The current operating dynamics of organizations and the understanding of the important role of psychological satisfaction in the development of the professional career have led to the establishment of new models in the types of career.
In this work the concepts of protein careers and without borders are studied: the conceptual bases that support their development, the review of the research carried out, the set of psychological tests that measure the attitudes of individuals towards this type of work life and the tests that measure related aspects of personality. A vision of the Spanish labor panorama is also given and the hypotheses and methodology are proposed to evaluate these career attitudes in the population of Spain.
1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years there has been a dizzying series of changes in society. Not only technological advances in the media and economic and cultural globalization have been transcendental, it has also been the development of a new vision of the performance of people within organizations, in accordance with the philosophy of the integral human being seen as an end in itself and not as a means.
As a consequence, the Career of people within companies has been a recent subject of intense debate, study and analysis. Various theories are concerned with the task of establishing the conceptual structure of new trends. This work focuses on two concepts that have been pioneers: the Protein Race and the Race without Frontiers. Both present a fertile field of development and research applicable to Spain.
This thesis is the first phase of a doctoral research work. It establishes the concepts, raises the hypotheses, and summarizes the study methodology and the tests that can be used as a basis for an empirical measurement in the Spanish population.
The work is developed as follows: the first part presents the basic concepts for understanding current ideas about the career. Construct ideas are exposed as the creation of social and personal construct interactions and relationships, which emphasizes the influence of the individual's expectations on his experience and subsequent performance, and which are very useful to understand the current vision of the subject within of organizations.
Then the business development in Spain is explained and, thanks to its openness, the modern vision it shares with the most developed countries in relation to Careers in organizations.
The following chapter presents different ideas about the types of Career that have recently appeared in the organizational development literature, which provides an overview of the current dynamics that the subject has.
Then, the authors' approaches to the Protean Career and the Race without Frontiers (two closely related concepts) and the consequences that this vision of the Work Career entails are exposed.
Next, a methodology is presented, accompanied by a set of tests, which makes it possible to relate different aspects of the personality with the types of Protein Race and Race without Frontiers. This "battery of tests", whose usefulness in studying the potential of people to develop these types of Career has been empirically verified (although in other latitudes), is very useful for the later stage of research.
Finally, some hypotheses are proposed that lay the foundations for the second phase of the study, of later development, focused on the evaluation of these career patterns in the Spanish population and for which use will be made of the concepts and tools collected in this job.
2. OBJECTIVE
This thesis is the first phase of a doctoral research work.
Its objective is to know the current theoretical developments on the subject of types of Protein Race and Race without Frontiers, determine the psychological characteristics of the people who are more likely to develop this type of Race, propose a methodology, accompanied by a set of tests, to measure the relationship between psychological characteristics and performance in this type of Career and lay the foundations for a practical application in workers of Spanish companies.All this bearing in mind that being able to differentiate and know the profile of the people who develop Careers of this type and have practical tools for their study is very useful for companies when determining the policies of the organization and its management of the activities in the human resources departments -RRHH-: career development, training, selection, among others.
3. CAREER CONSTRUCTION
3.1. CONSTRUCTION
The knowledge about what a construct is, the evolution of this concept and the contributions of several scholars on the subject, serve as a pillar in this research, to establish the changes in the working individual, not only due to the influence of their environment but also by the aspects intrinsic to him. His way of seeing the world and interacting with it has created new challenges for professionals related to the management of human talent in the organizational world.
George Kelly, who we could classify as the most influential constructivist, in his personal construct theory raised the following statements:
- Reality manifests itself to us through our personal constructs. He called them "personal" because each individual, insofar as he is different, can interpret the same reality in a different way. The perceptual organization that each one gives to his vital environment is based on personal constructs, in descriptive dimensions or categories.
Constructs express the way of identifying things by forming classes and differentiating them from others, and are dichotomous or bipolar: good-bad, affectionate-distant, worker-lazy. They are a descriptive category that is used to systematize events that represent the way of building the world and the idiosyncratic way of perceiving reality.
In other words, a construct is nothing more than the way in which the person reflects on himself and on the environment, seen the latter, as the concept and beliefs that the individual nurtures from himself and relates to interpret, elaborate knowledge and therefore actively interact with your environment.
To understand the terms, we will define cognitive styles as all those that are determined by structural traits with which every human being is born, and cognitive strategies as the ways of processing information that can be learned. In other words, we could say that cognitive styles manifest the way a person thinks; while cognitive strategies reflect the various processes used by the learner in order to respond to the demands or responses of a learning situation in which the information is presented in different ways or forms.
In the fifties Hernan Witkin, began his research in order to differentiate the different cognitive styles, managing to identify the first known as field independence - field dependence, which led him to present relevant conclusions such as:
- People independent of the field are more active in their coping efforts, they control their impulses flexibly, they show less concern for feelings of inferiority. Cognitive style directly influences as a determining factor in the academic and career success of people.
Subsequently, several new concepts were developed, such as analytical style - global style, determining that people who have the first, unlike the second, are less influenced and dependent on the environment, have a greater capacity to overcome situations presented abroad and they act seeking to satisfy their own needs.
One of the more recent concepts is that of self control (self control) with high or low level. Low-level individuals, compared to the former, present a reduction in the perception and importance they give to social information, their behaviors being determined by their internal forum and adapting them to their interests.
George Kelly organized his theory in a fundamental postulate: "A person's processes are psychologically channeled as they anticipate events" and in the following eleven corollaries:
- Construction Corollary: "A person anticipates events based on his memories." People build their anticipations by resorting to past experiences, they expect current events to be related to known indicators or recognized patterns. Experience corollary: “A person's construction system varies as he successively builds the reproductions based on memories of events". When a change is experienced compared to expected anticipations, an adaptation occurs that generates new knowledge or, if there are no differences, a validation and confirmation would be given. Hence, faith can be maintained in the theory of reality that has been created or there is a need to modify it by another. Corollary of the dichotomy:"A person's construction system is composed of a finite number of dichotomous constructs." People store experiences in the form of constructs, a term that Kelly has also called "useful concepts," "convenient fictions," and "transparent templates." What people do is "place" these "templates" in the world, guiding their perceptions and behaviors.
