Expanding career adaptability: connections as a critical component of career success

Abstract

Purpose – Subjective career success has been widely researched by academics and researchers as it provides job and career satisfaction that can lead to the perceived life satisfaction of employees, as well as their engagement in organizations. This study demonstrates that subjective career success depends not merely on career adaptability but also on the connections people build throughout their professional lives. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in the socioeconomic context of Latvia with a sample size of 390 respondents. Interpersonal behavioral factors from the perception of career success measure and the influence of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) on subjective career success (two statements from Gaile et al., 2020) were used. The constructed research model was tested using the SPSS 28 and WarpPLS 8.0 software tools. The primary data analysis method used was partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Then 12 moderators and their effects on the main relationships of the model were reviewed. Findings – The study confirms that relationships at work have the most significant effect on subjective career success, followed by control behaviors and curiosity behaviors. Moreover, a list of significant and insightful moderation effects was found, most significantly the relationship between connections and subjective career success. Originality/value – Until now, the CAAS was not integrated with the behaviors and attitudes that depict the social relationships of individuals at work. This study aims to narrow this gap by exploring whether (and, if so, how) career adaptability and interpersonal relationships in the workplace (i.e. professional connections) contribute to subjective career success. 研究目的 – 學者和研究人員一直對主觀的事業成功課題進行廣泛的討論和研究, 這類研究會給予僱員工作和事業的滿足感, 繼而使他們感到生活圓滿, 並促進他們對組織的參與。本研究展示了主觀的事業成功不但取決於生涯調適力, 同時也取決於僱員在整個職業生涯裡人際聯繫的建立。 研究方法 – 研究人員在拉脫維亞的社會經濟背景下進行這個研究; 樣本為390名回應者。研究人員使用了衡量事業成功概念內的人際行為因素, 以及職業適應能力量表對主觀事業成功的影響 (來自 (Gaile 等, 2020) 的兩個聲明) 。研究人員採用 SPSS 28和 WarpPLS 8.0兩個軟件工具, 來測試他們構建的研究模型。主要分析數據的方法為基於偏最小平方法的結構方程模型, 研究人員仔細審核12個調節因素和它們對模型的主要關聯的影響。 研究結果 – 研究確認了工作方面的關係對主觀的事業成功影響最為顯著, 其次則為控制行為和好奇行為; 而且, 研究人員發現了一系列重要的、富有洞察力的調節效果; 更具意義的是, 他們發現了建立聯繫與主觀事業成功之間的關係。 研究的原創性 – 職業適應能力量表至今仍未融合於可描繪在工作上各個個體的社會關係的行為和態度。本研究探索了職業適應能力和在工作場所的人際關係, 如何能促進主觀的事業成功; 就此而言, 本研究縮窄了有關的研究缺口。

Keywords

• Career adaptability
• Career success
• Social connections
• Career construction theory
• 職業適應能力
• 事業成功