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The work readiness–career The work

readiness–
resilience linkage: career resilience
linkage
implications for project
talent management
Jessica Borg Received 20 April 2020
Revised 10 October 2020
School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Accepted 1 December 2020
Melbourne, Australia
Naomi Borg
College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Christina M. Scott-Young
School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University,
Melbourne, Australia, and
Nader Naderpajouh
College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – There is a need for project management practitioners to adapt and thrive in today’s volatile,
uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) project-based workplaces. In this paper, the linkage between work
readiness and career resilience is developed, presenting both concepts as critical for effective strategic
responses and adaptation to the changing labor market in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach – The resource-based view (RBV) and integrated dynamic capabilities
(IDCs) are the theoretical lenses that are used to link the concepts of work readiness and career resilience across
the individual and organizational levels.
Findings – A framework and model are proposed to establish a holistic understanding of catalysts for
addressing the VUCA context that organizations face. The proposed conceptual linkage adds a chronological
dimension to the formation of the interrelated dynamic capabilities during the early career phase of project
management practitioners.
Practical implications – The contribution to the project management literature includes a theoretically
driven conceptual framework that links two complementary concepts to address the career challenges faced by
project managers. Work readiness is positioned as an enabler of career resilience and together they constitute
vital attributes which foster talent retention in the current VUCA work environment.
Originality/value – Work readiness and career resilience are underexplored topics in the project
management literature, both individually and in conjunction. Specifically, there is a research gap in view of
linking these two concepts to present them as a catalyst for project management talent sustainability, and the
proposed framework is an initial step in addressing these gaps.
Keywords Career resilience, Project management, Skills shortage, Work readiness
Paper type Conceptual paper

