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CDI RESEARCH NOTE

9,4
A study of career needs, career
development programs, job
424
satisfaction and the turnover
Received August 2003
Revised April 2004
intentions of R&D personnel
Accepted April 2004
Tser-Yieth Chen
Graduate School of Management, Ming-chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Pao-Long Chang
Department of Business Administration, Feng Chia University,
Taichung City, Taiwan, and
Ching-Wen Yeh
Graduate School of Management, Ming-chuan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Keywords Careers, Career development, Job satisfaction, Employees turnover,

Research and development, Taiwan
Abstract This study set to explore the career needs and proposes the concept of the gap between
career development programs and career needs, and its subsequent effect on job satisfaction,
turnover intention, in an effort to contribute to the field of career management, through the
effective integration of career needs and career development programs. Questionnaires were
completed by 367 R&D personnel from Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) in the north
of Taiwan. The results reveal that R&D personnel have very diverse career needs at various stages
of their career, and that depending on which stage of their career they have reached. The result
show that the larger the gap, the higher the levels of both turnover intentions and job
dissatisfaction. Managerial implications of these findings are also discussed.

Career Development International
Vol. 9 No. 4, 2004
pp. 424-437
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1362-0436
DOI 10.1108/13620430410544364
1. Introduction
As organizations become more dependent upon technology, as is the case in Taiwan,
their ability to attract and retain competent R&D professionals becomes increasingly
important, as does the pursuit of the effective management of these highly-valued
employees (Aryee and Leong, 1991; Petroni, 2000). Arguably, therefore, greater effort
should be placed into satisfying the needs of this particular group of professionals
since they represent the organizations future potential competitive advantage (Aryee
and Leong, 1991).
Baruch (1996) pointed out career development systems should fit the needs of the
individuals within the organization. Since people vary a lot in their needs, stage of
career, level of hierarchy, and many other characteristics, the career planning and
management must be widespread and diverse, so that it will fit the variety of
individual needs (Baruch, 1996). Organizations need to begin to realize that career
development programs that are eminently suited to one particular group of R&D
professionals may be inappropriate, or even irrelevant, to another group. We argue that
human resource managers must recognize that there are a number of diverse groups Career
within the R&D profession, and hence, the career development programs that are development
developed for these employees must be flexible enough to accommodate this diversity.
We contend that R&D personnel will inevitably encounter career planning problems at programs
various stages of their careers and argue that their respective career needs will come as
a result of their own self-understanding, personal interests, values, professional roles
and responsibilities and, moreover, the greater responsibilities that are a hallmark of 425
the particular stage of their career that they have reached. If we fail to consider the
specific needs of R&D personnel at various career stages, then there is an increasing
likelihood that the design of career development programs will be inappropriate, and
hence, unlikely to have the desired effect of attracting and retaining the most valuable
R&D personnel.
Based on the literature review and the results of field interviews with R&D
personnel, this study propose career development programs in response to these career
needs, respectively; the reason being that career needs-oriented career development
programs are particularly suited to R&D personnel. Such programs can better satisfy
their career expectations and enhance their level of job satisfaction. Of course, when
considering needs, one also has to take into account organizational goals and needs,
along with the financial status of the organization, as well as existing, and feasible,
career development programs.
Our study attempts to bridge the current gap by examining such career needs and
the career development programs currently being adopted to meet them. Other issues
include the empirical testing of the gap between career development programs and
career needs, and an examination of the gap influencing job satisfaction and turnover
intentions.

2. Conceptual background
We begin by defining career needs as the personal needs of goals, tasks and challenges
in a persons career, and it is recognized that career needs change with the various
career stages. A career goal may be a particular landmark to be achieved during a
career, which provides a person with the necessary direction and motivation. Career
goals enable an individual to structure and motivate their work behavior by setting
goals and by practicing new and desired work behavior; thus these goals focus on
current efforts. Conversely, career tasks will begin to be defined as individuals begin
to identify the opportunities available to them and then take action based upon them,
demonstrating initiative, and spending time and energy developing skills and
competencies to achieve them. Career tasks therefore focus on during the achievement.
Career challenges relate to future career needs arising from subsequent career
developmental opportunities. We propose these three career needs dimensions at
various stages of the careers of R&D personnel, and then consider career development
programs suited to such career needs.