Although with great frequency they are also known as personal constructs, it does not mean that it is presented identically in each subject, but rather refers to how each individual sees the world, how they interpret it. They are also called bipolar constructs, to accentuate their dichotomous nature, since they have two extremes or poles, such as where there is high - there must be low, where there is up - there must be bottom.
Thus, any construct that is applied to others will potentially apply to the same person and vice versa: "One cannot tell a person that he is a bastard without making illegitimacy also a dimension of his own life".
- Corollary of the organization: "Characteristically, each person develops (by virtue of his convenience anticipating events) a construction system that encompasses ordinal relationships between the constructs"
Some constructs are dependent on others, or are "under" other constructs, they are not simply floating without any connection, although there may be small changes when related. Thus, when we name the word tree we immediately use other words that give it meaning and are immediately attributed to it as branches, leaves, stem, root, among others; But if, in addition to the word tree, we add the terms of Christmas, we immediately change our construct for others such as December, snow, gifts, etc. But it is in this type of construct, where conflicts between what is internalized and reality can arise, when referring to the Christmas tree we probably relate it to lights and for others as the living silver of the time.Another case is when prejudices occur, which would be a good example of the influence of this construct, as soon as a label is placed on someone, immediately and automatically other qualities attached to it are assumed about that person. Reaching conclusions from experience, linking it to other profiles, or simply relating it to the environment.
- Range corollary: "A construct is convenient for the anticipation of only a finite range of events."
Any construct is not valid for everything or related to all people. It depends on other individual factors such as work activity, knowledge, values, etc. For this reason there are constructs that are more incidental or specific, what for someone is specific for another person can be general.
- Modulation Corollary: "Variation in a person's construction system is limited to the permeability of the constructs within whose ranges of convenience the variants lie."
There are constructs that are "elastic" that are permeable, which are open to new elements or are easy to relate to new experiences or constructs. In contrast there are the raincoats considered those of great limitation when it comes to interacting with another.
- Corollary of selection: "A person selects or chooses for himself that alternative in a dichotomous construct through which he can anticipate a greater possibility of extension and definition of his system."
To resort to constructs that facilitate and bring to a successful conclusion the selection to act correctly in anticipating the constructive systems to respond or interpret the reality of the moment. Which provides security as soon as there are fewer variations or you have the conviction of acting correctly.
- Corollary of individuality: “People differ from each other in their construction of events.” Corollary of globality: “Whenever a person uses a construction of experiences similar to that used by another, their psychological processes will be similar to those of that other person. "
Although, in the conclusion eight of Kelly on individuality, he affirms that each human being has different experiences and therefore a construction of reality based on their own history, there is also a conditioning factor in the behaviors, values, customs, feelings of people. That understanding of reality is influenced by culture. Everyone perceives things in a similar way, and the closer they are to each other, the more similar they will be.
- Corollary of fragmentation: "A person can successively use a construction of subsystems, which are hypothetically incompatible with the rest"
The roles that people assume affect their constructs unconsciously and therefore their actions will be radically differentiated at times. A very common example to understand is that of the policeman, on patrol at night acting as a strong, authoritarian and efficient person. But during the day, with his children he is a father, behaving gentle, affectionate and affectionate. Once the circumstances are separated, the roles do not conflict.
- Corollary of sociability: "To the extent that a person builds the construction processes of another, he can have a role in the social processes that involve the other person."
Individuals, even when they are not really similar to other people, are not affected to relate and interact with others. They can adopt the position or situation of the other to understand or understand why… of the attitude, act of the other, that is, they can adopt a position close to themselves through the corollary of fragmentation to "be" another person.
Julian Rotter (1954) in turn introduces new concepts such as those reached with his research on the place of internal vs external control - people who have a high place of internal control relate the success factor as an indicator to determine the level of effort made, while those of low level have expectations about the consequences influenced by luck, chance, destiny or other forces.
The website of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language offers for the word Carrera twenty-four meanings related to speed, set of knowledge, time, space, profession, path - guide and performance. Wikipedia refers to it using words in the notion of speed, action, competition, task, performance, knowledge, profession, route.
The Career concept is permanently related to other intrinsic variables of each subject, therefore, each person has a different definition, according to their traits and interests, such as: self-esteem, anxiety, involvement in work, locus of control, decision-making styles and autonomy (Barret & Tinsley, 1977; Gómez & Rivas, 1997; Lucas & Epperson, 1990).
The Carrera construct can be analyzed at three levels:
- Social: allows you to see the reference point that a conglomerate has with respect to the term Career, which political, economic, and social factors are implicitly related, which professions are generally recognized and provide a certain status, among others. Organizational: admits unifying the various characteristics and Career types found in the labor market, their evolution in line with the business operating style Individual: contributes to the knowledge of the various personality factors, traits, and particular information to determine criteria and changes present in this micro level.
In accordance with the categories previously described, this research will be conducted at the macro level - organizational, taking into account the various changes presented in the Career concept, more precisely regarding the new
- Career - Time: They are related and inseparable constructs between them; On the one hand, the career relies on time for its development and evolution, since it often depends on the degree of dedication and period to see the results; on the other, time is related, from the point of view of the time, bringing with it changes influenced by geographical, socio-political, cultural and impersonal aspects attached to each individual subject. (Greenhaus, 2003). Career - Life cycle: life expectancy in Spain today reaches an approximate time of 80 yearsand it increases every day thanks to scientific and technological advances, among others. Therefore, the vital times have been modified: until the age of 26 the academic period conformed by university studies ends, beginning working life, which will be exercised for four decades, until the moment of retirement.
This period of labor contribution contributes not only to the worker but to society, since it generates wealth and therefore increases the quality of life not only of its own but of the social conglomerate.
- Career - knowledge: They are intertwined concepts; During the evolution or development of the profession, the subject must acquire a set of academic knowledge and experiences, in order to qualify and achieve expertise in a task. It has come to be considered that the greater the number of knowledge that can influence the results of their performance, these generate a greater probability of success in their Career. It should be noted that knowledge is a different construct than information. Career - Performance: The evaluation of professionals and the development of their Career are considered aspects that have an impact on performance. At present, when relating these constructs they are linked to the possibilities and opportunity that the subject has to extract and take advantage of the information,the experience and knowledge of others and how to adapt them to their training needs - Benchmarking.