Introduction
The volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) project labor market poses
significant uncertainties for organizations that rely on projects to deliver their strategy. In
project management, these challenging dynamics can be attributed to a range of factors,
including an impending shortage of skills, increasing turnover and challenges of employee
retention, as well as technological disruption (Schwab, 2016; Project Management Institute,
2018). Over a quarter of a century ago, the complexities and challenges faced by the project International Journal of Managing
Projects in Business
management discipline were articulated by Laszlo (1994, p. 3): “Project management is no © Emerald Publishing Limited
1753-8378
longer an organized and orderly game where the players pursue preconceived plans to achieve DOI 10.1108/IJMPB-04-2020-0129
IJMPB predetermined ends, but an ongoing play with chance and probability in an environment where
not only players but also the rules of the game, are subject to change.”
Since then, the “rules of the game” have only continued to change, with more challenges
facing the project management profession in this new century than ever before (Patil, 2016). In
the face of such a volatile environment, organizations must pay greater attention to the strategic
acquisition and retention of early career project talent when considering the combined impact of
these dynamics (Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a). Organizations that rely on projects to deliver
their strategy are facing drastic changes in the labor market and in the way that work is
evolving. First, there is an impending talent shortage juxtaposed by the growing projectification
of work (Walker and Lloyd-Walker, 2019). It has been estimated that by 2027, 22 million new
project management-oriented roles will be required across the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany,
China, India, Japan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Australia, representing a 33% growth in
the required global project labor force (Project Management Institute, 2017). Furthermore, it is
anticipated that the demand for project talent will outstrip supply, potentially risking up to
US$207.9 bn in gross domestic product (GDP) in the 11 abovementioned countries (Project
Management Institute, 2017). Significant skills shortages are likely to create sizeable problems
for organizations, industries and even for entire economies.
A further complication is the high level of mobility among the newest entrants to the
workforce. Employee experience and competence in project delivery requires time to develop
(KPMG, 2017). However, a recent global survey by Deloitte (2018) found that turnover
intentions are increasing among younger professionals holding a bachelor’s degree or higher
level of education. Of millennials (born 1983–1994), 43% reported that they intended to leave
their current employment within the next two years. Only 28% were planning to remain
beyond five years. Turnover intentions were even greater for the youngest cohort of
professionals (Generation Z, born 1995 and onwards), with 61% indicating they were likely to
leave within two years (Deloitte, 2018).
Low retention rates of early career professionals threaten the ability of organizations to
maintain a competitive advantage as a result of the additional intangible and tangible costs and
time associated with replacing the loss of company-specific knowledge. The resulting need for
retraining and rehiring can generate costs equating up to 150% of a departing employee’s
annual salary (Cascio and Boudreau, 2008). Early career professionals give high priority to their
career development and view changing jobs/employers as an effective way to broaden their
experience, advance their careers, attain higher salaries or to return to study (Work Institute,
2018). Much of this turnover is attributed to career stage, highlighting the need for project
management organizations to give priority to career development opportunities for their young
graduates to proactively address the threat of early career turnover.
The third dimension of change is the recent broadening of project talent entry routes
(Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a; KPMG, 2017). Traditionally, project management has been
regarded as an “accidental” profession, whereby people fall into the role after having
accumulated years of work experience in related disciplines (Pinto and Kharabanda, 1995;
Darrell et al., 2010; Richardson et al., 2015). While the accidental career trajectory still holds
true for many project managers (Savelsbergh et al., 2016), graduates from the growing
number of undergraduate project management specialist degrees are beginning to form an
important new segment of the project management talent pool (Borg and Scott-Young,
2020a; Ramazani and Jergeas, 2015; Lloyd-Walker et al., 2016). Recently, the spotlight has
been put on the educational system and its role in preparing graduates for work life and the
transition into project workplaces (Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a; Ekstedt, 2019). Whilst
the global growth in undergraduate degrees (Study Portal, 2018) signals an emerging new
source of project management practitioners, there is little research to address how
companies can effectively utilize this promising new resource. Moreover, project
management careers in general have been identified as an area in need of further
research (Akkermans et al., 2020; Keegan et al., 2018) and this paper will contribute toward The work
addressing this gap. readiness–
Another more general challenge in work environment is the rapidly changing work
environment. From adapting to automation and the gig economy (Schwab, 2016) to
career resilience
responding to unprecedented global challenges such as the recent coronavirus disease 2019 linkage
(COVID-19) pandemic, entrants into the workforce must be well equipped to navigating
challenges in their professional careers. Early career employees may be faced with emerging
issues that are still understudied (Healy et al., 2017), let alone having been implemented in
their educational and skill development system. Within the context of project management,
there is a lack of educationally focused approaches that take into consideration the challenges
of today’s workplaces and dynamic environment. Bredillet et al. (2013, p. 1073) argue that
project management education and training is only now becoming more formalized:
One fundamental problem facing PM as a discipline is that it is as if everyone owns it but nobody
owns it. In its various iterations, it has been around for thousands of years, yet it may be that only
now are we seeing evidence of concerted comprehensive approaches to training and education of PM
professionals, who can be called upon to apply their generic knowledge and skills to areas as
disparate as mining and natural resources, human services, and construction, finance and
infrastructure support.
Moreover, in line with a study undertaken by Arup (2017) on the future of project
management, there is a predicted increase in (1) the demand for project personnel and (2) the
ability of such personnel to adapt and embrace the increasing trend of the human–machine
work environment.
On the one hand, the education system is striving to keep up to date with preparing the
next generation of project management practitioners for the workforce. On the other hand,
organizations also have to continue to foster project management talent (Borg and Scott-
Young, 2019, 2020b). Organizations’ responses to fostering talent depend on their strategic
vision, e.g. whether to increase digitilization and engage in the gig economy; whether they
engage project management talent as employees or freelancers (Jacobs et al., 2017). The
impact of these disruptions is likely to produce shifts of potential career opportunities both
within and between organizations, as well as within and between industries and disciplines
(Autor and Salomons, 2018; Goldin and Katz, 2018). Therefore, when considering work
readiness and career resilience, there is a need to take into account a wider range of potential
shocks, such as the need to switch careers or industries in the event of increasing automation
(Frey and Osborne, 2017) or dealing with new career stressors in the case of the gig economy
(Australian Government Productivity Commission, 2016).
The combined impact of the growing global demand for project management
practitioners, the forecasted skills shortage, high levels of early career mobility, alternate
entry pathways to project management and the introduction of new technologies at work,
necessitates further research on the dynamics of work-ready skills and sustainable career
trajectories. It is critical for organizations to pay more attention to the strategic talent
management of their early career project management practitioners in terms of their
acquisition, development and retention. With projects and programs being drivers for
fulfilling an organization’s strategic initiatives, the importance of managing the talent
required to implement such changes has never been more critical (Project Management
Institute, 2014). Therefore, it is essential for organizations to recognize the value of project
management talent and to develop their ability to harness and nurture this talent.
Ekrot et al. (2016) argue that organizations require a stable pool of talent with project
management competencies to ensure the success of project delivery. Therefore, this paper
aims to explore the importance of graduate work readiness and early career resilience in
combatting the impact of the challenging dynamics of the current work environment.
IJMPB The research suggests that in addition to selecting new graduates for their technical
knowledge and skills, organizations will benefit from recruiting for work readiness attributes
which enable a seamless transition into the workforce (Prikshat et al., 2018a). The paper
proposes that work-ready skills and attributes are a necessary precursor of early career
resilience, a vital attribute in the current VUCA environment, and can foster greater talent
retention that gives organizations a competitive advantage in the face of project talent
shortages. After a thorough review of the literature, this paper proposes a theoretical
framework to extend the chronological dimension of the concept of work readiness by
integrating it with the concept of career resilience. Through introducing this framework and
the accompanying model, this paper aims to stimulate further research to support
organizations in preparing the upcoming project workforce, including new graduates, to
thrive and survive as a sustainable resource in the project management environment.

