Purpose This study aims to examine how socialized and personalized charismatic leadership differentially shape subordinates' career growth opportunities (CGO), providing new insights into leadership's role in career development. Design/methodology/approach We collected three-wave, matched supervisor–subordinate dyadic data from 523 subordinates and 111 supervisors in a large, Shanghai-based state-owned multi-industry enterprise group. Findings Results indicate that socialized charismatic leadership promotes subordinates' learning goal orientation (LGO), thereby enhancing their CGO, whereas personalized charismatic leadership undermines LGO and, consequently, hinders CGO. Environmental turbulence attenuates the negative effect of personalized charismatic leadership on LGO and its indirect effect on CGO. Practical implications Organizations should differentiate between socialized and personalized charismatic leadership in selection and development, deliberately fostering leadership practices that promote employees' LGO. Leaders should develop reflective awareness of their power motives and model learning-oriented behaviors, particularly in turbulent environments. Employees can advance their career development through self-directed learning and developmental resources beyond direct leader support. At the policy level, institutionalizing socialized charismatic leadership holds promise for strengthening organizational resilience amid environmental uncertainty. Originality/value This study advances leadership and career development research by disentangling the divergent effects of socialized and personalized charismatic leadership on subordinates' CGO. Challenging the prevailing assumption that charismatic leadership uniformly benefits subordinates, we demonstrate that its effects hinge on leaders' underlying power motives. Moving beyond a “charisma-as-signal” perspective, we identify LGO as a key psychological mechanism and environmental turbulence as a boundary condition, offering a nuanced understanding of how and when the two faces of charismatic leadership shape CGO and extending charismatic leadership theory to the career development literature.
Purpose This practitioner insights paper draws on employer perspectives to examine the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to develop policy insights to enhance productivity and support sustainable careers. Design/methodology/approach Policy insights are derived from a survey of 1,700 business owners, executives and senior managers, with particular attention to SMEs operating in Atlantic Canada. Findings Employers associated AI with productivity and efficiency gains, although adoption remained patchy across firms and regions. Many reported uncertainties regarding future skill needs, emphasized compliance training and viewed AI primarily as a productivity tool. Practical implications Policymakers and multiple actors across the sustainable career ecosystem can support SME productivity by strengthening digital capabilities, workforce planning systems and regional skills ecosystems. Such efforts may help ensure that AI adoption contributes to both productivity and sustainable career outcomes. Originality/value This paper offers rare employer perspectives on the intersection of AI, productivity and sustainable careers to inform policy.
Purpose With the rapid development of AI and other information technologies, digital-intelligent transformation is reshaping traditional work models. Hybrid work, due to its flexibility in time and location, has gained widespread acceptance. However, its relationship with employee behavior and organizational management remains unclear. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources model, this study examines how perceived hybrid work experience relates to employees' proactive career behavior through job resources and job demands, and further considers supervisor developmental feedback as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach To test our hypotheses, we collected data from 353 employees in five companies in the internet and service sectors in Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu using a three-wave time-separated survey design. Findings The results suggest that perceived hybrid work experience is positively indirectly related to proactive career behavior through job autonomy, but negatively indirectly related to proactive career behavior through job alienation. The positive relationship between perceived hybrid work experience and job autonomy was stronger when supervisor developmental feedback was high, whereas the positive relationship between perceived hybrid work experience and job alienation was weaker when supervisor developmental feedback was high. Originality/value This study's findings provide theoretical insights into proactive career behavior in hybrid work contexts and offer practical references for organizations to design more supportive management practices.
PurposeFor a performance evaluation process to be successful, supervisors and employees should come to a common understanding. While organizations around the world are using multi-source feedback, human resource (HR) research draws predominantly on ratings by supervisors, hence we know little about such (dis)agreement in performance ratings. We re-introduce the lens of self-other agreement (SOA) to the HR literature to explore the agreement between employability self-ratings by employees (E) and the other ratings by supervisors (S). Design/methodology/approachA quantitative discovery approach is used to explore a combined data set of multi-source survey data. FindingsA person-centered methodology identified six SOA profiles: two profiles represent self-other agreement (S = E), two profiles represent self-other disagreement in which self-ratings by employees are higher than the other ratings by the supervisors (disagreement type E > S) and two profiles in which the self-ratings are lower than the other ratings (disagreement type E < S). Multiple age effects appeared to be significant predictors of probability of profile membership. Research limitations/implicationsFollowing a process of abductive reasoning, we interweave quantitative discovery with theory, resulting in six propositions and discussion of theoretical, methodological, and practical implications. Originality/valueParticularly, increased understanding of the age-related causes of SOA is relevant given our work context is characterized by a strongly aging workforce.