Performance evaluation, focused on previously established results and behaviors, is a relevant factor in the construction of this relationship and the success achieved.
- Career - guide: The training received by people in their various life cycles is generally related to the acquisition of complementary knowledge that sometimes guides their working life and gives them opportunities to move up to positions that fit their skills.
- CHANGES IN THE TRADITIONAL CONTEXTS OF CAREER IN SPAIN
To understand the modern vision of the career in Spanish and world organizations it is necessary to make a brief account of business evolution in recent years.
4.1. BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SPAIN
In Spain, in the last four decades there have been significant changes which have directly influenced the field of action of Human Resources and, therefore, the internal structure of organizations and the conception of Career in them.
Since the 16th century, Spain experienced an economic, political, industrial and social crisis, which is why the industrial revolution had a lower initial impact than in other countries. After showing a new economic decline, in the middle of the 19th century there was a significant change after the implementation of a model based on the freedom of business and an increase in the development of the industrial sector. Spain began the 20th century with an economic model based on the agricultural sector; with the absence of their colonies on the new continent; and living a crisis with political and social implications.
During the period of restoring order, Spain adopted a model of international isolation based on a protectionist state policy of import substitution that reinforced industry in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, although with weak private investment.
Then the opening to the outside took place in the last four decades, induced by needs in the energy and technology sector. Meanwhile, the rural population moves to the cities, where the Industry is in full swing of the labor market. Until the sixties the economy grew, originating events such as the signing of the preferential agreement, a fact that increased trade relations with the European Economic Community, stimulating greater foreign industrial investment, mainly of American and Japanese capital in the automobile sector.
From 1970 to the present, political, economic, demographic, educational and business aspects explain the changes that have taken place in the management of Human Resources in companies in Spain.
With the end of the Francoist authoritarian model in the 1970s and the beginning of the transition to a democratic system, a new Constitution was originated in 1978, and the freedoms of the workplace were reflected in the Workers' Statute in 1980.
In 1986, Spain, until that moment traditionally absent from the international scene, became a member of the European Economic Community. However, in parallel in the interior of the country there is a decentralization due to the strength that the Autonomous Communities are gaining, as well as the various entities that make up the local administration, all recognized in the Magna Carta.
Another important milestone in democratization has been the rising introduction of women into all areas from which they were excluded.
The unemployment rate was on the rise in the eighties due to the technological effort implemented, which required less labor and more specialization. In 1985 the unemployment rate reached a peak of 18%, which was double the European rate. Currently, after a substantial improvement, this is a prominent point in the various objectives of the leaders.
Other aspects that influence the current employment situation are:
- The inflation rate, which in 2007 was still approximately one point higher than that of the euro zone. European funds. Since its accession to the EU, Spain has received a flow of income that has allowed it to finance a large number of infrastructures and social and regional cohesion projects.The decrease in birth rates, as well as a decrease in the mortality rate due to the improvement of the quality of life and health care, with which the Spanish population is heading towards a decrease in the workforce.The massive arrival of immigrants since the end of the nineties has allowed a new takeoff in the number of inhabitants of the country, which has caused a growth rate of around 1.7% per year, as well as an increase in the fertility rate.The General Law of Education and Financing of the Educational Reform (LGE) / 1970 regulates and structures for the first time in the 20th century the entire Spanish educational system, as a measure to overcome internal contradictions and respond to accelerated social, economic and labor change. With the Constitution of 1978, the University Reform Law was created, which proclaims university autonomy to achieve its teaching purposes, as well as its concern for the preparation of the student to exercise professional activities. In 1990 the LOGSE appeared, which establishes the obligation to guarantee the common training of all students without discrimination and without age limits.Nowadays we find a new change in relation to university instruction: the new Bologna Plan, with which they intend to unify,throughout the European Union, the degrees and content of the various professions, in order to facilitate students to pursue the same studies in another member country as if they were in their native country, which will allow an increase in the labor mobility of graduates In the field of training in companies, it should be mentioned that in the 70s the figure of the apprentice still persisted in many jobs, starting in organizations doing the simplest positions, to go up as he learned the different trades.In the field of training in companies, it should be mentioned that in the 70s, the figure of the apprentice still persisted in many jobs, starting in organizations doing the simplest jobs, to go up as he learned the different trades.In the field of training in companies, it should be mentioned that in the 70s, the figure of the apprentice still persisted in many jobs, starting in organizations doing the simplest jobs, to go up as he learned the different trades.
Only until the eighties in Spain did the different social agents allow continuous training to take off in companies. Thus, with the National Employment Agreement-ANE, between the Government, the employer and the unions, it promotes training actions aimed at improving the development of skills in business activity and taking this point more strongly from the nineties.
- In the new century, globalization, technological advances, knowledge management systems have taken a turn in the formation of companies, both due to the need to adapt to the changes that occur in them, and when it comes to making use of them as the main vehicle of its alignment when acting in the distance, relying on multimedia programs, web publications, discussion forums, virtual campuses, e-learning, among others.
The race pattern in a traditional context has evolved to new contexts, presenting a series of variables that allow us to know and show these changes.
4.1.1.1. Labor Philosophy
This principle is linked to the principle of the subject on the work projection. Previously, companies offered stability and acted under paternalistic concepts vis-à-vis their workers, currently the position changes towards the postulate of employability, seen as the possibility of being present for life during their productive life cycle in the labor market, which It involves working in several companies and not as before, which was a career only in one organization.
4.1.1.2. Organizational model:
It refers to the type of structure founded and chosen by the organization. Traditionally, it was under functional parameters, the company established the type of training that it required from its collaborators in search of greater productivity, benefits and achievement of business objectives. Currently it is the worker who directs the field in which he wishes to specialize through internal motivation.
4.1.1.3. Responsibility:
Paternalism was the basis of the policy of traditional companies aimed at their workers, which established in a unidirectional way the convenient aspects for an adequate benefit of each of its members. In its modern concept, companies establish a self-administrative model leaving the responsibility to their own collaborators.
