flowchart LR P[Preparation<br/>0–25] --> E[Organisational Entry<br/>18–25] E --> EC[Early Career<br/>25–40] EC --> MC[Mid-Career<br/>40–55<br/>plateau risk] MC --> LC[Late Career<br/>55+] style P fill:#E3F2FD,stroke:#1565C0 style EC fill:#E8F5E9,stroke:#2E7D32 style MC fill:#FFF8E1,stroke:#F9A825 style LC fill:#FCE4EC,stroke:#AD1457
28 Career Planning and Development
28.1 What is a Career?
Edgar Schein, who shaped much of the modern thinking on careers, defined a career as “the sequence of experiences a person has over the course of their working life” (schein1978?). The notion is broader than a job and broader than a set of promotions: a career includes the internal sense one makes of one’s working life as well as the external roles one occupies.
Douglas T. Hall’s well-known shorthand: a career is “the individually perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviours associated with work-related experiences and activities over the span of one’s life” (hall2002?).
TipThree Working Definitions
| Author | Definition | What it foregrounds |
|---|---|---|
| Edgar Schein | “Sequence of experiences a person has over the course of their working life.” | Lifespan |
| Douglas Hall | “Individually perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviours associated with work experiences over a lifetime.” | Subjective + objective |
| Greenhaus, Callanan & Godshalk | “Pattern of work-related experiences spanning the course of a person’s life.” | Pattern |
28.1.1 Career planning vs career development
TipCareer Planning vs Career Development
| Concept | Who does it | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Career Planning | The individual, supported by the organisation | A plan — chosen path, goals, milestones |
| Career Development | The organisation, supporting the individual | A system of training, mobility, mentoring, succession |
| Career Management | Both | The ongoing match of individual aspirations with organisational opportunities |
28.2 Career Stages
Two classic life-span theories anchor the topic.
28.2.1 Donald Super’s Five Stages
Donald Super’s life-span, life-space approach (1957, refined 1980) is the foundation of career-stage theory (super1957?):
TipSuper’s Five Career Stages
| Stage | Approx. age | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Growth | Birth–14 | Self-concept develops; interests and abilities explored |
| Exploration | 15–24 | Tentative occupational choice; education, internships |
| Establishment | 25–44 | Choice consolidated; advancement; growing competence |
| Maintenance | 45–64 | Hold position; develop newer skills; some recycle |
| Decline / Disengagement | 65+ | Reduced output; planning for retirement |
28.2.2 Greenhaus, Callanan and Godshalk’s Five Stages
A modern textbook variant — used by Aswathappa and Dessler — is the Greenhaus model with five stages tied to career events rather than fixed ages (greenhauscallanan2010?):
TipGreenhaus’s Five Career Stages
| Stage | Approx. age | Pre-occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation for work | 0–25 | Education, occupational choice |
| Organisational entry | 18–25 | First job, induction, fit |
| Early career | 25–40 | Establish credibility, achievement, identity |
| Mid-career | 40–55 | Reassessment; mentoring others; career plateau risk |
| Late career | 55+ | Stay productive; transition; retirement planning |
The career plateau is the most-tested feature of mid-career — when promotion slows or stops, requiring re-engagement through lateral moves, mentoring, or job enrichment.
28.3 Schein’s Career Anchors
Edgar Schein’s Career Anchors (1978) is the most-tested classification of what people are unwilling to give up in their careers — the values, motives, talents that hold the career in place (schein1978?). Schein identified eight anchors:
TipSchein’s Eight Career Anchors
| Anchor | What the person values most |
|---|---|
| Technical / Functional Competence | Mastery of a specialised field |
| General Managerial Competence | Climbing the management ladder |
| Autonomy / Independence | Freedom from organisational rules |
| Security / Stability | Predictability and long tenure |
| Entrepreneurial Creativity | Building one’s own enterprise |
| Service / Dedication to a Cause | Working for a value or social cause |
| Pure Challenge | Solving impossible problems |
| Lifestyle | Integrating personal and work life |
A person’s career anchor often emerges only after a few years of work and is the lens through which they accept or reject opportunities. Schein’s instrument is the Career Orientations Inventory (COI).