2.1 Career goals

In the exploration stage of a researchers career, the central focus is on establishing a
suitable professional field, and through self-assessment, gaining an understanding of
their own interests and ability in that field. Employees will generally wish to devote
CDI themselves to a particular field of interest, but will also wish to interact with their
9,4 superiors and peers to satisfy their social support needs (Hall, 1976).
During the establishment stage, employees are keen to experience success and the
respect of their co-workers; they are ambitious and industrious, eager to improve their
knowledge, and very open about their pursuit of professional goals. Since they will
place significant value on their on-the-job performance and promotion, they will also be
426 keen to keep track of their personal performance status, as well as external
opportunities and threats, to determine their distinct competitive advantage.
During the maintenance stage of their careers, the career concerns of R&D
personnel are retention of their earlier accomplishments and reevaluation of their
career direction. They should also have gained a considerable level of knowledge, and
have become rich in job experience, thus they should be adequately qualified to direct
others.
Employees at the disengagement stage will be concerned only with successful
completion of their career (Cron, 1984). They will be hoping to round off their
professional life and arranging activities with greater relevance to retirement. Their
major hope at this stage will be to have gained a reputation within their field, and their
only real desire will be that their loyalty will be compensated admirably by a good
pension package.

2.2 Career tasks

During the exploration stage, employees need to continually upgrade their skills and
knowledge according to the requirements of the job, and so gain a complete
understanding of what is required of them, thus career tasks involve obtaining the
necessary knowledge to enable successful job performance.
During the establishment stage, R&D personnel can continue to develop their
professional ability to innovate, to become more intellectually mature, gain wider job
experience and become much more willing to take on additional responsibilities; one of
their greatest desires will be that their superiors will fully empower them, thus
allowing them greater levels of autonomy.
During the maintenance stage, an important personal task is to ensure that the
previously established ground is retained (Super, 1984). Promotional opportunities will
be limited, since a certain status will have already been achieved within the company
and thus, effort must be placed into their decision-planning and directive roles.
During the disengagement stage, as retirement age nears and responsibilities
begin to decline, most employees will choose to maintain acceptable levels of
performance whilst preparing for retirement (Cron, 1984).

2.3 Career challenges

During the exploration stage, R&D personnel might must also try to continually
employ professional knowledge within an organization, to enjoy a measure of
recognition and attention from superiors and co-workers regarding their professional
caliber within a certain field, and thereby secure more challenging work.
At the establishment stage, the major career challenges for R&D personnel are the
desire to continue to perform well, to gain promotion and to balance the requirements
of the job with family responsibilities. Hence, they will seek promotional opportunities
by demonstrating superior performance in their role, leading to the receipt of various
rewards (not limited solely to material enrichment), and secure a role with greater Career
autonomy. development
At the maintenance stage, R&D personnel will have reached their professional
peaks and will be seeking to retain their status, with the hope of permanent job programs
assurances and benefits being provided by their employers. When faced with potential
threats, the reaction may be somewhat intense, leading to protective walls being built
around their domain. Those already high up in the organizational hierarchy have fewer 427
promotional opportunities; this can inevitably lead to a greater orientation towards the
present that will often manifest itself in an increasing desire for immediate monetary
rewards (Cron, 1984; Hall, 1976; Rabinowitz and Hall, 1981).
During the disengagement stage, retirement can be a problem in itself. Being
accustomed to a business career, employees will have now reached a stage where they
must give it up and adapt to a more non-productive lifestyle, staying at home to face
the strange experience of being idle, with no specific duties. Some people can find
self-affirmation and the maintenance of a belief in their own worth to be a formidable
challenge (Dessler, 1996). Examining a passing career produces a need to accept
achievements and to adjust ones self-identity, leading to problems of psychological
adaptation (please see the Appendix, Tables AI-AIV).

