I’ve Got the Power! Agency, Empowerment, and Motivation in Career Management

Careers are increasingly understood to be agentic. Therefore, individual motivation is now critically important to career development. Yet, the motivational, agentic, aspect of career development is still under-theorized. Existing concepts that refer to agentic control combine motivation, values, behaviours, emotions, and even contextual factors. These compound constructs are effective for predicting career outcomes, but they do not allow a direct examination of motivation alone. By conceptualizing motivation as a strictly cognitive construct following the established understanding of psychological empowerment, I develop a new scale of career empowerment that predicts additional variance above and beyond several existing career scales. Based on a multi-stage study and data from seven samples (N = 1240), I establish a measure to capture individual cognitions of agentic control over one’s career. The results of a series of analyses reveal the multidimensional nature of the construct, which consists of seven factors: self-determination, competence, impact, meaning, focus, growth, and relationships. I demonstrate the convergent and discriminant validity of the instrument, as well as its criterion-related incremental validity. Finally, I explore the antecedents and outcomes of career empowerment, including proactive career behaviours as well as subjective and objective career success. Overall, this work presents a new multidimensional cognitive-motivational construct that contributes to career theory and practice

Careers in the Greek public sector: calibrating the kaleidoscope

Purpose: The authors draw upon the kaleidoscope career model (KCM) to explore the career perceptions of public service employees in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 33 civil servants. Findings: The authors’ demonstrate how context frames career perceptions and propose an additional KCM parameter (security). Research limitations/implications: This context-based study proposes an extension of the KCM theory beyond the original three parameters that were dominant at its inception. Practical implications: The authors provide recommendations for human resource practices, such as empowerment through training, fair promotions and providing meaning. Despite the common perception, the need for challenge exists even within the public sector, such that satisfying it can help organizations to gain strategic advantage. Originality/value: This study expands a prominent career theory by exploring it in a unique context. By doing that, the authors are able to better understand how the parameters of the model are readjusted in different settings and to uncover a previously unidentified theme

In the eye of the hurricane: careers under lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has created career disruptions and shocks for many individuals, due to layoffs, reduced work hours and increased work–life conflict. Our study aimed to explore individual-level perceptions of people regarding their careers during the first lockdown in the UK, and to test potential implications of the situation for individuals’ career sustainability. For a deeper understanding of these perceptions, we used a sequential mixed-methods research design. First, we conducted a qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews to explore how people perceive their careers during early stages of the pandemic. We identified two themes that characterize the common experiences during this time period, namely employer support and careful optimism, that play an important role in the way careers unfold. Then, in the quantitative study, we conducted an online survey to empirically test a research model that links the concept of employer support with employability, career satisfaction and mental well-being. We also investigate the mediating role of career empowerment, which is a motivational cognitive construct that captures individual cognitions of agentic control over one’s career. Our research provides a rich snapshot that depicts people’s perceptions of careers during a shock event, which has both theoretical and practical implications

The evolution of learning and technological innovation: preparing students for successful careers

The chapter describes the major guiding learning theories and paradigms, and summarizes classic and recent instruction methodologies while exploring technology's impact on learning. An interesting finding is that while methods for teaching children differed from adult ones in the past, current approaches to adult learning adopt methodologies that were developed for children, such as gamification, to make learning feasible, consistent, engaging, and motivating. The chapter also reports on the findings of a case study within a UK university setting employing the flipped classroom approach. The chapter concludes by connecting learning to career sustainability in ecosystems and providing practice recommendations

Intelligent careers and human resource management practices: qualitative insights from the public sector in a clientelistic culture

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to empirically test the intelligent career framework in a public sector setting in a country with a clientelistic culture to inform human resource management strategies. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a qualitative methodology and an interpretivist paradigm, 33 in-depth interviews were conducted with Greek civil servants before the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview recordings were subsequently transcribed and coded via a blend of inductive and deductive approaches. Findings: Outcomes of the study indicate that in a public sector setting in a country with a clientelistic culture, the three dimensions of knowing-whom, knowing-how and knowing-why are less balanced than those reported by findings from private sector settings in countries with an individualistic culture. Instead, knowing-whom is a critical dimension and a necessary condition for career development that affects knowing-how and knowing-why. Originality/value: The theoretical contribution comes from providing evidence of the dark side of careers and how imbalances between the three dimensions of the intelligent career framework reduce work satisfaction, hinder career success and affect organisational performance. The practical contribution offers recommendations for human resource management practices in the public sector, including training, mentoring, transparency in performance evaluations and fostering trust

