HRM/organizational career management systems and practices

The economic and social context in which organizations develop and retain human resources has changed intensely from the years when scholars initially studied and defined career management. During the 1980s and 1990s, companies were competing in steadily expanding markets, which allowed for long-term planning, so the purpose of career management practices like succession planning, job posting and skill inventory was to prepare talented individuals to achieve top management positions in the organization (Gutteridge, 1993). Today, however, uncertainty in the labour and product market requires organizations to be adaptable to volatile business conditions (Doyle, 2000). As several authors observe (Cappelli and Keller, 2014; Bidwell and Keller, 2014), in this uncertain context, organizations manage their workforces with increasing dismissals and external hiring at all organizational levels, especially for generic competencies, a phenomenon which is slowly eroding the monolithic institution of internal labor market (Doeringer and Piore, 1971). Nevertheless, even in this highly dynamic and competitive context, not all competences are generic and easy portable from one organization to another (Groysberg et al., 2006). There are several competencies, including leadership ones, which are firm specific and difficult to transfer and organizations need to breed them internally. In order to retain those individuals who possess these skills, companies design organizational career systems (Bagdadli, 2007; Bagdadli et al., 2003; Hall and Las Heras, 2009) and use organizational career management (OCM) practices to favour their internal development. The career management of these individuals, either hired from the external labour market or promoted from within, plays an important role in companies’ effort to manage human resources. This chapter defines OCM systems, analyzes the theoretical roots of OCM, looks at OCM practices, shows the link between human resource management (HRM) and career management and illustrates important insights with practical examples from the world of organizations.