oa Onbegrensde loopbanen: een kwestie van persoon én organisatie

Boundaryless careers: The interplay of individuals and organizations

A.E.M. van Vianen, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, September 2007, nr. 3, pp. 303-318

This paper discusses the question to what extent employees will be able to manage their careers in a way that matches organizations' need for a flexible workforce. It is argued that the external mobility of employees will remain limited. Yet, much more can be done regarding employees' internal mobility and development. Employees should focus on broadening the content of their jobs through performing challenging tasks. Most employees report a positive attitude towards job flexibility yet not initiate challenging experiences in their current jobs. In a similar vein, organizations prefer a flexible workforce but tend to allocate the challenging tasks to a restricted number of employees. Because optimal self-regulation is feasible for only few of us, employees need the stimulus of their organization in order to remain employable.