4.1.1.4. Satisfaction and reward:
In the traditional context, the individual entered and towards Career within the organization, promotion was related to power roles, which generated greater status and recognition within the organization chart. In modernity, aspects such as intrinsic satisfaction, the integral realization and conciliation of his life are essential aspects for the worker.
4.1.1.5. Role:
Companies previously tried to have expert workers in a specific area on their staff, in the modern context there is a great tendency to link professionals with an integrating vision of work processes and with a great integration of knowledge and work in interdisciplinary teams.
4.1.1.6. Mobility:
In traditional models, mobility was presented internally, the worker moving upward and linearly within the mostly pyramidal organization chart. Already in the modern context, this mobility can occur internally, when a lateral change of position occurs or due to diversification within the company, or externally.
4.1.1.7. Risk:
This item considers the effects that may occur in the worker's career. Previously, in the traditional model the monotony and rigidity of the tasks were presented, which were standardized and predefined; today there is a great trend towards flexibility, dynamism and adaptability.
4.1.1.8. Competences:
Companies previously selected their staff by demanding knowledge and experience. In modern times, organizations require competencies that involve knowledge, skills and attitudes.
To simplify the above, the following table makes it easy to compare the traditional and modern Carrera concept.
| Variable | With | text |
| Traditional | Modern | |
| Labor philosophy | Job stability | Employability |
| Organization model | Bureaucratic | Net |
| Responsibility for race management | The company | Person |
| Career evaluation | Service time | The productivity |
| Satisfaction criteria | Salary, status | Intrinsic value |
| General profile of the official | Specialist | Polyfunctional |
| Mobility | Vertical / linear | Lateral / diversified |
| Risk | Rigidity
Standardization Monotony |
Anarchic
Flexible Dynamic |
| Competencies | Know how (Know - how) | Competencies
Know how, skills, attitudes |
The previous diagram, together with the historical development summarized above, shows the incidence of the aspects that influence current organizations in Spain when recruiting, selecting and promoting collaborators.
5. THE CONCEPT OF CAREER TODAY
Career literature usually focuses more on objective than subjective aspects, ignoring "perceptions, feelings and values that interest individuals and the relationship between work and the rest of their life.".
The “Carrera” construct has currently been the object of study and several models have been developed from it, which bridge the gap between the traditional career theories, which are well suited to the past organizational structure, and the contemporary advances of the career environment. global, competitive business in which individual values are rescued.
The common aspects of these Career models are: their emphasis on the flexible nature of organizations, the importance of the lives of individuals and the adoption of psychological contracts in order to retain and seek the permanence of the worker in the company. The psychological contract is made up of the set of commitments that the worker expects from the company or organization for which he works, in addition to the explicit ones, and vice versa. This contemporary concept has been introduced by Rousseau (1995) who developed his theory based on the contributions of previous authors such as Levinson, Price, Munden, Mandl, and Solley.
When the employee joins the company, once he has passed the recruitment and selection processes, the organization involves him in its Endomarketing plan with a view to the worker achieving maximum performance, becoming a source of value, not just productive but rather as an intangible asset loyal to the company.
Some of the most recent Career concepts that have received the most attention from those interested in Human Resources are explained below.
5.1. FOUR SEASON MODEL
Gene Dalton and Paul Thompson, faculty members of the Harvard Business School College of Management, are the authors of the Novations Four Stages of Performance model. They conducted for thirty years their research on the characteristics of high-performance workers throughout the years that they belonged to the organizations.
Based on the results obtained, they established their model with which they describe in a simple way the behavior of individuals whose performance level is high. This model not only identifies the common characteristics among high performers but, in turn, the progression it makes to employees, highly valued by their organization. This is how it establishes guidelines to discuss the needs and responsibilities of the worker and the organization.
This research made other significant contributions: one of them is to be able to be used as an effective tool to think and establish the policy of recruitment, selection, performance management, development in current organizations, and therefore as a foundation when it comes to make decisions with reference to human talent.
Another is to demonstrate that Careers do not evolve or develop in a straight line, but rather occur through periods or stages, in which certain behaviors, skills and ways of relating to each other are presented. Therefore, it was established that to achieve success in a certain role would depend to a large extent on the level of performance achieved in each of these stages.
Another contribution is to establish that advancing or moving from one stage to another is a complex evolution or transition and sometimes difficult to carry out. To make progress, it is necessary to renegotiate the "term called novation" individual and organizational expectations, as well as the ways of relating.
The stages established by the authors and the relationship with the contribution of individuals are summarized as follows: in stage one, the large percentage of collaborators base their contribution on factors such as support and learning; In the second stage their contribution is more independent, while in the third the development of their work is largely done by contributing to others, such as coaches, mentors, idea leaders, or managers; as well as those who lead and strategically direct the organization who achieve this success upon reaching the last stage. The result of the research establishes that the most significant impact for organizations is in those who contribute in stages 3 and 4 in which individuals direct the advantages and competitive innovations of companies,providing them and strengthening their competitive advantages and organization strategy.
It must be established that the progression identified by Dalton and Thompson is totally independent of the position in the organization chart; in turn, they state the reasons why two collaborators who hold the same position, or develop a similar workload, are valued by the company differently.
Success in the later stages is the result of the way in which the development of the early stages has taken place, that is, the mastery, strengths, skills developed and achieved by the subject.
The authors additionally conclude that the traditional pyramid model becomes obsolete and does not provide current collaborators with intellectual instruments to reach the highest level of contribution; This is how human resource policies must adapt to new changes in positions and work, as well as rely on the new contributions of the various studies to direct them towards an immediate contribution, develop individual and professional responsibility, employability, flexibility, teamwork, knowledge and satisfaction of the internal customer, in each of the phases of contribution to the company.
5.2. THE TOP MODEL
Also developed by Dalton and Thompson, this model was represented by three interlocking circles of the Career aspect of success. Each circle establishes a factor, the first: talents understood as the things in which an individual excels or is outstanding; passions such as things they acquire capture the interest of the subject; Finally, there are the organizational needs understood as the various things that must be done to ensure the success of the company. When these factors are aligned and do not present conflicts for the person, it could be established that the individual achieves or reports a high degree of satisfaction with the position or the work to be done.In this way, the worker's contribution contains an element of personal challenge that contributes to the success and achievement of the objectives of the organizational strategy.
