1. Department of Business Administration
Career Needs and Career Development Programs: An Investigation of the Concept of Gap
Pao-Long Chang
Department of Business Administration
Feng Chia University

2. Chen, T. Y. , Chang, P. L. , and Yeh, C. W
Chen, T.Y., Chang, P.L., and Yeh, C.W. An investigation of career development programs, job satisfaction, professional development and productivity: The case of Taiwan. Human Resource Development International
Chen, T.Y., Chang, P.L., and Yeh, C.W. (2004). A study of career needs, career development programs, job satisfaction and the turnover intentions of R&D personnel. Career Development International, 9(4),
Chen, T.Y., Chang, P.L. and Yeh, C.W. (2003). The study of career needs, career development programs and job satisfaction levels of R&D personnel: The case of Taiwan. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(6), (SSCI)
Chen, T.Y., Chang, P.L. and Yeh, C.W. (2003). Square of correspondence between career needs and career development programs for R&D personnel. Journal of High Technology Management Research, 14,

3. Career Stage (I) Super’s theory(1957) age  career stage
5 stages
childhood growth (up to the age of 14)
search and inquiry (up to the age of 25)
establishment (up to age 45)
continuity or maintenance (up to age 56)
decline or disengagement
age  career stage
age  social roles: child, student, leisure seeker,
citizen, worker, home-maker

4. Career Stage (II)
Super, Savickas and Super (1996) give the description of Super’s stages (1)
growth stage
dealing with the tasks associated with becoming concerned about the future, increasing control over one’s own life, committing to school and work, acquiring competent work habits and attitudes
exploration stage
encounter crystallizing, specifying and implementing occupational choice

5. Career Stage (III)
Super, Savickas and Super (1996) give the description of Super’s stages (2)
establishment stage
beginning of one’s career; the tasks are stabilizing, consolidating and advancing in one’s occupational position
maintenance stage
concerned with issue of middle crisis; the tasks of holding on , keeping up and innovating. (career plateau)
disengagement stage
phasing out and retirement

6. Career Stage (IV) Levinson’s theory (1978) Seasons of man’s life
childhood
early adulthood
middle adulthood
late adulthood

7. Career Stage (V) Dalton, Thompson and Price (1977)
focus on professional growth and managerial development
apprentices
autonomous work
mentoring others
direction, representation, sponsoring

8. In our study, we focus on professional life with specific stages of
exploration
establishment
maintenance
disengagement

9. Career Practices in 1990s Studies (I)
Job postings
external recruitment vs. internal recruitment
Formal education / tuition reimbursement
a first degree in engineering; an MBA; professional and vocational qualification courses
insecurity and instability of investment in people
Performance appraisal for career planning
PA is the most fundamental practice of all career practices
Counseling by manager
individual interest
career options

10. Career Practices in 1990s Studies (II)
Lateral moves
the flattening of organization
job rotations and role changes
Counseling by HR
knowledge of organizational goals and development; HRM planning for the whole enterprise
Pre- retirement programs
financial programs
psychological programs
Information on leisure activities and other fulfilling tasks
Succession planning
to decide on the possible replacement of every manager within the organization

11. Career Practices in 1990s Studies (III)
Mentoring
bring togather a person with managerial potential and an experienced manager
Common career path
to lead people through various departments and units within the organization and in overseas subsidiaries
Dual ladder
a different promotion path for non-managerial staff
Career booklets / pamphlets
Information on career paths, the competencies required for each position on the path, time scales , ……

12. Impact factors
size
age
globalization
workforce diversity

13. Career Needs (I)
Schein (1978, 1980), Hall (1986) and Meehan (1995) mentioned the importance of the concept of career needs.
We define career needs as:
Career goals focus on existing career needs and determination of the direction and aims of an individual’s current efforts.
Career tasks pertain to the career needs that exist during the achievement of these career goals.
Career challenges relate to future career needs which arise from subsequent career development opportunities or obstacles.

14. Career Needs (II)
Using R&D personnel in high-tech industries as example.
a higher turnover rate exists among R&D personnel in high-tech industries than average level for industry as a whole

19. The concept of Gap between career development programs and career needs
Three types of the gap
the gap between career goal needs and corresponding career development programs
the gap between career task needs and corresponding career development programs
the gap between career challenge needs and corresponding career development programs

20. Hypotheses (I)
Three types of the gap between career development programs and career needs will be positively influenced with turnover intentions
Three types of the gap between career development programs and career needs will be negatively influenced with job satisfaction
We expect job satisfaction to mediate the relationship between gap and turnover intentions
Career stages may moderate the effect on job satisfaction from the gap between career development programs and career needs

21. Hypotheses (II)
Gap
Job Satisfaction
Turnover intentions
Career stages

22. Data source
The sample was drawn from R&D personnel in high-tech industry in HSIP
1300 questionnaires were distributed,
367 valid questionnaires.
Overall return rate 28.2%

24. Measurements (I)
Career stages

25. Measurements (II) Career Needs: a 32-item scale
factor analyses confirm the underlying constructs
(all Cronbach’s α are larger than 0.7)
Career development programs: a 33-item scale

26. Measurements (III)
The gaps are measured by subtracting the average awareness values of career development programs from the average career needs values
Job satisfaction-- Job Descriptive Index scale of Smith et al. (1987), using a composite of 5 sub-scales: pay, promotion, supervisors, co-workers and work (Cronbach’s α=0.92)
Turnover intentions-- based on Mobley, Horner and Hollingsworth (1978) (Cronbach’s α=0.88)

27. Empirical Results (I)

28. Empirical Results (II)

29. Empirical Results (III)

30. Empirical Results (IV)

31. Empirical Results (V)

32. Empirical Results (VI)

33. Research Issues Scale development for general use
Explanatory power of gap vs. programs only
Procedual and distributive justice