Literature review
Work readiness: defining the concept
Work readiness is recognized as an essential component of performing well, both in the job
market and in the workplace. Within scholarly research, work readiness is defined as the
possession of a range of generic skills and attributes to prepare graduates to face their general
and specific challenges at work in addition to their formal education (Borg and Scott-Young
2020b; Prikshat et al., 2018a). From an employer’s perspective, work readiness is defined as
encompassing a mixture of values, behaviors and skills which facilitate a successful
transition into the workplace (Business Council of Australia, 2016).
Since the 1980s, the notion of work readiness for graduates is accepted for boosting the
economic competitiveness of nations (Azevedo et al., 2012). Although the term is at least 40
years old, the concept of graduate work readiness is considered to be hard to both define and
quantify (Boden and Nedeva, 2010; Borg and Scott-Young, 2020b). In line with the
understanding that employability and work readiness encompass a set of skills, Cavanagh
et al. (2015) noted that among the skills valued by employers are effective communication,
adaptability, commitment, a willingness to learn, time management, good interpersonal and
people skills and an ability to accept different perspectives and consider others’ points
of view.
In the employability discourse, the literature has sought to define employability in
alignment with what is valued by employers. In their review of the literature, Molla and
Cuthbert (2015) rationalized that the ability of graduates to obtain satisfying employment is
affected by a number of factors which include the possession of transferable employability
and work readiness skills. Graduate transferable skills encompass the ability to work
cooperatively with others, to think critically, to communicate effectively and to plan for the
entire career (Mollaand Cuthbert, 2015). According to Finch et al. (2016) and Prikshat et al.
(2018a), such graduate work-ready capabilities can be classified into four categories,
including intelligence, personality, meta and job-specific skills. These capabilities are
conceptualized as valuable resources that can be mobilized to provide a distinct competitive
advantage for early career project management graduates to enable them to secure
employment, make a smooth transition into the workforce and to succeed in their project
work roles. Moreover, according to the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm (Barney, 1991),
work readiness skills can also have a direct impact on the contribution of the employee to the
workplace, representing integrated dynamic capabilities (Teece et al., 1997), which in turn
provide a source of competitive advantage for employers. As a result, this research uses the
theoretical lens of the RBV and integrated dynamic capabilities (IDCs) to examine the career
trajectory of project management practitioners in view of the changing dynamics of the labor
market conditions and the nature of work.
Work readiness in project management The work
By role definition, a project management graduate may have managerial responsibilities on readiness–
day one in the industry. As projects are catalysts for achieving the strategic goals of
organizations, project management graduates have the responsibility of leadership
career resilience
engrained within their role (M€ uller and Turner, 2010). It is recognized that significant linkage
project management skills and capabilities are prerequisites to a modern approach to work
(Konstantninou, 2015). As a result, the topic of project management competencies has been
gaining increased attention (Gallagher et al., 2015; Pacheco do Vale et al., 2018) from industry
and researchers alike. Therefore, it is imperative that higher education institutions offering
undergraduate degrees in project management prepare their graduates to be work-ready,
thus equipping them with the ability and knowledge required to thrive as project managers
(Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a). It is understood that work-ready graduates will possess the
values, behaviors and skills to enable them to successfully contribute to the development of
their profession (Prikshat et al., 2018b). It is thus expected that project management graduates
who are work-ready will potentially make positive contributions to both the project
management sector and their respective organizations.
In the face of the forecasted project management skills shortage, the work readiness of
graduates entering the profession is paramount to the growth and supply of the project
management workforce. However, the work readiness of project management graduates is
an area where little research has been undertaken (Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a, b; Borg
et al., 2017). Furthermore, the extant literature indicates a prevalent skills gap across all
professions, between the competence of the students who are graduating from university
and the skills that employers are looking for in their entry-level jobs (Molla and Cuthbert,
2015). This pinpoints the reality that graduates entering the workforce may not be work-
ready. As a result, project management graduates may not be equipped to make a smooth
transition into the workforce, which poses a significant problem given the projected skills
shortage. This finding highlights the importance of organizations paying particular
attention to the rigorous assessment of job applicants’ work readiness skills when recruiting
new graduate talent. Moreover, organizations themselves may have responsibilities beyond
simply recruiting the early career project management professionals; organizations may
better ensure their graduates are work-ready by investing in their new employees.
Organization- and indeed, industry-specific knowledge may be best gained through
mentoring by members of the organization who have experience working across a range of
projects and environments (Le Blanc et al., 2017; Staudinger and Bowen, 2011). In this way,
we posit that work readiness may not be the responsibility of the graduate or the university
educators alone; organizations may be better to ensure work readiness in the project
management discipline by ensuring that new entrants into the profession are supported to
reach the level of expertise required in the workforce of tomorrow. Thus, work readiness
may be better ensured through organizations-led initiatives such as mentoring of
inexperienced project professionals.