PurposeCrafting career sustainability is challenging in high-stakes contexts such as elite sport, which demand total commitment and intense physical competition. In our study, we build on the theoretical lens of tensions to explore how the seemingly sustainable and unsustainable aspects of elite athlete careers are in constant interplay. Our research question is: What tensions do elite athletes encounter in their careers, and how do these tensions affect their career sustainability? Design/methodology/approachWe use a narrative methodology, drawing on 21 in-depth interviews with elite athletes competing at the highest international level. Through retrospective sensemaking, the athletes narrated key events, transitions, emotions, successes and failures in their careers. FindingsAthletes’ narration constructs three tensions: the tension of performance, the tension of identity and the tension of work economy. Interpreting these, we employ the metaphor of knots between time, context and person. The findings demonstrate that career sustainability is tensional and shaped by how individuals navigate and interpret the complexities around them. Practical implicationsTo address the tension of performance, national teams and academies should invest in psychological coaching that helps athletes decouple self-worth from competitive outcomes and frame success and failure as cyclical learning processes rather than existential judgments. To manage the tension of identity, sport organizations could facilitate structured opportunities for athletes to engage with nonsporting mentors and networks, enabling the development of alternative identities alongside athletic commitment. Regarding the tension of the work economy, we emphasize multi-year athlete grants alongside entrepreneurial training, including branding, marketing and legal literacy. Originality/valueCareer sustainability is in a constant state of flux in high-stakes environments. The seemingly unsustainable elements, such as mental and physical burdens, total commitment, collegial competition and forced autonomy, can also serve to empower athletes.
Purpose Our goal was to understand the career perspectives of Generation Z youth from peripheral areas in the labor market of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil. Design/methodology/approach We used a qualitative, exploratory approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with 16 Generation Z youths participating in a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Rio de Janeiro, and applied content analysis to interpret the data. Findings The results revealed that the career perspectives of peripheral youth involve three phases: acceptance out of necessity, the search for growth and stability, and migration. Initially, these young people take informal and precarious jobs out of necessity. Over time, they seek qualifications, financial stability, and better working conditions. After achieving this stability, many wish to migrate to areas more aligned with their affinities, maintaining an optimistic outlook and aspiring to positions they identify with. Originality/value This study makes an original contribution by addressing the trajectories of young people from Generation Z in the peripheral areas of Rio de Janeiro, revealing how they face structural barriers in accessing the job market. Based on their accounts, we propose a three-phase career trajectory model that reflects adaptive strategies in the face of informality and exclusion.
PurposeThe intelligent careers framework, introduced three decades ago, made a key contribution to boundaryless career thinking by challenging the traditional assumption of long-term organizational careers. This article offers a systematic review of the research informed by this framework. Design/Methodology/ApproachWe systematically reviewed 179 articles grounded in intelligent careers framework and assessed their collective contributions to the evolution of career scholarship. FindingsWe analyze the framework’s three foundational dimensions – knowing why, knowing how and knowing whom – alongside their antecedents and outcomes. We also highlight its distinctive features: an interdisciplinary foundation, reciprocal links among the three ways of knowing and its focus on the employer–employee relationship. Our synthesis refines the framework’s boundary conditions and clarifies contextual factors shaping its application. Research limitations/implicationsWe position intelligent careers as a mature framework for examining how individuals and organizations co-construct careers within an evolving world of work. Practically, organizations can use the framework to support career ownership and dialog, aligning individual growth with strategic goals and fostering mutually beneficial employment relationships. Originality/ValueThis review provides the most comprehensive integration of research on intelligent careers to date. Using a sensemaking lens, it consolidates fragmented insights, refines theoretical understanding and identifies underexplored dynamics, offering a foundation for future interdisciplinary and multilevel research.
Purpose This paper investigates whether career planning can lower qualitative job insecurity through increased goal and option awareness. We also aim to discover whether this mediation depends upon the match between the type of career planning and worker context. Design/methodology/approach Through two online intervention studies (N1 = 256, N2 = 212), we compare the results of Dutch-speaking workers who did an exploitation-based career planning exercise and those who did an exploration-based career planning exercise against a control group. Career commitment (Study 1) and perceived labor market demand (Study 2) were analyzed as moderators to assess the impact of context. Findings Exploitation-based career planning lowered qualitative job insecurity via increased goal awareness in Study 1. Study 2 did not replicate this finding. No intervention effects were found for exploration-based career planning. Goal/Option awareness related negatively to qualitative job insecurity. No support was found for the contextual match hypotheses. Research limitations/implications While more career goal/option awareness related negatively to qualitative job insecurity, the career planning exercises did not reliably increase such awareness. Future researchers may investigate the roles of concern, curiosity and action to further investigate the effectiveness of the career planning exercises. Originality/value This study contributes to the scarce literature on qualitative job insecurity in a time where valued job features are being increasingly threatened. Moreover, it extends prior correlational research with experimental results on the relationship between career planning and qualitative job insecurity.
