CAREER SHOCKS ?

Unexpected events happen that make us stop

and think about our careers.

CAREER CHALLENGES These events can come from many different

places and can be both good and bad.
SHMR 2083 - 02 : CAREER DEVELOPMENT

LECTURER : DR. MOHAMED AYYUB HASSAN A career shock is a sudden, extraordinary event
that is partly out of our control. It makes us
think seriously about our careers.

GROUP 1

EXAMPLES OF CAREER SHOCKS Handling Career Building Skills and Support from
Shocks Resilience Organizations

Divorce Natural disasters
Death in the family
Birth of a child
Depends on both personal and external
factors
Personal Factors: These include
individual characteristics like
resilience, skills, emotional health,
and personal support systems
Job loss (family, friends).
External Factors: These include
the resources and support
provided by employers, community
Pandemics services, and broader economic
conditions.
Learning new skills can increase
job opportunities and
adaptability
Staying positive: Maintaining a
positive outlook can help
manage stress and motivate
action
Resilience is the ability to recover
from setbacks and adapt to change.
It helps individuals recover from
career shocks and keep moving
forward in their careers.
Companies can play a crucial role in
helping employees cope with career
shocks. - Offering counseling
services
Companies can help employees by
offering opportunities for
professional development. -
Providing training programs,
workshops, and courses
Flexibility in work arrangements can
help employees balance their
professional and personal lives during
shocks. - Allowing flexible work hours
or remote work options during
difficult times
 Economic Conditions Low Pay
The body's reaction to any demand or challenge.
Worrying about job security during Worrying about money because of low
"Selye (1974) defined stress simply as 'the nonspecific response of the body to
tough economic times. salary.
any demand made upon it'" (p. 27).
Technology Long Work Hours

Having to constantly learn new tools
Stress that comes from your job and work environment. and software.
"Job stress can have a significant impact on an individual’s performance in the Work-Life Balance
workplace and one’s career satisfaction and success" (Baruch, 2006). Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the
printing and typesetting industry. Lorem
Finding it hard to balance work and
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personal life.
Feeling tired and exhausted from working
too much.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the
printing and typesetting industry. Lorem
No Opportunities
Ipsum has been the industry's standard
dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an
unknown printer took a galley of type and
Feeling stuck in your job with no chance
scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It
has survived not only five centuries.
to move up.

+ POSITIVE STRESS (EUSTRESS)

GOOD STRESS THAT MOTIVATES

Example: Feeling excited about a Physical Reactions

challenging project.
Challenge Stressors
Health problems like headaches and high blood pressure
Positive challenges that help us
TYPES OF grow.
STRESS Emotional Reactions
- Hindrance Stressors Feeling anxious, sad, or depressed
NEGATIVE STRESS (DISTRESS)
Negative obstacles that block
BAD STRESS THAT HARMS YOUR your progress. Behavioral Reactions
HEALTH
Changes in appearance, substance abuse, and absenteeism
Example: Burnout from too much work.
Stressors are the things or events that cause stress
 BURNOUT
Primary Secondary Tertiary
Prevention Intervention Intervention
Change the work Help employees cope Treat employees who
environment to reduce with stress. are very stressed.
stress.
Example: Offering stress Example: Providing
Example: Adjusting management workshops. counseling services.
workloads to be more
manageable.

"There are different ways to approach the management and prevention of occupational stress. Cooper and Cartwright (1997)
identified three major types of interventions: Primary prevention, Secondary intervention, and Tertiary intervention."

Exhaustion Depersonalization Inefficacy

Feeling of being drained and Developing a cynical or

negative attitude towards Feeling of inefficacy and a
overwhelmed by the demands
lack of achievement and
of work. work and the people
productivity at work.
involved in it.
e.g: Abu feels completely e.g: Abu feels like he isn’t
worn our after his long e.g: Abu began to feel
doing a good job anymore.
shifts. He’s so tired that away from his patients. No matter how hard he
even after sleeping all instead of caring about works, he doesn’t feel like
night, he still feels them, he sees them as he’s helping his patients as
exhausted and dreads just another task to much as he should. This
going back to work. complete. He becomes makes his feel
indifferent and less unsuccessful and
compassionate. unmotivated.
 How To Prevent Burnout ?
Maslach’s Six Areas of Work Life
Encourage
Recognize the Manage workload professional
signs
development