This model not only establishes the importance of the alignment of the three factors for the success of the Career, but also determines the influence of the motivational factor or interest of the subject according to the task and development of the Career. It is not enough to have the skill or knowledge of the worker to carry out their functions, therefore, it is important to understand the model and the impact that the three agents have on the individual, and, therefore, on the organization. The motivation of the worker is a factor linked to their performance and contribution, since carrying out tasks without interest generates changes in the results and in the goals established by the strategic objectives of the company and in turn affects the plans and success in the career of the collaborator.
5.3. THE FIVE ORIENTATIONS OF PEOPLE
Dalton and Thompson identified five career orientations, understood as the motivations, values and expectations that persist in each person in relation to their work and career, these orientations are:
- Promotion - advancement: people who seek to generate impact, influence and be visible when carrying out their tasks. Their orientation is results-oriented and is accentuated as their actions can increase their visibility or recognition within the organization. Security: the strengths of individuals with this orientation are loyalty and commitment to the company. They are people linked to the vision, clients and their work. Challenge: subjects whose orientation is the search for adventures, solving problems or situations that others have not been able to solve and the jobs at the forefront that feed their spirit of challenge. Its greatest strength is the capacity for renewable motivation. Independence - Freedom: having autonomy and control of their own work are essential factors for this type of people.Its greatest strength is self-sufficiency and requires low levels of supervision. Balance - Balance: having a harmony between their work, relationships and their own development is the priority for this type of people. Strength is the balance of perspective. Usually the pressure pushes them back, but they remain calm and cautious.
The three previous models contributed to conclude:
- The individual's personality traits do not have any correlation with the career orientation that may suit him, but one or two of them motivate him to accept or seek certain job roles. The career orientation that appears in a worker changes as throughout his life or work stages and with the level of well-being that he experiences with the environment of the company in which he works.
At present, organizations demand from their collaborators a set of competencies to consider them as ideal professionals, finding terms such as accountability (understood as the degree of responsibility for the results obtained by the management carried out to achieve the established goals or objectives), loyalty, generation of value, capacity for teamwork and sometimes performance in virtual groups, interpersonal relationships, leadership, strategic thinking, innovation, creativity, efficiency and social responsibility, among others.
When there are gaps between the competencies demanded and the professional abilities of the worker to perform the functions of a certain position, it is necessary to establish a development and training policy that contributes to the improvement and achievement of a higher level of management that generates competitive advantage and value for the organization. Therefore, the three models previously seen are a tool to take into account to measure the degree of contribution and willingness of the worker to the development of his career, considering the orientation, the stage in which he is and the possible obstacles that may arise in her.
5.4. PROTEAN CAREER (PROTEAN CAREER)
As expressed by Carlos Alcover (2003), in the last three decades organizations have been forced to a series of changes generated by the following factors:
- “Sudden disappearance of political regimes and diffusion of ideologies Implementation of a world economic market Development of planetary communication systems and networks Rise of religious integrity Creation of supranational political and economic institutions Movement of populations and masses of refugees that affect entire countries Advances in the recognition of the rights of refugees minorities Increase in multiculturalism Emergence and development of new information and communication technologies - Greater presence of women in the organization and institution ”
This is how new structural configurations originate. Professor Miguel García Sáiz (2003) affirms that they originate because “in recent times, new configurational developments are emerging aimed at alleviating the disadvantages of the more traditional ones or complementing them, responding to the new demands of the environment and people and, ultimately, to improve the efficiency of organizations whatever their activity "
These changes give rise to a smaller structure that seeks to achieve higher levels of intelligence and speed, causing changes in the workplace and therefore in the worker, who must be flexible and adaptable.
This new professional orientation that organizations demand from the collaborator is called Protein Career, a term that originated in 1976, when it began to observe how companies deviated from the traditional Career management system of their collaborators and the management of it began in charge of the same person. Direction that is directly influenced by their level of education, training, experience, among others (Hall & Moss, 1998; Hall, 2002).
Thus, whoever decides to take charge of his "protein" career is the director of his own teams, according to his goals, psychological and emotional achievements.
This new concept is opposed to the goals established externally for it by the organization, whether from a professional or personal point of view.
The following table compares the Protein Race with the traditional Race
| Affair | Protein race | Career in a traditional organization |
| Who is responsible? | Person | Organization |
| Main values | Freedom and growth | Progress |
| Degree of mobility | Stop, volunteer | Low |
| Success criteria | Psychological success | Promotion, salary, status |
| Key attitudes | Job satisfaction and professional commitment | Organizational commitment |
| Competencies | Transferable | Own of the firm |
| Limits | Multiple companies | 1 or 2 companies |
| Identity | Independence | Employer dependency |
| Relationship to employment | Employability, flexibility | Security and loyalty |
Elements in the Protein Race (Hall, 1976)
5.5. CAREER WITHOUT BORDERS (BOUNDARYLESS CAREER)
In the 1990s, as an evolution of the dynamics of professionals, the concept of “Career without borders” emerged, which is directly related to the different changes in the global economy.
Due to the various crises, the working individual responds by transforming and consolidating their role under a new principle, that of employability. In this way the control of the Race is adopted not only by the organization but also by the individual, its main objective is to achieve psychological success through continuous learning, adaptation to changes and good performance.
Some authors point out that this new type of career, although it is not currently a dominant concept, has a strong growth trend in the working population.
| Affair | Borderless Race | Traditional |
| Who is in charge | Mixed | Organization |
| Key values | Flexibility | Ascent |
| Mobility degree | Tall | Low |
| Success criteria | Level, performance, position, salary | Level, position, salary |
| Key skills | Professional and organizational commitment | Organizational commitment |
5.6. INTELLIGENT CAREERS
This theory is developed based on the work of Quinn (1992) on intelligence in the company. It comes from a broader exploration of the Career Without Borders model (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996), which is based on the recognition that contemporary Careers are not limited to an employer or even an occupation.
