Mullins L.J. Management and organisational behaviour, Seventh edition
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Often this arises out of uncritical self-understanding born out of an inflexible police ethos of the
‘traditional’ way of doing things. Furthermore such attitudes can thrive in a tightly knit commu-
nity, so that there can be a collective failure to detect and to outlaw this breed of racism. The
police canteen can too easily be its breeding ground. (Section 6.17)
81
Attitudes are not just created within organisations. Attitudes inherent within wider
society are reinforced or reshaped by the organisation.
Research by Hicks in the hotel industry revealed that irrespective of personal circum-
stances (age, gender, education, social class) managers had been exposed to a process
which had ‘encultured’ them to a shared understanding of the industry, resulting in
common attitudes on a range of topics. Attitudes towards their management trainees
were found to be significant with regard to the trainees’ development; high expectation
of their trainees ensured broad training opportunities and the use of their own personal
network of contacts to ensure their protégés’ success. The significance of positive atti-
tudes of managers towards their trainees cannot therefore be over-emphasised.
82
Attitude change
The permanency of attitudes clearly has implications for attitudinal change. At the
beginning of this section it was pointed out that whereas peripheral attitudes may
easily change with new information or experiences, central attitudes tied into other
cognitive systems may be much more difficult to shift.
Theories on attitude change stress the importance of balance and consistency in
our psyche.
■ Heider, for example, suggests that not only would we find it uncomfortable to hold
two conflicting attitudes, but to do so would motivate us to change one of the atti-
tudes in order to reach a balanced state.
83
■ Cognitive dissonance is the term given to the discomfort felt when we act in a way
that is inconsistent with our true beliefs. Like balance theory, it suggests that we are
motivated to reduce its impact.
84
The process of attitude change is dependent on a number of key factors, the most
important being:
■ why an attitude is held in the first place;
■ why it should change;
■ what the benefits are and to whom;
■ what the outcomes are if it does not change.
Considerable research has demonstrated the importance of the following variables in a
programme of attitude change:
■ the persuader’s characteristics;
■ presentation of issues;
■ audience characteristics;
■ group influences;
■ outcome of attitude change (reward or punishment).
The last decade has produced tumultuous change for employees and their managers. It
would be rare indeed to find an organisation which has not experienced some degree
of change in structure, product, processes, philosophy, culture or ownership. The way
in which these changes are implemented can have a dramatic impact on the attitudes
of staff. The ways that organisations can promote a positive climate to change will be
examined in Chapter 10.
CHAPTER 9 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
365
A shared
understanding
This section examines the participation of men and women in the workforce, and in
particular reviews the position and status of women.
One of our initial perceptions and classifications of another individual is the identi-
fication of his or her gender.
■ How does this perception affect our behaviour?
■ What difference does it make if our work group is predominantly male or female?
■ Do women and men have different experiences at work?
■ Are organisations rational and neutral institutions – if so, why should gender make
a difference?
■ Does it matter that many classic theories have been carried out on men, by male
researchers?
■ What has been the influence of equal opportunity policies on work behaviour and
on the position of women in organisations?
This section will explore the ways in which organisational behaviour can be more
clearly understood by looking at the gender dimension. Traditionally, this area has
been ignored and the result of this neglect has only recently been raised as an issue for
concern. Alvesson and Due Billing suggest that:
A gender perspective implies analysing the importance, meaning and consequences of what is
culturally defined as male or masculine as well as female or feminine ways of thinking (knowing),
feeling, valuing and acting. A gender perspective also implies an analysis of the organisational
practices that maintain the division of labour between the sexes.
85
They claim that knowing and understanding these perspectives is important in a full
analysis of organisational behaviour. Organisations may reinforce thinking patterns and
behaviour, and individuals may in their turn maintain and encourage such patterns.
The relationships between individuals and organisations are dynamic and may be reaf-
firmed in a number of subtle as well as explicit and overt ways. For example, a waitress
attending tables may earn tips by being effective and feminine. The service and caring
aspects of the role are reinforced and she may learn to focus on certain behaviours that
attract more tips. For example, she may be particularly attentive to men.
