Career Pandemonium - Realigning Organizations and Individuals

8/2/2019 Career Pandemonium - Realigning Organizations and Individuals

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I Academy of Ma nage me nt Executive, 1996 Vol. 10 No. 4

Career pandemonium:Realigning organizationsand individualsKenneth R. Brou sseau, Michael I. Driver, Kristina Eneroth, and Rikard L arsson

Executive Overview Widespread internal changes in organizations are wreaking havoc on traditionacareers. Many people are experiencing major difficulties in their attempts toadapt to the uncertainties of career life. Observing these difficulties, writers oncareers have begun to advise individuals to take personal control over theircareers by becoming more versatile in their skills, accepting of change, andactive in shaping their life at work. Increasingly, organizations are seen asfreed from the responsibility of managing careers in their efforts to remainflexible and ready to shift with environmental changes. However, bothindividuals and organizations have needs for stability and for change.Organizations are better advised to adopt a pluralistic approach to careermanagement that embraces different definitions of careersuccess. In so doing,they will be better able to support the diverse needs of their employees and,simultaneously, enable the organization to reward and maintain diversecompetencies in their workforces.

Change requires change. Organizations today are making abundant changesinternally to cope with a highly turbulent external environment. With frequentreorganizing, downsizing, rightsizing, delayering, flattening the pyramid,teaming and outsourcing taking place, careers and career opportunities are inpandemonium resulting from the progressive destabilization of relationshipsbetween people and organizations.'Several leading business journals recently declared that the job itself, as avehicle for packaging work, is on the endangered species list. They write thatthe constant reorganizations and downsizings have fundamentally ruptured theinformal employment covenant between employer and employee. In a delayeredorganization, getting ahead in one's career may no longer mean ascending acorporate ladder.Various remedies are being offered to deal with the resulting havoc in careers.Typically, the recommendations call for a shift to a new, more change-orienteddefinition of careers and philosophy of career management. Responsibility forcareer development must now lie with the individual, not the organization;individuals should prepare themselves for a career involving frequent changesin employers and in the very nature of the work that they perform. People needto be more flexible and versatile in their skills and knowledge, and must bewilling to go anywhere, at any time, and at a moment's notice, to do anything.One must not cling to a job, organization, or type of work. Those who still thinkof getting ahead in terms of moving up, who feel commitment to a particularfunction or type of work, must get in tune with the times and learn to adapt andto let go.

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Brousseau, Driver, Eneroth, and Larsson

People need to bemore flexible andversatile in their skillsand knowledge, andmust be willing to goanywhere, at anytime, and at amoment's notice, to doanything. One mustnot cling to a job.organization, or typeof work. Those whostill think of gettingahead in terms ofmoving up. who feelcommitment to aparticular function ortype of work,must getin tune with the timesand learn to adaptand to let go.

While such recommendations have real meri t , this real i ty can also be m a n a g e dfrom a different perspect ive. Organizat ions need stabi l i ty and commitment , andso do individuals. Organizat ions need growth and, consequently, they needpeople who i tch to drive and build theorganizat ion. Organizat ions needindividuals who are highly versat i le and adaptive, people who thrive on varietand change.^Organizat ions should not , however, merely abandon past , s tat ic, narrowconcepts about careers in favor of new, more change-oriented career conceptsthat are equally narrow. This repeated cycle of out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new is likely to increase ra ther than reduce pandemonium. Ins tead, a morepowerful strategy is to incorporate older, more stat ic career concepts along withnewer, more dynamic career concepts into a plural ist ic strategy for deal ing wi tcareers and organ izat ional ar ran gem ents . A plural ist ic framework wil l serve asa means for coping wi th change and thediverse needs of organizat ions andpeople , and at the same t ime, as a tool for real igning individuals andorganizat ions .

Career PandemoniumThe End of the jobA recent Fortune mag azin e art icle ass erts that the concept of the job is anartifact of the industr ial era that is now becoming obsolete:

The reality we face is much more troubling, for what is di sappear ing is notjust a cer ta in number of jobs or jobs in certain industr ies or jobs in some parof the country or even jobs in America as a whole. What is di sappear ing isthe very thing itself: the job.^The pract ice of organizing work into fixed sets of t asks that are ass igned tospecific people or groups of people on a more or l ess permanent bas is is nowbeing transformed and replaced by the pract ice of organizing work into clustersof functions or general fields without specific, defined tasks or fixed duties. Asthe industr ial era is replaced by the knowledge era, another wri ter predicts ,both jobs and managers wi l l be gone.* If accurate , these predict ions hav ebroad-reaching impl ications for the structure of careers in the near future.The Bioken Covenant Between Em ployei and EmployeesIn previous decad es , an unspoken covenant between employer and employeebas ical ly assured cont inued employment in exchange for performance andloyalty.^ Downsizings, head-count reductions, and large-scale layoffs haveeffectively nullified that covenant. Employees can count on nobond with theiremployers beyond an immediate paycheck.Decline of Hierarchy-Pursuing a t radi t ional , management career up an organizat ional hierarchy hasbecome very diff icul t these days, because in many organizat ions there is nolonger much hierarchy to cl imb. Middle managem ent layers have disappe ared,turning the career ladder into a stepping stool.^ High involvement work teamshandle coordinat ion, scheduling, and work distr ibution without rel iance on fixesupervisory posi t ions. Within these teams, work is often distributed as par t iculasi tuat ions require. Team members are expected tohandle different kinds oftasks at different times and to share any expert ise that they may have. The

