Ans De Vos

Self-perceived employability, organization-rated potential, and the psychological contract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between self-perceived employability resources and perceived psychological contract (PC) obligations. To examine the extent to which organizational ratings of potential, through their “signaling” function, might serve as a buffer between employability and PC perceptions that are undesirable from an employers point of view. Design/methodology/approach – Both self-report data (i.e. self-perceived employability resources and perceived PC obligations) and data reported by the HR departments of the participating organizations (i.e. organizational ratings of potential) were collected in a case-control design (n=103). Findings – Self-perceived employability resources are not related to lower intentions to stay with ones current employer. High-potential employees did not perceive themselves as particularly obliged to reciprocate their organizations’ additional investments in them by expressing longer term loyalty, or a higher performance level. Pr...

An integrative model for competency development in organizations: the Flemish case

The prominent role of competency development in enhancing the success of employees and organizations has drawn the attention of practitioners leading them to introduce competency development as a central part of their human resource practices. Unfortunately, this strong managerial interest has not been fully translated into the academic world, creating a gap between theory and practice. The main purpose of this study is to fill this gap by exploring the nature of competency development in 22 Flemish organizations through a longitudinal multiple case study design. By using a grounded theory approach, a framework has emerged mapping out the different steps of competency development in the participating organizations. As such, this study can be an important first step toward closing the gap between practice and theory concerning competency development in organizations.

The Psychological Contracts of Older Employees

Many organizations are currently facing an aging workforce and have therefore called for researchers to examine how older employees can be optimally motivated and retained. To this end, we believe it is essential to understand what older employees expect from their organization. We therefore introduce the psychological contract—describing the mutual obligations between employee and employer—and review the literature on older employees’ psychological contracts. In addition, we perform a meta-analysis to shed additional light on the type of obligations that older employees perceive in their psychological contract. We conclude that future studies should focus on unraveling the mechanisms—such as future time perspective and changing goals and values—that create differences between older and younger employees in the content of and the reactions to the psychological contract. Practitioners are advised to monitor changes in these underlying mechanisms as employees grow older, and to implement age-conscious Human Resource policies accordingly in order to manage older employees’ psychological contracts.

Sustainable HRM for sustainable careers: introducing the ‘Respect Openness Continuity (ROC)’ model

In this chapter, the concept of sustainable careers is positioned within a broader framework of sustainable HRM. It broadens the scope from a single career-perspective to a more integrated HRM and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) perspective. ‘Respect’, ‘Openness’ and ‘Continuity’ are introduced as the three building blocks of sustainable HRM. Although interest in these blocks is not new in itself, our contribution lies in the critical reflection upon and redirection of existing HRM practices, systems and themes towards the ROC model. As such, sustainable HRM should be seen as a complementary perspective. Its aim is not to substitute the strategic HRM perspective, but to offer a correction given the concretization of the latter from a unilateral business management point of view. Sustainable career management, as a specific domain of HRM, brings respect, openness and continuity into the management of employees’ careers by balancing short-term and long-term needs, focusing on employability and work ability, following an inclusive approach, tailoring to individuals’ needs and providing career support.

The inside effects of a strong external employer brand: how external perceptions can influence organizational absenteeism rates

Abstract In this study, we invoke a social identity and job resources perspective to investigate the impact of an organization’s internal and external employer brand images on employee absenteeism. Specifically, using workforce samples of 56 Belgian companies (n = 12670) and a second independent study sample (n = 4461), we assess the relative importance of the internal employer brand image (i.e. employee perceptions) and the external employer brand image (i.e. non-employee perceptions) in predicting the absenteeism rate in these organizations. Results show that corporate absenteeism decreases as internal (employee) views and external (non-employee) views of the organization decline. Results further show that the external employer brand image may be a more important driver of absenteeism than the internal employer brand image. Such results highlight that an organization’s external image may be a strong antecedent of important internal organizational behavior outcomes.

Cumulative Social (In)Equality Through Work

Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. We provide an integrated overview of the dynamics that cause s...

Social Dialogue as a Sustainable Career Development Practice to Combat (Meta)Stereotyping

Sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM) implies individuals and organizations to share responsibility for workers’ employability, including vulnerable workers, such as older workers (> 50 years). Witnessing the emerging scholarly and societal attention for sustainable career development (SCD), this chapter outlines how the concepts of social dialogue, employability, and (meta)stereotyping may be conceptualized and interrelated, and how they can play a role in HR-processes and, ultimately, affect workers’ career development. The (meta)stereotyping process is illustrated by a short summary of preliminary results from a study of supermarket workers in the Netherlands, particularly focusing on workers engaging in negative age-based (meta)stereotyping. In view of several interrelated trends, older workers (among others) have become an increasingly vulnerable labor market category. The chapter concludes by suggesting organizations to implement HR practices to combat negative (meta)stereotyping in general, and older workers in particular, enabling them to shape more inclusive workplaces, for example, through social dialogue.

Facilitating Sustainable Careers: Getting Started

Whilst the previous chapter aimed to formulate recommendations at a more strategic level, this chapter proposes practical advices for different stakeholders and relevant actors involved in sustainable career management: policy makers, trade unions, HR decision makers, direct supervisors and individuals. Regarding the latter, the individual career actor, more specific suggestions will be formulated in Chap. 7.

Context & Transfer Issues: How Can Good Practices Be Transferred?

Transferability of a good practice is defined as the degree to which a good practice can easily be transferred and used in other contexts. At system level it refers to how a policy or good practice can be transferred from one EU country or region to another and which parameters should be taken into account. At the organizational level it refers to how a policy or good practice can be transsferred from one type of organization or sector to another. This chapter will present an overview of the literature on policy transfer studies. A checklist of the main aspects to consider when planning a transfer will be provided. We will describe the relevant characteristics of the socio-economic context and of the organizational context to be considered, both for the original context and the target one. Two examples of concrete transfers will be presented.

Introduction: ESF Network Career & AGE (Age, Generation, Experience)

This chapter outlines the objectives and scope of this book and introduces the Career and AGE (Age, Generation, Experience) learning network set up by the European Social Fund. It starts with highlighting the challenges of making careers more sustainable