Career Self‐management: A Quasi‐experimental Assessment of the Effects of a Training Intervention

Abstract

A growing trend is to encourage employees to become actively involved in the management of their own careers. Career self‐management, the degree to which one regularly gathers information and plans for career problem solving and decision making, includes two main behaviors: developmental feedback seeking and job mobility preparedness. Although career self‐management training is a commonly used employer intervention to re‐socialize individuals to increase their own career management activity, it is rarely rigorously evaluated. Relying on an expectancy theory framework, the goal of this study was to evaluate the general effects of career self‐management training using a quasi‐experimental design. Based on data from several hundred professionals at a major U.S. employer, the results showed formal training efforts were generally not successful in resocializing people to engage in career self‐management activities, and when done as an isolated human resource strategy, decreased trainees' likelihood of engaging in career self‐management behaviors. To the extent that Time 2 expectancy perceptions got worse, the results showed that an individual's attitudes toward feedback seeking mediated the relationship between the training intervention and the level of preparation for job mobility conducted 6‐8 months following the training.

Position, possession or process? Understanding objective and subjective employability during university-to-work transitions

“…For overcoming such uncertainty and negotiating labour market barriers, careers research highlights the role of CSM. CSM refers to a process of regular career-related information gathering and planning (Kossek, et al 1998). It is argued that CSM is crucial in successful university-to-work transitions, as it provides the individual with a realistic preview of their opportunities (Wendlandt and Rochlen 2008).…”

Protean Career Development: Exploring the Individuals, Organizational and Job-related Factors

“…In view of different environmental contexts, researchers have struggled to find agreement on a generally accepted definition for the construct of different operationalization of terms employed for protean career (Ball, 1997;Orpen, 1994;Kossek, Roberts, Fisher, & DeMarr, 1998;Sturges, Conway, & Davey, 2002;King, 2004;De Vos & Seons, 2008). Some researchers ensuing characterizations of protean career have focused on the development of self (e.g., self-concept, self-image, self-awareness and individual agency).…”

Implementing HRM Systems: The Role of Employees' Co-Production Behavior and HRM Attributions

“…The last concept, career self-management by employees, represents the degree to which an employee regularly collects information and plans for career problem solving and decision making (Kossek et al, 1998). It is seen as including two types of employee behaviors: developmental feedback seeking and job mobility preparation (Kossek et al, 1998;Sturges, Guest, Conway, & MacKenzie Davey, 2002).…”

“…It is seen as including two types of employee behaviors: developmental feedback seeking and job mobility preparation (Kossek et al, 1998;Sturges, Guest, Conway, & MacKenzie Davey, 2002). As such, career self-management involves seeking feedback on past performance to assess probable career plans and attending trainings to improve employability.…”

“…through career self-management (Kossek, Roberts, Fisher, & Demarr, 1998), idiosyncratic deals (Rousseau, 2005) and job crafting (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001), the strategic HRM literature has not yet answered the call to study whether such employee actions in turn affect the effective implementation of HRM systems (Janssens & Steyaert, 2009;Lepak & Boswell, 2012). …”