Smart Career is based on three subjective ways of knowing, all of which contribute to your success in the workplace:
- Know why: it refers to personal beliefs and values and sources of motivation Know how: it refers to the skills and knowledge that a person contributes to the company Know who: It deals with the interpersonal connections that link people to your job and your profession.
5.7. ACADEMIC CAREER (ACADEMIC CAREER MODEL)
The Career in academia system has characteristics that belong to the new contracts: professional challenge, learning environment, social status, professional development, autonomy and flexibility, networking with other institutions.
Progress in this type of career is subject to performance and self-realization, although they are framed in rigid structures that make it difficult to change functions.
5.8. CARRERA S POST - CORPORATIVAS (POST CORPORATE CAREERS) 11
Model that takes into account new trends in corporations, in which support structures and global linkages allow Careers to transcend organizations and individuals, and virtual business groups and networks are formed beyond the limits they impose. physical offices.
The new information organizations or virtual environments are based on knowledge, continuous learning, technology support and advances in telecommunications; changes and information occur at high speed in these companies.
These borderless companies are made up of collaborators who do not share a physical space and who interact through the network, their organizational charts are flat and their business competencies are reflected in flexibility, adaptability and speed, capabilities that each of their members require. and that they demand in this, take an individual position of his career.
6. PROTEIN RACE AND RACE WITHOUT BORDERS
The idea of the construct, exposed in the previous chapters, as the creation of social interactions and relationships, and that of the personal construct, which emphasizes the influence of the individual's expectations on his or her experience and subsequent performance, are very useful to understand the current vision. of the subject within organizations. In particular, it serves to understand the new role that subjects have in taking the development of their career under their own direction and therefore consolidating their own construct based on their exercise within the company.
The person reflects on himself and on his environment, seen the latter, as the concept and beliefs that the individual nurtures from himself and relates to interpret, elaborate knowledge and therefore interact. From there, the person decides to actively interact with their environment, that is, to develop a career in the organization that is the product of this reflective process and satisfies their inner needs. Thus, the types of careers in which individuals have this possibility are the propitious terrain for personal constructs to have a reflection on the employee construct within the organization.
Once the tour of the main Carrera models has been completed, the two that will be the pillars of this research will be presented in more detail.
The emergence of new styles of development of the professional career of people has generated the interest of students of the subject in organizational management and psychology. The new concepts Carrera Proteica and Carrera Sin Fronteras are terms that are beginning to be used to describe patterns of differentiable behaviors in workers. Next, the ideas put forward by its creators will be presented.
The second hypothesis aims to demonstrate that people in higher educational levels have acquired a horizon of knowledge and skills development, guiding them to assume a Career attitude with characteristics belonging to Protein Careers or without borders. This second hypothesis proposes that:
Hypothesis 2: Subjects with higher educational levels present greater abilities and attitudes of the Proteic Career and without borders, than people with less academic and work experience.
Third hypothesis: it is intended to evaluate whether factors such as gender and age influence the attitude towards Protein and Borderless Races
At this point - Hypothesis - the work is left open since, depending on the characteristics of the universe of study chosen, the verification of other assumptions may be proposed.
- METHODOLOGY
8.1. MEASUREMENT AND PROCEDURE INSTRUMENT
For the comparative analysis between the research carried out by Jon P. Briscoe, Douglas T. Hall, Rachel L Frautschy (2005), three studies will be carried out with samples of size and characteristics similar to those used by these authors.
In order to validate the applicability of the Protein and Borderless Race attitudes measurement scales developed by Briscoe, Hall and others.
For this, the two questionnaires developed by these authors and a group of five more batteries will be used, which will be annexed in this document
The possibilities of answering the scale will vary according to the questionnaire. To carry out these tests, the participants will not require the described skill, but will require physical presence.
The use of this type of test, in addition to being a reliable requirement necessary for the intended comparative success, is used because it is an evaluation technique based on the speed of administration, the ease with which it allows us to have access to a large sample of people, its high level of structuring (which facilitates the development of the psychometric properties of reliability and validity) and the possibility of developing statistical norms (or frequencies) of the responses of the sample population, with which individual responses and responses can be compared. also find the characteristics associated with common patterns (sex, profession, age…) (Raineri and Martínez, 1997).
The instructions for each of the questionnaires to be carried out will be presented in written form. In said study, the importance of personal data such as gender, age, degree of education, number of job changes and employer per year will be emphasized, making it clear that said information collected will be treated with maximum confidentiality, keeping in the anonymity of the participants, companies or institutions that want to join the project, whose purpose is academic and scientific content.
The sample population (N = 493) will be made up of two groups of students, the first of 228 undergraduate and the second of 265 master's or MBA and part-time workers. Although it is possible to use two or three additional samples, with different professional universes, in order to analyze and compare the results between them.
8.2. SHOWS
The batteries will be administered to an initial number of 493 people, who will be identified in advance, in order to meet the necessary parameters to ensure a lower probability of error and contamination of the sample.
8.3. PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
After conducting a review of the different tests, the following were chosen: Two, developed by Briscoe and Hall (2006) that measure the attitudes of Protein Race and Without Borders and four, by various authors, that measure personality characteristics related to these types of Career. The research that served as the basis for its development is briefly mentioned below.
Both tests appear in the document “Protein races and without borders: an empirical exploration”. Briscoe J., Hall D., et al.
In this work the authors seek to fill the lack of empirical evaluations of the concepts of Protein Race and without borders and for this they develop, apply and validate these evaluation scales and questionnaires.
8.3.2. Test: Proactive Personality Scale (short version)
The test is outlined in the document "The proactive component of organizational behavior: A measure and correlations." Thomas Bateman, Michael Crant, 1993
This study investigates the personal disposition toward proactive behavior, defined as the relatively stable tendency to change the environment. The authors developed a scale to measure this characteristic and applied it to a sample of 282 undergraduate students. Factor analysis led to a simplification of the initial version. Then, with a group of 130 undergraduate students, they determined the relationships between the proactive scale and the personality domains. With a third sample of 148 master's students, they measured the relationship of the proactive scale with other personality characteristics. They found that the results on the proactive scale are related to factors such as: the need to achieve achievements, the need for mastery and the perception of leadership that others have of the person evaluated.
