FREE online courses on Career Paths WBT - Career Paths for Managers - Employment action   Research found that individuals took action which attempted to effect a change in relation to their employment (employment action) either to maintain the current balance in their careers or to reduce the anxiety caused by perceptions of the possibility for imbalance at sometime in the future. In this way, individuals attempted to exert control over the circumstances created by a change that could occur in relation to them personally, domestically or their employment. However, individual beliefs about their own ability to control the outcome of any action taken and its beneficial effects varied within the group of managers interviewed. It was found that managers were proactive or reactive depending not only on their beliefs as mentioned but also on the individual's perceptions of their personal, domestic and employment circumstances. Much depended upon the individual's belief about how amenable these circumstances were to moderation; the repertoire of skills and actions available to him or her and the extent to which a particular action was thought to be prejudicial to the maintenance of balance in other areas of their life.

 

This is a simplification of a complex issue, for, in reality, managers had the view that there were areas in their life in which they could be proactive in making decisions concerning action while in others they reported they could only react to the situation as it emerged. Managers identified that there were unexpected life events, which had minor or major effects on the career decisions they made.

 

Life events

 

All the collaborators in the research gave accounts of events in their lives over which the individual had little or no control, the consequences of which had a significant impact upon that person's life and career. The range of such events was considerable and varied from a near fatal road accident to divorce. It was found that the impact of such events on career decisions may be direct or indirect.

 

A direct impact was, for example, where managers decided to end current employment and find an alternative, perhaps by “down shifting” which is a deliberate decision to work at a lower level of responsibility than in the past, accepting what is seen as a less affluent lifestyle.

 

An indirect impact, reported by managers, was where the event led to a re-appraisal of some or all of the different aspects of a career as defined by the individual, where the non-work circumstances dictate the nature of the employment commitment.