IOP 3703-Exam-Prep. VERIFIED Q AND A. BEST FOR EXAM.

21st Century Workplace 5 future trends that have a major influence on the 21st Century World of Work - repeated x 4 1. An increasingly ageing yet active population: Lifestyle changes & medical advances are keeping people alive & fit well into their 90’s, financial pressures & personal desire also keeps them working 2. More varied household types: the 21st century workforce will increasingly consist of female heads of households, same-sex partners, stay-at-home fathers, dual-income families and unmarried couples. Company benefits can include flexibility to retain these varied types 3. Multi-generations working side by side: 5 generations (Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Baby Boom Echo, and Millennium Generation) will work side by side in the 21st century workplace. Each generation has its own competing needs, values, expectations & work styles. Companies can tap into the wisdom & experiences of their older employees & the energy & stamina of the younger ones to create a powerful multi-generational workforce. 4. Growing diversity in the workplace: The workforce is growing more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion & sexual orientation. Successful companies can develop a corporate culture that embraces their diverse workforce in order to have a productive structure. 5. Spirituality at work: 21st century workers seek a spiritual component in the workplace which includes personal growth, balance & meaningful purpose Implications of the changing organization for careers in the 21st Century repeated x 7 NB!!! This question is also asked as: What is the impact of recent changes in the business environment on individual careers? Protean careers A career shaped and managed by the individual. It consists of all the person’s varied experiences in education, training, and work in several organisations and changes in occupational field and is characterised by a high degree of mobility, self-reliance and internal career thinking. Career management becomes the individual’s responsibility, organisation can only assist. It is a selfdirected approach driven by one’s own values. It is shaped more by the individual than the organisation and may be redirected from time to time to meet the needs of the person. Contract is with self and no longer the organisation. Offers three form of flexibility 1. It provides new ways of career thinking. Instead of linear progression the protean concept suggests a flexible career course where movement between different lines of work are done 2. Flexibility in terms of career space. The space is enlarged allowing for the integration between work and family issues and are not treated as separate domains. 3. It allows workers to work from home either informally or formally as a home work programme. Implication: a mixed approach, keeping some elements of the traditional career, will emerge as more and more careerists become ‘protean’, it is anticipated that the protean group will become larger as more people adapt to demands of the environment Boundaryless careers A career characterised by flexibility, mobility and movement between different global-organisational contexts, individuals have self-ownership of their careers, they manage their careers in a relatively autonomous fashion between jobs, companies and professions, and in the process, their employment value is increased. Careers cannot be constrained by organisational boundaries. Individuals can move between different organisations if they have transferable knowledge, skills and abilities. Implications: in practise the contrast between traditional and boundaryless careers may not be as clear as in theory. ‘Boundarylessness’ cannot always be applied to all occupations and work settings – it may be applicable to technical occupations, knowledge and professional occupations and work settings, but not necessarily to the boundaries that affect middle-managers in medium-sized organisations.. Composite Careers Individuals are likely to have more than one working role or holding more than one form of job. People can no longer afford to limit themselves to only taking or passing up jobs. This composite work-life forces individuals to manage their own time and efforts. The composite career is a way to express those parts of one’s multiple possible selves that are excluded from the narrow world of one-job-forlife. Implication: workers in the 21st century will stop thinking of themselves as ‘having’ a job but will increasingly think of themselves as ‘experimenting’ with job opportunities which allow them to discover more about themselves and live meaningful lives. Entrepreneurial careers Self-employment requires a willingness to take action, experiment and constantly innovate. Self-employed people can be referred to as entrepreneurs. Choosing self-employment as a career option included establishing and managing one’s own business. It requires sacrifice, innovation and taking to create something of value to society. Characteristics of entrepreneurs include need for achievement, autonomy and independence, flexibility, creativity, self-confidence, high levels of motivation etc. Typical attitudes are internal locus of control, high level of responsibility, place high value on money and status, creativity and honesty. Implication: A major challenge is uncertain and uneven cash flows. Proper career planning is critical in contemplating the entrepreneurial career and achieving the success the one aspires to. Effective career planning must take into account challenges that one will have to face when pursuing the entrepreneurial career Career resilience and career adaptability repeated x 3 Career resilience is described as the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Four characteristics are identified as indicators of career resilience: ● Belief in oneself ● A disregard for traditional sources of career success ● Self reliance and ● Receptivity to change Individuals who are career resilient contribute skills that are aligned with business needs, are dedicated to continuous learning and committed to personal excellence, have an attitude that is focused but flexible and their performance is in support of organisational goals. Career adaptability refers to individuals’ readiness to cope with changing work and working conditions. Adaptive individuals are proactive by displaying curiosity and exploring possible selves and future scenarios. They seek to strengthen their confidence / self-efficacy to pursue their aspirations New knowledge and skills required for more technical and complex work repeated x 3 The shift from industry based to knowledge based economy resulted in a more complex and differentiated organization of jobs, requiring more specialists and knowledge workers. Knowledge economy is defined as ‘production and services based on knowledge –intensive activities that contribute to an accelerated pace of technological and scientific advance as well as rapid obsolescence. The economy relies heavily on intellectual capabilities rather than on physical inputs or natural resources. Churning of jobs refers to the elimination of old “lower tech” jobs and creation of new and more technologically advanced jobs. Knowledge workers are highly skilled and talented workers that organisations seek to retain. Scarce Skills refers to occupations where there is a scarcity of qualified experienced people, either because these skilled people are not available or do not meet the employment criteria. Skill refers to the necessary competencies that need to be applied in a particular context for a defined purpose. To address requirements of knowledge economy and current skills shortages the South African government has introduced new legislative mechanisms such as National Qualifications Framework Act, Skills Development Amendment Act to guide skills development of people in the workplace. Can organisations expect loyalty from employees given the changing nature of employment relationships? repeated x 2 ● People work under different leaders and a ‘chair’ of command will not be so easily identified; ● People are encouraged to challenge traditions and to move in new directions; ● Decision-making is more decentralized and more people at lower levels are expected to make their own decisions; ● The increasing professionalism sets its own criteria for performance — which often outclass those of management; and ● People have to be more loyal to their profession than to the company, as their future depends more on their own abilities and reputation. The new psychological contract: repeated x 1 – asked in 2011 – has never come out again ● Psychological contracts are defined as an employee’s beliefs and attitudes about the mutual obligations between the employee and the organization. ● The psychological contract is subjective in nature. ● It represents an unwritten agreement between an employee and the organisation that holds the organisation together and binds the individual to the organisation. ● Both the individual and the organisation have their own views of their own and each other’s interests. ● These interests range from gaining satisfaction, self-fulfilment and rewards from one’s work on the part of the individual to achieving organisational objectives on the part of organisation. ● A positive psychological contract enhances employee commitment, intention to remain with the organization and organisational citizenship behaviours that go beyond the formal job description Chapter 3 Career Concepts repeated x 1 – asked in 2011 – has never come out again