Loopbaanontwikkeling; van loopbaansucces naar duurzaam inzetbaar. Een onderzoek naar de rol van loopbaanontwikkeling bij de krijgsmacht.

摘要

The importance of sustained employability among employees is already widely recognised. The question is now how sustained employability can be best achieved and stimulated? In current literature a lot is still unknown. Nevertheless, there are clues to be found about factors influencing sustained employability among employees. Career success and career development are both examples. It is therefore that this study explores the relationship between career success, career development and sustained employability. For this a sample of 228 employees of an armoured engineer battalion of the Royal Netherlands Army reported on their perceived career success, career progress, career self-management, organizational career management and elements of sustained employability, namely vitality, work ability and employability. Results show a positive relationship between perceived career success and the elements sustained employability. It also shows that this relation is partially mediated by career self-management. This seems to confirm a so called ‘subjective track’ towards sustained employability. No confirmation was found for a more ‘objective track’ towards sustained employability. Although a positive relationship was found between organizational career management and the elements of sustained employability, no mediation of the relationship between career progress and sustained employability, by organizational career management, was found. Additionally it seems that objective career success only partially influences sustained employability. Thus the conclusion can be drawn that sustained employability is influenced in particular by the ‘subjective track’. But also that the existence of an ‘objective track’ should not be excluded, based solely on the results of this study. The reason for this being that this study took place in a very specific context. In the end this study has several implications for theory and practice and by doing so contributes to a better understanding of sustainable employability and that which contributes to this important aim.