However, gender research is replete with contradictions and confusions. Although
there is a body of evidence to confirm the position, status and (lack of) power of
women in organisations – aspects that can be measured and quantified – such clarity is
blurred when it comes to understanding the subjective and qualitative aspects of work-
ing life. It is not helpful to view all men and all women as homogeneous. There may
be as many differences within each gender as between the two genders. Social class,
race and age will affect attitudes, beliefs and values and may impinge upon different
understandings of gender. Although earlier organisational research could be criticised
as having been conducted by men largely investigating male behaviour, so too much
of the research on women has been dominated by white middle-class women assuming
their values are those ones which should be upheld.
Emotions, politics and gender
Emotions and politics surround the issue of gender. Alvesson and Due Billing
86
suggest
that some people may be over-sensitive to gender and interpret any negative comment
as if it is symbolic of an act of discrimination. Likewise under-sensitivity may also
occur and organisations may remain gender blind to everyday instances of bias and
distortion. Although not easy, achieving the right balance (neither overwhelming nor
rejecting the pervasiveness of gender) is an important skill in managing men and
women at work.
PART 4 THE INDIVIDUAL
366
GENDER AND ORGANISATIONS
Gender research illustrates the often contradictory nature of thinking and behav-
iour. Although stereotyped views attempt to bring some simple consistency and
predictabilities into our worlds, the reality of behaviour confounds the issues. For
instance, is the stereotype valid that women are more emotional and caring than men?
■ Are men and women really so different in the expression of their emotions?
Emotions of pleasure, stress and aggression are not just dominated by the one gender;
observation of men and women at work reveals the spread of emotional responses.
■ Are women really more caring than men? Aren’t some men as empathetic as some
women, but is such behaviour similarly interpreted?
Women and men can be seen as both weak and strong, rational and emotional; but the
interpretation and judgement may be different depending on the gender of the indi-
vidual. An aggressive response by a man may be seen to be powerful, but by a woman
may be seen as unfeminine and bossy.
87
A view of the position and status of women at work does produce consistency of evi-
dence in respect of where women work. Male domination of privilege and power
within organisations is still an identifiable feature in organisations.
A review of statistical evidence reveals that the places where women work have not
changed substantially and remain different in kind from male occupations. In essence,
women are working in occupations which reflect their perceived role in society, and
they are generally found servicing and caring for others. It is recognised that many
organisations have adopted equal opportunity policies and are seriously examining
whether they are fulfilling the potential of all their staff. However, statistics reveal that
progress is slow and the number of women holding senior managerial positions is still
insignificant (from 2 per cent in 1974 to 22 per cent in 2000).
88
A ‘glass ceiling’ still exists in many organisations, preventing women from rising to
the top. Other reports also reveal slow progress and conclude that the glass ceiling is
being penetrated, but at a very slow pace. Women executives are still a rare sight in the
city and in business generally.
89
This slow pace is mirrored in a diverse range of occu-
pational settings including institutions of Higher Education. In 2000/2001 statistics
revealed that only 12 per cent of professors in UK universities are women and that
women tend to be located within the lower points of the lecturer grades.
90
A recent study by Kate Purcell demonstrated that there were persistent inequalities
among graduate employees. Women had lower expectations than men in terms of
their predicted salaries in their first post and five years later. Purcell showed they were
right to think this. She concludes: ‘… the evidence suggests that even among gradu-
ates, women’s work tends to be undervalued in relation to that of men, wherever they
work and whatever they are qualified to do’ (p. 30). Even in the youngest age group
(20–24) average male graduate earnings were 15 per cent higher than those of a female
graduate and in older age groups the differential was wider still.
91
Opportunity Now (the renamed Opportunity 2000 organisation) maintains an
encouraging and positive campaign to keep ‘gender on the agenda’. Some 216 of their
355 members participated in a benchmarking scheme and they report evidence of real
progress on gender equality in the work place. Best practice awards are presented to
organisations that show progress in three key elements which relate to their Diversity
Change Model:
■ motivate the organisation and its people to undertake diversity action;
■ take action in order to develop and value diversity;
■ assess the impact of diversity action and learn from this assessment in order to re-
motivate the organisation and establish future goals.
CHAPTER 9 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
367
Glass ceiling
and other
practices
Equal
Opportunities
Policy –
progress and
best practice
Organisations must impress the judges on their innovative and sustainable initiative
with clear goals and evidence of measurable and monitored impact.
92
Liff and Cameron
93
argue that such policies have two elements:
■ measures to ensure that women are treated in the same way as men;
■ measures to address the distinctive characteristics of women which seem to disad-
vantage them in the workplace.
