Career Mapping 7
•Realize the role of work and promotion is not the same to all employees
In a Harvard Business Review article, Erickson and Gratton (2008) suggest that work plays six general roles for employees. The roles correspond to six different types of employees, who have varying degrees of concern for aspects of their employment. The employee-types and what appeals and engages them are included below:
Employee Type
| Expressive Legacy | Work is about creating something with lasting value. |
Autonomy Entrepreneurial opportunities Creative opportunities Stimulating tasks that enable continual learning and growth |
| Secure Progress | Work is about improving one’s lot in life and finding a predictable path. |
Fair, predictable rewards Concrete compensation, solid benefits and retirement package Stability Structure and routine Career training |
| Individual Expertise and Team Success | Work is about being a valuable part of a winning team. |
Collaboration Fun Stability and Structure Opportunity to gain competence Opportunity to leverage personal strengths |
| Risk and Reward | Work is one of multiple opportunities to live a life filled with change and excitement. |
Opportunity to improve personal finances Flexibility Opportunity to choose tasks and positions from a long menu of options Open-ended tasks and approaches to getting work done |
| Flexible Support | Work is a source of livelihood but not yet (or not currently) a priority. |
Flexibility Well-defined vacation and family benefits Well-defined work routines – the ability to plug in and out of tasks and assignments with ease Virtual, asynchronous tasks and assignments Fun |
| Low Obligation and Easy Income | Work is a source of immediate economic gain. |
Jobs that are relatively easy to come by Well-defined work routines Lucrative compensation and benefits packages Stability and security Recognition |
Original source (as quoted from Erickson and Gratton): A statistical survey of the U.S. workforce conducted jointly by the Concours Institute and Age Wave, a research communications company, and funded by 24 major corporations.
•Develop measurement tools specific to skills set and job description
Performance appraisal should be appropriate to the employee, the position and the organization. It should be focused on the specific skills or achievements related to the position. Different types of methods include employee traits, work behaviors, work results, and overall value as compared with others. The Society for Human Resource Management and other organizations have extensive information on options for performance assessment.
-Clearly define what it takes to get ahead or be promoted (skills, knowledge, degree, etc.)
--provide accountability, followup and feedback
•Develop Bicultural Competence in Career Mapping
Variables of race, ethnicity, and gender are also critical factors in understanding an individual’s approach to life, work and career goals. Stanford University professor John D. Krumboltz emphasizes the importance of “bicultural competence” in career counseling of an individual, and it is easy to see the importance of such sensitivity in the career advancement efforts of employers. A number of recent books and articles detail the role of personal variables such as race, gender and world view in career aspirations, performance and success, and the importance of understanding our ingrained assumptions about culture as it relates to career. Descriptions of these sources are included at the end of this module.
David Thomas and Monica Higgins (1996) studied the processes by which minority employees use their “relationship constellation” to integrate their sense of self and profession in changing work environments. According to Thomas and Higgins, racial minorities and women in a “Boundaryless Career” environment need to look beyond their employers for both psychological and instrumental support to navigate their careers. So, while employer involvement in employee career mapping is necessary, managers need to be aware that many critical developmental relationships, such as those with professional associations, “outside work friends,” former educational institutions, and community groups will be used as well.
Mosaic Web Resources Home