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Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 347

CAREER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: AN EMPIRICAL


SURVEY AND IMPLICATIONS1

Yehuda Baruch and Maury Peiperl2

A key ingredient in the knowledge economy is the development of people’s careers. Companies
approach career development in a variety of ways. To better understand how these approaches fit
together and how they are used to address different situations, the authors surveyed 194 United
Kingdom companies and identified five groups of practices. These groups were associated with
certain organizational characteristics. Drawing on concepts from the careers literature, the au-
thors suggest a two-dimensional model to explore how these groups of practices can be systemati-
cally understood and applied. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Introduction of a late entrant in management theory:


Boerlijst (1984) claimed that the career as a
The study of careers in organizational con- whole began to receive real attention only in
texts—the way in which careers shape and are the 70’s. More systematic study of careers has
shaped by organizations—is short of theoreti- arisen since; yet the organizational aspect in
cal and systematic approaches. Arthur, Hall, career theory still lacks a comprehensive The study of
careers in
and Lawrence (1989) have indicated that the framework. It seems that, apart from norma- organizational
concept of a career is not the property of any tive designs for career systems, there is not contexts—the way
one theoretical or disciplinary view. They pre- yet an accepted theoretical model of career in which careers
sented eight viewpoints from the social sci- processes—let alone any empirical tests of shape and are
ences on the career concept (psychology, such a model. shaped by
organizations—is
social psychology, sociology, anthropology, eco- Meanwhile, the bulk of research in the
short of
nomics, political science, history, and geogra- careers area has moved beyond organizations theoretical and
phy), none of which concentrated specifically to focus on more flexible, individual models systematic
on its organizational aspects. This kind of such as the “Boundaryless Career” (Arthur & approaches.
breadth, while making important links among Rousseau, 1996), “Protean Career” (Hall,
disciplines, leaves the study of careers in or- 1976, 1996), and “Post-Corporate Career”
ganizations without a clear focus. This makes (Peiperl & Baruch, 1997). Clearly the wave of
it difficult to generate a comprehensive theory the future for many people, such careers none-
and subsequently leads to a problem of how theless still involve links between organizations
to design empirical studies to examine such and individuals, although in a less structured
an unfocused concept. Careers are something or permanent way (Brousseau, Driver,

Human Resource Management, Winter 2000, Vol. 39, No. 4, Pp. 347–366
© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
348 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

Eneroth, & Larsson, 1996). Despite the longitudinal study of managers in the Bell
unfashionability of organizational careers, it System and Lindsey, Holmes, & McCall’s
is, therefore, still important to take the orga- (1987) study of high potential managers’
nizational viewpoint into account in under- growth; both of these, however, primarily fo-
standing career practices in order to put the cussed on the individual rather than the or-
newer, more individual views into context. ganization.) Nonetheless, writers have
In this paper, we present the findings of emphasized the importance of career prac-
an empirical survey of career practices in or- tices and activities and the increasing efforts
ganizations and examine how these are ap- exerted by top management in many organi-
plied. Our purpose is to create a model to zations (Hall, 1986). Organizations have as-
provide scholars and practitioners with a gen- sumed more responsibility within this area,
eral framework in which the various practices even if not always by means of traditional,
will be related to one another and to the char- long-term approaches and the career man-
In this paper, we acteristics of organizations applying them. The agement practices they employ need to be
present the
findings of an result may also suggest which kind of career better understood.
empirical survey management practices could fit different or- Very few theoretical career models exist,
of career ganizations and how a system built out of such and most relate to the individual perspective
practices in practices could be based on theoretical think- (Arthur, Inkson, & Pringle, 1999; Dalton,
organizations and ing and empirical evidence. Thompson, & Price, 1977; Driver, 1979;
examine how
these are applied.
The possible contribution of such studies Greenhaus, 1987; Hall, 1976, 1996; Schein,
was demonstrated by Robertson & Makin’s 1978). The theoretical base of organizational
(1986) work on the use of selection practices career management is quite thin (Arthur, Hall,
in 108 organizations. Their study was repli- & Lawrence, 1989; Gunz & Jalland, 1996) and
cated by Shackelton & Newell (1991) and shows little convergence (Peiperl & Arthur,
findings from both show how personnel prac- 2000; Sullivan, 1999). Schein’s cone model
tices can fit together to create good Human of career development is perhaps the only
Resource Management (HRM) practice in the prominent example that reflects both indi-
selection area. The present study explores the vidual developmental paths and organizational
area of career management systems and pro- systems (yet even this is clearly outdated, based
vides a model for the way in which organiza- on its static, single-firm perspective). For the
tional career systems are put into operation. few models that do reflect the organizational
“Career” is here taken to mean a process of aspect, empirical validations are rare. Several
development of the employee along a path of works explore the existence of career manage-
experience and jobs that may be in one or more ment practices (see below), but these were not
organizations (Baruch & Rosenstein, 1992). directed to test theory or build it further. There
HRM in organizations includes many is a need, therefore, to consider the current
practices that are concerned with the man- state of career management practice in orga-
agement of careers. Strategic HRM emerged nizations, to look for patterns, and to associ-
in the 1980s as an attempt to associate HRM ate these with a wider framework.
with the strategy and direction of organiza- To investigate and model career manage-
tions (Fombrun, Tichy, & Devanna, 1984; ment practices require a comprehensive view
more recent efforts include those of Ghoshal of what those practices are. We began with the
& Bartlett, 1997, & Gratton, 2000). Closely broader category of HRM practices and exam-
following came theoretical works relating to ined existing research. Tsui & Gomez-Mejia
careers as a system within the organization, (1988) suggested a list of activities, programs,
and relating them to strategy and HR prac- and methods with which the organization can
tice, including those by Von Glinow, Driver, handle HRM processes. Gutteridge & Otte
Brousseau, & Prince (1983); and Sonnenfeld (1983) also presented a catalogue of organiza-
& Peiperl (1988). Little research, however, has tional HRM practices (see also Dalton & Th-
examined the actual process of career man- ompson, 1986; Flippo, 1984; Hall, 1986;
agement within organizations. (Notable excep- Torrington, MacKay, & Hall, 1985; Tyson &
tions include Howard & Bray’s (1988) Fell, 1986). Among these practices were those
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 349