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Academy of Management Executive

ideal team member is one who has many diverse ski l ls and who can easi lywork without direct supervision. In such teams, there is little room forindividuals who wish to direct the activities of others. Nor do these teamsprovide a friendly environment for those who wish to specialize in one functionor specialized set of activities. Consequently, there are no real jobs in thetradi t ional sense and no stepping stones to more senior posi t ions.Geneiation X and Changing Woikfoice ValuesThe new generat ion now entering the workforce has values that do not favororgan izat ional com mitment . A recent Fortune art icle says th e me mb ers ofGen erat ion X do not ap pe ar to hav e any pa rt icular interest in cl imbingcorporate ladders or in spending their careers in one type of work or job.Instead, they want to explore and do different kinds of work in order to learnabout themselves and to express their individual values.^ This makesGen erat ion X emp loyees very difficult to m an ag e. They don't care ab out fancytitles, are unimpressed with the need to do specif ic tasks in specif ic waysmerely beca use a bos s wishes them to, an d wa nt their work to hav e m ean ing.Since one worker 's meaning is another 's drudgery, organizat ions wil l have toadopt creative, unorthodox methods if they are to benefit from the energy andefforts of the new generation.Cioss Cuiients and FluxAs older, bewildered, and disenfranchised workers search for a stable place tocomplete their careers in the midst of constant change, other workers find theirearlier successes in ascending a career ladder cut short by a free-fall into aninterdiscipl inary, self-managing team environment. Meanwhile, youngerworkers search for meaning in a world lacking in commitment to anythingbeyond survival from one quarter to another. No wonder careers are inpandemonium.Monolithic Antidotes to Career PandemoniumAt f irst glance, a reasonable organizat ional strategy for remaining nimble andagile is to eliminate virtually all vestiges of structure, along with jobs,functional departm ents, and estab l ished ca reer t racks. Wh en the environm entchanges, nothing formal in the organizat ion needs to be changed. At Ideo, alarge Palo Alto, California, industrial design firm, for example, no one has atitle or boss. The firm's head of marketing, Tom Kelly, claims that hiring theright people is the key to success. "If you hire the right peopleif you got theright fitthen everything will take care of itself." ^Ideo's solut ion essential ly requires abandoning one narrow defini t ion of careersuccess for a definition better suited for a changing world, but just as narrow ini ts insistence upon change as the fundamental principle of career success.Career management in the de-jobbed, de-structured organizat ion wil l extendli t t le beyond assuring recrui tment of appropriately adaptive employees.Employees, in turn, must prepare to fend for themselves, relying on nobody andnothing but their own capabil i t ies. The more diverse those capabil i t ies, thebetter prepared they wil l be to move quickly and surely as old opportunit iesfade and new ones arise. Individuals must "pack their own parachutes" andbecome "free agents" on their own.^Such monoli thic career solut ions encourage the development of a "careerresilient workforce," composed of "employees who not only are dedicated to theidea of continuous learning but also stand ready to reinvent themselves to keep

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In an organizationwhere everyone isexpected to doanything and to beready for change at amoment's notice, thereis unlikely to be muchincentive oropportunity to investin the development ofhighly sophisticatedand technical skills.

pace with change; who take responsibi l i ty for thei r own career managementand, last but not least, who are committed to the company's success." 'In this scenario, if organizat ions shoulder any responsibi l i ty for careers beyondrecrui tment , it m ay be to help employees to regularly assess their ski l ls ,in terest s , and values so that they can figure out for themselves what kind ofwork experiences to seek. For these strategies towork on any large scale fororganizat ions and for the workforce, however, there are a number of difficultrequirements and condit ions that need to be satisfied.First, there need to be enough workers with very high levels of tolerance foruncertainty and confidence in their ability tohandle whatever chal lenges arethrown their way. If a majority of workers must fit this descript ion, it is no t at aclear that this requirement can be met, especial ly in the near future. In the shoterm, this solution is likely to replace one group of career winners with anotherPeople who prefer stabi l i ty and/or l inear progress in their careers, and who inthe past have best fit the avai lable opportunit ies, are l iable tobecome the newlosers, as pandemonium is transferred from one group to another .Second, there is the matter of expert ise. Some work requires lengthy and highlspecial ized training. In a knowledge- and information-based economy, the skiland knowledge of people with special expert ise replace physical and f inancialcapi ta l as the essent ia l assets of the organizat ion. In an organizat ion whereeveryone is expected todo anything and to be ready for change at a moment 'snotice, there is unlikely to be much incentive or opportunity to invest in thedevelopment of highly sophist icated and technical skills. The jack-pf-all-tradem ay be essent ia l in some work si tuat ions, but not sufficiently skilled orknowledgeab le in many others .Third, if employees are to be discouraged from staking any significant portion their careers with any one organizat ion, who wil l care enough to driveorganizat ions forward toward growth and prosperi ty? With no special t ies to, oidenti ty with, the organizat ion, employees may not even have enough of anemot ional s take in long-term organizat ional outcomes to feel alienated fromtheir employers. Indifference and opportunist ic apathy could becomewidespread .Final ly, the monoli thic solut ion assumes that ei ther there wil l be little need fordifferent organizational solutions in the future or that implementing newsolut ions when needed can be accomplished with little cost to individuals ororganizat ions . Whi le the newly heralded change-or iented app roach is certainlymore sui ted for future turbulence than stability, there are still l ikely to beper iods when re levant par t s of the environment and organizat ions becomerelatively stable. Being limited toone approach would signif icantly constrainthe ability of organizat ions todynamically interact with not only different typeof individuals but also with the ebbs and flows of change in specific areas ofthe environment.A Pluralistic ApproachIns tead of shifting wholesale from structure and stability to free-form andchange-fr iendly organizat ional arrangements and career pract ices, we sugges tthat both organizat ions and the workforce as a whole might benefit more fromplural ist ic approach that combines varied amounts and types of organizat iona