Encourage
Encourage Ensure that Provide
employees to speak Encourage positive
Control
employees to take workloads are opportunities for
Workload Reward up if they are feeling
overwhelmed,
breaks and prioritize manageable and
relationships with
colleagues.
growth and
self-care. reasonable. development
stressed, or burnout

Promote work-life
Foster a positive
balance
work environment

Community Fairness Values

Negative
Outcomes

“Career plateauing has been conceptualized as hierarchical

Repetitive tasks without Employees may actively seek The feeling of being stuck in
plateauing which occurs when it is unlikely that an individual will new challenges can make
Feeling stuck can diminish an
one’s career can lead to
other employment
experience vertical movement in an organization” the job feel dull and
employee’s sense of loyalty
significant stress and
and connection to the opportunities if they feel their
(Allen, et al., 1998). unfulfilling. mental health issues.
organization. current job lacks growth
prospects.
“Career plateauing can also occur in terms of job content, meaning
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the work one does is no longer perceived as challenging”

(Bardwick, 1988).
 Discussing Feelings Careful examination of jobs

01 01
Talk about feelings of plateauing with a Redesign jobs to include more responsibilities or
supervisor, colleagues, or family members. team projects.

Engaging in Career Development Activities Providing Developmental Activities

Participate in training, career planning, and Offer training and career counseling to help

02 career exploration to feel more mobile and less

plateaued.
02 employees develop necessary skills.

Individual Seeking out new opportunities

Organizational Develop Alternative Career Paths

03 Mentor others to gain a sense of purpose and

03 Develop career paths focused on functional or

Strategy accomplishment.
Strategy technical competencies rather than hierarchical
movement.

Engage in job crafting Creating a Supportive Culture

04 04
Taking on new tasks, seeking out challenging Foster a culture of learning, respect, and
projects, or developing new relationships at work. encouragement to reduce feelings of plateauing.

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Engage in non-work activities Recognition and Rewards
05 Participate in exercise, leisure activities, and
spend time with family to manage stress.
05 Provide rewards and show appreciation for
employees’ work and contributions.

TRENDS IN WORK-LIFE
WORK-LIFE CONFLICT
ISSUES (W-L CONFLICT)

01
Impact of the epidemic on working parents It's a two-way construct, where work may
Since the outbreak, U.S. working parents report that handling child care interfere with home (WIF conflict), or home
responsibilities has become more difficult, especially among employed may interfere with work (FIW conflict).
mothers. Negetive Outcomes
Job dissatisfaction

02
Women's inequality in unpaid work increased willingness to leave
Women spend more time on unpaid work than men.
poor work/family performance
family dissatisfaction and health
problems

03
Challenges faced by working parents Work-life conflict is the primary paradigm
Lack of flexibility in terms of working hours, location, etc. for exploring the intersection of work and
family.

04
Millennials and Gen Z value work-life balance
A good work/life balance has emerged as the main reason Millennials and
Gen Z choose their current employers.
WORK-LIFE WORK-FAMILY
BALANCE ENRICHMENT
(WLB) (WFE)
Balance is a social construct Work-Family Enrichment is the
Work-life balance means a that requires individual extent to which experiences in one
lack of work-life conflict. intention and action. role positively impact the quality
【Grzywacz & Carlson of life in another role.
Work-life balance is （2007） 】
described as an individual's Bidirectionality
overall assessment of the - Many parents use parenting experiences to
degree of success and Work-life balance varies from Work can improve family life
enhance their abilities in the work environment.
satisfaction with his or her person to person and at (work-family enrichment)
multiple roles at work and at different stages of one's - Employees may also find in their previous jobs
home. career and life. family experiences can enrich that the skills they learned in conflict
【De Hauw & Greenhaus 【Kossek.（2014） 】 one's work (family-work management training are equally useful in
（2017） 】 enrichment). dealing with issues related to their spouse,
partner, or teenage children.