that had a close relationship with organizational management at the organizational level but
career planning and its management. “Organi- rather fit into the broader category of human
zational Career Management” (OCM), as we resource management (e.g. interview process,
call it, is concerned with the organization car- employee orientation programs). On the other
rying out activities relevant to the career devel- hand, the list did not include certain relevant
opment of its employees. (This is distinct from practices such as common career paths, for-
career management as practiced by individu- mal education, and performance appraisal as
als, consultants, or job centres, for example, it links to career planning.
although it is not mutually exclusive with, but Missing from both lists is any consider-
rather may complement them.) The importance ation of processes reaching beyond the orga-
and prominence of OCM has been recognized nization, such as outplacement consulting or
by many scholars (Gutteridge, 1986; Hall, the facilitation of external networking for later Beyond building
1986; Leach, 1977; Mayo ,1991; Schein, 1978; employment. The argument could easily be a framework for
Van Maanen & Schein, 1977). made that such processes should be included; OCM systems, we
We also looked at several sources which however, it was not clear what a comprehen- also wished to
suggested lists of OCM practices specifically sive list of such “post-corporate” processes connect them
with other
(see for example Baruch 1996; Bowen & Hall would look like, since many of them are cur- features of
1977; London & Stumpf, 1982; Louchheim rently being developed (Peiperl and Baruch, organizations.
& Lord, 1988). An earlier survey by Walker 1997; Peiperl, Arthur, Goffee, & Morris,
& Gutteridge (1979) identified 10 OCM ac- 2000). Therefore we included several blank
tivities, although some of these were closer lines at the end of the list and encouraged
to other aspects of HRM than to OCM (e.g. subjects to add to it (see below) in anticipa-
recruitment, work-family interface). Some as- tion of finding such new practices.
pects of OCM practices and activities had Also missing from the list are full multi-
been discussed by Gutteridge and Otte source 360-degree assessments, as well as job
(1983), but their discussion was limited to assignments that are purely developmental.
10 practices and an evaluation of only three Both have been linked to successful career
of them. Perhaps the widest list was that pro- management (Tornow, London, & Associates,
vided by Gutteridge, Leibowitz, & Shore 1998, pp. 63–66; London & Stumpf, 1986, p.
(1993) in their study of OCM in the United 35). Although these general categories are not
States. Their study, however, concentrated on included, items 3 and 4 (peer and subordi-
large American business organizations only nate appraisal) are specific elements of the
(the top 1,000 United States corporations) first practice, while item 17 (lateral moves to
and might thus have been unrepresentative create cross-functional experience) is a spe-
of broader practice. cific element of the second.

Practices Considered Organizational Characteristics

A set of OCM practices to be used in the sur- Beyond building a framework for OCM sys-
vey was identified from the sources cited tems, we also wished to connect them with
above. These are listed in Table I. While al- other features of organizations. Many organi-
ternatives might be argued, we assumed for zational studies have used demographic data
the purpose of this study that this list covered in addition to the main items under study in
the whole range of OCM practices. (This was order to see where and how their findings were
also supported by a pilot study; see below.) most generalizable. We were particularly in-
The first six items were varieties of appraisal terested in the basic demographic features of
(direct and indirect) while the rest comprised age, size, and industry sector, as well as in in-
a broader mix. A comparison with the list pro- ternal characteristics such as career systems
vided by Gutteridge, Leibowitz, & Shore strategies—in particular the use of internal
(1993) shows a substantial, but not a com- versus external labor markets (the extent to
plete, overlap (see Table II). Some of the tech- which firms hire from outside at other than
niques in that list were not specific to career entry level—see Osterman, 1984) and the bases
350 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

TABLE I Organizational Career Management Practices Used in This Research.

1. Performance appraisal as a basis for career planning


2. Assessment centers
3. Peer appraisal
4. Upward (subordinate) appraisal
5. Career counselling by direct supervisor
6. Career counselling by HR Department
7. Formal mentoring
8. Career workshops
9. Common career paths
10. Dual ladder (parallel hierarchy for professional staff)
11. Written personal career planning (as done by the organization or jointly)
12. Retirement preparation programs
13. Succession planning
14. Books and/or pamphlets on career issues
15. Postings regarding internal job openings
16. Formal education as part of career development
17. Lateral moves to create cross-functional experience

for developmental decisions (Sonnenfeld and such a framework based on his definition of or-
Peiperl, 1988). We thought it would be likely, ganizational culture (“basic assumptions and
for example, that older organizations might be beliefs that are shared by members of an orga-
more apt to use certain practices (such as re- nization”, p. 8). Building on this, Derr & Laurent
tirement planning) than would younger ones, (1989) examined internal and external career
and that larger organizations would be likely systems to suggest that organizational cultures
to use more formal and highly structured OCM play a crucial role in determining career aspira-
practices than would smaller ones. If patterns tions of people within organizations.
of OCM practice emerged from the study, we For this study, we chose a simple set of
wanted to see whether these features were as- four dimensions of organizational climate:
Scholars have
sociated with them. dynamism, group orientation, openness, and
been inclined to Another potentially important element was proactiveness. These measures were adopted
associate climate the presence of unions, which seemed likely from Baruch & Lessem (1994). Although they
with managerial to affect career practices inasmuch as indus- reflect only a subset of the many possible di-
practice and trial relations have a bearing on HRM (Guest, mensions of climate, we felt these measures
structures,
whereas culture
1995; Heckscher, 1988; Kochan, Katz, & might be particularly relevant to the case of
is more closely McKersie, 1986). Past works indicated how career systems.
associated with different types of organizations tend to have
underlying different levels of unionization, and it was of Propositions
values and interest to examine possible associations be-
beliefs…
tween unionization and the type of career man- We expected that the 17 OCM practices would
agement practiced in organizations. cluster together in groups, each with an un-
Third and most complex was organizational derlying characteristic or theme. We also be-
climate. Scholars have been inclined to associ- lieved that differences in the application of
ate climate with managerial practice and struc- the techniques in each cluster would occur
tures, whereas culture is more closely associated depending upon various organizational char-
with underlying values and beliefs (Child, 1984; acteristics including size, age, industry sec-
Denison, 1996; Pettigrew, 1979). Both have tor, climate, and reliance on internal labor
been used in building conceptual frameworks markets. These propositions are as follows:
about organizations (Gunz, 1989; Patterson, P1: The wide range of career management
Payne, & West, 1996). Schein (1985) provided practices will naturally cluster into groups
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 351