Career resilience: defining the concept

Research on the construct of career resilience is still in its early stages of development,
particularly in the project management literature. Career resilience research was spawned by
London (1983) who identified the concept as an element of career motivation. Career resilience
is defined as the resistance of individuals to variations such as disruptions in their career in
suboptimal environments (London, 1983). These less-than optimal environmental conditions
go further than the usual challenges arising from the uncertainty and dynamism which exist
in projects and may include loss of supportive workplace relationships, work–life conflict,
high levels of stress and/or job insecurity (Fourie and Van Vuuren, 1998).
IJMPB As in other disciplines, project management graduates may experience career shocks
throughout their professional career journeys. Career shocks encompass significant expected
and unexpected events which may instigate a shift in career path through transitions such as
the development of new skills, exploring new jobs, changing the career path or even retiring
(Seibert et al., 2016; Kulik et al., 2012). Whilst these career shocks are in most cases
unavoidable, research highlights the importance of resilience and adaptability for helping the
individual to profit and benefit by transforming negative career shocks into positive
opportunities for growth and development (Seibert et al., 2016).
For early career employees, the first career shock is known as a “reality shock,” described
as the reactions of new employees when they face the realities of their job which deviates from
what they have been prepared for in their training and education (Kramer, 1974, p. viii).
Kodama (2017) asserts that this reality shock is a major contributor to early career turnover.
Due to the shock of transitioning into the workforce, new graduates often experience negative
feelings, including stress, pressure and bewilderment (Davis, 2010; McNamara et al., 2011). On
the flip side, a smooth transition into the work environment is suggested to correlate with
higher levels of interaction, mutual support in the workplace and a significant reduction in
staff turnover (Argyle, 1989).
As work-ready graduates are equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in the aftermath
of the transition from university into the workforce (Caberello and Walker, 2010), it is
expected that work-ready professionals will be able to make a more seamless transition into
the workplace without experiencing setbacks from “reality shock” (Kramer, 1974) at the first
stage of their career initiation. The attributes that are ascribed to work readiness can also
impact the reaction of the individual to other career shocks such as injuries, disruptions in the
industry, technological changes or family-related issues. As a result, the concept of career
resilience can extend the concept of work readiness by adding a chronological dimension to
the concept and the attributes associated with it. This extension will provide a more
comprehensive picture of the career-related attributes of an individual, stemming beyond the
entry shock at the start of career.

Career resilience in project management

The present and projected future skills shortage within project management-related roles
poses a less-than optimal environment which not only hinders the successful delivery of
projects but also creates risks for delivering work as projects (Project Management Institute,
2017). The talent gap adds additional pressure to organizations which are already facing
challenges associated with retaining their project management practitioners (Ekrot et al.,
2018; H€olzle, 2010). Retention challenges arise due to the short duration, dynamic, unstable
and challenging nature of project work (Gallagher et al., 2015), which act against the need for
job satisfaction and for ongoing competence development and long-term career opportunities
necessary to retain valuable employees (Bredin, 2008; Huemann, 2010). Furthermore, as the
retirement age continued to increase across developed countries, it becomes even more
prevalent to consider the sustainability of the workforce and ensure that individuals are able
to sustain employment throughout their extended working lives (Heslin et al., 2020; Le Blanc
et al., 2017; Van der Heijden et al., 2020).
The projected talent gap, coupled with the ongoing retention issues and longer working
lives, has the potential to unleash a variety of stressors and shocks at multiple levels
including at individual, team, organizational, industry and global levels. This observation
suggests the importance of understanding and fostering career resilience to assist individuals
in overcoming the unprecedented and often unforeseen events which exist in today’s chaotic
and turbulent work environments (Paradnike et al., 2016). Career resilience is essential for
individuals to remain work-ready throughout their entire career life spans.
 Along with career identity and career insight, career resilience represents one of the three The work
components that make up the broader construct of career motivation (London, 1983). Career readiness–
motivation is another critical element which has the potential to offset the impacts of the
project management skills shortage. Project managers who possess career resilience have
career resilience
higher potential to successfully bounce back from adversity (Janas, 2002; Luthans et al., 2006) linkage
and can create a motivated and dedicated workforce (O’Leary, 1998). Individuals who are
highly motivated tend to experience career satisfaction, which positively influences retention.
Additionally, career resilience is allied to the concept of career adaptability (Bimrose and
Hearne, 2012; Zacher, 2014; Hirschi and Valero, 2015; Rudolph et al., 2017). Resilient
individuals are adaptable and open to changing their career goals and strategies if work
circumstances suddenly change (Seibert et al., 2016). As such, individuals who display career
resilience are proactive workers, committed to continuous self-development and to learning
new skills to meet the changing work environment.
Whilst the careers literature has largely conceived career resilience to be the responsibility
of the individual (Lengelle et al., 2017), organizations also need to take responsibility for
fostering career resilience as an essential element in their talent management strategy for
maintaining a sustainable project workforce (Joseph, 2013). Furthermore, previous research
has also indicated the necessary role that organizations have in actively planning, developing
and deploying human resource management initiatives to create a career-resilient,
sustainable workforce capable of adapting to changes in their work environments to
ensure business continuity and sustained competitive advantage (Borg et al., 2020). In order
to mitigate the risks associated with the projected talent gap, organizations should adopt
practices to actively support the development of career resilience in early career project
management practitioners to enable them to adapt to the changing workplace.

