Going Off Script: How Managers Make Sense of the Ending of Their Careers

Abstract

The extant retirement literature primarily focuses on factors that influence the decision to retire and the generic retirement decision-making process. While these approaches have extended our understanding of retirement decision-making, we propose a sensemaking perspective that orients our attention towards the subjective meanings people attach to the factors that trigger the retirement decision, rather than simply the factors themselves. Accordingly, we see the retirement decision-making process as bounded by situational constraints and rooted in identity work. Based on interviews with 48 retired Canadian executives and managers, we use thematic narrative analysis to identify six types of end-ofcareer narratives. Drawing on these narratives, we present a model of identity work that distinguishes between retirement decision-making factors that are perceived as identity opportunities and those that are perceived as identity threats. Our findings contribute to scholarly understanding of subjective meanings and identity considerations in the process of ending one's career.

Not lost in translation: Managerial career narratives and the construction of protean identities

“…The narrative practices identified in this paper fulfil various functions from encouraging (future) moves to defending past decisions and protecting self-identity. Taken together, the practices represent an important tool in creating a story line that emphasizes agency and a sense that individuals are directing their careers, rather than victimizing and feeling exposed to the vulnerabilities of modern-day corporate work environments (e.g., Fraher and Gabriel, 2014;Hassard et al, 2012;Korman et al, 1981;Sennett, 1998;Vough et al, 2015). This sense of agency lies at the heart of a protean identity -authoring a story around a self-directed, valuedriven identity that allows one to cope with the pitfalls of modern managerial careers and to find meaning in navigating the obstacles and contradictions of corporate managerial careers or finding alternative career paths (Gubler et al, 20014;Hall, 1996Hall, , 2002.…”

“…For managers, this implies increased vulnerabilities and insecurities about their career trajectories, causing "feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and low morale […] given widespread organizational change, the downgrading of career prospects, and the erosion of societal and organizational norms about career security and 'jobs for life'" (Hassard et al, 2012: 574-575). This raises serious questions about how managers can regain a sense of control and agency as active shapers of their careers rather than falling victim to the vulnerabilities of modern organizational environments and related career insecurities (e.g., Ehrenreich, 2006;Fraher and Gabriel, 2014;Giddens, 1991;Korman et al, 1981;Sennett, 1998;Vough et al, 2015).…”

“…Fraher and Gabriel (2014), for example, explore how stable 'identity anchors' such as childhood dreams (in that case, the dream of flying for pilots) influence occupational identity and the way in which individuals handle traumatic experiences such as job loss. Vough et al (2015) illustrate that even with similar factors triggering retirement decisions, different individuals attribute different meanings to these factors. Based on individual sense-making, individuals construct a personal retirement narrative that often differs from the narrative constructed by others despite sharing similar circumstances.…”

“…Narrative approaches in the context of career studies explore how crucial turning points and career decisions are framed to cope with past or present changes and to motivate potential future changes (Fraher and Gabriel, 2014;Gabriel et al, 2010;Hoyer and Steyaert, 2015;Ibarra, 2003;Ibarra and Barbulescu, 2010;McAdams, 1993;Vough et al, 2015). In particular, this study draws on narrative identity theory as a specific narrative approach that places the focus of analysis on the stories that people create around their life trajectories (McAdams, 1993(McAdams, , 2011.…”

Riding off into the Sunset: Organizational Sensegiving, Shareholder Sensemaking, and Reactions to CEO Retirement

“…Overall, consistent with sensemaking theory, in the context of CEO retirement, wherein unexpected significant human and social capital loss creates considerable uncertainty and ambiguity for external organizational constituents, we argue that shareholders are likely to find management's use of uncertainty reducing content assuring and appealing. This is because sensemaking ‘is the process through which individuals create explanations for experiences (Maitlis and Christianson, ; Starbuck and Milliken, ; Weick, )’ (Vough et al, , p. 416). This process is driven by individuals extracting and bracketing cues from the external environment (Weick, ), which allows them to create explanations for the event and make sense of the new reality.…”