Linking Job Design to Subjective Career Success

Abstract

We tested a predictive model based on self-determination theory (SDT) to demonstrate how job design choices contribute to subjective career success. Data collected at Time 1 demonstrated that the job characteristics of autonomy support and competence support had direct and interactive effects on employees' need satisfaction. Need satisfaction at Time 1 mediated the relationship between autonomy support and self-determined work motivation at Time 2. Work motivation, in turn, mediated the relationships between need fulfillment and career attitudes that characterize subjective career success. These findings are theoretically important because they demonstrate that SDT can bridge job design theory and career theory, pointing to new ways that job and career experiences are interrelated. From a practical standpoint, the results are valuable because they show that job enrichment efforts guided by SDT have important implications for promoting career success perceptions and vocational retention among experienced workers.

Role of Career Satisfaction in Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Career Commitment of Nurses in Nigeria: A Self‐Determination Theory Perspective

“…The present study addressed career satisfaction as a psychological mechanism that helps explain how basic psychological needs satisfaction relates to career commitment of nurses. Consistent with the study prediction and in line with previous studies (e.g., Dahling & Lauricella, ; Gagné et al., ), the results show that nurses who are able to fulfil their basic psychological needs are likely to be satisfied with their careers. The finding that basic psychological needs satisfaction is significantly related to career commitment of nurses suggests that nurses whose basic psychological needs are met are likely to be more committed to their careers.…”

“…Career commitment has to do with the development of self‐generated career‐related goals, and identification with and involvement in the goals in question (Colarelli & Bishop, ). Researchers have also recognized the importance of the subjective feeling of career success for the individual worker and the organization (Dahling & Luricella, ). Individuals with positive career beliefs have been found to have higher work life balance (Sturges, ), cope better with job challenges (Eddleston, ), and less likely to quit their jobs (Simon, Müller, & Hasselhorn, ).…”

Linking Administrators Roles in Career Programs to Proactive Behavior as a Determinant of Employees Promotion Opportunities

“…The results of these surveys showed that the ability of administrators to properly plan and management career programs had enhanced employees' proactive behavior (Searle, 2011;Brandt, 2012;Marinova et al, 2015;Van Der Zee, 2016), and promotion opportunities (Stumpf, 2007;Ali & Zia-ur-Rehman, 2014;Dahling & Lauricella, 2016: Zhang, 2014.…”

“…Recent studies about effective career management highlight that the ability of administrators to appropriately design and manage career programs may have a significant impact on career outcomes, especially proactive behavior (Marinova, Peng, Lorinkova, Dyne, & Chiaburu, 2015;Van Der Zee, 2016) and promotion opportunity (Zhang, 2014;Ali & Zia-ur-Rehman, 2014;Dahling & Lauricella, 2016). In a career management perspective, proactive behavior is generally defined as employees have different characters such self-directed and future oriented behavior.…”

“…Some important previous studies were conducted using a direct effects model to assess administrators' roles in career programs in the different organizational samples, such as perceptions of 391 principals who attended the professional development programs at two multinational professional services organizations (Stumpf, 2007), 523 public servants at a state government agency in US (Searle, 2011), 131 workers in the Netherlands (Brandt, 2012), 28 402 meta-analytic tests (Marinova et al, 2015), 205 adult citizens of the United States (Dahling & Lauricella, 2016), 146 trainees from the financial sector (Van Der Zee, 2016) and 277 employees in a wide variety of jobs organized mainly in a traditional functional structure that included research and development, manufacturing, warehousing, sales and marketing, and general administration in China (Zhang, 2014). The results of these surveys showed that the ability of administrators to properly plan and management career programs had enhanced employees' proactive behavior (Searle, 2011;Brandt, 2012;Marinova et al, 2015;Van Der Zee, 2016), and promotion opportunities (Stumpf, 2007;Ali & Zia-ur-Rehman, 2014;Dahling & Lauricella, 2016: Zhang, 2014.…”