Integrative framework of work readiness and career resilience

This paper draws upon the theories of the RBV (Barney, 1991) and the IDCs framework
(Teece et al., 1997) to explain the strategic value of integrating the concepts of graduate work
readiness and early career resilience both from the perspective of the organizational employer
and of the individual graduate. Within the RBV, it is posited that organizations acquire,
develop and exploit resources in order to compete (Barney, 1991). Resources are defined as
assets and capabilities that an institution possesses that are (1) valuable, (2) rare, (3)
inimitable and (4) nonsubstitutable, which form the basis of sustainable competitive
advantage (Barney, 1991). Teece et al. (1997) extended the RBV by postulating that these
inimitable resources do not operate in isolation but function interdependently and
complementarily to create a valuable strategic proposition or capability (Finch et al., 2016).
In rapidly changing environments, organizations need to be able to (1) sense and shape
opportunities or threats, (2) seize opportunities and (3) reconfigure, reallocate, acquire or
release their tangible or intangible resources to build IDCs (Teece, 2010) that are capable of
continual transformation and change to allow the firm to remain competitive (Eisenhardt and
Martin, 2000).
The same RBV and IDCs principles that explain the creation of organizational competitive
advantage can be applied to individual graduates entering the workforce (Finch et al., 2016) to
frame their work readiness and career resilience. In order to secure employment, new
graduates need to acquire and configure their own unique combination of work-ready
attributes (IDCs) and effectively market themselves as valuable, rare, inimitable and
nonsubstitutable resources to potential employers (Finch et al., 2016; Prikshat et al., 2018a).
The ability of graduates to create a compelling narrative is vital for differentiating
themselves from others in the job market as being work-ready to ensure that they can secure a
job (Finch et al., 2016). For the purposes of this paper, it is argued that the intangible resource
IJMPB of work readiness-specific knowledge can serve as a valuable (and intangible) resource to
graduates and one which they can (1) use to gain a competitive advantage when seeking
employment upon graduation and (2) use as a foundation upon which they can navigate their
careers through the development of their career resilience. The IDCs perspective extends the
competitive advantage element of the RBV at the individual level by explaining the process
whereby graduates are able to sense or identify the (changing) needs of their current/potential
employer and to dynamically reconfigure their work-ready competencies to meet them
(Wieczorek and Mitre˛ ga, 2017). This skill is key to integrating work readiness with career
resilience as the graduates continue to sense the situation and respond to the variations in
their career through their skills. To be resilient throughout their careers, project management
practitioners aim to dynamically reconfigure and adapt their personal metaskills and
capabilities on an ongoing basis to fit the requirements of the changing project environment.
The RBV also applies to talent management at the firm level in organizations. Early career
project management graduates who are both work-ready and resilient to stressors and
shocks in the workplace serve as inimitable human resources that provide IDCs which enable
firms to adaptively reconfigure and integrate their workforce skills in a rapidly changing
environment (Teece et al., 1997). As a result, the career resilience and work readiness of the
employees provide a strategic advantage for firms over their competitors and potentially
equip them well in the face of project management skills shortages. Within this integration,
this research posits that work readiness acts as an enabler of career resilience as the latter
involves attributes to the individual’s ability to effectively respond to career shocks and the
former corresponds with the skills needed to navigate shocks at the early stage of a career
(e.g. reality shock) (see Figure 1).
As a result, this research posits that work readiness can be chronologically extended to
link with the concept of career resilience. This theoretical extension also involves practical
and theoretical implications, such as the correlation between the attributes of work readiness
and later career resilience. While the emphasis of this paper is on work readiness in terms of
early career shocks (Figure 1), it is also acknowledged that there might be a correlation
between the personal skills and attributes that comprise work readiness and the skills
specific to responding to other shocks during the career such as a disrupted job market,
downsizing for efficiency and associated layoffs, further shifts toward gig economy or the

Specific focus of work

readiness research Broad focus of career resilience research

Career
Performance
Chronological extension
Impact of work readiness
of work readiness
attributes on responses
to shocks during the Potential future
career paths
career (i.e., career
resilience) Career
shocks

