A Balance of Power :: Career Employment Businesses Essays

A Balance of PowerEliminating co-dependent behavior has become as important for engagement health as it is for psychological well-being. Todays workers argon realizing that the only source of commerce security is the security they create for themselves, by becoming self-directed and career resilient (Brown 1996). Continued employment is tied to lifelong learning and ongoing skill development, practices that enhance career growth and the potential for career cash advance and mobility. This trend toward career independence is reflected in the new breed of independent contractors and temporary workers who move from job to job and project to project, marketing themselves for temporary assignments in a variety of organizations rather than seeking permanent jobs. When the self-employed are counted, these free agents comprise more than 16% of the U.S. population, roughly 25 million mass who are continually marketing their skills, abilities, and achievements to realize their employment goals (Pink 1997).Workers are recognizing the need to ensure their marketability to employers, and employers are facing increased pressure to make their organizations attractive to workers. In the current tight labor market, where workers remember job loss as an outcome of corporate restructuring and downsizing, company loyalty has gone by the wayside. Brown (1998a) reports that horizontal newly hired workers are on the lookout for a better opportunity, with 50-60% of them changing jobs within the first 7 months of employment. To offset excessive turnover, many companies are offering advantages associated with free agency (Reich 1998) flexibility in how, when, and where you work compensation linked to what you contribute freedom to move from project to project.This shared responsibility for employment has resulted in the evolution of various partnership arrangements. Formal employment contracts, which are designed to satisfy the needs of both employers and employees, are being deve loped through collective bargaining and contain employment stipulations that are agreeable to both parties (Brown 1997). Through such contracts, employers provide the opportunities, tools, and support to help employees develop their skills and maintain their employability the employees overhear the responsibility of managing their careers by taking advantage of the opportunities they are given (ibid., p. 1). What are the implications of this shared responsibility? Todays workers must be entrepreneurial. They must cultivate as free agents, marketing themselves and the skills they can offer to employers who serve as customers.How Can Career Development Programs Be Updated?Career development programs, although continuing to management on career awareness, exploration, and development, must be updated to contain strategies for employment in the 21st century.