The scale developed allows measuring the propensity of people to have a proactive behavior. It also showed to be internally consistent and allow the differentiation of individuals. Initial evidence from the study suggests that proactive behavior can be a significant and measurable component of organizational behavior.
The study carried out (2005) examined the relationship between proactive personality and career success, evaluating a sample of 496 employees (320 men and 176 women) from different occupations and organizations. In the definition of success in the race they differentiate two points of view: the objective and the subjective. Objective career success refers to observable accomplishments (such as salary and promotion history) and subjective success to feelings of satisfaction. Their separate treatment is due to the fact that these two aspects do not necessarily vary at the same time; Objectively successful people are not satisfied with their achievements.
In addition, in the study, before making use of the reduced version of the proactive personality test, they conducted a test with 181 Master's students to verify the correlation of the result between this version and the full version. They found it to be high (0.96), which justified the use of the short version.
The analysis carried out in the study concluded that the proactive personality is associated with objective indicators of success (salary and promotions) and subjective (satisfaction). That is, this dispositional variable influences the process and results of the Career.
8.3.3. Test: Learning and Achievement Orientation
Initially presented in "Orientation in Organizational Research: An Empirical and Conceptual Foundation." Button S., Mathieu J., Zajac Dennis (1996).
The authors suggest that achievement orientation is a two-dimensional construct with dispositional and situational components. Study 1 was carried out on 374 undergraduate psychology students. To measure achievement orientation, a test composed of 10 questions was designed. The learning orientation test also has a total of 10 questions. Both questionnaires were reduced to 8 questions, each one, after the first stage of evaluation. Study 2 served as a verification of the results of the first study and was carried out in a group of 25 diverse people who were working. A third study was also carried out with a total of four hundred and nine psychology students to whom, in addition to the designed tests, the skill theory tests were applied,social desirability test and control test at work.
The fourth study recruited a total of 443 undergraduate students and in addition to the achievement and learning orientation tests included the skill theory test, and the non-task-related thinking test.
The conclusions of the study were that dispositions to learning goal orientation and achievement goal orientation are positively correlated with the situational scale. Additionally, older people tend to be more learning-oriented than achievement-oriented, and achievement-oriented people may be less willing to increase their target goals. On the contrary, those oriented to learning quickly increase their goal which gives them new motivations.
8.3.4. Test: Neo-Reduced Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-PI-R)
Developed by Costa P., McCrae R. (2003). This test contains a total of 60 questions that provide a measure of the five personality factors. It consists of five scales of 12 elements each. In the study by Briscoe J. et al. The openness to experience scale was used. The components of this dimension of personality are mainly related to intellectual aspects and are: active integration, aesthetic sensitivity, attention to inner feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity and independence of judgment. People who score low on this test tend to be conservative and prefer the familiar to the novel.
This questionnaire is based on the study of the scale of psychological authenticity of Sheldon et. Al., 1997., and in it three questions are asked that measure “the career in general” in the case of the students, they are asked to evaluate their role as such.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Álvarez JL (1997) Employment and Management Careers: Advanced Practices and Future Challenges. Barcelona: deustuo. Arnold, J. (1997), Managing Careers into the 21st Century, Paul Chapman, London,. Arthur M. and Rousseau D. (2004) The Boundaryless Career. Oxford University Press.USA.----, Claman, PH, Defillippi, RJ (1995), «Intelligent enterprise, intelligent careers», Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 9 No.4, pp.7-22.Bateman, TS, & Crant, JM (1993) The proactive component of organizational behavior. Journal of organizational Behavior, 14, 103 - 118.Bonache Jaime & Cabrera Ángel. (2006) People management, Evidence and perspectives for the XXI century, p. 257 - 287. Second edition, Ed. Prentice Hall, Madrid.Bandura, A. (1999): Self-efficacy: how we face changes in today's society. Bilbao: Desclée de Brower,pp. 19 - 54 Button, SB, Mathieu, JE, & Zajac, DM (1996) Goal orientation in organizational research: A conceptual and empirical foundation. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 67 (1), 26-48. Cappelli, P. (2002). The road to the top: The change in the professional promotion model. Paper presented by Harvard Business School Conference, «Career Evolution«, London, UK, June 13-15.Costa, PT, & McCrae, RR (2003) NEO-FFI: Neo five - factor inventory. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Inc ---- (2002) NEO-FFI: Neo-Reduced Five-Factor Inventory. TORCH. 2nd Edition Dalton G. & Thompson P. Novations: Strategies for Career management. 1996 Gaynor E. Caeer development and organizational development, find www.theodinstitute.org Gil Rodriguez. F &Alcover C. Introduction to the psychology of organizations, Ed. Alianza, p. 86. Madrid, 2003 Hall Douglas T. (2004) Protean career. Boston University Shool of Management and BradHarrington Boston Collage - Center for work and family. March 21 th.----, Moss, JE (1998), "The new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt", Organizational Dynamics, Vol, 26 No.3, pp.22-37.---– (1976) Careers in organizations. California: Goodyear publishing.---– (1976), Careers in Organizations, Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL, Kelly G. Principles of Personal Construct Psychology. New York: Norton, 1955. Minguéz, A. (2002) Practical management of human resources. Madrid: ESICNovations Group. Talent development: participant manual. Catalogue. Version No. 14, 2004Pervin, LA (1998) The science of personality. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.Original from 1996, pp. 67 - 89. Sánchez L. A look at scientific and lay knowledge in the light of four approaches to the construction of knowledge. Annals of Psychology 2003, Vol. 19, No. 1 (June), 1-14 Seibert, SE Crant, JM & Kraimer, ML (1999) Proactive personality and career success. Journal of applied psychology, 84, 416 - 427 Shein, EH (1978) Career dynamics: matching individual and organizational needs, Philippines, Addison - Wesley Publishing Company.Sheldon, KM, Ryan, RM, Rawsthorne, L., & Ilardi, B. (1997). Trait self and true self: cross-role variation in the big five traits and its relations with authenticity and subjective well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 73, 1380-1393. Reardon, R. et al (2000) Career development and planning: a comprehensive approach. Belmont, CA: Brooks / Cole.Woodd,M. (1999) The psychology of career theory: a new perspective. Journal of European industrial training, 23, 4/5, 218-223.
