Marijke Verbruggen

Social-Cognitive Factors Affecting Clients’ Career and Life Satisfaction After Counseling

This study examines factors affecting clients’ career and life satisfaction in the first 6 months after having participated in career counseling. In particular, we tested a large subset of the recent social-cognitive model of work satisfaction of Lent and Brown using a longitudinal data set of 195 former counseling clients. Our results showed that clients’ goal self-efficacy at the end of the career counseling had a positive impact on their career satisfaction 6 months later. This relationship was fully mediated by external barriers, goal progress, and subsequent goal self-efficacy. The level of career satisfaction 6 months after the counseling was in turn positively related with clients’ life satisfaction. Also personality traits had an influence on clients’ career and life satisfaction, though only indirectly via goal self-efficacy.

Perceived Employability and Psychological Functioning Framed by Gain and Loss Cycles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the gain and loss cycle ideas from the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory with regard to perceived employability and psychological functioning among employed workers and unemployed job seekers, respectively. Design/methodology/approach – More specifically, the authors argue that perceived employability may trigger a gain cycle toward well-being among employed workers (H1), while ill-being may trigger a loss cycle toward reduced (perceived) employability among unemployed job seekers (H2). The authors test these ideas with cross-lagged analysis. Findings – Results confirm the hypotheses: perceived employability at Time 1 positively affects well-being at Time 2 among employed workers and ill-being at Time 1 negatively impacts perceived employability at Time 2 among unemployed job seekers. Research limitations/implications – Future research should study the gain and loss cycles with more than two waves of data as this allows for a more adequate test of these ...

Challenging the Uniformity Myth in Career Counseling Outcome Studies

This study aimed to challenge the “uniformity myth” in career counseling outcome studies—that is, a tendency toward studying career counseling clients as homogenous, implicitly assuming that the same outcomes would be beneficial to all clients. To this end, we examined the role of clients’ initial career counseling goals. We hypothesized that a client’s career counseling goals would affect (1) which outcomes the client is likely to attain through career counseling and (2) which outcomes he or she would most benefit from (in terms of improved well-being). Hypotheses were tested using data from a three-wave study with Flemish adult career counseling clients. We included six potential career counseling goals and corresponding outcomes: (1) increasing self-awareness, (2) increasing opportunity awareness, (3) making a career decision, (4) finding a new job, (5) improving work–family balance, and (6) improving work relationships. We found that clients were more likely to attain outcomes that matched their initial career counseling goals and less likely to attain other outcomes. In addition, goal attainment (i.e., the attainment of outcomes that match a client’s initial goals)—but not nongoal attainment (i.e., the attainment of outcomes that do not correspond to a client’s initial goals)—related to clients’ subsequent career and life satisfaction. Implications for career counseling research and practice are discussed.

What if people’s private life constrained their career decisions? Examining the relationship between home-to-career interference and career satisfaction

Purpose Previous research suggests that employees often make family-related career decisions (Greenhaus and Powell, 2012). The authors extend this idea and explore the concept of “home-to-career interference,” defined as the extent to which people perceive that their private life has constrained their career decisions to date. The authors expect that home-to-career interference has a negative impact on employees’ later career satisfaction via career goal self-efficacy and perceived organizational career support. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected quantitative data at three points in time, each six months apart in a Belgian telecommunications organization. Using the full information maximum likelihood path analysis approach, the authors performed analyses on a sample of dual-earner employees. Findings The results showed that employees’ home-to-career interference related negatively to their career goal self-efficacy and perceived organizational career support, which were, in turn, positively related to their career satisfaction. Originality/value This study contributes to the work-family literature by introducing the concept of home-to-career interference, by clarifying the mechanisms through which home-to-career interference relates to career satisfaction and by testing these relationships using a three-wave longitudinal design.

Flexible job search behaviour among unemployed jobseekers: antecedents and outcomes

The interest in flexible job search behaviour (FJSB) among unemployed jobseekers, i.e., the extent to which jobseekers also look for jobs that deviate from their studies and earlier work experience, has grown considerably in recent years. Yet, there is large disagreement on both its consequences and drivers. Career scholars as well as policymakers believe that FJSB is important for unemployed and can improve their employment prospects. However, evidence from human resource (HR) literature raises doubts whether FJSB can enhance re-employment success. Similarly, whereas the career literature links FJSB to positive attitudes, such as career adaptability, the HR literature suggests that people searching flexibly may feel pushed into this behaviour due to more negative reasons, like few labour market perspectives. The aim of this study is examining these opposing expectations. We focus on three FJSB types: flexibility with respect to pay/hierarchical level, skill use and commuting time. Hypotheses are tested using two-wave data with 672 unemployed. Results indicate, among others, that career-adaptable people are not inclined to search more flexibly. In addition, FJSB may in certain cases hamper people’s re-employment likelihood. People searching more flexibly also more often became underemployed and as such experienced a more negative job quality.