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structure with an array of quite different career experience opportunities.Organizations would retain sufficient structure to maintain certain corecompetencies and organizational leadership, while utilizing more dynamic andless structured arrangements to meet the demands of external change and flux.This pluralistic approach to organization design would naturally provideopportunities for diverse career experiences, would minimize the likelihood ofpleasing one group of employees while alienating another, and would providethe basis for maintaining a diverse workforce with which to meet changingbusiness conditions more effectively.In many, if not most, U.S. organizations, a career has been defined as a steadyprogression toward positions of increasing authority and responsibility. Careersuccess has been measured in terms of position in an organizat ionalhierarchy.' ' A pluralis tic framework specifies that there are markedly differentways of defining career success and, consequently, markedly differentapproaches to career management and development in organizations.

In our work, we have found it very useful to draw upon a multiple careerconcept model that identifies four fundamentally different patterns of careerexperience. The four patternsor career conceptsbasically differ in terms ofdirection and frequency of movement within and across different kinds of workover time. The four concepts can be combined in various ways to form hybridconcepts that, in turn, can be used to describe many different patterns of careerexperience . Distinctly different sets of motives under lie each of the fourconcepts.'^ That is, individuals who differ in their endorsement of particularcareer concepts as descriptive of the ideal career also differ predictably in theirunderlying work and career-re lated motives. Table 1 presents a summary of theconcepts and key associated motives.

The Lineal Caieei ConceptThe ideal linear career consists of a progressive series of steps upward in ahierarchy to positions of ever-increasing authority and responsibility. Peoplewho see the ideal career in linear terms often find it difficult to imagine anyother definition of success. In the U.S., in particular, the linear concept is deeplyrooted in the cultural emphasis American society places on upward mobility.Chief among the motives that people with strong linear concepts bring to theircareers are power and achievement. They are motivated by opportunities tomake important things happen.

The Expeit Caieei ConceptThe expert career is one involving lifelong commitment to some occupational

Table 1Four Career Concepts

Direction ofmovementDuration of stayin one fieldKey motives

LinearUpwardVariablePowerAchievement

Key FeaturesExpert

Little movementLifeExpertiseSecurity

and MotivesSpiral

Lateral7-10 yearsPersonal growthCreativity

TransitoryLateral3-5 yearsVarietyIndependence

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field or special ty. Once the career choice has been made , the individual focuseon further developing and refining his or her knowledge and skills within thatspecial ty. If there is upward movement , it is roughly from apprentice tojourneyman tomaster , a reflection of the origins of the expert concept in themedieval guild structure. Old as it is, there are many people who view theexpert career concept as descript ive of their ideal career .People with strong expert career concepts know clearly that what they desiremost in their careers is exper t i se or technical competence, and security ors tabi l i ty . Get t ing ahead means becoming more and more proficient in theirspecial t ies. The nature of the work they perform is an integral part of theirself-identity. A quick line ar trip up the corporate ladder could be an al ienat ingexper ience for an individual with a strong expert career concept .The Spiial Caieei Concep tThe spiral career is one in which a person makes periodic major moves acrossoccupat ional are as , specia l t ies , ordiscipl ines. Ideal ly, these moves come everyseven to ten years , a span that seems topermit individuals sufficient time todevelop in-depth competence, if not full mastery, in many fields before movingon to new ones. The ideal spiral move is from one area (e.g., engineering orresearch) into an allied area (e.g., product development). The new field draws oknowledge and ski l ls developed in the old field, and at the same t ime throwsopen the door to the development of an entirely new set of knowledge andski l ls . Like their l inear career counterparts , spirals bring numerous motives totheir careers. Chief among them are personal development and creativity.

The spiral career isone in which a personmakes periodic majormoves acrossoccupational areas,specialties, ordisciplines. Ideally,these moves comeevery seven to tenyears, a span thatseems to permitindividuals sufficienttime to developin-depth competence,if not full mastery, inmany fields beforemoving on to newones.

The Tiansitoiy Caieei ConceptThe transi tory career is the least t radi t ional , one of consistent inconsistency. Thideal t ransi tory career is one in which a person moves every three to five yearsfrom one field or job to a very different orwholly unrelated field or job.People who intent ional ly pursue transi tory careers often do not think ofthemselves as actual ly having careers. They are merely treat ing themselves tofascinat ing smorgasbord of work experiences, seeking variety andi ndependence .Shifting Alignment of Individuals and OrganizationsOrganizat ions in the pas t adapted to the relat ively stable external environmenthey faced with mechanist ic structures and efficient bureaucracies. Employeeswith expert and l inear careers had the advantage. Experts benefi ted from thestability of organizat ional ar rangements and special ty job classif icat ions.Linears looked forward to real opportunit ies for upward advancement , at leastwithin their special functions. All that was needed to help things a long was abit of organizat ional growth toopen up more jobs at higher levels of theorganizat ion.These s table and highly structured organizat ional environments were decidedlyless friendly to employees with spiral and t ransi tory careers. Things just didn'tchange enough; boundar ies between jobs and departments were too r igid;people whose resumes bet rayed lots of change were l ikely to be viewed asunrel iable. Now things have shif ted. As organizat ions internal ly have becomemore turbulent and structures have become more organic, people with spiraland transi tory careers are much more at home and much more welcome.