For Liff and Cameron measures which fall in the second category expose women to be
perceived as different/deficient and requiring ‘help’. But benefiting from such special
treatment leads to potential hostility and resentment from men; a backlash could
result. Blakemore and Drake
94
also point out the controversies that surround equal
opportunities policies. They suggest that one of two images are portrayed: one which
suggests that policies are concerned too much with power, influence and political cor-
rectness; the other image suggests that they are trying to mask real and continuing
discrimination behaviour.
In their conclusion, Blakemore and Drake believe there is some room for optimism
and quote examples from legislation which identify some progress and achievement.
In particular, they note that best practice has occurred where attention has been
focused on practical steps and actions rather than trying to change hearts and minds.
Although they suggest changes have been rather of a ‘ratchet’ variety than an engine
of change, change has occurred nonetheless. Such positive steps should be tempered
by the prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace and the unchanging roles of
men and women. Men are unwilling to take on more domestic work or child care
which leads Blakemore and Drake to propose that:
a ‘role’ related model of equality policy in the future will perhaps have to address the question of
how to resocialise men for domestic work rather than women for paid work.
The message that these writers are advocating is one of partnership. It is of little value
to focus on just ‘women’s issues’ without taking a view on the changing role of men.
The part that organisations can play is to look at the encouragement they are giving to
men as well as women in balancing their lives. We will consider some of these
work/life balance initiatives at the end of this section, but first a consideration of the
changing nature of men’s and women’s contribution to work.
Why should men’s and women’s working experiences be so different? Five explana-
tions are presented. These should not be seen as competitive but as all contributing to
the understanding of women’s position and status in the organisational world. The
explanations are:
■ economic theories;
■ psychological sex differences;
■ the socialisation process;
■ orientations and motivations towards work; and
■ working practices.
368
PART 4 THE INDIVIDUAL
UNDERSTANDING WOMEN’S POSITION AND STATUS
Two major economic theories seek to explain and predict labour patterns of women’s
employment:
■ human capital theory; and
■ dual labour market theory.
The main tenet of human capital theory is that to have the benefit of choices in the
workplace, individuals are required to make a substantial investment – for example, in
education and training.
95
Human capital theory predicts that women will acquire less
schooling and training than men, and will have less time to reap rewards of invest-
ment. Whatever skills they had learned will be outdated during their period at home.
The interrupted pattern of women’s employment therefore decreases the incentives
for both women and employers to engage in their training. Although this may explain
the position for some it does not explain the position of women who do invest their
time in education and training. Neither does it explain the disparities in earnings
which exist between men and women where neither have committed themselves to
education and training.
Dual labour market theory argues that the labour market is divided into two separate
markets: the primary market consisting of jobs with career prospects, high wages and
stable employment; and the secondary market whose jobs are dead-end, low paid and
with poor prospects. Research evidence shows that women, and ethnic groups, are
over-represented in the secondary market.
96
Loveridge and Mok suggest that women
comprise an ‘outgroup’ and are treated as such, and form the basis of an industrial
reserve providing the source of additional labour when society requires it.
97
Although these explanations are rich in detail they leave unexplored the origin of
women’s roles as looked at by psychologists and sociologists.
Is it the case that men and women follow different occupational routes because these
match their particular sex type? Significantly, it has been found that the male species
are far more vulnerable physically. For example, Gross comments that ‘there is no
doubt that males are, biologically, the weaker sex!’
98
In their classic review of this sub-
ject, Maccoby and Jacklin claimed support for differences between males and females in
terms of visuo-spatial ability, mathematical ability and aggressiveness (male scores
higher); and verbal ability (female scores higher). But they also explored a number of
myths which surround sex differences and concluded there were more similarities than
differences between the sexes.
99
Studies focusing on biological differences remain unsupported without the inclusion of
interrelational factors. The reciprocal effect that babies and parents have on each other
provides fascinating data on the preferential treatment that parents give their babies
depending on their sex. It has been found that mothers are less responsive to boys
crying than girls, even at the age of three weeks.
100
Studies have also shown the differ-
ent interpretative connotations placed on behaviour which fits the stereotype of active,
energetic boy, and passive, nurturing girl.
101
One conclusion to draw is that biology
alone cannot explain differences in women’s position. Attention must be focused on
social issues, and the influence and impact of the socialisation process.