Employability Capital: A Conceptual Framework Tested Through Expert Analysis

Previous research attempted to identify personal resources that promote employability, that is, an individual’s chance to find and maintain employment. This has resulted in a large number of different personal resources, which are not always clearly differentiated from one another and often seem to—at least partially—overlap conceptually and/or empirically. In response, we aim at conceptual clarification and integration of what we coin “employability capital”. Based on a literature review, we developed a conceptual framework that integrates the various facets. Two types of distinctions were found: (a) an employability distinction, which differentiates between job-related, career-related, and development-related employability capital, and (b) a capital distinction, which differentiates between human capital (more specifically knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and social capital. We performed a Q-sorting study in which items of existing measurements were mapped onto the conceptual framework by subject matter experts. Overall, we found support for the conceptual framework.

When and Why Are Internal Job Transitions Successful? Transition Challenges, Hindrances, and Resources Influencing Motivation and Retention Through Basic Needs Satisfaction:

This study examines when and why internal job transitions enhance employees’ motivation and retention. Building on the Challenge–Hindrance Framework and the Self-Determination Theory, we hypothesize that transition challenges (i.e., horizontal and vertical transition magnitude) satisfy people’s basic psychological needs and may therefore enhance motivation and retention, whereas transition hindrances (i.e., increased work–life conflict) thwart basic needs satisfaction and are accordingly likely to decrease motivation and retention. In addition, we argue that transition resources (i.e., social support and personal control) may boost the impact of transition challenges and buffer the impact of transition hindrances. Hypotheses were tested with 173 employees who recently made an internal transition. We found support for the positive impact of vertical transition magnitude and the negative impact of increased work–life conflict on motivation and retention through an impact on basic needs satisfaction. In addition, social support was found to boost the former path. No other moderation effects were found. Implications of the results are discussed.

When Staying Is Dissatisfying: Examining When and Why Turnover Cognitions Affect Stayers’ Career Satisfaction:

This study examines when and why turnover cognitions affect stayers’ subsequent career satisfaction. To develop our hypotheses, we build on and compare two theoretical perspectives, that is, the insufficient justification perspective and regret theory. Hypotheses were tested using two studies with Belgian employees. The baseline hypothesis that initial turnover cognitions are related with lower subsequent career satisfaction received support in both studies. In Study 1, using two-wave data from 226 employees in four organizations, we tested whether the turnover cognitions–subsequent career satisfaction relationship was moderated by four contextual factors (i.e., internal job transitions, lack of external job opportunities, on-the-job embeddedness, and off-the-job embeddedness). We found marginal support for a mitigating role of internal job transitions, support for a mitigating role of lack of external job opportunities, and support for an amplifying role of off-the-job embeddedness. We found no moderation effect of on-the-job embeddedness. In Study 2, using three-wave information from 705 employees in seven organizations, we tested and found support for the mediating role of justifiability and regret. Overall, this study shows that turnover cognitions have consequences when people end up staying in their organization, which calls for more theoretical and empirical work on staying despite preceding turnover cognitions in order to improve our understanding of the complexity and dynamic nature of the turnover/retention phenomenon.

The impact of team characteristics on the supervisor’s attitude towards telework: A mixed-method study

Abstract This study examines the impact of team characteristics on the supervisor’s attitude towards telework through a mixed-method approach. First, in the quantitative part, we test hypotheses drawing on disruption and dependency theory, using data of 205 supervisors from four Belgian organizations. The data confirm the hypothesized negative correlation between task interdependence and supervisors’ supportive attitude towards telework, as well as the moderating role of supervisor’s dependency on his or her team on this relation. We found no impact of team heterogeneity and lack of team effort and low performance. Second, we use qualitative data collected through 39 semi-structured face-to-face interviews with supervisors to gain a better understanding of supervisors’ reasoning behind their attitude towards telework. These data provide insight into how task interdependence, team heterogeneity and lack of team effort and low performance affect it. Our team-centred conceptualization of the antecedents of supervisors’ attitude towards telework enables to highlight the key role of structural aspects in shaping supervisors’ attitudes towards telework. This is particularly important for policy, as organizations are better placed to remediate aspects at the team level that contribute to supervisors’ negative attitude towards telework, rather than those at the inter-individual one.

Psychological mobility during unemployment: an outplacement study

To date, little is known about the value of psychological mobility for unemployed job seekers. In this study, we examined a specific set of antecedents (career competences) and outcomes (perceived employability) of two aspects of psychological mobility (boundaryless mindset and organizational mobility preference) among 306 unemployed job seekers participating in outplacement counseling. We found that in this specific population, psychological mobility was only to a certain extent related to self-perceived employability. Furthermore, boundaryless mindset appeared to have little impact at all, which is an unexpected result when we compare our findings to those of earlier studies done in working populations. Another remarkable finding was the lack of a relationship between self-awareness – generally considered to be an important career competence – and psychological mobility. Perhaps self-awareness relates first and foremost to people’s readiness to be mobile, or to their capability to handle changes, rather than to their mobility preferences. Further research into the role of self-awareness in how psychological mobility shapes sustainable careers seems warranted. Overall, our findings imply that the relationship between psychological mobility and career outcomes may be markedly different for different groups in the labor market.