3. Hypotheses setting
In the chain of career stages that people experience throughout their professional life,
each stage is influenced by their job position and responsibilities or activities, as well
as different attitudes and behaviors. Super (1957) and Cron (1984) referred to the
specific stages of exploration, establishment, maintenance and disengagement,
noting that individuals will have different career development tasks and
characteristics at these various stages of their career (Super, 1984). At certain career
stages, each individual will undoubtedly have diverse career developmental duties
and goals, depending upon the specific function that they perform (Schein, 1987), but
we argue that in Taiwan in particular, it is necessary not only to identify the career
goals of R&D professionals, but also the inherent value systems and needs structures
of these employees (Kim and Cha, 2000). Based upon this discussion, we can propose
the following hypothesis:
H1. There will be differences between groups with regard to the strength of each
type of career needs.
The closer employers come to understanding the specific needs of their people, the
better able they will be to maintain a higher level of motivation and satisfaction across
the firm as a whole (Hodgart, 1994). Sarrazin et al. (2002) also pointed out that when the
motivational climate that exists within the firm is incompatible with the tendencies of
the individual, conflict may occur. That is, if the gap between the career needs of R&D
personnel and the available career development programs becomes excessive, their
inner needs will not be met, and as such, in accordance with motivational process
theory, these unsatisfied needs will subsequently produce nervousness and stress
amongst workers, ultimately impacting on job satisfaction (Robbins, 1998). If this gap
is controllable, we can further argue that job satisfaction levels can be reasonably
predicted, since organizations have the ability to boost job satisfaction levels through
CDI the provision of appropriate career development programs capable of satisfying
9,4 unfulfilled career needs.
Job satisfaction can enhance organizational commitment and reduce an employees
intention to leave a firm (Murphy and Gorchels, 1996). Those businesses that do not
offer attractive career development programs can lose good workers to competitors
offering job opportunities (Rita and Kirschenbaum, 1999). Based upon this discussion,
428 we can propose the following hypotheses:
H2. Three types of the gap between career development programs and career
needs will be positively associated with turnover intentions.
H3. Three types of the gap between career development programs and career
needs will be negatively associated with job satisfaction.
Ostroff (1992) demonstrated the close association between job satisfaction,
organizational commitment and reduced turnover, and the clear influence that job
satisfaction had on the turnover intentions of engineering staff. Shaw et al. (1998)
confirmed that direct human resource management investment strategies (pay and
benefits) and indirect human resource management investment strategies (job
stability, training and procedural justice) were negative correlated to voluntary
turnover at an organizational level. Lee and Mitchell (1994) proposed an unfolding
model utilizing constructs from Beachs (1990) generic decision-making model and
image theory as a means of gaining an understanding of the specific issues behind
employees decisions to leave their jobs. Lee et al. (1999) went on to argue that people
compare shocks, as well as the surrounding circumstances, to their own images i.e.
their values, goals and plans for goal attainment- and, if the two are incompatible,
thoughts of leaving their job will occur. A reasonable assumption, therefore, is that
employees will generally strive to fulfill their obligations, by showing greater
organizational commitment, higher productivity levels, higher job satisfaction and
lower turnover levels, if they perceive that the company is fulfilling its obligations
through suitable career development practices, promotion, training and support, and
so on. Contrarily, a greater awareness of the gap between career development
programs and career needs in each type would help to effectively explain the factors
behind job satisfaction which can ultimately lead to an employees resignation. Based
upon this discussion, we can propose the following hypotheses:
H4. Job satisfaction will be negatively associated with turnover intentions.
H5. Job satisfaction will mediate the relationship between gap and turnover
intentions.