according to their common use and survey of career development practices for
intercorrelations among the practices. managers in United Kingdom organizations.
Each organization was asked the following
P2: The groups of practices will be associ- question, referring to the set of practices in
ated with certain characteristics of organi- Table I:
zations such as size, age, unionization, cli-
mate and reliance on internal labor markets. Personnel/Human Resource Management
departments practice a variety of activities,
If such clusters were to be found, they tools, or techniques for handling employees’
could be expected to reflect specific sets of or- career planning and management. Below is
ganizational characteristics. For example, we a list of such activities, tools, or techniques.
believed that practices such as career counsel- For each item on the list, please indicate
ling or career planning would be associated with to what extent the activity, tool, or practice
open and dynamic climates and that 360-de- is applied in your organization for manage-
gree feedback would not be common in union- rial staff.
ized firms. Without having identified the
clusters of practices, however, it was impossible The scale was from 1 (not applied at all)
to develop specific hypotheses about the asso- to 7 (applied extensively). As a check on the
ciations each cluster would evidence. We thus list, participants were also asked to indicate
approached the question purely inductively. whether they applied any additional activities,
tools, or practices. This was done to determine
Method both whether any essential practice was miss-
ing from the list and whether respondents had
We set out to document the use of the OCM correctly interpreted the items (i.e., Did they
practices in Table I in a broad sample of orga- list one of the same practices using different
nizations. Data were obtained from a postal terms?). No attempt was made to measure the

TABLE II The List Developed by Gutteridge, Leibowitz, & Shore (1993).

Employment self-assessment tools: Individual counselling or career discussion with:


career planning workshops supervisor or line manager
career workshops (stand alone) senior career adviser
pre-retirement workshops personnel staff
computer software specialised counsellor: internal/external

Job matching systems:


informal canvassing
Organizational potential assessment process: job posting
promotability forecasts skills inventories or skills audit
psychological testing replacement or succession planning
assessment centers staffing committee
interview process internal placement system
job assignment
Developmental programs:
job enrichment or job design
job rotation
in-house training and development programs
external seminars or workshops
Internal labor market Active Management: tuition reimbursement
career information handbooks supervisor training in career discussion
career ladders or dual-career ladder dual-career couple programs
career resource center mentoring system
other career information format or system employee orientation program
352 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

effectiveness of any practice, as to do this ac- HRM/Personnel in each organization. Al-


curately would have been a far more complex though using a single source of information
undertaking (requiring, for example, multiple for each firm left some risk of bias, there was
respondents from each subject organization). no clear method available for obtaining com-
We assumed that the application of a practice parable second sources from the sample of
implied, if not its effectiveness, then at least firms. While HR managers might be expected
its (perceived) usefulness to the organization. to be knowledgeable about career manage-
The use of an internal labor market was ment practices (at least formal ones), no other
measured by two questions on the number of group of respondents could be guaranteed to
vacancies at middle and senior management have a similar knowledge base.
levels filled internally. These were rated on a The questionnaire was pre-tested on a
scale from 1 (none) to 7 (all). sub-sample of 20 HR directors. No signifi-
In addition, we asked a series of ques- cant additions or changes were necessary
tions about the demographics of the firm in the list of practices as a result, and the
(age, number of employees, unionization, spread of responses on all items was satis-
industry sector, etc.) and also four items on factory. From the subsequent mailing, 194
organizational climate: questionnaires were returned (37%), a con-
siderable rate when compared to other sur-
• stable-dynamic veys conducted at the organizational level
• individually-group-oriented (e.g. Huselid, 1995—28%; Park, Ofori-
• closed/bureaucratic-open/interactive Dankwan & Bishop, 1994—20%). The main
• reactive-proactive characteristics of participating organiza-
tions responding (i.e. size, age, sector of
addressing the elements mentioned above on activity, unionization, and location) are pre-
Likert-type scales of 1 to 7. sented in Table III. The picture derived
from the table is a reasonably broad sample
Participants and Data Sources of United Kingdom organizations stratified
as shown.
The research unit of analysis was the organiza-
tion. The population consisted of a random Analytical Approach
sample of 524 organizations created using The
Personnel Managers Yearbook (1995). This book We first produced a frequency distribution of
contained a list of all 8,500 United Kingdom OCM practices to determine which were used
organizations employing more than 150 people. most and least frequently and whether addi-
We did not include smaller organizations (fewer tional practices should have been included. We
than 150 persons) as in most small organiza- then used a factor analysis (varimax rotation)
tions there is no HRM/Personnel unit as such, to see whether and how the OCM practices
let alone any organizational career manage- clustered together, per Proposition 1. This
ment. The requirements of HRM are different method was applied successfully in former
and are usually taken care of by the owner/man- studies (see Tsui & Milkovich, 1987, for the
agers directly, often on an ad-hoc basis. use of factor analysis to look for groupings of
We used a two-layered random sample: personnel activities). Finally, we ran a corre-
The first layer included 150 organizations lation analysis of the resulting factors with the
that employed up to 500 people and the sec- organizational characteristics to determine
ond, 374 organizations employing more than whether there were any strong links between
500. (A purely random sample would have these characteristics and OCM practice.
included small organizations for more than
half its cases, as the yearbook contained a Results
high representation of small organizations.)
The anticipated source of information was Table IV presents the distribution of the 17 prac-
the HRM/Personnel Manager; thus the ques- tices as spread across the 194 organizations.
tionnaire was sent to the person in charge of The order is from most frequent to least fre-
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 353

TABLE III The Main Characteristics of the Participating Organizations.

