Employees and Employers in Service Organizations

Emerging Challenges and Opportunities

Arvind K. Birdie

• Publisher: Apple Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9781315341637
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

With the increasing globalization and fast-paced technological advances in business today, service organizations must to respond to the changing business dynamic between employers and employees. The service industry has metamorphosed into a revolution not only in United States but in developed and developing countries also. Highly industrialized countries have become 'service economies', at least when measured in terms of share of the workforce employed in service industries.

This new book, Employees and Employers in Service Organizations: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities, the first volume in the 21st Century Business Management book series, provides an in-depth exploration of recent concepts and trends in business management in the service industries. It looks at the changing expectations and loyalties of young workers and others and the challenges and opportunities presented for service employers. The book considers theory and research findings, providing a plethora of practical implications and applications for these new workplace behavior dynamics.

Exploring the different perspectives and concepts from the book's researchers and authors, Employees and Employers in Service Organizations: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities cover themes such as

• work-life balance

• spirituality in the workplace

• emerging positive psychology concepts, such as psychological capital, knowledge management, and mindfulness

• expectations, motivation, and behavior of different generations, such as Generation Y

This informative volume will be valuable for faculty teaching courses in management and self-improvement for leaders and executives as well as for those in service industries.

PART I

Generation Y

CHAPTER 1

PROTEAN CAREER AND BOUNDARYLESS CAREERS: THE CAREER ORIENTATION OF GENERATION Y

ARVIND K. BIRDIE¹ and VANDANA MADHAVKUMAR²*

¹Department of Post Graduate Studies & MBA, IIMT School of Management, Vedatya Institute, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

²GRG School of Management Studies, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

CONTENTS

Abstract

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Gen Y and Protean Career Orientation

1.3 Individuals with Protean Career Orientation

1.4 Gender and Protean Career Orientation

1.5 Implications for Organizations

1.6 Implications for Individuals

1.7 Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Keywords

References

ABSTRACT

For today’s organizations, right people are key differentiators that give them competitive advantage. Due to globalization, career contexts and work environments have changed. Workforce diversity has increased due to technological advancements and the use of outsourcing, part time, and temporary employees. In conjunction with environmental changes, individuals are also altering their career attitudes and behaviors. This comes as a response to the increase in lifespan (and thus working lives), changes in family structures (such as dual-career couples), and the growing number of individuals seeking to fulfill needs for personal learning, development, and growth. One of the most important challenges for HR managers is to acquire and retain the Gen Y employees (born between late 1970s and mid-1990s) who are likely to comprise the bulk of employees.

In times of frequently changing work environments with decreased job stability, it is often more possible for an employee to pursue his career with not one single organization during his or her lifetime but with multiple over time. The decline of the traditional organizational career requires new ways of viewing careers. Over the last decade, two new perspectives on careers have emerged and become popular in the organizational literature: the protean career and the boundaryless career. This chapter reviews this new concept of individual career development practiced by the Gen Y employees whose expectations and preferences are different from their predecessors.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

the path with a heart

—Herb Shepard

Traditionally, career is often described as an individual’s work-related journey, often associated with the employing organization. Careers were seen as linear and occurring within stable hierarchical organizational structures (Levinson, 1978). This form of career, also referred to as the “organizational career,” had limited job mobility as employees stayed with the same organization throughout their professional life. Individual careers in organizations were seen as predictable and secure; an individual entered an organization and strove to rise through the ranks in an attempt to reach higher positions with clearly defined boundaries. Individuals who performed satisfactorily could be expected to be promoted. An employee’s loyalty was rewarded by an organization in the form of job security and lifetime employment. The implicit psychological contract, which refers to a set of mutual expectations between the individual and the employer (Hall & Mirvis, 1996), stipulated that as long as employees provided satisfactory work they could rely on long-term employment with the prospect of promotion in the organization (Baruch, 2006; Hansen, 1997). Career was the responsibility of the organization and employees were committed towards their organization (Sullivan & Baruch, 2009).

