Life Transitions Career Decisions and the Workplace Changing Workplace and Psychological Contract Psychological Contract A relationship between employer

Life Transitions Career Decisions and the WorkplaceChanging Workplace and Psychological Contract

Psychological Contract

• A relationship between employer and employee

• Set of mutual expectations (often unstated)

• Relationship continues when "contributions" are met by both employer and employee:

o Employee: performanceo Employer: pay, benefits


Psychological Contract: Two Forms

• Relational - – long term mutual commitment– trust over time– temporary imbalances of contribution even out over time

• Transactional – short-term exchange of benefits and services.– value is in usefulness of what exchanged rather

than the relationship.

• A shift from relational to transactional contract:– short term – performance based http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJB0CzlzSwY

–

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJB0CzlzSwY


Implications of Contract Shift

1. Changes in your own relationship to the organization, your own perception of the changing contract

2. Changes in the organization’s commitment and view of the contract

3. Shift in loyaltyFrom: loyalty based on length of

serviceTo: loyalty based on performance

4. Need for ongoing change and development


Key Questions

• Why has the contract been changing?

• What is the new workplace like?– What are the demands?– What skills are needed to work productively

and manage career / professional development?


Changing Work Context

• Baby boom• Flatter organizations• Pace of change and organizational life • Dual careers• Mergers and break-ups• Downsizing• Impact of changing technology on work

processes• More diverse workforce • More information • Globalization of economy• Outsourcing


The Shamrock Organization

(Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason )

• The first leaf: - core workers- professionals, technicians, managers- have organizational knowledge

• The second leaf: - contractors- specialized knowledge and services- not part of core technology and

competence of the organization

• The third leaf: - flexible or contingent workforce

- part-time and temporary workers- fast growing sector of work

population


How Is Work Changing ?

• Working in teams

• Need for relationship building skills

• Ambiguity of work environment

• Greater demand for knowledge skills, subject matter experts

• Contingent work force: contract and part-time employees

• Need for creativity and adaptability


Protean CareerProtean = “versatile” or “capable of assuming many

forms”

• From linear and vertical paths to more flexible, varied options and career patterns. • From concept of a path to an individualized,

idiosyncratic "fingerprint." • From contract with organization to contract with self • Free agency; decoupling from organizations. • Overlap and balance of work / life. • A larger "career space."


Escher


Internal vs. External Career

• External or Objective Career is the unfolding sequence of:

- jobs- work histories- social roles- organizational patterns of work

• Internal or Subjective Career focuses on the individuals experience of change including:

- meaning- values- competence

- perceptions of success - satisfaction

• A distinction between the development of a career and the

individual "having the career."


Developmental Demands

• Skills for self-awareness • Continuous learning and adaptability • Career self-management and ownership • Fluidity of self that recognizes complexity and

ambiguity • Understanding that flexibility is not necessarily

indecision or randomness. • Greater and more differentiated concept of self

formed by various "sub-identities" (worker, parent, spouse),

but..... • Threat of "social saturation" where many roles

obscure an "authentic self"


Course Focus

• Personal change and development

• Organizational responses

• Respecting the inevitability of change

• Importance of managing career expectations

• Adult development + organizational behavior


Course Flow

IndividualFactors

Motivation

Development Cycles

Learning Styles

Work Preferences

Values

Skills/Competencies

Success Expectations

Organizational Factors

Development

Cultures

Management Role

Career Systems

Interaction

Change & Transition

Career Patterns

Generational Influences

Work / Life Balance

Career Management Strategies


Introductions

• Name• Attraction to course• Educational path• Work background• “Career Development” ??• Key questions

Documents

Life Transitions Career Decisions and the Workplace Changing Workplace and Psychological Contract Psychological Contract A relationship between employer