Career Management

According to Sonnenfeld and Peiperl, when reviewing how careers are managed, any “new job assignment (i.e., promotion or job change within a company) is governed by two basic variables: the source of the promotion candidate and the criteria for selection” (“Staffing policy as a strategic response: a typology of career systems”, Academy of Management Review 13(4), 588–600, 1988). A combination of these variables leads to four different career management “typologies” that can be found within organizations. Besides helping individuals understand how careers are being managed, it is also a useful starting point to assess whether any given career management system is a consequence of other forces such as national cultures.

Here are the four career management typologies along with further implications (“et alors”):

Career Management

Considering the source of the promotion candidate (external or internal) and the criteria for selection (group or individual contribution), there are four career management typologies characterized as follows:

Fortress (external candidates, group contribution)

·         Despite frequent layoffs, but with a strong respect for seniority, entry is passive and selective.

·         Development focuses on the retention of good group-contributors.

Club (internal candidates, group contribution)

·         With low turnover, mainly at retirement, entry is “early career” and emphasizes reliability.

·         Development is slow with staff passing through required steps eventually becoming generalists.

Baseball Team (external candidates, individual contribution)

·         With high turnover and cross-employer career paths, entry at any career level depends on credentials.

·         Development is essentially “on-the-job” with little formal training or succession planning.

Academy (internal candidates, individual contribution)

·         With low turnover, either due to retirement or (very rarely) poor performance, entry is strictly early career and emphasizes potential.

·         Development is specific job training with elaborate career paths mainly for (and including the tracking of) high potentials.

Et alors

According to Segella et al, career management “systems” in organizations are highly dependent on nationality (“Culture and career advancement in Europe: promoting team players vs fast trackers”, European Management Journal Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 44–57, 2001). In particular, “most European” organizations appear to operate as “clubs” except for the French who favour the “internal, high performance employee”. In addition, they go on to say that in France, “sometimes the most important criteria for success is being labeled early as an individual of high potential whereas in other countries success was more linked to personal qualities or achievements.” France appears to be relatively unique in using the “academy” career management system (with the “fortress” also being quite rare whilst the “baseball team” is often seen in Anglo-Saxon organizations). With the French cultural reference, the “academy” type of career management might be suitable for French firms operating with exclusively French remits (staff, location, business etc.); however it likely to cause tensions in French firms operating internationally with multinational staff in different locations and with many different businesses…