4. Methodology
The sample in this study was drawn from R&D personnel in the high-tech industry in
the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP). A pre-tested questionnaire was used
with proportionate stratified sampling being carried out according to both the year
2000 manpower monthly report issued by the HSIP management, and the ratio of R&D
personnel within certain sectors to the total R&D personnel within HSIP. The sample
data were collected by mail. A total of 1,300 questionnaires were distributed, of which
385 were returned, 18 questionnaires were invalid leaving a total of 367 valid
questionnaires as the sample. Thus, the overall return rate of valid questionnaires was Career
28.2 percent (Table I). development
4.1 Career stages programs
Career stage categorization in this study is therefore similar to that used in several
prior studies (Cron, 1984; Weeks et al., 1999). The sample was broken down for
analysis into four age groups corresponding to the Cron (1984) career stage 429
categories, with respondents in the exploration stage being equal to or less than
30 years of age; respondents in the establishment stage, being aged between
30 and 45 years; respondents in the maintenance stage, being aged between 46 and
65 years; and respondents in the disengagement stage, being those of 66 years of
age or above.

4.2 Career needs

This study proposes various primary career needs for the various career stages,
constructing a 32-item scale to measure these career needs. In order to indicate their
needs, participants were provided with a five-point Likert-type response scale, ranging
from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Whilst the 32 items provided the

Characteristics n %

Age
Under 25 years (exploration stage) 128 34.9
25-44 years (establishment stage) 170 46.3
45-64 years (maintenance stage) 38 10.4
65 years or above (disengagement stage) 31 8.4

Sex
Male 308 83.9
Female 59 16.1

Education
High school 2 0.5
Bachelors degree 120 32.7
Master 223 60.8
PhD 22 6

Income
Less than US$571 (NT 20,000) 1 0.3
US$572-1000 (NT 20,001-35,000) 40 10.9
US$1001-1429 (NT 35,001-50,000) 209 56.9
US$1430-2000 (NT 50,001-70,000) 85 23.2
US$2001-2857 (NT 70,001-100,000) 25 6.8
US$2858 or above (NT 100,000 above) 7 1.9

Marital status
Married 226 61.6
Single 141 38.4
Table I.
Total 367 100 Sample characteristics
CDI foundation for our empirical test of career needs, we felt these items could be reduced to
9,4 a smaller set of underlying constructs. In order to reduce the data set, we conducted
factor analyses, using principal component extraction with varimax rotation. We
believe the three factor solution provides a good description of the underlying
constructs for the following reasons:
.
all items load strongly on only a single factor;
430 .
different factoring and rotation techniques gave us largely the same variable
groupings for each factor;
.
the variable groupings matched our intuitive conceptualization of the
hypothesized constructs;
.
all Cronbach a are larger than 0.7; and
.
all factors have an eigenvalue larger than 1.

4.3 Career development programs

A 33-item scale was developed to measure the perceived career development programs.
Participants were provided with a five-point Likert-type response scale ranging from
very dissatisfied to very satisfied. We conducted factor analysis transforming
these items into a reduced number of components. Three significant factors emerged
from the principal component extraction with varimax rotation analysis. All Cronbach
a for the components are larger than 0.7, the factor loadings are all above 0.5, and all
eigenvalue are larger than 1.

4.4 The gap between career development programs and career needs
The gap between career development programs and career goal needs is determined as
the discrepancy between the average career goal needs of R&D personnel and the
average awareness-level of the career goals-oriented development programs currently
in use within their companies. The gap between career development programs and
career task needs, and the gap between career development programs and career
challenge needs are determined in a similar way (Table II).

Career stage Mean SD

The gap between career development programs and Exploration 1.22 0.92
career goal needs Establishment 1.39 0.93
Maintenance 1.40 0.91
Disengagement 0.97 1.23
The gap between career development programs and Exploration 1.42 1.04
career task needs Establishment 1.76 0.90
Maintenance 1.39 1.18
Table II. Disengagement 1.09 0.91
Mean, standard The gap between career development programs and Exploration 1.23 1.04
deviations of the three career challenge needs Establishment 1.67 1.02
types of gaps for various Maintenance 0.97 0.98
stage Disengagement 1.05 0.88
4.5 Job satisfaction Career
Job satisfaction was measured by a general job satisfaction scale developed by development
Hackman and Oldham (1975). The scale describes an overall measure of the degree to
which the employee is satisfied and happy with the job (Aryee and Leong, 1991). programs
Participants were provided with a seven-point Likert-type response scale ranging from
strongly disagree to strongly agree. A summed averaged of the items was
produced to form the job satisfaction point (Cronbachs alpha coefficient 0.92). 431
4.6 Turnover intentions
Based on Mobley et al. (1978), this study developed a seven-item scale to measure the
intentions that those within this group had of leaving their organization. Participants
were provided with a five-point Likert-type response scale ranging from very
unlikely to very likely. A summed averaged of the seven items was produced to
form a turnover intention index (Cronbachs alpha coefficient 0.88).