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Organizat ions want people who are prepared to move and adapt f lexibly tochanging circumstances. People with l inear and expert careers, on the otherhand, now face much less fr iendly environments. Experts cannot count on muchjob security, and can count even less on having a stable job description or roleto play, let alone on having opportunities to refine their specialized skills.Linears have little prospect of moving up when the ladder is so short. To makematters even worse for the l inears, the demographic bulge of the mid-careerbaby boomers is making competi t ion exceptionally intense for the dwindlingnumber of higher level posi t ions on ever-shortening corporate ladders. '" 'In Favor of C areer PluralismOrganizat ions that support plural ist ic concepts of careers stand to gain theadvantage of developing and maintaining within their workforces diverse setsof complementary ski l ls and capabil i t ies. These ski l ls provide dist inctcompeti t ive and survival advantages in a fast-moving, unpredictable, andlargely unforgiving world.Individuals who differ in their career concepts and motives do not merely differ;they clearly complement each other as well . Consider the behavioralcom peten cies that are likely to be supp orted m otivation ally by different care erconcepts, as show in Table 2.Organizations differ in the particular mix of competencies they require at anyone time. It follows that they have variable needs for people with particularcareer motives, and further that they need plural ist ic career managementpract ices. Writers on careers have noted increasingly that organizat ions need toadjust th eir caree r cultures. ' '* For insta nc e. Hall and Richter recomm end a shiftaway from what they call the promotion culture of the past. '^ Such a cultureholds that moving up the hierarchy is a good thing, and that the best people arethe people who can and do get promoted to the highest levels. In short , apromotion cul ture is what we cal l a l inear career cul ture.Table 3 pres ents a sum mary of organiza t ional caree r cul tures as related to thefour career concepts.The cultural out l ines shown in the table clearly represent examples ofmonoli thic career cul tures. In pract ice, however, most organizat ions are notnearly so consistent or monolithic in their cultures. In fact, organizational careercultures in some organizat ions seem to consist of a hodge-podge of inconsistentelements. For instance, a survey in a major aerospace organizat ion revealedthatat least in the eyes of i ts employeesthe organizat ion had an expertstructure, and valued expert competencies, but emphasized l inear rewards. '^This is not plural ism, but rather a career management mess of inconsistent .

Table 2Career Motives and Associated Behavioral CompetenciesLinear Expert Spiral Transitory

Leadership Quality Creativity SpeedCom petitiveness Commitment Teamwork NetworkingCost-efficiency Reliability Skill diversity AdaptabilityLogistics man agem ent Technical competence Lateral coordination Fast learningProfit orientation Stability orientation People development Project focus58


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Structure

Valued PerformanceFactors

Rewards

LinearTall pyramidNarrow span ofcontrolLeadershipEfficiency

Table 3Organizat ional Career Cul turesExpert

ElatStrong functionaldepar tmentsQualityReliabilityLogistics ma nag em en t Stability

PromotionsManagementperquisitesExecutive bonuses

Technical competenceFringe benefitsRecognition awardsContinuing technicaltraining

SpiralMatrixSelf-directed,interdisciplinary

teamsCreativityTeamworkPeople developmentLateral assignm entsCross-trainingCreative latitude

TransitoryLoose amorphousstructureTemporary teamsSpeedAdaptabilityInnovationImmediate cashbonusesIndependence andautonomySpecial temporaryassignmentsJob rotation

confl ict ing philosophies. Such a si tuat ion is not uncommon in organizat ionswhere different philosophies, policies, and practices are put in motion bydifferent groups, at different times, and for different purposes.Strategic Pressures on Career CulturesOrganizat ional strategy gives r ise to needs for certain ski l ls and competenciesthat in turn need to be sup ported by organizat ion al h um an resource pract ices . In Table 4, we show how the se strateg ic pres sures logically l ink to careerconcepts. '^ The table shows a cross-classification of strategy, competitiveadv antag e, and organizat ional career cul ture . A par t icular organizat ionalstrategy makes requirements on the behavior of the organizat ion, which in turnplaces demands on certain competencies in the organizat ion, andthrough themotivat ional connectionindicates the career cul ture needed to support thestrategy.For example, a strategy of growth through greater penetration of a specificmarket (Column 1) would l ikely require hav ing a dist inct ive price a dv an tag eover competition achieved through high volume/low cost production (Column 2)which in turn would be supported best with a linear career culture (Column 3).A l inear cul ture would provide the best support bec au se of the m otivat ional

Table 4Linking Organizational Strategies to Career CulturesStrategic Direction

GrowthDeeper market penetrationMaintain positionDiversificationEntrepreneurial opportunityNew market creation

Strategic AdvantageLow PriceHigh volume/low costQualityReliabilityCreativityInnovationSpeedNoveltyEase of use

