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Employability and its link with adaptability in individuals
Fugate et al. (2004) consider employability as a psycho-social construct with individual characteristics that grow adaptive cognition, behaviour, and affect. Improvement of a situation would be the result of an individual’s ability to change for the better. Employability from a person perspective predisposes individuals to improve their situation proactively and to consciously adapt to given situations, rather than to wait for others to improve their situation. Fugate et al. (2004) distinguish between three component dimensions of employability and subsequently established a heuristic model of employability (see Figure 8). These dimensions are career identity, adaptability, and social and human capital. Each of these dimensions comprises different skills, knowledge and behaviours and together they create the competency to find and keep a job (Koen, 2013; Fugate et al., 2004). The emphasis in this model of employability is adaptability and I found it particularly useful for my study. Fugate et al. (2004) refer to adaptability as readiness to cope and the willingness to explore personal career possibilities (Savickas, 2005; Koen, 2013).
Fugate and Kinicki (2006) describe employability as a disposition in employees or potential employees. They consider dispositional employability as “a constellation of individual differences that predispose employees to (pro) actively adapt to their work and career environments” or “employability is a disposition that captured individual characteristics that foster adaptive behaviours and positive employment outcomes” (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008, p. 504). Adaptability seems to be the vehicle that drives an individual’s employability competence.
Fugate and Kinicki (2008) also contend that employability involves individual characteristics that bridge the gap between the individual and the environment. Employability is more than knowledge, skills and abilities required, and it embodies “a broad, latent, higher-order trait that facilitates proactive adaptability” (p. 505). This adaptability reaches beyond the motivation to fit and survive the workplace, as this could point to reactive employee adaptability orientation (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008). Employee ‘initiative and proactivity’ (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008, p. 505) are emphasised to lie at the heart of employability. Both reactive and proactive characteristics are required from individuals to be employable. Employability would be continuous readiness for change and a pro-active willingness to adapt to change. Adaptability or the willingness to move and adapt is a crucial part of being employable.
Employable individuals do not only engage in their jobs and larger careers trying to meet the demands of the environment/context, they also proactively create and understand opportunities. Employability in this sense is a person-centred and psychosocial concept that crystallises in active adaptation and proactivity at work (Crant, 2000; Fugate & Kinicki, 2008). Individuals who are employable proactively pursue their occupational interests and experience better job satisfaction, which then influence their performance (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008; Crant, 2000).
Bridgestock (2009) added career building and career management skills to her conceptualisation of employability. She argues that in a changing world of work, generic skills required from industry employers are not enough and that individuals need to pro-actively navigate and self-manage their career-building process. To proactively engage in the work environment enhances career adaptability and leads to increased perceptions of control in employees (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997; Fugate & Kinicki, 2008).
Individual perspective: Summary
Employability from a person perspective eludes to the fact that an individual has control over and can be autonomous about his/her personal career. Individuals can proactively contribute with initiatives such as staying interested in new opportunities, striving towards greater career satisfaction and engaging in lifelong learning to be employable. Employability from a person perspective firstly requires awareness of one’s own unique offering (career identity), which involves individual traits, interests, values, skills, experience, and knowledge of your life themes. An individual perspective on employability must secondly be adaptable, which relates to being optimistic and open to change, having developed personal control and being self-confident in unsecure times. A third component of employability from an individual perspective is having effective interpersonal skills and a network that would acknowledge your education and experience (Fugate et al., 2004).
1. CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 UNEMPLOYMENT
1.3 POSSIBLE JOURNEY TOWARDS A RESOLUTION
1.4 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
1.5 WHY I BELIEVE THE TOPIC IS WORTH PURSUING
1.6 PURPOSE
1.7 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.8 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.9 THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.10 PARADIGMS
1.11 ONTOLOGY
1.12 EPISTEMOLOGY
1.13 RESEARCH DESIGN
1.14 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.15 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
1.16 HYPOTHESIS
1.17 DATA ANALYSIS
1.18 QUALITY ASSURANCE
1.19 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.20 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS
2. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 TRANSFORMED WORLD OF WORK GLOBALLY
2.3 WORLD OF WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA
2.4 WHAT IS EMPLOYABILITY?
2.5 EMPLOYABILITY: SYNOPTIC OVERVIEW
2.6 CAREER ADAPTABILITY
2.7 DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER ADAPTABILITY
2.8 YOUNG ADULTHOOD
2.9 EMERGING ADULTHOOD AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
2.10 CAREER COUNSELLING FOR YOUNG ADULTS FROM CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
2.11 CONCLUSION
3. CHAPTER 3: INTERVENTION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 OVERVIEW OF THE INTERVENTION
3.3 CAREER COUNSELLING STRATEGIES
3.4 EMPLOYABILITY COUNSELLING
3.5 EMPLOYABILITY-ENHANCING STRATEGIES
3.6 SYNOPSIS/SUMMARY
3.7 INTERVENTION
3.8 CONCLUSION
4. CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
4.6 HYPOTHESIS
4.7 DATA ANALYSIS
4.8 QUALITY ASSURANCE
4.9 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
4.10 CONCLUSION
5. CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH RESULTS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 PARTICIPANTS
5.3 QUALITATIVE RESULTS
5.4 BIOGRAPHICAL FORM (BF)
5.5 BODY MAP
5.6 CAREER CONSTRUCTION GENOGRAM (CCG)
5.7 FINAL REFLECTIONS
5.8 SUMMARISED COMMENTS: QUALITATIVE RESULTS
5.9 QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
5.10 HYPOTHESIS
5.11 QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
5.12 SUMMARY
6. CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION AND LITERATURE CONTROL
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 QUANTITATIVE RESULTS DISCUSSION: PRE-TEST SCORES ONLY, ALL FIVE GROUPS
6.3 DISCUSSION OF QUANTITATIVE RESULTS: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN POST-TEST SCORES FOR ALL SIX GROUPS
6.4 SUMMARISED COMMENTS ABOUT QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
6.5 DISCUSSION OF QUALITATIVE RESULTS
6.6 INTEGRATION (MERGING) OF RESULTS
6.7 CONCLUSION
7. CHAPTER 7: FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 SYNOPSIS
7.3 REVISITING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
7.4 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
7.5 STRENGTHS OF THE STUDY
7.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
7.7 WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
7.8 PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE STUDY
7.9 CONCLUSION
8. REFERENCES
9. ADDENDUMS