Work entry
shock as a
specific
Figure 1. career shock
Proposed framework
connecting work
readiness and career
resilience
Time
impact of automation. However, at this stage, the focus of this paper remains on the early The work
career portion of the framework. readiness–
career resilience
Modeling the relationship between work readiness and career resilience in the early linkage
career stage
To unpack the specific relationship between work readiness attributes and resilience at the
early career stage, a model has been developed and is presented in Figure 2. Drawing again on
the RBV, the model adopts Finch et al.’s (2016) and Prikshat et al.’s (2018a) conception of the
RBV and IDCs at an individual level to explain how work readiness attributes can be accessed
and reconfigured as resources that can be utilized by early career employees to cope with
rapidly changing work environments. Work-ready capabilities (such as intelligence,
personality, meta and job-specific skills) are conceptualized as resources that can be
mobilized to provide a distinct competitive advantage for early career project management
graduates, enabling them to secure employment, make a smooth transition into the workforce
(Finch et al., 2016; Prikshat et al., 2018a) and to succeed in their project-based roles. In this line
of thinking, Borg and Scott Young (2020a) posited that work readiness is an essential
precursor to early career success for project management practitioners.
Intelligence-related resources refer to critical thinking skills that include problem-solving,
decision-making and learning from past experiences (Finch et al., 2016), all of which involve
“judgement, analysis, and synthesis; and are not applied in a rote or mechanical manner”
(Halpern, 1998, p. 451). Personality resources encompass relatively stable personal traits that
constitute to “individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and
behaving” (American Psychological Association, 2018). Personality resources such as
openness to experience and conscientiousness are related to career success (Finch et al., 2016).
Metaskills resources are generic skills that are necessary in any work environment and
“include listening, communication, teamwork, adaptability, social sensitivity, managing
relationships, time management, goal-orientation, and task completion” (Finch et al., 2016,
p. 65). Finally, job-specific skills resources relate to the technical knowledge, proficiencies and
passions that are specific to a particular professional context (Finch et al., 2016).
There is already initial evidence to suggest that some of the different components of work
readiness may be related to career resilience. For example, Arora and Rangnekar (2016)
studied the relationship between career resilience and the Big Five personality factors
(openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional
stability), finding that only openness to new experiences was related to the career resilience of
Indian managers. Although not studying work readiness per se, Kodama (2017) found that
the ability to cope with problems and changes, strong social skills and optimism (often listed

MENTORING CO-WORKER
Psycho-emotional SUPPORT
Career

WORK READINESS Figure 2.

Proposed model
Intelligence
explaining the
Personality
CAREER RESILIENCE relationship between
Meta-skills
the concepts of work
Job-specific skills
readiness and career
resilience
IJMPB as attributes of work readiness) were all associated with positive adaptation to reality shocks
in early career Japanese employees, helping contribute to their career resilience. As a result, a
granular-level connection between work readiness and career resilience can be further
extended through connection of these underlying factors.

Moderators of the model

To further enhance these valuable resources, we assert that organizations should adopt
effective talent management practices to actively foster the development of their employees’
early career resilience. Studies have found that by providing their employees with
developmental opportunities, organizations can better ensure retention of project
management competencies for their employees (Ekrot et al., 2016), while positively
influencing their retention within their organizations (Hausknecht et al., 2009). As
proposed by Borg et al. (2020), organizations must take an active role in providing human
resource initiatives to assist their workers in developing career resilience capacities to
mitigate the risks of their younger entrants leaving the organization. Human resource
initiatives which can assist in retaining young employees include career mentoring, career
counseling, learning and development, agile management, intrapreneurship and continuous
and timely feedback (Borg et al., 2020). One of these professional development initiatives –
workplace mentoring – has received attention in the literature. Mentoring typically
involves a developmental relationship between a more experienced person or mentor who
personally assists a less experienced person (protege) to acquire specific knowledge, skills
and relationships that are beneficial in the workplace (Noe et al., 2002). Workplace mentoring
can take two forms: psycho-emotional mentoring, which involves establishing a more
trusting and affective interpersonal bond between the two parties and career-oriented
mentoring, which is a form of sponsorship by a more senior member of the organization,
which involves a more professional, less effective relationship to foster the protege’s
visibility, provide challenging assignments and political protection (Noe et al., 2002).
In their study of Indian managers, Arora and Rangnekar (2014) found that psycho-
emotional mentoring in the workplace strengthened career resilience but career mentoring
did not. However, they acknowledged that cultural values may have impacted their findings.
Moreover, only 22% of their sample was junior-level managers. However, their results were
supported by Wang et al.’s (2018) study of Chinese early career nurses, which found that
coworker social support strengthened resilience. Although both samples were drawn from
collectivist cultures, the model proposed in this paper includes both psycho-emotional and
career mentoring as moderators in the model to allow for the possibility that career mentoring
may also be important in individualistic cultures.

