IMPORTANCE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS A DETERMINANT OF ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Career development as a phenomenon is regarded as a concern to scholars, researchers, decision makers and
human resources experts. These stakeholders in human capital development strive to manage issues such as
recruitment, selection, training and development, promotion, and so on emanating from career development. Further,
organizations in particular endeavor to manage career development issues and how they affect organizational growth.
However, career development is defined as “an ongoing, formalized effort by an organization that focuses on
developing and enriching the organization’s human resources in light of both the employees’ and the organization’s
needs” (Byars and Rue, 2004). As obtained in the definition, both the employees’ and organization’ needs are factors
into career development. Therefore, the concept of career development can be regarded as a platform that aids
employees look beyond their present jobs and prepare for brighter future positions within organizations and
sometimes outside the organizations. This process enables organizations to have adequate, required, and formidable
human resources for their growth and relevance in the industry. It is worthy to note that some challenges such as
restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, etc., have great impact on the approach in which employees and organizations
view career.
Career development is not a new issue, but the controversial aspect of it, is who should be responsible for its
implementation? Should it be sole responsibility of employees or the employers? However, in the recent past,
individuals engage in personal career development (Hall, 2002) by getting involved in personal educational
advancement and professional training; which may or may not align with their present organizational goals. On the
other hand, organizations may choose to training or develop their employees in alignment to their present needs and
also prepare them for future organizational needs (Humphries and Dyer, 2001). Essentially, employers may not be
able to retain their trained and developed employees in this present competitive labour market having exposed them
to various training and development opportunities, which could be detrimental to the organizational growth
The business competition requires the company to make innovation not only on product produced but also on
services quality provided. On the other hand, the company also must be able to defend human resources who owned
by the company because they are a component of main resources in the company operational activities. One of ways
to maintain the human resources is giving a chance to the fairly career development. Activities in career developmnet
can be sponsored by human resources development, the manager and been made individually without depending on
company (Ivancevich and Glueck, 1989). Career development looks at the long-term career effectiveness and
success of organizational personnel (Decenzo &Robbins, 2010:211). Career development need the involvements of
organization and individual efforts. Human resources department and manager efforts related to the organization
efforts like held training and development programs and give promotion opportunity. According to Leibowitzet al.,
(1986), training is used for technical skill taught, while development usually refer to programs that try to improve
human relations and conceptual of manager. Human resources department often hold training and development
programs for the employees because they are very beneficial of the organization and employee. While, Simamora
(2003) said that, “promotion is transferring employee from one job to another job that has higher level in terms of
payment, responsibility and the level of organization.” So, when an employee has a good promotion chance, he has
done the development of his career.
Workers in contemporary society are expressing a strong desire to pursue more than just a job. They are looking for
employment opportunities that promise an extension of their interests, personality and abilities. Then want a variety of
things from their jobs besides a pay cheque and a few fringe benefits, and their loyalty to the organization depends
upon the degree to which their employer satisfies these wants (Kent & Otte, 1982, Agba, 2004). With improved living
standards, workers are no longer satisfied to have just a job and the usual fringe benefits. They want a career that
expresses their interests, personality, abilities and that harmonizes with their total life situation. Unfortunately, most
employers have failed to recognize this need, and the tools and experiences they provide do not enable workers to
develop in their career.
Today an individual’s career is no longer tied to a single organization, as career changes and job mobility have
become common phenomena (Rousseau, 1998). To be successful in one’s career, employees today have to balance
the relationship between their desire for career growth and their attitudes toward their current organizations. Recent
research has shown career growth opportunities to be an important determinant of employee–organizational
relationships. Organizations that provide mechanisms for employee career growth create a mutual investment type of
relationship with their employees (Tsui, Pearce, Porter, & Tripoli, 1997), a relationship that ties career growth to
important outcomes such as organizational commitment (Weng, McElroy, Morrow, & Liu, 2010). However, one would
expect that any relationship between career growth and employee outcomes would depend on whether the employee
is committed to pursuing a career, rather than simply holding a job, in the first place.
Rather than considering career growth in terms of the general utility of one’s present job for future career outcomes
(Bedeian, Kemery, & Pizzolatto, 1991), we use Weng’s (2010) multidimensional conceptualization of career growth.
His model suggests that career growth consists of four factors: meeting career goals, developing one’s professional
abilities, and receiving promotions, and compensation commensurate with those abilities. In essence, this view of
career growth is an individual-level, organization specific, concept. That is, he argues that career growth is a measure
of the degree to which an individual perceives that their current organization creates an environment in which the
employee is able to meet his/her career-related needs and reinforces those accomplishments through promotions
and compensation (Weng et al., 2010). Therefore, this study focuses on the importance of career development as a
determinant of organizational growth, a case study of indomie plc.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
High salaries, good working conditions, health and dental insurance, retirement plans, stock purchase programmes,
reduced work hours, technological advancement, educational reimbursement programmes among others might seem
to be the necessary ingredients for individual happiness and fulfillment in the world of work. Despite these benefits,
there are many employees at all levels that appear to be dissatisfied and delusion with themselves, their work and
their future. Most workers realize that in any organizational setting, they must have opportunities for continuing growth
and advancement if they are to be satisfied. Where the employer can provide the worker with these opportunities, a
proper attitude of loyalty and satisfaction can be developed and performance enhanced.
In the past, the word “work” often had a negative connotation, implying something that was done for economic
survival and was not expected to provide personal employment. Most workers today are looking for a career that
means something more than just a job with the usual fringe benefits. These problems necessitates the need to carry
out a study on the importance of career development as a determinant of organizational growth, a case study of indomie plc.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is to examine the importance of career development as a determinant of
organizational growth. The specific objectives include the following:
- To find out the extent to which management show interest in the career development of its employees.
- To ascertain the relationship between career development and employees’ commitment.
- To investigate the impact of career development on the productivity of indomie PLC.
- To examine the effects of variables such as skills, experience, promotion exercise, values and recognition and
reward have on organizational growth. - To know examine the relationship between career development variables such as career opportunities, career
advancement, career counseling and employee commitment in indomie plc. - 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- The relevant research questions related to this study include the following:
- What is the extent to which management show interest in the career development of its employees?
IMPORTANCE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS A DETERMINANT OF ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH