Career planning and management in a complex adaptive system.
Loading...
Date
2013
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The world of work is constantly changing. This variation is brought about by the changes
happening both inside and outside an organization. In addition, the individuals in an
organization also change as a result of internal and external factors. For this reason, careers
of individuals in an organization evolve in response to the change in their environment.
Sometimes, people can plan their careers paths, whiles at other times the changes are
unexpected. The aim of the study is thus to understand how people plan and manage their
careers while taking into account the unpredictable nature of their environment. This study
was undertaken at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), where two
thirds of the employees are science, engineering and technology professionals, while the
other one third is support staff. The data was collected through open-ended interview
questions on a select number of employees of different professions and ranks.
This study applied chaos theory in an attempt to understand the career planning and
management strategies that employees of the CSIR employ. The decisions that employees
make at any given time are informed by what is happening in their surroundings. In this
case, employees were studied as agents in a complex adaptive system. As agents,
employees are influenced by what is happening amongst themselves, within an
organization, as well as outside the organization. Therefore, looking at employees in the
context of their surrounding gives a more accurate picture of the factors that influence their
careers. In addition to consultation with employees, career management policies and
strategies of the CSIR were studied to determine if there is a fit between employee
expectation and the organization. The information gained will assist the Human Capital
Development unit to introduce development interventions that will be relevant to the
employees.
From this study, it is evident that people are responsible for planning their career
trajectories. However, it was also apparent that management was responsible for ensuring
that the organization’s policies and strategies are supportive of people’s careers. In
addition, it was clear that career growth of the individual was also dependent on one’s
manager, leading to a dual responsibility. The manager was responsible for providing relevant exposure that compliments an individual’s aspirations. Of course, this can only be
so if those aspirations are in line with the organization’s strategies. In addition, it is clear
that the careers of individuals are affected by what is happening externally. This results in
complexity in career planning and management. For that reason, long-term career planning
has proven to be a futile exercise as there are too many influences on careers, which are
unpredictable. For that reason, only those individuals who are flexible and willing to
change with changes in the environment have had success in their careers. The said success
was not at all times planned.
Description
M. Com. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.
Keywords
Career development--South Africa., Chaotic behavior in systems., Personnel management--South Africa., Theses--Leadership and management.