Size (number of up to 500 501 to 1,000 1,001 to 5,000 > 5,000


employees) 54 (28%) 42 (22%) 71 (37%) 25 (13%)

Age (years of up to 5 6 to 25 26 to 100 > 100


existence) 27 (14%) 46 (24%) 84 (45%) 31 (17%)

Sector manufacturing services public sector


74 (39%) 33 (17%) 84 (44%)

Ownership private public government other*


76 (39.5%) 41 (21%) 66 (34%) 10 (5.5%)

Unionization most unionized minority unionized non-unionized


89 (46%) 59 (30.5%) 43 (22.5%)

Location London other large cities other


36 (19%) 15 (8%) 141 (73%)

Nation United Kingdom MNC United Kingdom MNC non United


131 (68%) base Kingdom
30 (16%) 30 (16%)

MNC=Multinational Corporation
* such as a combination of these three or employee-owned
N.B. Responses do not all total 194 as several respondents skipped certain questions.

quent use. It was notable that some of the most would expect these two practices to appear
effective techniques, at least as shown by em- higher on the list in future surveys.
pirical studies, failed to appear near the top of Twenty-one companies indicated the use of
the table. These included succession planning, another OCM practice that was not in the above
assessment centers, and peer and upward ap- list, and seven indicated the use of two such
praisals. Succession planning (Miner and practices (total 35 indications). Of these prac- Peer and upward
Miner, 1979) appeared near the middle, rather tices, 11 were individual development items appraisals,
than the top of the table, possibly because of which can be
(with no clear organizational component), and extremely
the increased difficulty of planning effectively five were “secondments”, meaning temporary as- accurate
for succession in continuously changing busi- signment to another area. Of the others, some measures of
nesses—by the time a succession plan is cre- were informal (informal mentoring, for example), performance are
ated, it may already be obsolete. Assessment some were slogans for programs with no spe- still not widely
centers, which have long been seen as effec- used for
cific practices discernible, and several were a
applications such
tive (Bray, 1985; Tziner, Ronen, & Hacohen, re-phrasing of one of the 17. These results indi- as career
1993) are expensive to run and, despite their cated that the suggested list was comprehen- management and
effectiveness, tend to be found only in very large sive, covering the range of possible OCM in particular
organizations which were a minority of the practices. It also suggested that there was a good have taken off
present sample. Peer and upward appraisals, more slowly
(if not perfect) understanding of the 17 prac-
outside the
which can be extremely accurate measures of tices among the subjects in the sample, although United States.
performance (Tornow, 1993), are still not this was not conclusively proven. Finally, the lack
widely used for applications such as career of boundary-spanning activities such as
management and in particular have taken off outsourcing and external networking meant that
more slowly outside the United States. We either the subject firms were not engaged in
354 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

TABLE IV The Use of the 17 Career Practices.

Count of responses by category:

Career Practices* Not applied Applied


at all extensively

No. and Title 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 mean sd N

15. Job Postings 7 10 7 11 29 54 74 5.62 1.65 191

16. Formal education 5 7 20 21 50 61 28 5.08 1.48 191

1. P.A. for career planning 11 10 19 21 63 39 28 4.80 1.63 190

5. Counselling by manager 13 10 27 30 55 40 17 4.52 1.62 191

17. Lateral moves 7 24 33 26 52 37 13 4.33 1.60 191

6. Counselling by HR 26 15 19 34 46 42 9 4.16 1.78 190

12. Retirement Preparation 38 20 15 17 38 33 31 4.15 2.15 191

13. Succession planning 29 30 35 33 29 29 6 3.60 1.75 190

7. Formal mentoring 56 43 21 23 29 16 4 2.95 1.79 191

9. Common career paths 82 16 18 25 34 12 - 2.73 1.80 186

10. Dual ladder 100 17 14 24 21 11 2 2.42 1.77 188

14. Books/pamphlets 80 39 24 21 16 10 1 2.41 1.60 190

11. Written career plans 98 30 18 10 15 17 4 2.38 1.82 191

2. Assessment centers 101 27 15 15 18 9 6 2.34 1.79 190

3. Peer appraisal 107 18 24 15 13 11 4 2.26 1.73 191

8. Career workshops 102 32 20 15 11 7 4 2.15 1.60 190

4. Upward appraisal 122 20 11 12 10 11 4 2.04 1.70 189

*listed from most frequent to least frequent use

such activities, or they did not associate them factors creating a typology which indicates the
with organizational career management. nature of each group of practices:
Basic. Job posting, formal education as part
A Typology of Organizational Career of career development, pre-retirement pro-
Management grams, and lateral moves to create cross-func-
tional experience appeared in this category.
Table V presents the results of the factor analy- These may be seen as elementary OCM prac-
sis. We have labelled each of the five resulting tices which most organizations with HRM sys-
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 355

TABLE V Factor Analysis Results.

Program Basic Active Active Formal Multi-


Planning Management Directional

15. Job postings .79 -.04 .03 -.05 .09

16. Formal education .70 .14 -.01 .26 -.01

12. Retirement preparation .51 .26 -.10 .38 -.18

17. Lateral moves .56 .25 .34 -.05 .09

1. P.A. for career planning .04 .85 .01 .12 .12

5. Counselling by manager .12 .73 .14 .16 -.04

6. Counselling by HR .28 .49 .43 .13 .09

13. Succession planning .24 .54 .24 -.14 .42

2. Assessment centers .00 .13 .75 .04 .16

7. Formal mentoring .11 .20 .63 .35 -.04

8. Career workshops -.01 -.07 .58 .47 .05

14. Books/pamphlets .22 .05 .19 .69 .02

10. Dual ladder .06 .08 .07 .64 .36

11. Written career plans .00 .29 .31 .51 .16

9. Common career paths -.07 .10 .25 .42 .51

3. Peer appraisal -.01 .01 -.08 .23 .75

4. Upward appraisal .07 .10 .14 -.01 .72

Statistics:
Factor Eigenvalue CUM % Cronbach ␣ Designation
1 4.46 26.2 .60 Basic
2 1.78 36.7 .70 Active Planning
3 1.36 44.7 .61 Active Management
4 1.21 51.8 .68 Formal (␣ including item 9)
5 .94 57.3 .57 Multi-Directional (␣ no item 9)