In contrast, contemporary careers appear to be more unpredictable, non-linear and vulnerable. Today organizations operate in a complex business environment characterized by stiff competition, disruptive technology advances, globalization and outsourcing (Cooper & Burke, 2002; Kuchinke & Park, 2012). Organizations are therefore no longer in a position to guarantee job security and stable career growth to employees. Employees do not remain with a single employer for their lifetime as the idea of lifetime employment with a single organization no longer holds. Where psychological contract between individual and organization used to be long-term and relational, it has become short term and transactional. The new psychological contract requires individuals to engage in continuous learning and to modify their work-related self-perceptions and identities (Baruch & Hall, 2004). In the contemporary world of work, organizations can expect employees to be loyal only as long as the employee’s short-term expectations are met. In turn, individuals can expect organizations to be loyal only as long as their skills and performance fulfill the organization’s current needs (Hall & Mirvis, 1996).

One consequence of the changed psychological contract is that employees’ job insecurity has increased (Baruch, 2006). During the 20th century, employees might have expected the organization to plan and control their careers, but in an era of increased uncertainty they need to take greater responsibility for their own career development. Hansen (1997) emphasized that because individuals “can no longer rely on their work for security and stability, [they] will become self-directed persons who develop their own careers, gain respect for others and value difference. They will learn to expect change” (Hansen, 1997, p. 247). Employees will need to become increasingly adaptable and multiskilled, which implies that continuous professional development and learning how to learn will take on greater importance in individuals’ careers. It is in this context that Sullivan and Baruch (2009, p. 1543) define career as “an individual’s work-related and other relevant experiences, both inside and outside of organizations that form a unique pattern over the individual’s life span.” The definition identifies mobility between jobs, employers, occupations, and industries (Sullivan & Baruch, 2009). Thus, a new approach to career emerged that transfers the responsibility and risk of managing careers from organizations to individuals. The traditional employee–employer contract has been replaced by transactional relationship (Frenandez & Enache, 2008; Rousseau, 1989) and less loyalty from both sides (Hall, 2002).

Considering these developments, a perspective on careers by Hall (1976a,b) and Arthur and Rousseau (1996) is characterized by a shift of responsibilities for career progress from organizations to individuals and by emphasizing on the individual’s freedom and growth as a core value (cf. Hall, 1976a,b, 2002, 2004). The two key concepts that emerged within this career perspective were the protean career attitude (Hall, 1976a,b, 2004) and the boundaryless career attitude (Arthur, 1994; Arthur & Rousseau, 1996). A protean career attitude has been characterized as involving a broader perspective, a developmental progression, and viewing a career as a calling and a way to self-fulfillment (Hall, 2002). A person with a boundaryless career attitude is characterized by high mobility and prefers to navigate physically and/or psychologically across many organizations (Sullivan & Arthur, 2006).

The “protean career” argues that being self-driven and moving in consonance with one’s own values is necessary for continuous personal transformation and to achieve psychological success (Hall, 1976a,b; Hall & Chandler, 2005, Sargent & Domberger, 2007). In such terms, protean career actors constantly reevaluate their relationship with the organization (Hall, 2002). This stance versus the organization is also reflected in the “boundaryless career” which emphasizes freedom and agency, and is in short, anything, but the traditional career designed by the organization (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996; Cadin et al., 2000; Sullivan & Arthur, 2006). Boundaryless careers can trespass physical boundaries (e.g., organizational or national boundaries) and psychological boundaries (e.g., defying organizational norms for personal reasons) (Peiperl & Jonsen, 2007; Sullivan & Arthur, 2006). Individuals combining the characteristics of both protean and boundaryless careers are suggested to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• About the 21st Century Business Management Book Series
• List of Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Preface
• Part I: Generation Y
• Part II: Technology and Knowledge Management
• Part III: Spirituality and Psychological Capital
• Part IV: Work–Life Balance
• Part V: Managing Stress
• Index