Rise up: career empowerment, adaptability and resilience during a pandemic

The present article examines employee resilience during the COVID‐19 pandemic, which created a major career disruption and a psychological strain for many individuals worldwide. Resilience is an essential psychological resource for coping with setbacks and maintaining mental health. Using a time‐lagged survey design, we test a theoretical model that links career empowerment, a motivational cognitive construct, with resilience, mediated by career adaptability. Our findings support these hypotheses. In addition, we investigate the moderating role of neuroticism and authentic leadership in the relationship between the career empowerment and career adaptability. Findings show that while authentic leadership moderates this relationship, the hypothesis regarding neuroticism was not supported. Our research provides insights regarding resilience during crisis, which has both theoretical and practical implications. Cet article porte sur la résilience des employés pendant la pandémie de COVID‐19. La pandémie de COVID‐19 a créé une perturbation majeure de carrière et une tension psychologique pour de nombreuses personnes. La résilience est une ressource psychologique essentielle pour faire face aux obstacles et maintenir la santé mentale. Nous utilisons une enquête décalée pour tester un modèle théorique qui lie l'autonomisation professionnelle (un construit cognitif motivationnel) à la résilience, ce qui est médiée par l'adaptabilité professionnelle. Nos résultats soutiennent ces hypothèses. De plus, nous étudions le rôle modérateur du névrosisme et du leadership authentique dans la relation entre l'autonomisation professionnelle et l'adaptabilité professionnelle. Les résultats démontrent que le leadership authentique module cette relation. Mais l'hypothèse concernant le névrosisme n'est pas confirmée. Notre recherche apporte des connaissances sur la résilience en période de crise, ce qui a des implications tant théoriques que pratiques

Career empowerment: a new perspective on career motivation

While the early career theories (Holland, 1985; Law, 1981; Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994; Super,1990) focused on person-job fit, self-concept, and multiple roles that one can take in organizations, the new generation of theories (Boundaryless career theory, Arthur & Rousseau, 1996; Protean career theory, Hall, 1976; Kaleidoscope model, Sullivan & Mainiero, 2006) is more dynamic and focused on individual career decisions across organizations and occupations. Yet, these theories assume that the individual is an active force who makes career decisions with full agency and do not consider the variation in mindsets. In addition, most of them have white-collar or knowledge workers in mind, overlooking large sectors of people whose employability might be limited by different factors, for example human capital or social status (Blustein, 2001). For contemporary career theories to be applicable to wider contexts, is important that they be made more inclusive. In addition to the abovementioned factors that may limit employability, it is important to explicitly address the ways individuals may limit themselves. In order to do so, scholars should not assume that individuals have full agency to control their careers. Recent findings suggest that the individual’s ability to control their career is linked to their career outcomes (Guest & Rodrigues, 2015; Tams & Arthur, 2010). Being in control will likely lead to taking action, such as setting and pursuing various career goals, while powerlessness might lead to career entrenchment and frustration. The proposed symposium deals with factors with the potential to promote or inhibit career control and explores the link between career control and employability

The Influence of Neurodiversity Management on Affective Commitment and Turnover Intention: The Role of Neurodiversity Awareness

Purpose: In the wake of labor shortages in the retail industry, there is value in highlighting a business case for employing neurodivergent individuals. Drawing on signaling theory, this study explores whether perceived neurodiversity management (neurodiversity policies and adjustments) helps enhance neurodiversity awareness and affective commitment and whether affective commitment leads to lower turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach: A cursory content analysis of publicly available documents of randomly selected four retail organizations was undertaken, which was followed by an online survey of the Australian retail workforce, leading to 502 responses from supervisors and employees. Findings: The content analysis shows that retail organizations barely acknowledge neurodiversity. The findings of the main study indicate that neurodiversity policies are positively associated with both neurodiversity awareness and affective commitment, while adjustments were positively linked to affective commitment. Moreover, affective commitment was negatively associated with turnover intention. Affective commitment also mediated the negative effects of neurodiversity policies and adjustments on turnover intention. Originality/value: This study supports, extends and refines signaling theory and social exchange theory. It addresses knowledge gaps about the perceptions of co-workers and supervisors in regard to neurodiversity management. It provides unprecedented evidence for a business case for the positive attitudinal outcomes of neurodiversity policies and adjustments. The findings can help managers manage neurodiversity for positive attitudinal outcomes.</p