Business Definition for: Career Anchor

• a guiding force that influences people's career choices, based on self-perception of

their own skills, motivation, and values. The term was coined by Edgar Schein in
Career Anchors: Discovering Your Real Values, published in 1985. He believed
that people develop one underlying anchor, perhaps subconsciously, that they are
unwilling to give up when faced with different pressures. Schein distinguishes
several career anchor groups such as technical/functional competence, managerial
competence, creativity, security or stability, and autonomy.

The effect of career anchors on job characteristics &

organizational citizenship behavior relationsh
Last updated: 6 January 2004

Ms Sonali Kumar is currently working as a Human Resource

Consultant in New Delhi. As a Consultant, Ms Kumar has
worked with organizations across diverse industry sectors such
as Manufacturing, Fertilizers, Oil & Gas, Steel, FMCG, ITES and
on a variety of solution areas such as Performance
Management, Organization Structuring, Competencies,
Manpower Optimization, Job Evaluation, Balanced Scorecard,
HR Strategy and Employer Branding.

Ms Kumar has an MBA in Personnel Management and Industrial

Relations from Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI),
Jamshedpur. She also has a Bachelor's degree in Economics
from St. Xavier’s College. She has been an outstanding student
throughout her academic career and won various scholarships
and awards for academic excellence. Sonali Kumar
Finalist,
Among her various achievements is her dissertation, titled “ Mercer Award Asia 2003
The Effect of Career Anchors on the Relationship between Job Characteristics and
Organizational Citizenship Behavior”, under the guidance of Dr. R.K. Premarajan at XLRI. This
research was presented at the Business and Economics Society International Seminar at San
Francisco in July 2003.

Good organizational citizens are employees whose actions contribute to the effective
functioning of the organization, and are not explicitly required (discretionary) nor formally
rewarded (with incentives). Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is beneficial to both
individuals and organizations. It is therefore important to understand what causes this
behavior and how this behavior can be encouraged and promoted in organizations.

Research has shown that job characteristics - to the extent that they arouse intrinsic
motivation- directly influence OCB. This may happen because of two plausible reasons:

 The requisite job characteristics for an intrinsically motivating job would

create a sense of responsibility - the individual would experience a sense of personal
accountability for important work outcomes, regardless of whether the formal job
 descriptions require the person to take those steps.
 Intrinsically motivating job characteristics are also assumed to render the
work more psychologically meaningful (Hackman and Oldham, 1980)- the enhanced
meaning in the task would enable the person to see the contextual importance of the job
and appreciate the linkages among individuals in terms of interdependence. Presumably the
person would also more readily imagine the needs, problems, and perspectives of other
contributors in the larger picture of organizational functioning.

In order to identify job characteristics that arouse intrinsic motivation, we need to first
understand what motivates employees on their jobs. Research indicates that career anchors
are career motivators that make employees hold on to their jobs. They are strong non-
monetary factors, which affect work and career satisfaction and provide a way of
understanding these motivators of career decisions. Career anchors determine the intrinsic
motivation present in a job to the extent that the characteristics of the job match the
jobholder’s career anchors. The purpose of this study is therefore to see whether career
anchors moderate the relation between job characteristics and OCB or not.

Edgar Schein developed the idea of career anchors - what people most want out of a career
He came up with 8 career anchors ---

1. Autonomy/independence - wanting to be self reliant - useful with today's contracting out.

2. Security/stability - wanting to remain with one employer for life - not so likely any more.
3. Technical/functional competence - to identify with a professional discipline.
4. General management - having a broad, overview, facilitating role, not a specialist.
5. Entrepreneurial creativity - a premium wherever innovation drives competitiveness.
6. Service - dedication to worthwhile causes ranging from the environment to poverty.
7. Pure challenge - just solving difficult problems - no pattern necessary.
8. Life style - disinclination to sacrifice life style solely for career advancement.

You may combine a few of these career anchors, but there should be one at the top of your list
By analyzing employee needs, career planners can channel them appropriately instead of
assuming that they all want to move up the managerial hierarchy
If innovation is essential in your business, forcing your stars up the ladder is self defeating

Human Resource Management

• Human Resource Management is a strategic function.

• Investments in people must be related to organizational strategy.
• There must be a measurable return for every HR initiative.
• For example, most effort should be made to develop those employees with
potential to add most value to the organization.
• Many approaches to HR in the past have regarded people a bit mechanistically - as
resources, parts of a machine.
 • As more leadership and entrepreneurial action is demanded of all employees, the
more HR must play an enabling role rather than a controlling one.
• HR professionals can best show leadership by championing new initiatives to help
their organizations make better use of its talent. HR professionals can be leaders,
not just suppliers of services.
• The most critical role for HR today is to foster talent management. In a knowledge
driven age, business is a war of ideas, so it is all about the people, more than ever.

Managing your career - an entrepreneurial approach

• We're told that it's up to us to manage our own careers.

• But many feel powerless to do so short of leaving for greener pastures.
• Yes, you can do your best in your present job and hope to get promoted.
• Many think it is up to ''them'' to come along and tap me on the shoulder.
• A lot of career frustration seems to be based on not moving fast enough, but it is
also caused by this feeling of having little say in the matter.
• So it's as much resentment as frustration.
• We find it easy to leave when our resentment reaches a stage we won't tolerate.
• At this stage, almost anything seems more attractive than where we are.
• In building ourselves up to go elsewhere, we paint an overly rosy picture to
ourselves of greener pastures while blinding ourselves to any redeeming features
of our current employer.
• This is OK rationalization, but not the most emotionally intelligent response.

Obtaining Career Satisfactions

• What are your goals? • Career management

• Promoting yourself. • Job search counselling
• Changing employers • Selling yourself
• Your CV / Résumé • The retirement career
• The formal job market
• The informal job market New: Career management - a leadership
• Networking approach to advancing your career - free
article.
• The interview
Career Management

• Careers are in chaos! Progress is no longer up so employees

are moving on!
• How can careers be managed if the traditional ladder has been
kicked to one side?
• How can you retain your stars, if they cannot advance?
• Flexibility is the key to career success, so become a
chameleon!
• All work is becoming nothing but short term projects for
knowledge workers.
• The concept of the fixed "job" is obsolete, never mind lifetime
employment.
• These visions of tomorrow apply well to the most media-hyped
industries.
• High tech industries where fast innovation drives continuous
change.
• Not all industries change fast - oil, airlines, restaurants,
construction, public sector.
• Some compete on cost, quality and service - see
organizational renewal
• Managerial careers will be available where complex tasks need
efficient execution.
• Organizations need a cafeteria approach to careers to
accommodate differing strategies and varying needs of people.
• Employees will continue to want career development whether
it be increased professional status, greater responsibility,
personal development, power or more money.
• Career planning matches organizational needs with those of
employees.
• The first step is to take stock of your own industry patterns.
• Edgar Schein's career anchor concept is a way to take stock of
employee needs.
• Effective career management is a sound talent management
strategy.
• Talent management depends on effective career management.
Otherwise, highly qualified knowledge workers will go
elsewhere.
• Managing careers is a strategic initiative to position an
organization for competitive advantage.

• But, employees need to be entrepreneurial about their careers

and take equal ownership for advancing themselves, regarding
the organization as an internal market.