Module 5: Discussion Career Strategies

Prompt #1: Follow the instructions for the "Career and Life Orientation Index" in your
textbook. What was your average score – and what category (from "highly organizational" to
"highly protean" did you fall into? Based on what you have read about the organizational
versus protean career models (review Chapter 1/Our Career and Work-Life Model/page 11),
do you feel that the instrument accurately captured your orientation? Why or why not? Please
provide an example or two from your own life.

In the "Career and Life Orientation Index," my average score was 3.18, so I scored on the high side
of highly organizational. I do not feel that the tool fully captured my orientation but was accurate
in some areas. Because my score fell on the low side of highly organizational and moderately
organizational, that might be the reason. I feel that I am more protean because it aligns with my
core values of freedom/growth, my degree of mobility currently is high, and my key attitudes align
with the protean attitudes of work satisfaction/professional commitment. I like to prioritize my
work and complete it the way I feel is most appropriate, and I want to take on new projects to
continue learning and growing. Once I get my degree, my mobility within the organization will be
higher. At this point in my career, I am in more of a "career lattice" (Harrington & Hall, 2007) as I
can only move laterally now without my degree. And finally, although I am organizationally
committed, it is essential to me that I feel work satisfaction/professional commitment to my work.
I think that organizational commitment and work satisfaction are reliant on each other. When I
enjoy my work and I'm challenged with new projects, I feel more satisfied. But my organizational
commitment also stems from being aligned with the organization's mission and values. I am proud
of where I work, the work we do, and is, in my opinion, the best at what we do comparatively.

Prompt #2: As you review the hypothesized career and life facets, (self-
direction/organizational orientation/values expression/whole-life balance/family
focus/community involvement), comment on your scores/priorities there. Which of these are
most important to you? Which are least important to you? What implications does this have on
your career choices? (Make some connections to your self-assessments).

On the hypothesized career and life facets, I would say that the scores were pretty accurate for me.
My top three were family focus, organizational orientation, and self-direction. At this time in my
life, I make decisions based on my family and how the job will affect my family. My next two were
organizational orientation and self-direction. Based on all of my assessments from the last module
and throughout my organization leadership classes, this was not a surprise either. Those were the
standout values that I displayed from almost every one of them. I do desire to stay with my current
organization if possible, and the opportunities present themselves. This could change in the future
but based on my current position in the organization and the fact that I enjoy where I work, that
will likely not change. Finally, after working several jobs within the organization, I am most
satisfied with this one because I am highly self-directed and have a lot of latitudes to do things my
way and make changes as necessary. And, although I feel supported and valued by leadership, I do
prefer the autonomy my job offers.

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My two lowest scores were value expression and community involvement. Again, I feel that at this
stage of my life and career, these aren't the most important to me. I feel as though I do "value-based
work" currently in my job because I wholly believe that what we do is helpful to the population at
large. Without advances in science and team-based care, many patients would continue to be sick
and struggling with their quality of life. Also, I feel that pre-Covid, I was more involved in my
community, but this has tapered off in the last year or more. It is something that will take a higher
priority once I have finished college and hopefully settled into a different position. I have not had
much extra time and have not made it my priority between working full-time, my family, and
college. I feel that everything is fluid depending on whether you are at the beginning of your career
versus the latter part and highly based on your values.

As far as the implications of my career choice, my desire for autonomy at work will largely dictate
my next steps and decision on my next position. My family focus and having a flexible schedule,
such as where I work now, align with my need to support my family. It may take me a bit longer to
find the next steps for myself because I prefer flexibility and autonomy. Still, it is something that is
important to me right now, and I feel that if I sacrifice that, I would be very unsatisfied and
miserable.

Prompt #3: Follow the instructions for the "Ideal Organization Exercise" in your textbook. Use
each of the headings provided and briefly "sketch out" your conceptualization of the ideal
organization. In responding to each heading, you can write a brief paragraph or "bullet"
responses (as in the textbook example). Be sure to see the specific questions posed under each
heading in the text. Elaborate, and be specific – let your mind wonder.

My "ideal organization."

 Products/Services
o It would be in the healthcare or specifically human resources industry.
o It would serve leadership, physicians, nurses, managers, allied health staff, or
anyone working there.
o Our customers would be the community we serve, our patients, and their families.
o The product would be excellent clinical and hospital care in every discipline.

 Structure
o I would be working in an organization, not self-employed.
o The organization is of a larger size (about 5000-8000) employees.
o It would be a single-site facility within the state but would have locations in each
state based on the largest populations.
o The healthcare system would operate on a local or national level, not globally.
o The organization would be for-profit with fees in accordance with local pay/cost of
living of its constituents.
o It would be privately held, not publicly traded.