Future research agenda

This study has conceptually positioned work readiness and career resilience as valuable
concepts for sustaining the continued growth of the project management profession. The
proposed framework and model that are developed in this conceptual paper help to establish
an integrated understanding of work readiness and career resilience as catalysts for
addressing the changing work dynamics that organizations face in the context of project
management talent shortages. Future studies may wish to continue to build on the proposed
model and through empirical evidence, look toward exploring how work readiness and career
resilience can be combined to mitigate the impacts and effects of the volatile work
environment on project management roles. Such research can contribute toward a greater
understanding of the commonalities and complementarities between these two important
concepts and make a significant contribution to addressing the lack of research in this area. The work
The following recommendations are made to serve as a future research agenda: readiness–
(1) Studies on work readiness within the context of project management: As work career resilience
readiness in project management remains an area where little research has been linkage
undertaken (Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a; Borg et al., 2017), further research is
recommended to explore the work readiness of project managers. In their recent
study, Borg and Scott-Young (2020a) shed light on the work readiness attributes of
project management graduates through exploring the work readiness values,
behaviors and skills embedded in the curricula of bachelor’s degrees in project
management. While their study constituted a progressive step in exploring an
underresearched concept, further research on the transitions of project management
practitioners into the workplace and their early careers is recommended to address
the current lack.
(2) Investigation of work readiness from multiple stakeholder perspectives: Scholars (e.g.
Borg and Scott-Young, 2019, 2020b) have recently studied project management work
readiness from the perspective of project management employers. Further research
may wish to explore work readiness within this context from the perspectives of other
key stakeholders (i.e. educators, students, peak professional bodies or early career
project management practitioners). Moreover, multivocal studies may assist in
consolidating a holistic understanding of work readiness from multiple stakeholders’
perspectives.
(3) Career resilience research in the project management context: In terms of career
resilience, which has been only sporadically researched (Madter et al., 2012; Sapeciay
et al., 2017) in general, and with little focus on project management practitioners,
further research that aligns with the third wave of resilience investigation (Wilkes,
2002) is needed to explore the concept of career resilience generally, as well as of early
career project management practitioners, to understand the challenges which both
build and test their resilience. Given that a career resilient workforce is considered a
strategic necessity for business sustainability (Borg et al., 2020), research in this area
may have significant benefits for organizations that conduct much of their work
through projects.
(4) Investigations into the relationship between work readiness, career resilience and the
retention rates of project management practitioners: Studies may also explore whether
work-ready skills can influence the manner in which project management
practitioners respond to stressors and shocks in the work environment. In this
way, studies could help shed light on the relationship between work readiness and
career resilience and the effect that these concepts have on the tendency of some early
career project management practitioners to leave the profession. Studies of this
nature could be particularly valuable for discipline sustainability.
(5) Exploratory studies on project management career challenges: Further research could
identify the circumstances which drive project management practitioners to leave
companies or the industry, thus increasing the skills shortage. This may help shed
light on the challenges faced by project management practitioners at different career
stages (and particularly in their early careers). Studies are also needed to identify
initiatives that individuals as well as organizations can implement to minimize these
challenges and barriers to project career continuity. As an example, studies could
build on the work of other scholars (e.g. Ekrot et al., 2016) who suggest that
organizations which provide their project management practitioners with
IJMPB developmental initiatives such as formal training and clear career pathways are more
likely to retain their employees. As a further research direction, it would be interesting
to explore the effects of such developmental initiatives on the career resilience of
employees.
(6) Studies on work readiness and career resilience across the career life span: While this
study builds on the research of other scholars who have recently looked at the work
readiness of early career project management practitioners (Borg and Scott-Young,
2020a, b), we note that there is a need for research on project management careers in
general (Akkermans et al., 2020; Keegan et al., 2018) and similarly, we note that no
research has explored work readiness and career resilience of project managers
throughout the career life span. Indeed, as the retirement age continues to increase
across developed countries, it becomes even more important to consider the work
readiness and career resilience of individuals across their entire careers. We
recommend future research in this area.
(7) Investigations into how challenges differ among the multigenerational workforce and
how they may impact work readiness and career resilience: This study has addressed
the career shocks that project managers may be subject to early in their careers and
the hindrance which these may pose to the development of work readiness and career
resilience. Further research can be directed toward integrating the literature on
shocks and challenges (Akkermans et al., 2018) into the project management
literature, specifically focusing on the shocks experienced by different generational
workforces (baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z). It is possible
that the expectations and attitudes of different generations may impact on the way
they respond to different challenges and on the development of their career resilience
(Borg et al., 2020).
(8) The organization’s role in fostering career resilience among project managers: Borg
et al. (2020) studied the organization’s role in building a career-resilient workforce
through focused initiatives, such as career mentoring and counseling, agile
management, intrapreneurial opportunities, development of a healthy workplace
and flexibility. While their focus was not specifically on project management and they
only considered Generation Z, further research could explore the important support
role that organizations play in developing initiatives to support their employees
(Ungar, 2019) in the development of work readiness and career resilience of these
valued resources. As well as assisting employees in developing strong career
trajectories, such an investment will also contribute to long-term business
sustainability (Mitchell et al., 2001).
(9) Cross-industry comparisons of the work readiness, career resilience and turnover rates
of project management practitioners: While there is limited research on the work
readiness, career resilience and turnover rates of project managers in general, there is
no research exploring the differences in these concepts across different industry
sectors. Such comparison studies could provide valuable insights into the different
challenges faced by project managers across industries. For example, it would be
interesting to explore whether project managers working in more dynamic and
challenge-riddled industries (i.e. such as construction or information technology)
exhibit higher or lower levels of career resilience, in comparison to project managers
working in more stable environments (i.e. such as banking/finance or business).
Conclusion The work
The dynamically changing global marketplace, labeled as a VUCA context, poses significant readiness–
uncertainties for organizations that rely on projects to deliver their strategy. These
challenging dynamics can be attributed to a shortage of project management skills, new
career resilience
career pathways, increasing employee turnover rates, as well as technological disruption and linkage
automation. The risks posed by the imminent skills shortage in project management-oriented
roles highlight the importance for organizations to pay attention to the emerging new talent
pool of project management undergraduates and to establish an early career talent
management strategy. The current workforce is exposed to a variety of stressors and shocks,
both in terms of the reality of work shock (Kramer, 1974) experienced by new graduates and
of ensuing later career shocks (Kulik et al., 2012; Seibert et al., 2016). An inability of members
of the workforce to respond positively to such shocks poses a significant threat for the growth
and development of the project discipline at an organizational, national and global level.
These challenges necessitate the importance of ensuring that (1) there is a continuous flow
of work-ready graduates entering the profession who are capable and equipped to contribute
to the sustainable development of the project profession, (2) organizations specifically select
new graduate talent based on their work readiness attributes and skills and (3) organizations
adopt management practices such as mentoring and coworker support systems to assist the
project workforce to become resilient in the face of inevitable career shocks and stressors. To
address the growing challenge of a project talent supply shortfall, this paper has identified (1)
the critical value of retaining graduate project management talent in an aging workforce, (2)
the importance of work readiness and career resilience within the project management
discipline and (3) the need for further exploration of these concepts which remain
underresearched and not well understood in the context of project management.
This paper contributes to the project management literature by offering a theoretically
driven conceptual framework and model that integrate work readiness and career resilience
as complementary dynamic capabilities for addressing the project talent gap. This paper has
positioned work readiness as an enabler of career resilience and argued that together, these
concepts constitute vital attributes which foster talent retention in the current volatile work
environment. The limitations of this paper are acknowledged; while based on existing
literature and theory, the proposed model and framework are yet to be tested in the project
management context. It is therefore recommended that further research to test this new
framework is undertaken and it is suggested that future research look to explore (1) ways that
individual project management practitioners can develop their own career resilience and (2)
how organizations can contribute to graduate resilience-building and the retention of their
project management capabilities. The identification of specific strategic early career talent
management practices may give both project management individuals and organizations a
competitive advantage in the face of the impending project talent shortage.

