepreneurship: Building Your Own Career on page 204
discusses what, if any, psychological characteristics entrepreneurs have in common, what
types of personality traits might distinguish them from non-entrepreneurs and what traits
might predict who will be successful.
Tips for Success – Internships: Experience At Work on page 206 discusses the
benefits of obtaining an internship, including the fact that it could lead to a permanent
position within an organization.
Making Concepts Relevant in Your Classroom
In addition to the activities provided in the lecture notes, these suggested activities help students
apply chapter 9 concepts:
Discuss the relevance in today’s work place of concepts such as career stages and career
planning. Many students today, especially those in the “baby buster” or “Generation X”
age groups see many more options, yet fewer opportunities, than their parents had. Ask
students to share their current career plans, uncertainties, and assumptions. This should
be a lively discussion, and expect students to bring up issues such as “it’s not what you
know, but only who you know,” and “lifestyle and friends are more important than
loyalty to a company”. Another good topic for discussion is what do you do when a
couple’s careers conflict?
If you are not trained in any of the current popular preference inventories, such as the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, see if someone from your university testing or counseling
center would be willing to administer one, on a voluntary basis, to your students. This
will not be feasible in a large class, but you can have someone from the testing center
give a guest lecture where they explain the various diagnostic tools they use to students
who make use of their services. Many students are not even aware of what career-related
services are available to them at the university.
Ask students to interview a professional they admire. Focus questions on the person’s
career path. Students can report out in class and share highlights. The discussion should
give students realistic ideas about how to achieve their goals.
Invite a representative from your career placement department to give an overview of the
services available on campus. Stimulate Q&A.
Chapter Outline And Lecture Suggestions
Introduction Slide 3
Traditionally, career development referred to programs offered by organizations to help
employees advance within the organization. Today, each individual must take
responsibility for his or her career. While many organizations still invest in their
employees, they do not offer career security and they cannot meet the needs of everyone
in a diverse workforce.
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
Organizations now focus on matching the career needs of employees with the
requirements of the organization.
The chapter opener on Principal Financial Group includes questions designed to facilitate
class discussion of what the organization gets out of Career Development.
Career Development Slide 4
Learning Outcome 1: Differentiate between career development and employee
development
Career
Pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life,
reflecting any work, paid or unpaid.
It can also include schoolwork, homemaking, and volunteer work.
Career Development Slide 5
Long-term career effectiveness and success of organizational personnel.
Employee training and development, discussed in Chapter 8, focuses on
performance in the immediate or intermediate time frames.
Exhibit 9 – 1 Overlapping Goals and Activities page 196 illustrates the fact that both
activities have some similarities.
The Organization’s Role in Career Development Slide 8
Learning Outcome 2: Explain role of the organization in employee career
development.
When job candidates feel the organization offers career advancement potential, they are
more likely to accept a job offer.
Talent Will be Available When and Where It Is Needed
Strategic employment planning helps HR make smart hiring and training
decisions.
Improved Ability to Attract and Retain Talented Employees
Employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they feel it provides:
Opportunity to grow within the organization
Flexibility
Camaraderie
Good work life balance
Enhanced Diversity
Clearly defined career paths reduce discrimination.
Strong Cultures
Career development activities are used to support organizational values and
culture.
May support intrinsic motivation.
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
Managers and Career Development Slide 9
Learning Outcome 3: Identify the role of managers in employee career development
Managers play an important role in employee career development.
Reasons Managers May Not Be Good at Employee Career Development
Poor understanding of career development.
Managers may not understand the available resources for themselves and
their employees.
Time constraints
Lack of training
Fear of losing good employees
HRM support and training is important
Mentoring and Coaching Slides 10 – 12
Effective coaches give guidance through direction, advice, criticism, and
suggestion in an attempt to aid the employee’s growth.
Mentors are typically senior-level employees who support younger employees by
vouching for them, answering for them in the “highest circles,” introducing them
to others, and advising and guiding them through the corporate system.
The disadvantages of having senior employees coaching younger employees
include
tendencies to perpetuate current styles and practices
reliance on the coach’s ability to be a good teacher.
Coaching is most effective between employees who do not have a reporting
relationship but share other similarities in their perspectives.
Exhibit 9 – 2 Career Development page 199 illustrates the overlapping
responsibilities of employees, organizations and managers for employee career
development.
The Employee Role in Career Development Slide 13
Learning Outcome 4: Outline employee responsibilities for career development.