 Culture

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o The organization's mission would be to serve the community by offering team-

based care, the best diagnostic and testing equipment, and the best outcomes for
each patient.
o This would be conveyed through their mission and vision statements and the
actions of leadership.
o The working atmosphere would be as one team, collaborative, going above and
beyond to do the right thing.
o The organization would consider the needs of the employees first, so they are better
able to better care for patients.
o Action-oriented. No passing the buck.

 Management Style
o Management style would be less hierarchal and more collaborative. Not such a
great power distance between leadership and other stakeholders.
o More of an LMX style, less leadership centered.
o It would offer more autonomy and less micromanaging of staff.
o More of a coaching, mentoring and serving atmosphere.
o Transformational in that they question new ideas and are communicative in asking
questions to understand new concepts better.
o More democratic is that they would be more supportive of new ideas and
innovations.
o The organization would be more formal in how the staff dress and how they treat
one another with respect and portray themselves to stakeholders. Keep
professionalism high.
o But informal enough so that it remains comfortable, inclusive, and not sterile.
o Fair and balanced so that not only education is considered, but also current skills
and abilities. We would hire the most knowledgeable and able person for each
specific job.
o I would manage expectations through job duties and by staff satisfactorily
completing tasks and assignments successfully on time. They are treated as adults.

 Job Scope
o I would see myself recruiting, interviewing, and hiring staff at all levels of the
organization.
o I would have a leadership-level position where I can make decisions and affect
change positively.
o I would be supervising or managing others in a mentorship and modeling way.
Less hierarchically structured. More servant leadership based.

 Values
o The organization would interact with employees via the most appropriate, most
straightforward, and most efficient way to communicate effectively. It would highly

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depend on the event or reasoning for the communication. (via email, webinar, in-
person all-staff gatherings, telephone, etc.).
o The importance to the organization is that every staff member feels supported and a
part of the team, regardless of their position.
o The organization is highly involved in the community and the stakeholders it serves
through volunteerism and community support.
o We value helping others because in doing so, we help our community, colleagues,
patients, and families, and that goodwill is usually returned in some way at another
time.
o That each employee displays the values of integrity, ethics, and mutual respect for
all stakeholders. This could be done by leading by example. Putting programs in
place to recognize/celebrate this.
o We would allow employees paid time away from their jobs/work to go into their
community to volunteer at an organization, either as a team or individually.
o We would use some of our resources to assist the community where a need has
been identified based on the skills and availability of our staff members.

 Evaluation Methods
o I would conduct evaluations once a year for all staff.
o Twice a year for newly hired staff in their first year as a way to offer feedback and to
answer any questions or concerns they had.
o Also, twice a year for those on corrective action as a positive way of offering
feedback and motivation.
o Reviews would be bifold. First, they would self-evaluate their work, tools, and skills
and then review any areas for growth or goals.
o Then, they would also have a type of 360-style evaluation, but I would choose who
to send those to, such as supervisors, managers, peers, and other colleagues they
work with, to get a fair and far-reaching sampling of the employee's work. They
would not choose who to send them to in order to mitigate bias.
o By tying them both together, they see their impression of the abilities and skills and
can get feedback from me and others to get an idea of where they are and if they are
meeting the expectations of the group/team.

 Reward Systems
o The organization would have yearly reviews, which would be given in January.
o The organization will reward employees based on performance/merit.
o Both of the staff members' reviews would have scores attached to each question to
reflect their level of achievement. Their percentage of raise would be based on their
score from the review.
o Each employee with five (5) or more years of service would be eligible for a
bonus/profit sharing lump sum at the same time as their review.

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o All lump sum pay-outs would be identical as a way to be fair/unbiased to each

stakeholder regardless of their position in the organization.
o All jobs within the organization would be posted and open to anyone who meets the
minimum qualifications.
o Work experience would be taken into consideration in addition to formal education.
o The organization would have college assistance up to $10,000 a year undergraduate
and $15,000 for graduate degrees. Employees would be expected to stay for two
years or pay back a portion of the tuition.
o Employees would have complete insurance plan options, dental, vision, vacation
pay, holiday pay, and 401K match program.
o Vacation days would be based on years of service. When you start, you get two
weeks, and then that time increases each year by one day.
o Each employee can purchase a week of vacation using payroll deduction if they
choose to do so during benefits enrollment.

References

Harrington, B., & Hall, D. T. (2007). Career Management & Work-Life Integration: Using

Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers (1st ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.