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About the authors

Dr. Jessica Borg is an early career academic and researcher who has recently completed her PhD at
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Having successfully delivered a number of high profile projects
within the Melbourne CBD, she brings relevant industry experience to her research endeavors. Jessica
was awarded the Prestigious Women in Project Management Scholarship, awarded by the Project
Management Institute (PMI) in recognition of her achievements in industry. Jessica’s research focuses on
exploring work readiness within the context of project management and the built environment industry.
She is particularly interested in graduate work readiness, the transition from education to the workplace,
employability and career paths within the project management discipline. Dr. Borg’s research has been
published in the Project Management Journal and the International Journal of Managing Projects in
Business and she has presented her research at a number of international conferences. Jessica Borg is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: jessica.borg@rmit.edu.au
Naomi Borg is currently in her second year of her PhD studies on the career resilience of project
practitioners at RMIT University, Melbourne Australia. She is also a practicing project manager in the
construction industry, with a passion for combining industry knowledge and research to contribute new
knowledge in the growing area of resilience and project management. Naomi is a certified practicing
project practitioner (CPPP) with the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and a member
of the Project Management Industry (PMI). Naomi has presented internationally on issues relating to
general resilience and more specifically career resilience in the workplace setting.
Dr. Christina M. Scott-Young is a clinical psychologist who researches in the fields of project
teamwork, leadership, work readiness, resilience, well-being and diversity. Christina is currently an
associate professor at RMIT University, having previously held academic positions at Pennsylvania
State University, the University of South Australia and at Melbourne University, where she was The work
awarded her PhD in management. Her research has been published in the Journal of Operations
Management, the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Construction readiness–
Management and Economics, Studies in Higher Education and Higher Education Research and career resilience
Development. linkage
Dr. Nader Naderpajouh is a senior lecturer at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, as well as 2019
RMIT Europe Fellow. He earned his PhD in civil engineering from Purdue University and is a scholar in
the concept of resilience and its applications. He serves on several editorial boards including the Journal
of Management in Engineering by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He is a fellow of the
Iranian National Elite Foundation and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tehran in
2017. He is leading several research projects across Europe and Australia and advices industry/
government bodies on policies and strategies.

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