5. Empirical results
MANOVA data analysis was carried out to test whether, at different stages of their
careers, R&D personnel had differing viewpoints of their career needs. Table III shows
the cell means, univariate F-values, and contrast results for each type of career needs.
The result in Table III indicates the career goals needs are higher for people in the
exploration stage than for people in the maintenance stage. In addition, the career goal
needs is higher for people in the establishment stage than for people in the maintenance
stage. Similar pattern can be observed for career task needs, and career challenge
needs. Statistically significant difference is found in career goal needs (F 8.197,
p , 0.01), career task needs (F 7.154, p , 0.01), and career challenge needs
(F 13.74, p , 0.01). Therefore, the H1 is accepted here.
Regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects on job satisfaction from
the gap between career development programs and career needs, the effects of job
satisfaction on turnover, and the mediating effects of job satisfaction on the
relationship between the gap and turnover intentions.
Table IV presents the result of the standard regression analysis. As suggested there,
the coefficient for the gap between career development programs and career needs for
goals, the gap between career development programs and career needs for tasks, the
gap between career development programs and career needs for challenges on job

Exploration Establishment Maintenance Disengagement Wilks Univariate

Dimension (Ex) (Est) (M) (D) Lambda F-value Contrasta

Career goal 4.32 4.39 3.96 4.18 0.866* 8.197* Ex . M

needs Est . M
Career task 4.57 4.49 4.15 4.36 7.514* Ex . M
needs Est . M
Table III.
Career 4.30 4.35 3.76 4.0 13.74*
Mean difference
challenge Ex . M
(ANOVA F) between
needs Est . M
career stages of R&D
Notes: aUsing Scheffes method at a 0.05, we can interpret the contrasts as Ex . M exploration is personnel for three types
significantly larger than maintenance only statistically significant contrast are reported; *p , 0.001 of career needs
CDI Mediator Dependent variable Dependent variable
9,4 Job satisfaction Turnover intention Turnover intention
Variables b (equation 1) b (equation 2) b (equation 3)

Independent variables
The gap between career development
432 programs and career needs for goals 20.30*** 0.25**
The gap between career development
programs and career needs for tasks 20.25*** 0.14*
The gap between career development
programs and career needs for
challenges 20.36*** 0.23***
R2 0.56 0.30
F 149.623*** 47.93***
Table IV. Job satisfaction 20.76**
Regressions of gap on R2 0.57
job satisfaction and F 489.69***
turnover intention Notes: *p ,0.05; **p , 0.01; ***p , 0.001

satisfaction are 2 0.30 ( p , 0.001), 2 0.25 ( p , 0.001), and 2 0.36 ( p , 0.001),

respectively. All three items had a statistically significant level, with the sign as
expected, being negative. This denotes that the larger the gap the lower the job
satisfaction of R&D personnel; thus supporting H2. As Table IV indicates, all three
types of gap between career development programs and career needs were found to
significantly affect job satisfaction (F 149.62, p , 0.001) (equation 1). The three
separate types of gap between career development programs and career needs also
significantly affected turnover intentions (equation 2). As Table V indicates, the three
types of gap between career development programs and career needs were found to
insignificantly affect turnover intentions when the three types of gap between career
development programs and career needs and job satisfaction were both included as
predictors of turnover intentions. The effect of the three types of gap between career
development programs and career needs on turnover intentions was less in equation 4
(turnover intentions regressed on the three types of gap between career development

Turnover intentions
Dependent variable
Variables b (equation 4)