CHAPTER 9 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
ECONOMIC THEORIES
Human capital
theory
Dual labour
market theory
PSYCHOLOGICAL SEX DIFFERENCES
Biological
differences
369
The family consists of a number of psychologically intense and powerful social re-
lationships in which it is possible to see how little girls and little boys learn their
gender, identity and role. The definition of gender, what it is and what it means to
family members, is reinforced from external agencies (for example, the media and
school) so that messages concerning gender are continuously being processed and reaf-
firmed. As Barrett has said:
gender identity is not created once and for all at a certain point in the child’s life but is continu-
ally recreated and endorsed, modified or even altered, substantially through a process of
ideological representation.
102
One study demonstrated the overriding effect of societal influences on a child’s gender
role learning. The trivia, tiny events and language all created a particular picture and
image which established a gender consciousness. Many studies support the notion that
everyday language and events identify, acknowledge and maintain the dependent, sub-
ordinate position of women.
103
Gender shaping occurs in education in overt forms of schooling, for example curriculum;
and in the ‘hidden’ patterns of behaviour such as teachers’ values and expectations.
Examination entries for A level grades in 2000/01 indicated that there were still some
traditional gender differences in terms of subjects chosen with more girls electing to do
English and Humanities subjects and more boys choosing to study maths and physics.
However, females had higher average point scores than males across all educational
institutions and had greater success rates than boys in all subjects at grade C or above.
At GCSE the girls also passed more subjects than the boys with a grade C or above
(females 81 per cent and males 72 per cent).
Schools are becoming female environments with the latest figures from the DfES show-
ing that in March 2001 women made up 70 per cent of classroom teachers, 63 per cent of
deputy head teachers and 55 per cent of head teachers.
104
Given the achievements and
success of female students and teachers it is surprising that studies have shown differ-
ences between boys and girls in their self-evaluation of intelligence and ability.
Furnham
105
cites work by Beloff in which she found a six-point difference by males
who estimated their intelligence significantly higher than females. She suggests that
‘women see themselves as intellectually inferior compared to the young men’.
106
Furnham also reports on studies, which show consistent sex differences in self-
estimates of mathematical and spatial intelligence, but not for verbal intelligence.
Three explanations are suggested for these self-estimates: sociological variables, biologi-
cal reasons and data interpretation, and he concludes:
For some researchers this remains a shocking finding explicable only by sociological processes;
for others it represents a reasonable grasp of reality. (p. 15)
It is perhaps salutary to recognise that women workers have tended to be overlooked
within many of the classical studies on orientation and motivation. Early studies
tended to focus entirely on men (for example, the work of F. W. Taylor); or avoid an
interpretation of gender divisions (recall, for example, the discussion in Chapter 3 on
sex power differential in the Hawthorne experiments).
There is also a common, underlying suggestion that for ‘he’ one may also assume
‘she’. For example, Alban-Metcalfe commented that anyone reading the management
literature may well:
370
PART 4 THE INDIVIDUAL
THE SOCIALISATION PROCESS
Gender
shaping
ORIENTATIONS AND MOTIVATIONS TOWARDS WORK
gain the impression that the managerial population is hermaphrodite since the vast majority of
studies (which transpire when examined) have been based upon exclusively male samples which
are interpreted as if the findings apply equally to females and males.
107
Early studies by Hunt revealed that decisions about working revolved around women’s
primary responsibility for home care. Differences in motivations among the sampled
women depended on the life stage which they had reached. Hunt claimed it was not
possible to discuss motivation without taking into account the social context of work
and home.
108
Of course, there are dangers inherent in gender research, which studies of motivation
highlight. It is self-evident that not all women (or all men) share similar motives. There
will be differences within each gender as well as between the genders. A study carried
out in Australia illustrate this. They focused attention on the grouping traditionally con-
sidered to be the most homogeneous, that of the female part-time worker. Although the
majority were content with their working hours and the freedom it gave them to look
after dependent children, not all the sample had family responsibilities and some (20
per cent of the sample) would have preferred to work full-time. The study drew atten-
tion to the diverse range of motivations and reasons for part-time working.
109
Is it the case that men and women experience different working practices? This idea
contradicts the view that organisations are neutral and objective entities but suggests
that work itself has a masculine blue print. Recent research has suggested that the fol-
lowing practices seem to have gendered bias:
■ recruitment and selection;
■ informal communication;
■ attitudes; and
■ career development.