28.4 Holland’s RIASEC
John Holland’s Theory of Vocational Personalities (1973) classifies people and work environments into six types — RIASEC (holland1973?):
TipHolland’s Six RIASEC Types
| Type | Hallmarks | Typical occupations |
|---|---|---|
| Realistic | Practical, hands-on, mechanical | Engineer, mechanic, farmer |
| Investigative | Analytical, scientific, curious | Scientist, researcher, doctor |
| Artistic | Creative, expressive, original | Writer, designer, musician |
| Social | Helping, teaching, empathetic | Teacher, counsellor, social worker |
| Enterprising | Leading, persuading, ambitious | Sales, manager, entrepreneur |
| Conventional | Organised, detail-oriented, methodical | Accountant, banker, administrator |
The theory’s central proposition: people are happiest in occupations that match their personality type. Holland’s hexagon visualises the relations between the six types.
28.5 Career Paths and Ladders
Three modern variants of the traditional vertical career path:
TipThree Modern Career Path Designs
| Design | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional / Vertical | Promotion up a single hierarchy | Officer → Manager → AGM → GM |
| Dual ladder | Parallel paths — one managerial, one technical / professional | Senior Engineer ↔︎ Engineering Manager |
| Lattice / Multidirectional | Lateral, diagonal, downward and project-based moves | Modern matrix and gig-style firms |
The boundaryless and protean careers are the two most-cited contemporary concepts:
- Protean career (Hall) — values-driven, self-directed; the individual is in charge.
- Boundaryless career (Arthur & Rousseau) — moves across organisations, industries, geographies.
28.6 Succession Planning
Succession planning is the systematic identification and development of internal candidates to fill key positions when they fall vacant. The textbook process — five steps:
TipFive-Step Succession Planning Process
| # | Step | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify critical positions | Roles whose vacancy would damage the firm |
| 2 | Identify potential successors | High-performers + high-potentials (the 9-box grid) |
| 3 | Assess gap | Current readiness vs role requirements |
| 4 | Develop successors | Stretch assignments, training, mentoring, IDPs |
| 5 | Implement and review | Track readiness; refresh annually |
The 9-box grid (potential × performance) is the standard tool for talent calibration — used widely in succession planning and high-potential identification.
28.7 Practice Questions
Q 01
Career Definition
Easy
A career, in modern textbook usage, is best defined as:
View solution
Correct Option: B
A career covers the entire life-span of work experiences — Schein's and Hall's standard definitions.
Q 02
Super
Medium
Donald Super's life-span model identifies how many career stages?
View solution
Correct Option: C
Super's five: Growth → Exploration → Establishment → Maintenance → Decline.
Q 03
Career Anchors
Medium
The concept of "career anchors" is associated with:
View solution
Correct Option: B
Edgar Schein's 1978 work identified eight career anchors and the Career Orientations Inventory (COI).
Q 04
RIASEC
Medium
Holland's RIASEC framework matches:
View solution
Correct Option: A
Holland: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional — six personality types matched with six work environments.
Q 05
Plateau
Medium
The "career plateau" — flattening of vertical promotion — most often appears at:
View solution
Correct Option: C
Mid-career — Greenhaus's stage 4 (40–55) — when vertical movement slows. Remedies: lateral moves, mentoring, enrichment.
Q 06
Dual Ladder
Medium
A dual career ladder allows technical specialists to:
View solution
Correct Option: A
A dual ladder creates a parallel technical path so deep specialists do not have to leave their craft to advance.
Q 07
Protean
Medium
A "protean career", as described by Hall, is:
View solution
Correct Option: B
The protean career — named after Proteus, the shape-shifter — is shaped by the individual's values and shifts as those values evolve.
Q 08
9-Box
Medium
The "9-box grid" used in succession planning has axes of:
View solution
Correct Option: A
The 9-box grid plots performance (how much value created today) against potential (capacity for bigger roles).
ImportantQuick recall
- Career = sequence of work experiences over a working life. Career planning (individual-led) vs Career development (organisation-led).
- Career stages — Super (5): Growth → Exploration → Establishment → Maintenance → Decline. Greenhaus (5): Preparation → Entry → Early → Mid (plateau risk) → Late.
- Schein’s eight career anchors: Technical · Managerial · Autonomy · Security · Entrepreneurial · Service · Challenge · Lifestyle. Instrument: COI.
- Holland’s RIASEC: Realistic · Investigative · Artistic · Social · Enterprising · Conventional.
- Modern career designs: Vertical · Dual ladder · Lattice. Concepts: Protean (Hall) and Boundaryless (Arthur & Rousseau).
- Succession planning five-step process. 9-box grid: performance × potential.