Independent variables
Table V.
Job satisfaction (mediator) 20.81*
Regressions of gap: the
The gap between career development programs and career needs for goals 0.04
independent variable on
The gap between career development programs and career needs for tasks 0.07
turnover intentions: the
The gap between career development programs and career needs for challenges 0.06
dependent variable
R2 0.58
when job satisfaction:
F 124.37*
the mediator is
controlled Note: *p , 0.001
programs and career needs and job satisfaction) than in equation 2 (turnover Career
intentions regressed on the three types of gap between career development development
programs). Job satisfaction thereby satisfied all of Baron and Kennys (1986)
mediating conditions, i.e. job satisfaction mediates the relationship between the three programs
types of gap between career development programs and turnover intentions.
Therefore, H2, H3, H4, H5 are supported.
433
6. Discussion and conclusions
One of the features of this study has been the attempt to define the factors influencing
R&D personnels job satisfaction levels from a perspective of the gap between career
development programs and career needs, based upon which this study infers the
relationship between this gap and turnover intentions.
The results of the regression analysis reveal that the three kinds of gaps between
career development programs and career needs are significant predictors of job
satisfaction (R 2 56 percent). For career goals, career tasks, and career challenges, the
regressive coefficients of the gap between career development programs and career
needs are also negative (b 2 0.30; b 2 0.25; b 2 0.36) respectively, indicating
that for career goals and career tasks and career challenges, the larger the gap, the
lower the level of job satisfaction amongst R&D personnel.
In other words, organizations that cannot provide career development programs
that satisfy the career needs of R&D personnel will produce widening gaps between
the two. Managers that fail to discover such deficiencies in good time, and hence fail to
provide an effective resolution to these deficiencies, will experience growing levels of
dissatisfaction that will reflect on work attitudes. If the nature of the deficiencies is
only slight, job satisfaction and morale are reduced; however, if it is more serious,
turnover intentions will increase, impacting upon corporate growth and long-term
performance. Hence, managers must begin to fully understand the gap between career
development programs and career needs seems to have only a negative impact on
organizational growth when in fact actual turnover (if turnover intentions lead to this)
can have numerous positive benefits. For example, if only the poorest performing
employees are leaving, turnover could actually be beneficial to the organization in
some circumstances; conversely, if the very highest performers are leaving, the results
could be devastating (Dalton and Todor, 1979).
This study has four inherent limitations: First of all, an individuals career is an
ongoing continuing processes, and the career needs and awareness of career stages of
R&D personnel will vary with time; however, due to obvious time and resource
constraints, this study has undertaken only a static investigation of a number of R&D
personnel at the same point in time, with no dynamic examination of this same group
of people over time. Secondly, Baruch (2004) argue that using specific age grouping is
inadequate in todays dynamic environment, however, having considered the length of
our questionnaire, costs, timescale and response rate, we have chosen to adopt age as a
measure for career stages although we are aware of the criticisms in the literature with
regard to the adoption of age as such a measure. Third, this study focuses on
examining the relationship between the gap and turnover intentions. We know that
other variables (e.g. shock, performance, salary, the search for job alternatives) can
simultaneously influence turnover, and we also concede that this represents one of the
limitations of our study. Forth, we believe that the low response rate in our study is due
CDI to the fact that R&D personnel may have been flooded with questionnaires in the past
9,4 (Baruch, 1999). This could be a general reason for the current trend amongst R&D
personnel not to respond to questionnaires; it could, however, also be a reflection of the
differences in culture or type of population in Taiwan (Baruch, 1999) and we therefore
deem this as a further limitation of our study.
Finally, this study concludes with suggestions for four areas for future research.
434 First of all, Baruch and Peiperl (2000) argued that it is important for managers to
consider not only what is desirable but also what is possible, given the firms current
climate, and not to set unrealistic goals. Besides considering the career needs of
employees, future study could consider how organizations might better understand
and develop their career systems in accordance with their existing cultures, with other
organizational characteristics, particularly climate-related. Second, careers can be
accomplished not only within, but also across, organizations. We therefore see this as
an interesting avenue for future research, exploring the ways in which individuals
careers unfold within different types of organizations and industries. Although some
initial work does already exist in the area of the boundaryless career (Peiperl et al.,
2000; Peiperl et al., 2002; Eby et al., 2003), further work is clearly necessary.

