LEADER INDUCED CAREER SHOCK

Abstract

Changing labour markets, globalization, technological developments, uncertainty about the future, and changes in working conditions make careers more dynamic, complex and unpredictable, with an increasing number of important and unpredictable disruptive events, such as redundancy, bankruptcy, or challenges in family life, which have an impact on careers. Most people experience several significant events in their lifetime that affect their career. The concept of career shock has been increasingly used in the career literature in recent years to describe these events. An analysis of the scientific literature has shown that career shock is an unexpected triggering event induced by a factor beyond a person's control. Researchers studying career shock have identified three contexts for career shock: structural, organizational and personal. It has been found that the leader as a career shock trigger not only manifests itself in the organizational context, in the case of interpersonal career shocks or career shocks related to organizational procedures and policies, but also contributes to career shocks in the employee's personal context. Empirical research has identified the leader as a factor that induces career shock for employees. For most of the respondents, the leader induced a career shock related to the organizational context, such as unexpected dismissal, conflict, unmet expectations, etc. However, there are cases among the participants in the study where the leader has induced a career shock to an employee experiencing a personal life event such as divorce or pregnancy.