OrganizationCareer CultuLinearExpertSpiralTransitory


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predisposi t ion of people with l inear career motives toward competi t ion,efficiency, a nd profit orien tation (see Table 2). In contras t, spir als m ight be mo reinclined to emphasize innovation and creativity over efficiency, and expertswould be inclined to deal with efficiency and quality trade-offs in favor ofquali ty.As the table indicates, a spiral cul ture would bet ter support a strategy cal l ingfor creativity and diversification. An expert culture would better support astrategy aimed at maintaining the organizat ion's posi t ion based on high quali tyan d h igh rel iabi l i ty produ cts and services. A transi tory cul ture would sui t astrategy of exploi t ing new opportunit ies by get t ing into new markets quicklywith highly innovative or easy to use products or services.Non-Strategic Pressures on Career CultureAlthough we view strategy to be an important considerat ion in shapingorganizat ional career cul ture, but i t is one considerat ion among others.Addit ional considerat ions would include the actual career concepts of currentemployees, the level of technology of the industry and the rate of change. In anideal world, organizat ional strategy would be formulated also on the basis ofthese other considerat ions. An organizat ion might modify i ts strategy orconstruct a strategy based at least in part on the career motives of itsemployees and their present competencies. For instance, an organizat ion with ahigh frequency of spiral motives in its workforce might deliberately give itsstrategy a spiral twist by seeking out opportunit ies to move into new technologyareas or to launch new spinoff products or services.Pluralistic Career CulturesWhen we speak of plural ist ic career cul tures, we have in mind a thoughtfulblending of elements from two or more of the columns shown in Table 3. Thereare many ways to do this, from those that are very simple and easy toimplement, but l imited in scope, to those that are very complex and broad inscope, but require signif icant t ime an d en ergy to implemen t. Exhibit 1 show sseveral types of methods that vary in complexity.

Exhibit 1

Plura l is t ic CareerM a n a g e m e n t M e t h o d s ,

C o u n s e l i n gL e s s C o m p l e x

C o n t r a c t s C a f e t e r i aM o r e C o m p l e x

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Tiaining and CounselingThe training and counsel ing method is very easy to implement, and probably fothis reason i t is the single most common approach in use today to developcareer plural ism in organizat ions.^^ I t holds that through training, assessment,and counsel ing, the organizat ion exposes large segments of i ts employee andmanagerial populat ion to plural ist ic career concepts.There is usual ly no part icular identif icat ion of any career concept as beingbetter than others. People learn about al ternat ive career concepts, getassessment feedback about their own concepts and motives, and receive l imitecounsel ing on what career t racks would make sense for them. Employees areencouraged to make informed choices about their own careers in l ight ofavai lable oppor tuni t ies .For example, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, director of humanresources Wayne Boswell and his staff have been conducting career awarenesworkshops using plural ist ic career concepts for various divisions and units .Boswell , however, has taken this approach one step further by also trainingcareer mentors to use plural ist ic career concepts in advising their counselees.Linda Jensen, who directs career development programs at NASA AmesResearch Center in Palo Alto, California, has begun a similar program aimed aexposing the center 's ent ire management and employee populat ion to plural istcareer concepts.Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, under the direction of Tom Pritchard, haexperimented with t raining and counsel ing in plural ist ic career concepts bybeginning training at executive and senior management levels. In theseworkshops, executives and managers get feedback in their own career conceptand mot ives and are t ra ined to use career concepts in making task ass ignmentand in advis ing thei r subordinates .Johnson and Johnson has used career concepts t raining and assessment tofacilitate the staffing and development of special "tiger teams" formed to speedthe development of high-priority, new products.ConfracfsTailoring formal or informal contracts is another way to move the organizationtoward career plura l i sm. Managers and employees agree on a par t icularprogram of career development for each individual, or for groups of employees.These programs vary in terms of how detailed they are with respect to specificassignments. However, they usual ly are quite explici t about career direct ion,e.g., promotion within a particular functional area, upward movement withinproject mana gem ent , ass ig nm ents involving new busin ess ventures . A c learexample of the contract ing approach that has been in use for several decades isome organizat ions is the dual-career ladder. In organizat ions with dual ladderthere is one ladder for people pursuing a l inear-style managerial or executivecareer path, and a separate ladder for individuals pursuing careers as technicaspecia l i s t s .This second ladder implici t ly is intended for managing expert careers, but isoften a l inear perspect ive on expert careers. For example, to move up theladder, one often must take on more responsibility and do more important workIdeal ly, an expert career management system would al low real experts tocontinue doing what they have been doing with increasing lat i tude and

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In a traditionalorganization where asingular or monolithiccareer managementsystem has been inoperation, analternative systemmay create a careeralternative that isperceived as secondclass. This mayaccount at least inpart for the difficultieswith the "mommytrack" as analternative to moretraditional careers.

autonomy. In addit ion, technical ladders often take on a second-class st igmawhen i t becomes clear that the highest levels on the ladder st i l l do notcommend as much compensat ion as the highes t levels on the manager ia ll adder s .This raises a general point of caution. In a t radi t ional organizat ion where asingular or monoli thic career management system has been in operat ion, anal ternat ive system may create a career al ternat ive that is perceived as secondc lass . This may account at least in part for the difficulties with the "mommytrack" as an al ternat ive to more tradi t ional careers.^"At present , embracing diversi ty and plural ism may st i l l represent a realchal lenge in many organizat ions. Nonetheless, we have seen a t rend towardmore wil l ingness in organizat ions to negotiate special , non-tradi t ional , careerplans from a plural ist ic perspect ive. This seems more common in smallerorganiza t ions with less bureauc racy an d fewer f ixed policies. A good exa mp le iTranspacif ic Development Company, a large real-estate development andmanagement f i rm where individual ass ignments and career planning arecarried out interact ively with the employees ' career concepts and motives takeninto account. This approach is not limited to smaller firms, however. At AtlanticRichfield Com pan y (ARCO), wh ere the re is a gre at de al of latera l m ovem ent,special arrangements are prepared for people wishing to shif t career paths, asin the case of tanker captains who wish to come ashore to pursue careers inmanagement . Specia l agreements are of ten made on compensat ion packages toease the financial impact of moving from one track to another.Cafeteiia MethodsCafeter ia-s tyle career management programs are among the newer approachesto career pluralism in organizations.^^ These plans provide an array ofcareer-track options, t raining opportunit ies, performance evaluat ion schemes,and reward systems to make i t possible for employees to have careerexperiences that are most in synch with their own career careers and motivesand with the strategy of the organizat ion.Tetra Laval , a major food-processing and food-packaging companyheadquar tered in Sweden, has used the t ra ining and counsel ing approach tofamil iarize managers and employees with mult iple career concepts. MarieHogstedt , human resources manager, reports useful insights provided by thecareer concept model for developing more plural ist ic appraisal and rewardsystems that can evaluate a broader set of career competencies and motivatemore of the employees to develop and apply these competencies.Tom Pri tchard at Eli Li l ly has also moved beyond training and counsel ing toencourage more plural ism by explici t ly tai loring performance evaluat ions toincorporate mult iple career concepts. He and his staff have experimented withone division's annual talent assessment procedure, in which al l employees arerated by management in terms of their career potential . The talent assessmenthad focused exclusively on potential for upward movement. Pri tchard's projectexpanded the assessment to include rat ings also for lateral movement, and fortechnical development, thereby encompassing spiral and expert careerorientat ions, as well as l inear. The introduction of the new talent assessmentswa s com bined w ith training for m an ag ers to famil iarize them w ith the logic ofnon-linear career concepts. In addition, Eli Lilly has for a number of years