Employees Need To Take Responsibility For Their Own Career Development.
Personal success definition may be different from organization.
Intrinsic rewards are unique to individuals.
Ways for employee to take responsibility:
Get involved in career development opportunities.
Be visible. Seek important assignments and work with people who share credit.
Explore career planning resources within the company.
Develop a network of professional contacts:
oManagers, past and present
oProfessors and teachers
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
oProfessional organizations.
Traditional Career Stages Slide 14
Learning Outcome 5: Explain the four typical career stages.
Four stages describe the career paths of most people.
Exploration
Includes school and early work experiences, such as internships.
Involves trying out different fields, discovering likes and dislikes, and forming
attitudes toward work and social relationship patterns.
Establishment
Includes search for work, getting first job, and getting evidence of “success” or
“failure.”
Takes time and energy to find a “niche” and to “make your mark”.
Mid-Career
Individuals either continue to grow, level off or deteriorate.
Remaining productive may be a challenge.
Plateaued mid-career stage involves remaining productive but not gaining new
responsibilities or advancing in the organization.
Late Career
Successful “elder states persons” can enjoy being respected for their judgment.
Good resource for teaching others.
Those who have declined may experience job insecurity.
Life off the job increases in importance.
Exhibit 9 – 3 Career Stages page 201 outlines the four stages and common activities
within the stages.
Personality Style and Career Fit Slide 15
Learning Outcome 6: Describe the relationship between personality, career choice and
fit.
Good career choice outcomes provide positive self-concept and opportunity to do work
we think is important.
Holland Vocational Preferences Slide 16 – 17
There are three major components:
People have varying occupational preferences.
If you think your work is important, you will be a more productive employee.
You will have more in common with people who have similar interest
patterns.
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
The model identifies six vocational themes (realistic, investigative, artistic, social,
enterprising, and conventional). (See exhibit 9 – 4). These are used to identify an
individual’s occupational preferences.
Preferences can be matched to work environments. For example,
social-enterprising-conventional preference structure matches career ladder in
large bureaucracy.
Exhibit 9 – 4 Holland’s General Occupational Themes page 203 explains each of the
six types.
Exhibit 9 – 5 Structure of Holland’s Themes page 203 demonstrates how the
compatible themes are arranges.
The Schein Anchors Slide 18
Identifies personal value clusters (technical-functional competence, managerial
competence, security-stability, creativity, autonomy-independence) that may be
satisfied or frustrated by work.
When an organization offers a particular combination of value clusters important
to a person, that individual is then “anchored” to the job, organization, or industry.
Success of person-job match determines individual’s fit with the job.
The Myers-Briggs Typologies Slide 19 – 21
The four personality dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuitive,
Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving (Exhibit 9 – 5) are assessed by the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and identify 16 different personality types.
It is important to know these personality types because they influence the way
people act and solve problems.
The MBTI is useful in helping managers match employees with jobs.
Class Activity: Tips for Success – Building Your Own Career page 204 Students often
consider being their own boss. This short feature explores the personality characteristics
of successful entrepreneurs.
Class Activity: Characteristics Frequently Associated With Myers-Briggs Types
page 205. Many online sources provide tests that produce personality types that align
with Myers -Briggs. These results make interesting class discussion.
Taking Responsibility for Building Your Career Slide 22
Learning Outcome 7: Identify several suggestions for effective personal career
management
Successful careers require a plan and personal management.
Be flexible. Keep skills up to date.
Suggestions For Taking Responsibility For Your Career:
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Chapter 9: Managing Careers
Know yourself – know your strengths and weaknesses.
Manage your reputation – make yourself and your accomplishments visible.
Build and maintain network contacts – join national and local professional
organizations, attend conferences, and network as social gatherings.
Keep current – develop specific skills that are in high demand.
Balance your specialist and generalist competencies – stay current within your
technical specialty, but develop general competencies that give you the versatility
to react to an ever-changing work environment.
Document your achievements – seek assignments that provide challenges and
offer objective evidence of your competencies.
Keep your options open – always have a contingency plans prepared that you can
call on when needed.
Class Activity: Tips for Success – Internships: Experience at Work page 206
discusses competition for internship and a unique application process at an advertising
agency looking for creative talent. The creative applications submitted are online on
Mithun’s YouTube page. Show a few and discuss the competition for good internships.
HRM Workshop
The HRM Workshop includes several different types of activities requiring students to apply
chapter concepts aligned with the learning objectives. Suggested answers are included.
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