ANNEXES
APPENDIX 1
A.1. Protein Race Attitude Scale
Please indicate the degree to which the following statements are true for you, using the response scale below.
Please put an X over the appropriate answer
1: no grade
2: Little grade
3: To some degree
4: Considerable degree
5: High grade
- When the company has not offered me development opportunities, I seek them on my own I am responsible for the success or failure of my career In general, I have an independent and self-directed career The freedom to choose my own career program is one of my most important values I I am in charge of my own career Finally, I depend on myself to boost my career In regards to my career, I am the owner of myself In the past I have relied more on myself than on others to find a new job, when necessary I lead my own career based on my personal priorities as opposed to my employer's priorities I do not care much how other people evaluate my career choices What matters most to me is how I feel about my career success,not what other people feel about him I will follow my own conscience if my company asks me to do something that goes against my values What I think about what is right in my career is more important to me than what my company thinks In the past I have leaned towards my own values when the company has asked me to do something with which I do not agree
Scoring: Questions
1 - 8 scale of self-direction of the race
9 -14 career ladder directed by one's own values
A2. Scale of attitudes of the Race Without Borders
- I seek assignment of tasks that allow me to learn something new I enjoy working on projects with people from various organizations I enjoy assigning tasks that require me to work outside the organization I like work assignments that require me to work outside my own department I enjoy working with people Outside of my organization I enjoy jobs that require me to interact with people in many different organizations I have looked for opportunities in the past that allow me to work outside of the organization New experiences and situations give me new energy I like the predictability that continually working with the same organization brings I would feel very lost if I could not work for my current organization I would rather be in a company I am familiar with than seek employment inother If my organization will provide employment for life I would never want to look for work in other organizations In my ideal career I would work only for a single organization
APPENDIX 2
Bateman and Grant Proactive Personality Scale (1993) Short version
Responses are given on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
- I am constantly looking for new ways to improve my life. Wherever I have been, I have been a powerful force for constructive change. Nothing is more exciting than seeing my ideas become reality. If I see something I don't like, I fix it. No No matter how likely it is, if I believe in something, I will make it happen. I love being a winner thanks to my ideas, even against the opposition of others. I excel at identifying opportunities. I am always looking for better ways of doing things If I believe in an idea, no obstacle will prevent it from making it happen. I can catch a good opportunity before others can.
Original note: From "The proactive component of organizational behavior", by TS Bateman and JM Grant, 1993, Journal of organizational behavior, 14, pp. 103-118. Copyright 1993 by John Wiley and Sons Limited. Reprinted with permission.
ANNEX 3
Goal Orientation in Organizational Research: A Conceptual and Empirical Basis. Scout Burtton, John Mathieu
Test Orientation to the learning objective and the performance objective
Guidance Goal Questions
Response scale from (1) “strongly agree” to (7) “strongly disagree”.
Performance goal orientation
- I prefer to do things that I can do well, rather than things that I do wrong. (P1) I am very happy in my work when I carry out tasks in which I know that I will not make any mistakes. (P2) The things I enjoy the most are the things I do best. (P3) The opinions that others have about how well I do certain things are important to me. (P4) I feel smart when I do things without making any mistakes. (P5) I like to be fairly confident that I can successfully complete a task before trying it. (P6) I like to work on tasks that I have done well in the past. (P7) I feel smart when I can do things better than most other people. (P8)
Orientation to the learning goal
- The opportunity to do jobs that challenge me is important to me. (L1) When I can't finish a difficult task, I plan to try harder the next time I work on it. (L2) I prefer to work on tasks that force me to learn new things. (L3) The opportunity to learn new things is important to me. (L4) I do my best when I am working on a rather difficult task. (L5) I am trying hard to improve my previous performances. (L6) The opportunity to broaden the range of my abilities is important to me. (L7) When I have difficulty solving a problem I enjoy trying different approaches to see which one will work. (L8)
ANNEX 4
NEO PI-R, Reduced NEO Inventory of five factors, from which the “O” factor was taken Opening.
Instructions: Please read these instructions carefully before starting to mark your answers.
Responses are given on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
- Sometimes when I read poetry or look at a work of art, I feel deep emotion or excitement Poetry has little or no effect on me I have a wide variety of intellectual interests I am curious about the forms I find in art and nature I find boring philosophical discussions I have lots of fantasies I like to focus on a dream or fantasy and, letting it grow and develop, explore all its possibilities I have little interest in thinking about the nature of the universe or the human condition Sometimes I lose interest when people talk about very abstract questions and theoretical I experience a wide variety of emotions or feelings I often try new foods or foods from other countries 12. I rarely experience strong emotions.
ANNEX 5
Authenticity in the Race, Sheldon et. Al., 1997.
In terms of your career in general, answer the following questions and in parentheses the students are asked to evaluate their role as such.
Responses are given on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
- I experience this aspect of myself as an authentic part of who I am This aspect of myself I consider important and valuable I have freely chosen this way of being
The Psychology of Personal Constructs, George Kelly. 1955
Kelly, 1955, p.133
Jelena Zikic. York University, Toronto
National Institute of Statistics (INE), 2005. Data updated October 30, 2007.
Collin & Young, 1986, p. 841
Rousseau, DM and Parks, JM (1993), The contracts of individuals and organizations, Research in Organizational Behavior.
Gil Rodriguez. F & Alcover C. Introduction to the psychology of organizations, Ed. Alianza, p., 86. Madrid, 2003
Idem, p. 172
Arthur, Claman & DeFillippi, 1995
Baruch & Hall, JVB, 2004 11 Piepler & Baruch, 1997
Maury Peiperl, Yehuda Baruch. Back to square zero: The post-corporate career. Organizational Dynamics, Vol, 25 No.4, pp.7-22
García, Sáiz Miguel. Key Factors in Competency Development, pp. 491 and 492.
Appendix 1
Seibert et al. 1999)
Annex 3
Annex 4
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