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Pay systems aregradually movingtoward morepluralism. NorthernTelecom is revampingits performancemanagementphilosophy, andexamining ways tointroducecompensation systemsthat support, ratherthan penalize, careerpluralism. Thesewould offer employeesdifferent paypackages based ontheir career motivesand career tracks.

identif ied transferable ski l l posi t ions that enable individuals to movespiral-fashion from unit to unit and function to function.Northern Telecom has formed leadership development programs for each of fivefunctional special t ies to assist and encourage young people to develop outsidethe confines of their traditional expert silos. The programs provide a functionalbase and identi ty while individuals work on far-f lung developmentalassignments. Each program has a central coordinator who is involved inrecrui t ing and select ing people for the program, planning developmentalassignments and negotiat ing posi t ions in various Northern Telecomorganizat ions world-wide. Part icipants come together annually for t raining,special projects, and for sharing their experiences.Joe Stelliga, who heads NorTel's HR LDP, finds that the program is a great toolin recruiting high quality, young talent. Rita McCracken, Northern Telecom'sofficial Organizational Thrill Seeker and People Development Visionary (that 'sher actua l ti tle!), and a recent gra du ate of a leaders hip develop men t p rogram ,reports that the company is discovering that young people bring mult iple needswith them to their careers and that the leadership development programs areone means of deal ing wi th these needs .The high frontier of cafeteria programs is compensation. In most organizations,compensat ion systems are fundamental ly l inear in their design. Money isstacked up on the management ladder. To get ahead f inancial ly in anysignif icant way, one must move up the organizat ion to higher-level pay gradesbased on scope of responsibi l i ty for budgets and people. Recently, however,some organizat ions have begun exper iment ing wi th non- l inear pay sys tems,such as pay-for-performance and ski l l -based pay plans, which compensateindividuals on the basis of the range of skills and work functions at which theyhave demonstrated proficiency. These plans, intended to encourage ski l ldiversity and flexibility, favor spiral career motives.Pay systems are gradually moving toward more plural ism. Northern Telecom isrevamping i t s per formance management phi losophy, and examining ways tointroduce compensat ion systems that support , rather than penalize, careerplural ism. These would offer employees different pay packages based on theircareer motives and career t racks.Designing and Managing Pluralistic Career CulturesFirms should view organizat ional career cul ture as dynamic, requir ing periodicreadjustm ents a s strategic consid erat ions dem and a nd as the cha ngin g mix ofemployees ' career motives and competencies shif t , ei ther as employees turnover, or as individual employees change career motives and competencies overt ime.Exhibit 2 show s a schem a for eva luat in g organizat ion al and em ployee n eed sand for making periodic adjustments in career management pract ices. Thecrucial aspect of this approach is that the process we describe is i terat ive. Theris no notion that one configuration of career culture attributes will be optimalacross t ime. Fi t is considered a dynamic phenomenon requiring periodicreassessment and readjus tments .When viewed from this perspect ive, career plural ism is defined as a system thaoffers diversity within and across different periods of time, but not always inequa l measure .

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Exhibit 2I t e r a t i v e l y A d j u s t i n g S t r u c t u r ea n dC a r e e r M a n a g e m e n t P r a c t i c e s CounseZ /nga r e e r - R e l a t e dE v a l u a t io n o f

O r g a n i z a t i o n a l S t ra t e g ya n d O b j e c t i v e s I d e n t i f y

O p t i m a l C a r e e rM a n a g e m e n t

P r a c t i c e s

I d e n t i f yO p t i m a l O r g .

S t r u c t u r eA s s e s s m e n t

o f E m p l o y e e sC a r e e r C o n c e p t s

a n d M o t iv e s PeriodicReassessmentLoop

C o n t r a c t s

C d e t e r i a

At any one po i n t , it may be op t ima l for bo th the o r g a n i z a t i o n and its e m p l o y e e sto p la c e g r e a t e r e m p h a s i s on r e w a r d s and o t he r o r g a n i za ti o n a l a r ra n g e m e n t st ha t s uppo r t c e r t a i n combi na t i o n s of c a re e r m o t iv e s m o r e th a n o t h e r s , b a s e d ons t r a t e g i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n s and e m p l o y e e s ' m o t i ve s . W h at is op t ima l in ones t r a t e g i c e n v i r o n m e n t or for one e m p l o y e e p o p u l a t i o n may not be op t ima l whenn ew empl oye e s w i th d i f f e r e n t mo t ive s have e n t e r ed the pic t u r e , or m o r ee x p e r i e n c e d e m p l o y e e s h a v e e n t e r e d d i f f e r e n t c a r e e r s t a g e s .