IMPACT
Work-Life Work-Life Conflict
ON Career disruption
Harmony CAREERS Gender Differences.
Work-family conflict (WFC) has also been associated

01.
History and Related Work with increased intention to leave.
The concept of harmony is not new. Affect objective and subjective indicators of career
a way to integrate work-life conflict and work-life For example, Stewart Friedman's work
success .
enrichment. has long included harmony as one of
the focal points of leadership and Work-Life Balance
work/life integration.
Career satisfaction and choice

State Indicators Work-family conflict also leads to reduced career

satisfaction (Martins et al., 2002).
Young Employees' Emphasis on Work-Life Balance
Influenced by the adoption of adaptive
strategies Positive effects of work-family enrichment

02.
Designed to intentionally create a
synchronized and complementary
arrangement of work and life roles,
relationships, and resources that
positively reinforce an integrated work-life
narrative of productivity, fulfillment, and
abundance.
[Morris&McMillan（2014）]
Individual and Work-family enrichment (WFE) can lead to career
Organizational Levels advancement.
According to McMillan et al., harmony Non-work roles (e.g., parents, friends, volunteers) can
can be assessed at both the individual also contribute significantly to careers.
and organizational levels.
socio-emotional support
Non-work roles can bring strong socio-emotional
support to help individuals cope with work-family
conflict and other work stressors (Martins et al., 2002).
 W-L INITIATIVES

Strategies have been

Cultural work-life support
developed to meet both
Helping employees is crucial for the success
employee and

W-L INITIATIVES
negotiate work and organizational needs,
non-work roles is including structural work-
life support initiatives like
important since it
flexible work
affects their arrangements, on-site
bottom-line childcare, and employee
assistance programs.
of these initiatives, as
employees may be
hesitant to utilize them
due to concerns about
unfair burdens on co-
workers or career
consequences.

ORGANIZATIONAL
WORK-LIFE INITIATIVES
[FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS (FWA)]
01
Compressed work week
Condensing work into fewer days.

02
Flexible hours
Choosing start and end times within a framework.

03
Remote work
HR practices/policies and job redesign as ways to enhance Working from a location other than the office.
workers choices regarding “when, where, and for how long
they engage in work-related tasks” 04
Part-time work
(Hill, et al., 2008). Reducing the number of hours worked per week.

HR policies regarding absenteeism, vacations, and sick leave. 05

Job sharing
Two individuals sharing one full-time position.

Child care and elder care benefts. Reduced hours

06
Working fewer hours than a full-time position.
 Cultural Work-Life Support Importance of Cultural
(Kossek, et al., 2009, p. 4) Work-Life Support

DEFINITION : Allen (2001) SUPERVISOR ORGANIZATIONAL

“Informal workplace social and relational found that individuals who
support” perceived that their organization
was “family supportive” reported
less w-life conflict, more job
Present at the work group level satisfaction, less turnover
(e.g. supervisors and co-workers) intention, and more organizational
as well as the organizational level commitment than those who
(e.g. resources allocated, values perceived their organization as not
demonstrated). “family supportive.”
SUPPORT
Supportive supervisors play a
key role in work-life
initiatives, as they can inform
employees about available
benefits, encourage
participation, and serve as
role models by using the
benefits themselves.
COMMUNICATION
Clear communication about
the availability, accessibility,
and benefits of work-life
initiatives is essential.
Inconsistency and lack of clarity
in HR policies can negatively
impact both employees and the
organization.
HRD’S ROLE
HRD can help develop cultural
work-life support through
supervisor training, audits,
providing resources to
affected work groups, and
advocating for realistic
workloads and deadlines.

01 MIXED FINDINGS POSITIVE IMPACT ON

Research on the impact of work-life benefit usage on career
development has yielded mixed results. Some studies have
found it can stall careers, while others have found it can
ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES
enhance employee promotability

Improved Productivity Enhanced Corporate Image

02 MANAGERS’ ATTRIBUTIONS
IMPACT The impact of using flexible work practices on career success
Work-life initiatives can lead to improved
productivity, reduced turnover, and increased
These initiatives can also enhance a company's
corporate image, customer satisfaction and
ON depends on managers' attributions of the usage, whether it's
seen as a desire to improve productivity or for personal
retention, job satisfaction, morale, loyalty, loyalty, ethical behavior, and ability to

CAREERS accommodations.
commitment, and engagement. attract investors.

Retaining Talent Measuring Impact

LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE However, many organizations have not
03 Work-life initiatives can help organizations
developed metrics to assess the strategic
Both employees and managers need to take a long-term retain women and re-engage older
perspective, recognizing that using work-life benefits can make impact of their work-life initiatives, which is
employees, which is crucial in today's
employees more productive and valuable to the organization. needed to ensure a strong return on
competitive talent landscape.
investment.
 PRECARIOUS
CONTEXTUAL 1 Family Structure WORK
FACTORS Family structure, such as dual-earner or
single-earner households, can impact the
Involuntary Job Loss Job Insecurity
amount of work-life conflict experienced and
career decisions. Involuntary job loss can have a Precarious work is characterized by
profound impact on individuals, job insecurity, limited benefits, and
2 Socioeconomics resulting in loss of self-esteem and lack of employee protections and
Socioeconomic status is an important factor, as well-being rights.
individuals struggling to make ends meet may
have different perspectives on work-life balance.