tems need to apply. In fact, Table IV (pg. 354) emerging organization where, for example, pre-
indicates that they were applied in most of the retirement programs are not needed because
subject organizations. The first two were also most members are not expected to stay for long
the most frequent in use. years of employment. Some of these organiza-
These basic OCM practices, although cur- tions also change so rapidly that job postings
rently widespread, may best fit the older, bu- become obsolete soon after they appear. Many
reaucratic organization model rather than the new organizations are also reluctant to invest
356 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

in education for their members, preferring to tures, which characterize bureaucratic orga-
“buy-in” fully qualified talent, for reasons of nizations. We see these as “cutting edge” prac-
cost, high labor turnover (loss of investment), tices, those which many future organizations
and fluctuating skill requirements that make will need, though they are not necessarily new
long-term planning impossible. in historical terms. (They had arisen already
Active Planning. Four practices appeared by the 1970s but in limited numbers.)
in this category: Performance appraisal as a To test the proposition of possible asso-
basis for career planning, career counselling ciations between the OCM characteristics and
by the direct supervisor, career counselling by other features of organizations, we combined
the HR department, and succession planning. the components of each group into one scale
These practices share both an active involve- measure and tested its reliability. The
ment on the part of the organization in the Cronbach alphas, indicating scale reliability
careers of individuals and a planning element for each of the five groups, are given at the
that considers the individual’s development bottom of Table V. The results broadly sup-
over time, as well as the organization’s need port proposition 1. Thus the typology, whose
to fill jobs in the future. Companies using value must of course be judged eventually by
OCM processes in this category show an in- its applicability, could claim an empirical un-
dication of a forward-looking HRM system derpinning for its elements.
that takes the initiative.
Active Management. Assessment centers, Intercorrelations and Association with Other
formal mentoring, and career workshops are Organizational Characteristics
the three practices in this group. They clearly
all have an informational element, which char- Table VI contains the intercorrelations among
acterizes either the process of information the aggregate measures for each scale, as well
gathering for the organization or the use of as correlations between these measures and
information for developing individuals. The bi- certain organizational characteristics.
directional nature of this information trans- Most of the practice groups were significantly
fer is characteristic of organizations that take intercorrelated, signalling that the factors were
the time to put these elements in place. not orthogonal. Because all of the practices were
Formal. Written personal career planning to some extent related, being elements of organi-
for employees, dual career ladder, and books zational career management, this was not sur-
and/or pamphlets on career issues are the prising. Their distinctiveness stemmed not from
three practices in this group. These represent their orthogonality but from the closely related
elements of career management whereby the characteristics or practices within each group (de-
organization provides the employees with a scribed above).
formal system of information and presenta- As proposed, there were moderate asso-
tion of opportunities. It is a different kind of ciations between the types and certain char-
information transfer, this time in a downward acteristics of organizations. Most notable were
direction rather than being bi-directional. those related to the climate characteristics of
Multi-Directional. Peer appraisal, upward the organizations; also significant were size,
(subordinate) appraisal, and common career unionization, and reliance on internal labor
paths factored into this category. Common markets. Age did not show any significant re-
career paths, however, were logically more lationship (see note at the bottom of Table VI).
associated with formal career structures, and Each of the five types of OCM evidenced
because the item also had a substantial weight- certain relationships:
ing on the formal factor, we decided to add it 1. Basic activities were positively associ-
to that group instead. The remaining two prac- ated with dynamic, group-oriented, and pro-
tices could be characterized as increasing op- active climates. These activities, some of the
tions by expanding the directions through most frequent in practice, were embedded in
which people can receive feedback and de- the workings of those organizations that felt
velop within the organization. To some extent, a responsibility to facilitate the career
they transcend the traditional vertical struc- progress of all employees at some fundamen-
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 357

TABLE VI Correlations between the Five Types of OCM and Organizational Characteristics.

Cluster/ Factor Basic Active Active Formal Multi-


Planning Management Directional
Basic

Active Planning .43**

Active Management .22** .39**

Formal .26** .42** .51**

Multi-Directional .06 .26** .23** .38**

Climate: .18* .28** .03 .12 .14


Stable-Dynamic

Climate: .21** .07 .03 .08 .08


Individual-Group

Climate: .15 .27** .06 .01 .19**


Closed-Open

Climate: .21** .27** .13 .08 .10


Reactive-Proactive

Age+ .02 -.13 .02 -.04 -.01

Size (employees) .05 .10 .15* .22** .09

Unionization -.14 .09 -.04 .03 -.19*

Internal Labor Market .10 .37** .18* .23** .20**

* = p < .05; ** = p < .01


+Age was problematic: First, the sample contained a very wide spread, with a few organizations over 200 years old; second,
some organizations had been re-established recently out of previously existing organizations (e.g. National Health Service
trust hospitals); thus their actual age (years of continuous operation) was much higher than the stated age of, say, two to
four years.

tal level. A group orientation, coupled with could lead to the use of these techniques.
an action bias, would facilitate this. None of Reliance on internal labor markets was
the demographic factors evidenced any rela- strongly associated with this cluster, a rela-
tionship with this cluster, perhaps an indica- tionship that reflects the use of career and
tor that these activities really were basic—in succession planning within the organization.
the sense of being widespread. 3. Active Management was not signifi-
2. Active Planning activities were strongly cantly correlated with any climate measure,
associated with dynamic, open, and proactive but was near-significantly correlated with pro-
climates. A certain level of openness was nec- active climate. Once again there is the ten-
essary to the counselling activities contained dency for doing something rather than nothing
in this cluster. Again, a bias toward taking ac- that links (albeit tenuously) these activities
tion, in combination with an open climate, together. As two of the three elements in this
358 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