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Further reading
(The) Association of Allied Industries in Science-Based Industrial Park (2000), A Consumption
Guide of the Association Member at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, (in Chinese).
CDI Appendix
9,4
Constructs Career needs Career development programs

Career goals Gaining an understanding of their own Self-assessment by those involved in

abilities and ascertaining their interests order to gain a complete understanding
436 of their professional interests
Evaluating the job requirements and Provision by the company of a job
expectations in relation to the description for each position
organizations values
Obtaining the support of superiors The support of superiors, and
along with the acceptance of discussions between employees and
co-workers superiors concerning job content
Career tasks Striving to achieve professional The provision of professional training
knowledge
Making an effective contribution to the The implementation of on-the-job
organization training
Career challenges Establishing ones own inner The provision of training that will
professional identity allow employees to realize their
potential.
Employing ones knowledge within the The provision of guidance to help
Table AI. organization employees to improve their job
R&D personnels career performance
needs and appropriate Receiving challenging tasks Clarification by superiors of the
career development prerequisites for the job, in terms of
programs (during the characteristics, content and
exploration stage) qualifications

Constructs Career needs Career development programs

Career goals Striving to achieve success and to Adopting project assignments as a

become a professional in a certain field means of facilitating on-the-job
training
Seeking out their unique competitive Encouraging personnel to participate
advantage, in order to rise above others in seminars and to present their project
and win the respect of co-workers findings
Offering tuition fee assistance
Career tasks Honing their professional skills and Assigning individuals for periods of
know-how engagement in foreign training
Acquiring on-the-job autonomy Introducing job rotation.
Developing their personal creativity Providing opportunities for job
and innovative skills enrichment
Career challenges To improve their job performance in Evaluating performance to help
order to enhance their promotional employees to adjust their efforts
Table AII. prospects accordingly and to provide an
R&D personnels career understanding of promotional
needs and appropriate prospects and routes
career development To try to maintain a balance between Helping employees to find the
programs (during the the demands of the job and the needs of appropriate balance between their jobs
establishment stage) their families and their families
Constructs Career needs Career development programs
Career
development
Career goals To retain the status earned so far in Careful consideration of employees
their career career paths within the organization programs
To reevaluate their current career Consideration of offering dual-career
direction, finding the second wind programs, to enable personnel to select
that will take them through the next their future direction, without
stage of their careers jeopardizing their promotion prospects
437
To be provided with opportunities to Cultivating personnel to become
guide the more junior members of their professional consultants or specialized
core team lecturers
Career tasks Maintaining a high level of on-the-job Setting up objective performance
performance appraisals to assess management
performance and future development
Broadening personal professional Encouraging personnel to learn
horizons additional interpersonal skills,
counseling skills, and so on
Extending professional channels Assisting employees to jointly
formulate a development plan
involving more demanding roles
Career challenges Maintaining their job motivation, Designing appropriate (material)
professionalism and competitiveness rewards and motivational systems
Finding suitable ways of entering into Subsidizing external educational Table AIII.
relevant fields where they can continue activities R&D personnels career
to be innovative needs and appropriate
Preventing new competitors from Providing interpersonal relationship career development
entering their own fields counseling and guidance, according to programs (during the
specific needs maintenance stage)

Constructs Career needs Career development programs

Career goals The completion of a successful career
and preparations for a successful
handover
Gaining recognition as an
expert/specialist, passing on
knowledge and experience and
providing guidance
Securing an adequate pension package
for retirement
Career tasks Maintaining an acceptable level of
performance
Seeking an identity outside of the
working environment
Career challenges Accepting career achievements
Adjusting identity and work schedules Providing staff with post-retirement
Adjusting and rearranging leisure time
Establishing succession planning and
training replacements
Providing retirement planning and
counseling
Possibly establishing an honorary
consultancy position
Providing employees with
self-assessment means to maintain or
improve their performance
Setting basic job standards
Encouraging participation in
associations Table AIV.
Providing staff with counseling on R&D personnels career
role-shifting needs and appropriate
career development
planning programs (during the
disengagement stage)