E l e m e n t s of t h i s appr oach are now b e i n g i m p l e m e n t e d at Educa t i o na l T e s t i n gService in P ri nc e t o n , New J e r s ey , by An dr ea S chu t z, v ic e p r e s i d e n t of h u m a nr e s o u r c e s , and her staff. ETS has for s e v e r a l y e a r s b e e n c o n d u c tin g a p r o g r a m oo r g a n i za ti o n a l r e n e w a l to p r e p a r e for the d e c a d e s a h e a d . The plan is to cr e a t e"hybr id s t r uc tu r e s and c a re e r c u l tu r e s " t h at b u i ld b r id g e s b e t w e e no r g a n i za ti o n a l n e e d s and e m p l o y e e n e e d s . For i n s t a n c e , w h e r e the u n i t ' sobj ec t ive s ca l l bas ical ly for a s p i ra l s t ra te g y b a s e d on crea t ive dive r s i f ica t i on ,b u t e m p l o y e e s ' n e e d s e m p h a s i z e e x p e r t m o t i v e s , the move wi l l be to worktoward a sp i r a l / e xpe r t o r gan i za t i o na l s t r uc t u r e and car e e r c u l t u r e . Th i s wou ldi nvo lve c r e a t i n g i n t e rd i sc ip l i na ry t e ams whe r e f u nc t i o na l expe r t s ma i n t a i n t h e ispec i a l t i e s and are r ewarded bo th for c re a t iv e b r e a k t h ro u g h s and t e chn i ca le x c e l le n c e . T r ai n i n g p r o g r a m s w o u ld aim bo th at m a i n t a i n i n g h i g h l e v e l s oft e chn i ca l expe r t i s e and cr o s s - t r a i n i n g in di f f e r en t f unct i on s .I f succe s s fu l , the ETS ren e wal pro g ram wi ll cr ea t e one of m o s t a d v a n c e d ,p l u r a l i s t i c c a r e e r m a n a g e m e n t s y s t e m s in a l a r g e o r g a n i z a t i o n . As s u c h , it c o u ls e r v e as an impor tan t pro to type for o t h e r c o m p le x o r g a n i za ti o n s .Looking Toward the FutureT h e p r e s e n t p a n d e m o n i u m in c a re e r s m e a n s c o n fu s io n and frust rat ion for m a np e o p l e , but it may provide the i m p e t u s and oppo r t u n i t y to p r o d u c e i n n o v a t i v ec a r e e r s y s t e m s in o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h a t go far b e y o n d t h o s e of the p a s t inmot iva t i n g s t r a t e g i c b ehav i o r and in s e r v i n g the n e e d s of the many r a the r t hanthe few. The few e x a m p l e s t h a t we have c i t ed of o r g a n i z a t i o n s w o r k i n g t o w a r d

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career pluralism demonstrate clearly that we do not need to create new careerlosers out of old career winners.

Endnotes The authors wish to thank the Bank ofSweden Tercentenary Foundation for itsgenerous support of their work on this paperand associated research. The authors also wishto express appreciation to Margaret Allan,Marie Hogstedt, Lynn Newman, and PatrickSweet for their helpful comments andsuggestions on an earlier draft of this paper.' See M.B. Arthur, "Car eer Theory in aDynamic Context," in D.H. Montross and C.J.Shrinkman (Eds.) Career Development in the1990s: Theory and Practice (Springfield, IL:Ch arle s C. Thom as, 1992, 65-84) and P. Sparrowand J.M. Hiltrop, European Human ResourceManagement in Transifion (Hertfordshire, UK:Prentice Hall, 1994) for recent discussions oncareers and HRM in various dynamic situations.^ See E.H. Schein, Career Dynamics: MatchingIndividual and Organizational Needs (Reading,MA: Addison-Wesley, 1978) and C.B. Derr, Work.Family, and Career (New York: Prae ger , 1980)for discussions of the dynamics of, and tensionsbetween, the needs of individuals andorganizations.^W. Bridges, "The end of the job," Fortune,1994, September, 19, 62-74.* CM. Savage, "The Dawn of the KnowledgeEra," OR/MS Today, 1994, December 18-23.^ R.H. Waterman, J.A. Waterman and B.A.Collard, "Toward a career-resilient workforce,"Harvard Business Review, 1994, July-Au gust,87-92.^ See for example, P. Hirsch, Pack Your Own

Parachute: How to Survive Mergers, Takeovers,and Other Corporate Disasters, (Reading, MA:Addison-Wesley, 1987) and CM. Savage, op. cit.' P. Sellers, "Don't Call Me a Slacker,"Fortune, 1994, December 12, 181-196. W. Bridges, op. cit., 68.^ P. Hirsch, op. cit.' Waterman et al. op. cit., 87, 88." See, for ex am ple, M.B. Arthur, D.T. Hall andB.S. Lawrence "Generating New Directions inCareer Theory: The Case for aTransdisciplinary Approach" in M.B. Arthur, D.T.Hall and B.S. Lawrence (Eds.) Handbook ofCareer Theory (Cambridge, UK: CambridgeUn iversity Pr ess , 1989, 7-25).'^ For a recent, more deta iled treatm ent of the

four career concepts and their associatedmotives, see K.R. Brousseau and M.J. Driver"En hancin g Informed C hoice: ACareer-Concepts Approach to CareerAdvisement," SeJecfions, 1994, Spring 24-31. Th eimpact of demographic and organizationaltrends on careers from a career conceptperspective is also discusse d in K.R. Brousseau,"Career Dynamics in the Baby Boom, Baby BustEra," Journal ot Organizational ChangeManagement, 1990, 3,(3), 46-58, an d M.J. D river"Work-Force Personality and the NewInformation-Age Workplace," in An AgingWorkforce Competes (Washington, D.C: TheNational Planning Association and TheNational Council on Aging, 1994).