cluster were well down the usage list (Table other characteristics not tested in our survey
IV), stronger correlations would have been un- may prove to correlate with some or all of the
likely. Size and internal labor markets were clusters. This would take additional research
correlated with this cluster, indicating in par- to test.
ticular the kind of environment necessary for
the creation and success of assessment cen- Groups of Organizational Career Practices:
ters, the first element of the cluster. An Emergent Model
4. Formal activities were not correlated
with any climate measure. This was not sur- There are clearly limitations to the use of sta-
prising, since given their less active nature, tistical tools in trying to discern the meaning
these elements appeared to have little to link of field data. Substance is more important than
them to climate. These activities were also significance, and since no grounded theory of
relatively little used. Similarly to the active OCM practices yet existed, we set ourselves the
management cluster, size and internal labor task of establishing one, going beyond the sta-
markets showed an effect, even more strongly tistical results but nonetheless building on the
in this case. As larger organizations are often data analysis. Having interpreted likely mean-
more formal than smaller ones, and as three ings for the individual clusters of OCM activi-
of the activities in this cluster were focussed ties, we then sought a logic that might discern
on career paths for present employees within a pattern of relationships among them. We first
the firm, this was not surprising. tried to construct an hierarchical model that
5. Multi-Directional activities were corre- might suggest which practices were used in a
lated with open climates. These kinds of envi- kind of sequence of sophistication from least
ronments are fundamental to the success of to most advanced. In considering the practices
such activities as peer and upward appraisal and the intercorrelations among them (Table
because of the high requirement for regular, VI), however, we soon became convinced that
candid giving and receiving of feedback (Lon- no such linear hierarchy existed. Rather, out of
don, 1995; Peiperl, forthcoming). This clus- this information we developed the descriptive
ter was negatively associated with unionization model shown in Figure 1.
and positively associated with internal labor The model comprises two dimensions: the
… climate and markets. This made sense since unions are not level of sophistication of the OCM practices and
internal labor typically associated with open climates or with the level of involvement on the part of the orga-
market indicators innovative appraisal methods, whereas inter- nization necessary to put them into use. Along
evidenced more nal labor markets are more associated with the vertical axis (increasing sophistication), the
and stronger trusting the capabilities and opinions of em- basic cluster appears at the bottom as the com-
relationships
with the OCM ployees over long periods. mon denominator among OCM practices. Its
groupings than The correlations provided moderate sup- elements were the most frequently reported in
did the three port for Proposition 2. This was in line with the survey (Table IV). The Multi-Directional
more traditional our expectations, as the measurement of or- cluster appears at the top. Its elements were
demographic ganizational climate is by nature a complex the least frequently used in the survey, and
measures of age,
size, and
process, and a few self-reported data points in our opinion, some of the most advanced.
unionization. could not be expected to adequately charac- (These two clusters also evidenced the low-
terize an entire organization. Still, climate est intercorrelation; see Table VI.)
and internal labor market indicators evi- The horizontal axis (increasing involve-
denced more and stronger relationships with ment) separates the middle three clusters,
the OCM groupings than did the three more which are not easily sorted by sophistication.
traditional demographic measures of age, Although there was no index of involvement in
size, and unionization. our survey, upon examining the elements in
Implications of these findings are dis- each of the clusters resulting from the analysis
cussed further below, including how organi- we were struck by the differences in the degree
zations might better understand and develop of involvement necessary on the part of the
their career systems in accordance with their organization and its managers to carry out the
existing cultures. It may also be the case that various practices. Of the three middle clusters,
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 359

High

Multi-directional

Level of
Sophistication Formal Active Active
Management Planning

Basic

Low

Low Level of Involvement High

Multi-directional
Peer appraisal
Upward appraisal

Formal Active Management Active Planning


Written personal career Assessment centers Performance appraisal as a
planning Formal mentoring basis for career planning
Dual career ladder Career workshops Career counseling
Career books and/or (1) by the direct supervisor
pamphelts (2) by the HR department
Common career paths Succession planning

Basic
Job postings
Formal education
Pre-retirement
Lateral moves

FIGURE 1. Two dimensional model of career management practices.


360 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

the Formal group appeared to require the least thus belong in any organization with suffi-
involvement, the Active Management a moder- cient infrastructure to carry them out.
ate amount, and the Active Planning group the Companies looking to sustain stable in-
most organizational involvement of the set. (An ternal labor markets and offer longer-term
examination of the intercorrelations in Table careers may find the elements of the formal
VI will reveal that this is a reasonable group- cluster appropriate. Dual ladders in particu-
ing, as all three of these clusters were signifi- lar developed in large firms such as IBM in
cantly correlated.) the 1960s and 70s in order to allow scien-
The Basic and Multi-Directional clusters tists and other non-managers to continue to
have been left in the middle on the horizontal advance their careers without having to en-
dimension, although it might be argued that ter the management ranks, therefore making
the Basic activities require slightly less, and long-term career development possible for
the Multi-Directional activities slightly more, such people. Often the presence of common
involvement on the part of the firm. In order career paths, written career plans, and books
to evaluate the model and settle these place- or pamphlets explaining the career system
This information ments empirically, it would be necessary to can add stability and promote a long-term
may prove useful develop an actual measure of organizational view. Although many organizations have had
to HR managers involvement in OCM activities and apply it to to move away from such a focus, many (par-
in setting up the clusters developed here. ticularly in the public sector) still retain the
their OCM
elements of the “Club” (Sonnenfeld, Peiperl,
programs.
Implications for Management & Kotter, 1988) in which long membership
and contribution to the group lead to steady
In designing a career system, HR managers career advancement.
are typically faced with a plethora of choices Organizations trying to maximize knowl-
around which elements to incorporate. This edge about individuals’ potential, both for
study has shown how these elements cluster the individual and the organization, should
together, and how these clusters correlate in consider using the somewhat resource-in-
practice, both with one another and with cer- tensive practices of the Active Management
tain organizational characteristics. This in- cluster. Assessment centers, formal
formation may prove useful to HR managers mentoring relationships, and career work-
in setting up their OCM programs. In par- shops all focus on knowing as much as pos-
ticular, HR managers and others charged with sible about the individual and his/her
managing careers in organizations should de- prospects, as well as how the firm’s career
velop career systems as actual systems; that system works. This cluster is also closely
is, as sets of practices which naturally fit to- related to the Active Planning cluster, whose
gether and are appropriate to the elements should be used by firms attempt-
organization’s stage of development, form, ing to translate information into action by
and/or industry. making specific career plans for individuals
For example, established companies that and succession plans for the firm.
seek to provide the basic elements of a ca- At the other end of the spectrum, HR
reer system should consider first the ele- managers concerned with being cutting edge
ments of the basic cluster. Because most of should consider the use of Multi-Directional
the companies in the random sample re- practices but should be aware that these are
ported the use of these practices, employ- more common in larger organizations with low
ees (particularly new ones hired from other unionization and high openness. Peer and
companies) would likely expect these sup- upward appraisals, although rapidly gaining
port mechanisms to be in place, and their currency, are not easy to do well and usually
omission could constitute a disadvantage. require significant support (Tornow, 1993;
Job postings and lateral moves might be seen London & Smither, 1995; Peiperl, forthcom-
as fundamentals of an open system, while ing). To attempt to introduce such practices
formal education and pre-retirement plan- in small, unionized, or “closed-culture” orga-
ning might be seen as basic benefits; they nizations might be difficult.
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 361