PurposeThis study explores how workplace dignity (WD) and positive emotions (PE) contribute to employee flourishing (FW), while examining the moderating role of career tenure in Indian organizations.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave longitudinal survey over six months was conducted with employees from diverse industries in India. Structural equation modelling was employed to test mediation and moderation effects, and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was used to identify actionable priorities.FindingsWorkplace dignity mediates the relationship between PE and flourishing. While overall moderation effects were not significant, analysis of tenure subgroups revealed a curvilinear pattern under which career tenure moderates both pathways: early-career employees (0-2 years) report stronger emotion-dignity links, whereas long-tenure employees (11+ years) benefit most from dignity-flourishing relationships. Mid-tenure employees (3-10 years) show weaker effects, suggesting a curvilinear trajectory. IPMA highlights amusement and love as underperforming emotions requiring targeted interventions.Research limitations/implicationsFindings are based on self-reported data within a six-month timeframe and limited to Indian organizations. Future studies should incorporate multi-source data and cross-cultural contexts to enhance generalizability.Practical implicationsEmbedding dignity in human resources (HR) practices and fostering positive emotional climates can enhance flourishing across career stages. Organizations can design targeted interventions for specific emotions and tenure groups to sustain employee well-being.Originality/valueThis study introduces workplace dignity as a novel mechanism linking PE to employee flourishing and highlights career-stage nuances using longitudinal evidence from an emerging economy.
Purpose Legislative changes in various countries have allowed for considerable growth in the online sports betting industry. While impacts for financial well-being and health have been considered, the same attention has not been paid to careers. This is an oversight, as theoretical framings related to the gendered nature of work posit the workplace is rooted in, and rewards shows of, masculinity, while gambling is a prescribed masculine behavior. Thus, engaging in sports betting and having discussions of sports betting while at work may be a pathway to burnish masculinity and yield workplace rewards. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual pathway is provided based on the gendered nature of work frameworks. Findings Relationships and related boundary conditions are posited linking sports betting behavior to masculine displays, social network development and career outcomes. Originality/value The framework extends the gendered nature of work frameworks to consider how masculinity may be enacted in the workplace and yield rewards. This complements research suggesting gambling behavior can harm careers. Through these advances, sports betting is highlighted as a construct of interest within the workplace with wide reaching implications for careers.
Purpose The self-determination model of flow states that employees can take personal initiative and self-regulate their behaviour at work. Likewise, career self-management suggests that it is expected that employees will be proactive in career decisions. The present study examines the effects of two specific self-determination strategies, namely (1) weekly self-leadership (goal setting, self-rewards and visualising successful performance) and (2) weekly strengths use (i.e. the use of various capabilities people are good at, such as creativity, empathy and gratitude) on flow and the subsequent in-role and extra-role performance. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected among 97 employees who completed a survey once a week for three consecutive weeks (n = 291 occasions). Findings Results of multilevel modelling revealed that weekly self-leadership and weekly strengths use were each uniquely positively related to flow. Moreover, both weekly self-leadership and strengths use had positive indirect relationships with weekly in-role performance and weekly extra-role performance, respectively, through flow, while controlling for previous levels of these outcomes. Originality/value These findings offer support for the self-determination model of flow and show how self-determined behaviour, self-regulation and motivation can shape work experiences at a week-level. Furthermore, this proactivity and career self-management research shows how employees may be inherently self-regulatory to produce work outcomes aligned with the individual but also has long-term benefits in career growth and development.
Purpose The study examined the fragile career ecosystem of the arts and culture sector in Finland from the perspective of freelancers and solo self-employed professionals, and the ways in which they enhance sustainability in their career ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on 39 interviews with creative freelancers and solo self-employed individuals, who participated in coaching and peer group sessions aimed at enhancing mental well-being and work ability. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings The fragility of the career ecosystem appeared in the data as repeated accounts of financial insecurity due to contingent work, multiple jobholding, and mental vulnerability. Freelancers and solo self-employers build sustainability into their fragile ecosystem by enhancing networking, reshaping work portfolios that include multiple employment arrangements, organizing communities and collectives, and engaging in informal work practices. Originality/value The article contributes to career research as the first empirical study to position careers in arts and culture in the growing career ecosystem literature. It sheds light on how solo self-employed professionals and freelancers in the field of arts and culture themselves portray their fragile career ecosystem and describe ways in which to enhance its sustainability.