Underemployment
3 Governmental Policies Underemployment, where workers
Governmental policies can play a crucial role in
have limited power and control, is
facilitating work-life support, but can also
a common form of precarious
contribute to inequities if they do not adequately
address employees' needs. work.

CONDITIONS THAT CHARACTERIZE

PRECARIOUS WORK
• work that is “non-standard, atypical, alternative, non-regular, or Job loss: Termination of employment/ loss of one's job.
contingent work”;
• work that is lacking in economic security (e.g., low-income and/or limited
benefts);
• work that offers limited power and control to employees (e.g., collective
bargaining rights);
• work that limits employee protections and rights (e.g., pregnancy loss of lack of feelings of isolation
discrimination); and (PTSD)
self-esteem financial security due to feelings
symptom
of inadequacy
• work that may result in unsafe working conditions (p. 2).

Individuals with strong social support
networks often handles job loss
better than those without strong
support networks
(Blustein, et al., 2013; Gowan, 2014)
EREMPLOYMENT
D
UN
Career and mental health counseling
help workers come to grips with their distress and
assist them in developing coping skills
Additionally, individuals will react differently
to job loss based on individual characteristics
such as resiliency and employability. Fugate,
et al. (2004) proposed that employable
individuals will be less likely to be harmed by
job loss. Career exploration and planning
can help individuals identify new career
opportunities, and create a strategic plan for their
career development
Employees are underpaid than
Employees' skills or
other similar workers (in terms
experiences are underutilized
of knowledge, skills, and
abilities) in their current job
Employees are working in a job Employees perceive they
outside the field in which they are overqualified for the job
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were educated or trained they are doing
 Economic fluctuations
Factors that lead
Shoss (2017), job insecurity (JI) is "a threat to the continuity
to and stability of employment as it is currently experienced"
underemployment
Career history
Quantitative JI Qualitative JI

individuals perceive threats to

certain elements of the job
individuals are concerned as to
For example, will I still have benefits?

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whether they will still have a job
Career opportunities? Or will my job
Work preferences tasks change?

-Providing training and development opportunities

Career insecurity is different from JI
-Engaging employees in providing input
because CI is future-oriented and broader
-Developing strong relationships with employees
in its concerns (e.g., overall career goals and
-Active listening
retirement).
CONSERVATION OF
RESOURCES (COR)
THEORY

KEY PRINCIPLE

Primacy of Loss Resources Resources Depletion

01 Career Plateauing Job Insecurity
Losing resources is more impactful than gaining resources and Accumulation
Example : If an employee loses their job (resource loss), the
stress and anxiety felt are much greater than the happiness
experienced from receiving a small bonus (resource gain) Fan & Potocnik (2021)
Hu et al. (2022)
Jiang & Probst (2019)
Resource depletion (e.g.,
Employees perceive
long working hours) Trust in management
career plateauing as a
negatively impacts WLB serves as a resource
threat to future resource
Resources Investment Principle satisfaction. that can buffer the
02 gains (e.g., money,
Individuals must continually invest resources to protect against Resource accumulation adverse effects of job
power, status)
loss, to ensure recovery, and to gain resources (e.g., home-based work, insecurity
Example : An employee may work extra hours (investing time adequate childcare)
and energy) to complete a project on time, ensuring job positively influences WLB.
security and gaining a good performance review.
 ROLE RESULT

creates a sense of
caring for and among its
employees
Main Career Challenges HOW ? respond positively to
supports employee
these challenges
learning and
Precarious 01
IONAL CU
ZAT
The role of organizational culture development
work Job
I LT
AN
stress more happier and
productive employees

UR
G
02 Develep career resilience
promotes open

OR
Work-life

E
Career communication
issue
plateauing

DEVELOP CAREER RESILIENCE

Resilience is about adapting, coping, and

persisting when faced with disruptions and/or
adversity.

Ways to Build Resilience:

Social Support : Networking, mentoring (psychosocial
support, career advice).
Resilience Training Programs : Awareness of
resources, leveraging skills and networks, training
modules (emotional, family, social, spiritual fitness).