Furthermore, the emergent model sug- Reactive organizations, in which there is


gests that when deciding on OCM practices time for few initiatives, may find the activities
generally, organizations would be wise to con- of the Formal cluster the only set they are able
sider the level of involvement necessary from to maintain. By contrast, proactive climates
HR and line managers in order to make such would be well-placed to benefit from the Ba-
practices work. Introducing highly demand- sic activities to begin with, and from the Ac-
ing practices such as those in the Active Plan- tive Planning and Active Management clusters
ning cluster may be inappropriate in situations at a further level of involvement.
where managers are not likely to be able to
sustain the necessary effort to make them OCM in Practice
work; they may do more harm than good if
they are seen by employees to be introduced How well does the model hold up in practice?
only to be left unsupported. We found numerous examples of companies
Managers also need to consider the possible whose activities centered around one or two Reactive
organizations, in
implications of the relationships between the of the OCM clusters:
which there is
OCM clusters and other factors, in particular HSBC is one of the world’s largest banks time for few
climate. The results from our climate measures with a substantial share of the retail banking initiatives, may
have pointed out the importance of applying market in several countries including the find the activities
OCM in accordance with the environment United Kingdom. The firm has long relied of the Formal
within the organization. It is important for man- on the Basic and Active Planning clusters of cluster the only
set they are able
agers to consider not only what is desirable but OCM practices. Jobs (except at the highest to maintain.
also what is possible, given the firm’s current levels) are typically posted and people encour-
climate, and not to set unrealistic goals. Although aged to apply; formal training is offered both
our four climate measures are somewhat sim- internally and externally at all levels, and pre-
plistic, we believe that most organizations will retirement counselling is provided. The un-
be able to place themselves within each dimen- derlying philosophy has been to build
sion. The following considerations, of necessity generalist bankers, and lateral moves across
somewhat speculative, may be helpful: areas are encouraged. Hierarchical perfor-
More stable (less dynamic), and similarly mance appraisals are tied in directly with
more closed (less open) organizations may be career planning, which is done in conjunc-
best served by the Basic and Formal OCM tion with one’s manager. In addition, each
clusters. These contain activities which fit es- business area has in place a succession plan
tablished processes rather than demand con- which is updated annually.
tinual energy and change. By contrast, more Interestingly, few if any of the activities in
dynamic (less stable), and similarly more the Active Management, Formal, or Multi-Di-
open (less closed) organizations, although rectional clusters are used at HSBC. There
they may use these clusters, are more likely may be something of a shift going on at the
to benefit from the Active Planning and bank, however, exemplified by its elite cadre
Multi-Directional activities, which involve of 400 “permanent expatriates”. These people
taking a direct hand in employees’ career are seen as the leading edge in the company,
management on a regular basis. and here there is evidence of the Active Man-
Individualistic organizations should con- agement cluster of activities, in particular as-
centrate on the Active Planning and Active sessment centers, both for selection and for
Management clusters, in which the level of later assignment and promotion. Thus, the
information about individuals, and the amount bank may be moving toward a more innova-
of attention paid to their careers, are maxi- tive approach to OCM.
mized. Conversely, group-focused organiza- Consumer products giant Unilever has
tions may find the Multi-Directional cluster, long been known for its excellent management
which maximizes group-level performance in- development. This appears to center around
puts, and the Basic cluster, which contains the Active Planning and Formal clusters. Per-
some family-type elements (education, retire- formance appraisal feeds directly into career
ment planning), fit best. planning through a process known as Perfor-
362 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

TABLE VII Implications for HR Practice: Summary of Key Goals Appropriate to Each OCM Cluster.

Basic Active Management


• Offer basic career system elements • Maximize firm knowledge of employees
• Satisfy employees’ expectations • Maximize employee knowledge of firm and options
• Requires infrastructure within it

HR Formal Active Planning


Strategic • Support internal labor market • Make performance-career links explicit
Goals • Provide stability • Offer personal and emotional support
• Clarify options for career development • Provide for succession
within firm

Multi-Directional
• Maximize performance feedback
• Promote open culture
• Risks in small or “closed” organizations

mance Development Planning (PDP), a glo- At Electronic Data Systems (EDS), one
bally integrated approach to appraisal, reward, of the world’s largest IT firms, careers have
and career management. It includes career long been the province of individuals. “You’re
counselling by managers as well as written in charge of your own career management”
career plans, which while not cast in stone has been the firm’s philosophy for many years
are indicators of both what the individual and given the firm’s long-standing high-
employee wants and what the company feels growth record, there is rarely any shortage of
it can deliver. Particularly in the first five to opportunities for people to move laterally or
seven years of employment, common career upward. As a result, very few OCM practices
paths exist with different templates in differ- are in evidence. Interestingly, however, in
ent functional areas. Although dual ladders do recent years the firm launched a 360-degree
not formally exist, it is not uncommon within feedback system in order to ensure the con-
Unilever to see functional experts promoted tinued development of employees’ capabili-
up a narrow ladder with management titles ties and skills, key attributes which would
but with little line responsibility, which appears provide them with opportunities. The com-
to accomplish the same dual-ladder purpose. pany thereby began its OCM with the Multi-
Succession planning also takes place annu- Directional cluster, the most advanced in our
ally throughout Unilever’s 12 business units model. At the time of this writing, EDS was
for all senior management roles. also developing a succession planning system
Elements of the Basic cluster also exist at (Active Planning cluster) in order to ensure
Unilever, in particular formal education, which at least some stability in a firm whose sheer
is provided mainly internally. This education, size has begun to put a strain on its tradi-
however, as well as any lateral moves, are re- tionally fluid career systems.
served primarily for the early identified, care-
fully tracked high-potential group (10-15% of Conclusions and Future Research
managers globally). There is little evidence of
the Active Management activities, even for this There has been a good deal of research pub-
cohort, but there are a few parts of the com- lished in the careers area in recent years.
pany in which Multi-Directional activities are Much of it has been theoretical but not well
beginning, on a voluntary basis. The company connected to empirical work. Although a num-
expects this to increase in future. ber of models of career theory and practice
Career Management Practices: An Empirical Survey and Implications • 363