Investigations into (supposedly) neutral personnel procedures have found that infor-
mal criteria based on gendered stereotypes are maintained in selection decisions.
110
It
has been suggested that there is a gap between the rational procedures of specifying
scientifically the job, and the informal evaluation of recruiting candidates and evaluat-
ing their suitability.
111
Informal communication within organisations has also been studied and it has been
shown that advice from ‘gatekeepers’ affect women’s opportunities and their percep-
tions of themselves. For example, one study reported that males and females received
different career advice.
112
In another study, young female lawyers were subjected to
greater scrutiny than male applicants in terms of their motivation and attitude.
113
Attitudes
Paternalistic attitudes also reveal that male managers frequently think it ‘best’ not to
send a woman on an assignment or ask her to attend late meetings. Although inten-
tions might be well-meaning, the lack of opportunities for women to be placed in
challenging or risky situations places them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis men.
The term ‘homosociability’, coined by Kanter,
114
labels the process whereby members
of the same sex are preferred, promoted and developed. Inevitably in most organisations
this equates with male development. It is often a pleasure for senior managers to
mentor and develop a younger person with whom they can identify. Given that
CHAPTER 9 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
371
WORKING PRACTICES
Recruitment
and selection
Informal
communication
informal relations and networks within organisations play a powerful part in determin-
ing career opportunities, then young men are placed in an advantaged position.
The socialisation period has been found to have a marked effect on subsequent per-
formance and work-related values. The formation of appropriate bonds between
individuals and the group are crucial in order that the new member feels involved and
accepted by the organisation. Exclusion from a group has far-reaching effects for infor-
mation transmission, decision-making and eventual career progression.
115
Training opportunities are vital for personal development and career success. The
under-representation of women in one study was blamed on the male bias in profes-
sional development. They urged a rethink of the content of senior management
courses and a move towards more mentoring.
116
Training and development pro-
grammes at the start of the employment career have also been examined for gender
bias. Barriers and problems in choice and selection of training were examined in a
study conducted by the (then) DfEE and the Local Government National Training
Organisation. They were concerned at the gender imbalance of the Modern
Apprenticeship scheme. (The work-based training scheme was introduced in the UK in
the early 1990s.) Barriers included peer group and parental pressure as well as poor
careers advice.
117
Crompton and Harris conducted research on 150 women employed in banking and
medicine across five countries. They noted the choices and constraints made by
women and the weight that they place on domestic and employment careers. They
observed that demands of employment and family are often in conflict and that many
women (and some men) will consciously make sacrifices in one sphere or both. The
differences that women made in the way they managed the employment family inter-
face were linked to the variations in the kinds of constraints and opportunities offered
by their organisation – banking and medicine. Crompton and Harris suggested there
were clear occupational effects. They concluded ‘certainly women can and do make
choices – although in aggregate their relative lack of power and resources relative to
men means that both today and in the past they have been less able to do so than the
opposite sex.’
118
Many female managers encounter more barriers in their career progression than their
male counterparts especially in pursuing an international career, according to Lineham
and Walsh. These barriers included:
■ practical relocation issues;
■
resolving the male partner’s career on hold – perceived to be considerably more difficult;
■ the balancing of domestic/work issues as they established that women take primary
responsibility for domestic tasks and child rearing;
■ organisations too inflexible in their demands;
■ mentor support often not available;
■ isolation in host countries compounded by language, culture and gender barriers
and exclusion from the old boy network in Europe (evidently still strong).
119
The reasons why women move from organisations to self-employed status was the
focus of research by Mallon and Cohen.
120
They explored the push and pull factors and
noted that women admitted that the ‘organisational world continues to erect barriers
372
PART 4 THE INDIVIDUAL
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Constraints
still prevail
International
career moves
When
organisations
get itwrong
against their progress to the assumed fruits of the traditional career’ (p. 228). Women
judged their actions against the still-dominant script of the traditional progressive
career. For all but 14 per cent of the sample they felt that organisational life had let
them down and perceived that self-employment would lead to the autonomous, inde-
pendent life they craved.