'= D.T. Hall a nd J. Richter, "C aree r Gridlock:Baby Boomers Hit the Wall," Academy ofManagement Executive 1990, 4(3), 7-21.'* E.H. Schein, "A Critical Look at Curre ntCareer Development Theory and Research," inD.T. Hall and Associates, Career DeveJopmenfin O rganizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,1986, 310-331) calls for a theory and atechnology that deal with the process issues ohow organizations administer performanceappraisal , career p lanning, and managementdevelopment in different ways to better graspthe impact of cultural forces. The connectionbetween culture and careers is extended toinclude both organizational and nationalcultures in a framework by CB. Derr and A.Laurant, "The Internal and External Career: ATheoretical and Cross-Cultural Perspective" inM.B. Arthur, D.T. Hall and B.S. Lawrence (Eds.)Handbook of Career Theory (Cambridge, UK:Ca mb rid ge Un iversity Pre ss, 1989, 454-471).'^ Hall a nd Richter, op. cit.'^ See M.J. Driver and M.W. Coombs, op. cit." See J.E. Butler, G.R. Fer ris, an d N.K. Na pieSfrafegy and Human flesource Managemenf,(Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing,1991) an d C Fom brun, N.M. Tichy an d M.A.Devanna, Strategic Human flesourceManagement (New York: John Wiley & Sons,1984) on the relationship between strategy andhuman resource management .'^ We wish to point out that the l ink age sbetween strategy and career culture presented

in the table are our own propositions. They arnot based upon a body of empirical research.We initially arrived at these propositions byconsidering the kinds of strate gies that, ifsuccessful, logically could be expected to creaorganizational conditions supportive of eachcareer concept. For example, if an organizatioincreases its market share, the organization islikely also to grow in size to support theexpanded levels of activity necessary to servia larger market. This should mean more jobs,including higher level positions that wouldopen up opportunities for the kind of upwardmovement that otherwise is presentlythreatened by organizational down-sizing.Accordingly, a strategy of expansion fits wellwith the Linear career concept. Conversely,individuals with strong attachment to theLinear career concept and with Linear motivesof power and achievement should be mostmotivated to "score the big gains" that areneeded for expansion that in turn would creatthe opportunities for upward motion. So, we sthe linkages as a two-way street. The strategysupports the concept and the concept supportsthe strategy. Similar logic was used to develolinkages between strategy and the otherconcepts.'^ See G.W. Dalton, "Developm ent Views ofCa ree rs in Orga niza tions " in M.B. Arthur, D.T.Hall and B.S. Lawrence, op. cit. 89-109, for anoverview of various develop mental models of


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careers and the organizational impact on ^' The notion of cafeteria HR systems isindividuals. especially linked to flexible reward systems as,

^ See F.N. Schwartz, "Management Women for example, described by E.E. Lawler, Strategicand the New Facts of Life," Harvard Business Pay: Aligning Organizational Strategies andReview, 1989, January-February, 65-76 and L. Pay Systems, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,Bailyn, Breaking fhe Mold, New York: Free 1990.Press, 1993.

About th e Authors Kenneth R. Brousseau is cofounder and managing partner of Decision Dynamics Group, a firmspecializing in behavior profiling and human resource systems design. He has a PhD from YaleUniversity and taught at the Graduate School of Business Administration, the University of SouthernCalifornia. He is coauthor of The Dynamic Decision Maker (Jossey Bass, 1993) and has consulted forNASA, the Educational Testing Service, Johnson & Johnson, Northern Telecom, UPS, and RockwellInternational.Michael J. Driver is a professor of management at the University of Southern California School ofBusiness Administration. He received a BA from Fordham University and an MA and PhD fromPrinceton University. He was an NIMH postdoctoral fellow at the Educational Testing Service anddirector of test development for the U.S. Army Adjutant General Corps. He taught at PurdueUniversity and joined USC in 1968. His major research a reas are decision-making styles, creativeproblem solving, career development, and information systems design.Kristina Eneroth is a doctoral candidate at the School of Economics and Management, LundUniversity, Sweden. She is writing a dissertation on core competence development processes inhigh-tech companies. She has published articles in the Journal of European Financial Managementand /nfernafionaJ Studies of Management and Organization. She is former associate director of theInstitute of Economic Research at Lund University.Rikard Larsson is an associate professor of business administration at the School of Economics andManagement, Lund University, Sweden. He has a PhD from the University of Southern California anda DBA from Lund University. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Policy andStrategic Devision of the Academy of management and a founding partner of Decision DynamicsEurope, which consults for ABB, Tetra Laval, and other companies.

For permission to reproduce this article, contact: Academy of Management, P.O. Box 3020, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510-8020

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Career Pandemonium - Realigning Organizations and Individuals

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