exist (DeFillippi & Arthur, (1996), Greenhaus, a view may be short-sighted: The more indi-
(1987), Gutteridge & Otte, (1983), Hall, viduals leave the organizational career frame
(1986), London & Stumpf, (1982), Schein, of reference, the harder it will be for organi-
(1978), and much empirical work has been zations to make it work. On the other hand,
conducted, connections between the empiri- we would not expect organizational careers to
cal and theoretical studies has not been as disappear, and in turbulent environments it is
strong as one might expect. all the more important for the management
This study investigated a comprehensive of those careers to be undertaken with a good
set of OCM practices through a random- understanding of the available tools and prac-
sample postal survey and established the ex- tices. In the best case, organizations and indi-
istence of five clusters of practices. It linked viduals will both play a role in career
those clusters together in an emergent model management and will share important infor-
and considered their relationships with other mation about opportunities and links to be
organizational characteristics, particularly pursued for the benefit of both.
climate-related. In so doing, it has built upon What also has not been examined here in
studies that have taken a similar approach any detail, and should be the subject of fur-
specifically to examine recruitment and se- ther research, is the question of which orga- In the best case,
lection processes (Robertson & Makin, 1986; nizational characteristics are most important organizations
Shackelton & Newell, 1991). Since the role to the success of OCM practices. More spe- and individuals
will both play a
of most HR and line managers includes not cific data on organizational structures and role in career
only bringing people into organizations but processes, including other variables such as management and
also developing their potential, this study turnover rates, economic performance of the will share
adds to the existing research in providing a firm, and performance evaluative style of man- important
basis of comparison for organizations in the agers would provide an important complement information
about
OCM area. to the broad-brush elements (age, unioniza- opportunities
Additionally, the study adds a layer to the tion, climate) considered here. and links to be
development of a theoretical framework for To evaluate the model, a set of mea- pursued for the
the area of careers. As suggested in the intro- sures for sophistication of OCM practice benefit of both.
duction, career management lacks such a and level of involvement would need to be
framework which should be based at least in developed. In addition, a data set includ-
part on empirical evidence. The proposed ing organizations from several countries
model provides one such beginning upon would provide more robust evidence and
which future theoretical and empirical work would allow comparisons across national
may draw. cultures and legal systems. HR practices are
There was little evidence in this study, more heavily legislated in some countries
however, in the area of boundary-spanning than they are in the United Kingdom, from
activities and careers transcending organiza- which this sample was drawn; however,
tions. In light of the present debate on the United Kingdom labor markets and busi-
end of organizational careers, it is important ness practices are not dissimilar to those
to acknowledge that such developments are in the United States. Still, because the
taking place. For many firms, they lead to a United States has been the source of the
crossroads where the organization will need majority of HR and careers research, the
to decide how far it will be involved in the data set should be extended to include
career planning of its managers and employ- United States firms as well.
ees and how much will be left for the indi- Of course, we recognize that even with its
vidual to manage. solid grounding in the existing literature, our list
The post-corporate career (Peiperl & of OCM practices would elicit some disagree-
Baruch, 1997) may represent a paradigm for ment. We can only respond that such disagree-
the near future, but the organizations in this ments are healthy and invite the undertaking of
study either did not recognize it or, more likely, similar research on different sets of practices,
considered it a separate sphere of activity to the results of which might then be compared
their own career management practices. Such with, and build upon, the present study.
364 • HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Winter 2000

Finally, these are an analysis and a that will make obsolete some of the items
model built on current practices in organi- on the list from which the clusters were
zations. They are not, therefore, a descrip- drawn. If so, a similar survey at some future
tion of either best practice, or more time would undoubtedly yield a different
importantly, best possible (future) practice. pattern of OCM activity, allowing research-
It may well be that new career management ers to update the clusters and the model pre-
techniques are currently being developed sented to reflect the new realities.

YEHUDA BARUCH is a Reader in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Manage-


ment at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, and formerly Visiting
Research Fellow at London Business School. He holds a B.Sc. in Electronic Engineer-
ing (Ben Gurion, Israel), and a M.Sc. and D.Sc. in Management and Behavioural Sci-
ences (The Technion, Israel). After working as a project manager in high-technology
industry, he embarked on a career in academia. His research interests are in the area of
Human Resource Management—mainly career management systems, 360-degree per-
formance appraisal, tele-working, and organizational culture.

MAURY PEIPERL is Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior and Director of the


Careers Research Initiative in the Center for Organizational Research at London Busi-
ness School. He received his BSE in computer engineering from Princeton University
and his MBA, AM in psychology, and Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Harvard
University. His work has been published in Academy of Management Review, Human
Resource Management, Harvard Business Review (forthcoming), and Organizational Dy-
namics, among others. He teaches and consults in the areas of performance manage-
ment, 360-degree feedback, careers, strategic HR, and change management.

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ENDNOTES

1. An earlier version of this paper won the Best Paper in HRM award at the British Academy of Management
Conference in September, 1997, and was reproduced in the Proceedings.
2. The authors are grateful to Profs. Nigel Nicholson, Chris Earley, and Tim Morris, Dr. Jennifer Georgia,
Brittany Jones, and to the Editor of HRMJ and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on
earlier drafts of this paper.

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