Evetts suggested that the uni-dimensional, hierarchical, linear career has gendered over-
tones and that careers which are different (for example, mainly women’s careers) are
considered to be deficient or lacking. She therefore asserts that the language of careers
needs to be de-gendered; by this she means that:
■ the necessity for regarding work/family issues as universal and not just women’s
concern;
■ there needs to be a shift away from the mono-dimensional interpretation of career
as promotion into management alongside the perceptions of management as aggres-
sive, independent, competititve, ambitious etc.;
■ a new language for careers needs to be developed which is gender neutral. Career
success needs to be redefined to embrace different kinds of career patterns which
include social, domestic and community goals. There is a need to recognise the
wide diversity of careers and of combining paid and unpaid work: the ‘multi-
dimensional career’.
Evetts proposes that the ‘successful career is ready for redefinition’ and suggests that it
should have a multi-dimensional nature. Three major dimensions are identified as
being critical: cultural (family and feminine ideologies); structural issues (organisa-
tional processes) and action (women’s strategies and preferences). Such a view is also in
keeping with other research on careers which promotes a portfolio approach.
121
So, traditionally the concept of career has been one of upward movement … the
metaphor of the ‘career ladder’ used to describe the planned structure and promo-
tional steps. Measurement of career success was possible using objective measures of
salary and position. Career achievements were within the boundaries of hierarchy and
linear progression.
Downsizing, delayering and generally flattening the hierarchy has reinforced the
fact that organisations are not longer able to guarantee a job for life or with regular
promotion. There has been general agreement in the literature that the notion of
careers has become destabilised, but the extent to which careers have completely
departed from traditional patterns is the subject of debate. However, there does seem to
be acknowledgement that traditional career pathways are shifting and becoming less
linear and less organisationally confined. Careers seem to be more individual centred
than organisation centred. Organisations rely ‘on the individual’s ability to learn and
adapt rather than perform as required’.
122
New terms have been coined to address these changes, such as:
■ Boundary-less career
■ Portfolio careers
■ Explicit contracting
The emergence of these changes to a flexible, boundary-less portfolio world should bode
well for women who are also looking for independence and autonomy. Women arguably
should be well placed to take advantage of these changes … but are they? And yet the
recent research suggests that the values of the traditional career paths still dominate.
CHAPTER 9 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
373
Moving away
from a
traditional
linear path
Casting the
ladders aside
and moving to
portfolios –
redefinition of
careers
So, what should organisations do?
The trick appears to be to use the need for flexibility and constant change for the
mutual benefits of the individual and the organisation. But how?
Focus must be on the psychological contract and its negotiation and renegotiation.
To achieve mutuality requires negotiation at clear career transition points in order to
reflect, to evaluate and to plan next steps. According to Harrison:
if the basis of the psychological contract changes during the individual’s career with the organi-
sation then that too should be acknowledged as cause for the parties jointly to identify the key
issues raised by the changed situation, what each party wants in that new situation, and a rene-
gotiation of what each will offer to the other.
123
Without this mutuality Harrison predicts a crisis of credibility and a negative impact
on organisational as well as individual learning and growth. This suggests that man-
agement for growth requires qualitatively different employment relations.
People need help in managing their careers and in the building of new contracts:
■ Research conducted in 1995 by the Institute of Employment Studies noted that people
needed support and a purposive approach.
■ Roffey Park claimed that few organisations were taking into account the strains that
new structures were having on people and their sense of isolation. They developed
new Peer Centres to help people maximise their potential.
124
■ Nicholson and West were surprised at how little effort managers had placed in the
planning and management of their careers. They found that careers were a set of
improvisations based on loose assumptions about the future, rather than a coherent
match between skills and goals. Managers would explain their progress as:
– opportunistic – they happened to be in the right place at the right time, or
– blind belief that ‘things had gone well so far, therefore they will continue to do
so’, or
–faith in the organisation that their talent would be spotted and rewarded, or
–simple fatalsim that careers are determined largely by luck.
125
Organisations need to build processes to ensure mutuality in career development by:
■ informing;
■ negotiating;
■ monitoring;
■ renegotiating and/or exiting.
Harrison identifies six critical success factors for career development:
■ It must embody a transparent process owned by line managers.
■ It must be a process that can evolve through time and is integrated with existing HR
systems.
■ It must comprise a system based on full information about people’s career expecta-
tions and about the needs of the organisation.
■ There must be a measurement of standards to show whether the system works.
■ There must be clear communication about development processes and responsibili-
ties to all employees and provision for all employees of relevant and full information
about career paths.
■ There must be support for employees in planning their development.
126
The retention of staff
The following examples are practices which have been found to help the retention of staff.
374
PART 4 THE INDIVIDUAL
Important
themes