Boundaryless Career in the Organization - Essay Example

Boundaryless Career in the Organization Career of a person depicts the elementary work arrangements in her/ his life. Career concepts evoke relationship within and among firms producing social and economic outcomes and career of a person is intimately connected to her/ his personal life. The interdependence in work activities in the national and global platform is the characteristic of the new economic concept. The “boundaryless career” is such a concept, which shows a range of possible forms of career that defies traditional employment assumptions symbolizing the dynamic nature of the new global economy. Under the changing global economy the traditional form of organizational career providing orderly employment arrangements through vertical coordination in large and stable firms has become significantly inconspicuous, as the present organizations are somewhat unable to promise long-term career. The boundaryless career on the other hand is the thought of the new economy where career unfolds from several sources and is divided in several market sensitive short-term employments. The boundaryless career offers independence from the traditional organizational career arrangements and provides mobility in terms of variation and location of jobs also. The boundaryless career defines organization as a process inducing a more dynamic sense about its progress. In this dynamic environment people become responsible for their own career path by cultivating network to access increasing knowledge. The employees with multiple working experiences develop skills, which can be helpful in wage growth. Individuals with boundaryless careers view multiple employment experiences in a positive light because they support skill development, enhance personal satisfaction, and shifts career control to the employee. The boundaryless career binds people and firms and thereby broader industrial and economic activities (Arthur and Rousseau 1996). The boundaryless career reflects the aptitude, experience and reputation of a person in her/his developing career path as well as develops the firm maintaining a steady flow of employees. The concept of boundaryless career has the ability to develop complex and diverse pattern of employment, which includes both highly fluid and relatively stable jobs. Though the temporary jobs have become one of the characteristics of boundaryless career, still it is often seen that the workers do not like temporary works; rather they use them as stepping stone for more stable works. But the high skilled workers in boundaryless career prefer the temporary jobs, which not only increase their wages but also provide them with work flexibility (Marler, Milkovich and Barringer, n.d.). A number of researches have been undertaken to explore the concept of boundaryless career from different aspects. According to the findings of the researches under the concept of boundaryless career knowledge has become the core of sustainability. The knowledge workers are found to be particularly beneficial in terms of payment, variation in work and development of network. The uncertainty caused by the short-term employment and changing locations as well as the inconvenience for the family in relocating repeatedly have been outweighed by the huge benefits the career offered. Some researches even question the basis of boundarylessness and argue that boundaries rather than disappearing are becoming more complex and multifaceted (Brocklehurst n.d.). They opined boundaries to be necessary and inevitable to maintain the social framework and people tend to redraw boundaries in weak situations. The concept of boundarylessness thus needs careful handling to maintain social construction but the boundaries need not be made essential for career development. In terms of boundaryless career it can be said that though the employees are seeking varied employment options beyond the boundaries of a single organization, they are generally not following the non-linear and non-hierarchic career path as described in the concept of boundaryless career. People now view career as a matter of self-management and undertake any challenge to pursue career. It is a very common factor now a days to change location frequently in respect to achieve career goals. Though the benefits of boundarylessness in terms of geographical boundary is also quite overwhelming still studies showed void and loss of focus among the employees who relocated very frequently. These employees gained knowledge and earned considerably but they started to view their lives as a sum total of projects and have become confused about their future when these projects are going to end. They often express a sense of powerlessness in shaping their own career. The frequent relocation involved with boundaryless career often leaves the employees with a sense of rootlessness. The most frequent travelers wish the most to attach with a particular place though they express that traveling as a break of routine is always fine. This demonstrates their craving for the sense of safety attached with routine-bound life. The big city life as a result of boundaryless career is preferred as it provides with the opportunity of diversity at the same time develops a sense of place rejecting the suffocating notion of community (Brocklehurst n.d.). With the increasing popularity of boundaryless career the increased rate of job switching has become a matter of concern for the organizations and for the employees also who often get confused in designing their own career path. Though the traditional organizational career has not lost all the charms, still the unconventional ways of boundaryless career attracted huge attention of the employees and the turnover of organizations is ever increasing. The role of human resource management has thus become increasingly important under the dynamic concept of boundaryless career. Researches showed that human resource management practices influence the career orientation of the employees. More adaptive human resource practices tend to increase the mobility in the workforce, which may be beneficial for the service organizations as dynamic workflow ensures increased access to knowledge. But under these circumstances the human resource practice needs to be even clearer which can define the boundary between core and periphery in order to protect organizational knowledge with faded conventional corporate boundary (Yamashita and Uenoyama 2006). Another research by Smith and Sheridan (2006) also showed that lack of proactive human resource involvement is dissatisfying and not motivating for the employees even in more traditional organizational setting. I myself being in human resource management profession, see myself to reach an even more significant position in my organization while managing the workforce. My job in a fashion company involved with ever changing knowledge and skills needs me to consider the interest of both the organization and the employees. Under the influence of boundaryless career I have seen a steady change in workforce in my organization and as a human resource professional I tried to safeguard the organizational ethics and confidentiality. My professional skills helped me choose employees most suitable for our organization and one of my strongest skills of ensuring employee trust and orienting them towards the improvement of both the organization and the personal career made my job much easier for me. It made me believe to have chosen the right career path for myself. My skills of multitasking and clear communication have made me a good organizer and helped me understand the dynamics of teamwork. I consider myself to be a mediator between my colleagues and my employer and the concept of boundaryless career has put me in an even more nodal position. Thus all I can say is that the boundaryless career concept has given me a more challenging work environment which needs me to deal with ever-changing workforce and I believe this is increasing my knowledge base and experience and shaping my career in a more developing sense. References 1) Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M., (Eds.), 1996. The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. New york: Oxford University Press. 2) Brocklehurst, M., n.d. Self and place: A critique of the boundaryless career. The Business School Imperial College. [online]. Available at: http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/ejrot/cmsconference/2003/proceedings/identity/brocklehurst.pdf [accessed on 15 August 2008]. 3) Marler, J.H., Milkovich, G.T. and Barringer, M.W., n.d. Boundaryless organizations and boundaryless careers: A new market for high-skilled temporary work. [online]. Available at: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ilrhr769/98-01.pdf [accessed on 15 August 2008]. 4) Smith, T. and Sheridan, A., 2006. Organisational careers versus boundaryless careers: Insights from the accounting profession. Journal of Management and Organization. FindArticles.com. [online]. Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5425/is_200611/ai_n21406131 [accessed on 15 August 2008]. 5) Yamashita, M. and Uenoyama, T., 2006. Boundaryless career and adaptive HR practices in Japan's hotel industry. Career Development International, 11 (3), p. 230-242. Read More