Purpose Networking behaviour is essential for building instrumental social relationships in the work domain that facilitate organisational and career outcomes. While most research on networking determinants examined stable dispositions, interest in malleable determinants that lend themselves to interventions has recently increased. We use the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to extend the range of malleable predictors and integrate them into an overarching model. Design/methodology/approach We investigate whether networking attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control are positively related to networking intentions and, in turn, to networking behaviour. We use a three-wave survey design (N = 155) and employ regression analyses and relative weights analysis. Findings Perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are the most important drivers of networking intentions, whereas attitudes appear less influential when considered alongside other TPB predictors. Networking intentions mediated the relationship between these drivers and networking behaviours. Originality/value The TPB lens integrates research on attitudes and perceived behavioural control into a single model and extends it to account for social norms. Our findings indicate that although changing attitudes may benefit networking, we recommend perceived behavioural control and subjective norms as more promising levers to change networking behaviours.
Purpose This study explores how employees experience remote and hybrid work in relation to their well-being and sustainable career experiences in a Global South context. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted using focus groups with professionals from diverse sectors in Mauritius between 2023 and 2025. The data were analysed thematically to explore the socio-technical conditions that participants associated with their work experiences across the study period. Findings The findings suggest that remote and hybrid work arrangements create both opportunities and constraints for sustainable careers. Flexible work practices, digital support and organisational trust were associated with autonomy, work-life balance and positive work experiences. At the same time, digital inequality, technostress, social isolation and reduced informal learning were described as constraining visibility and development opportunities, particularly for early-career employees. These findings suggest that misalignment between social and technical conditions may be associated with how career sustainability is experienced in uneven digital environments. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on sustainable careers by showing how socio-technical conditions are associated with career experiences in remote and hybrid work settings within the Global South. It offers contextually grounded insights for organisations seeking to support inclusive and sustainable career development.
PurposeDrawing on the career construction theory (CCT), this study seeks to develop and test a career adaptability model for how occupational calling contributes to sustainable careers among scholars.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a four-wave longitudinal design to collect data from 257 scholars across 42 Chinese universities. The authors tested the hypothesized model used structural equation modeling in SPSS and MPLUS.FindingsThe results revealed that occupational calling serially, indirectly and positively relates to scholars' career sustainability (i.e. vitality, well-being and quality work) through the adaptability process (i.e. career adaptability and proactive skill development).Research limitations/implicationsScholars have widely discussed how to accomplish and maintain the sustainability of academic life. Although occupational calling is prevalent and salient among scholars, few studies have yet examined whether and why it relates to career sustainability.Practical implicationsAcademic institutions should design interventions (e.g. career workshops) to cultivate calling.Originality/valueThe findings deepen the understanding of the mechanisms that explain how sustainable careers are achieved and maintained, extend the extra-attitudinal, behavioral outcomes of occupational calling and add to the emerging empirical evidence for supporting CCT.
Purpose - This paper presents practitioner insights from a university-wide enterprise intervention that integrated career self-management within entrepreneurship education. It demonstrates how experiential enterprise activities can strengthen employability capital and support sustainable career development. Design/methodology/approach - A 16-week intervention involving 159 undergraduates from four colleges was delivered collaboratively by the university incubator, Careers Office, academic faculty, and external mentors. Enterprise activities were combined with structured reflection, narrative exercises, and practitioner observation to examine developmental outcomes. Findings - Students reported increased confidence, resilience, communication, and opportunity awareness, alongside clearer career identities. Practitioners gained richer behavioural evidence to inform guidance, while the institution benefited from stronger cross-department collaboration. Key challenges included digital access, uneven team coordination, and workload timing. Practical implications - The paper proposes a practitioner framework comprising experience-based learning, reflective dialogue, and opportunity exploration. It offers actionable guidance on embedding career development within enterprise education to support inclusive, psychologically safe learning environments. Originality/value - The study demonstrates how the Employability Capital Growth Model (ECGM) can be operationalised in enterprise education and provides a practice-based account of aligning enterprise learning with career development for diverse student groups.
Purpose Integrating signaling theory and networking literature, this article theorizes how science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) women may overcome barriers resulting from low-competence gender stereotypes to realize career achievements. Design/methodology/approach The article develops a conceptual model delineating the process through which STEM women achieve objective career success by strategic networking according to how they evaluate their competence signal strength. Findings When STEM women evaluate their competence signal strength to be weak (strong), they engage in more network-deepening (network-broadening) actions. This signal-based strategic networking tends to occur when STEM women experience an internal locus of control at work. Network-deepening strategies enhance STEM women’s performance when their networking contacts’ knowledge is deep or broad. Network-broadening strategies enhance STEM women’s performance when their networking contacts have an egalitarian gender-role attitude. Contexts with organizational merit-based reward practices further help translate STEM women’s high performance, resulting from signal-based strategic networking into objective career success. Originality/value Our conceptual framing elaborates how signal-based strategic networking helps STEM women overcome structural barriers to achieve career success. Our theorizing provides a holistic three-stage view of signaling by unpacking how signalers, signal attributes, receivers and environmental factors jointly shape the occurrence and effectiveness of signaling actions.
