More of us could work in part-time roles if they were designed better

On 2 Sep 201730 Aug 2018 By Dr Peter McIlveenIn Blogs1 Comment

File 20170822 4964 vnqyv1 — Part-time roles become difficult if that employee is the only source of knowledge, contact or sign-off.
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Natalie Smith, Queensland University of Technology

Lisa was a young accountant with plenty of experience, solid references and was looking for work. She approached a large accounting firm she had previously worked for in another city in the hope of working with them again.

They were interested, except one thing stood in her way – she could only work part-time. Despite having award winning flexible work policies, this accounting firm wouldn’t employ her, citing the role could not be done on a part-time basis.

Lisa (not her real name) is typical of the 24 people I interviewed as part of my research. These men and women had requested to move to part-time roles in legal, information technology, accounting and consulting firms, having previously worked full-time. Continue reading “More of us could work in part-time roles if they were designed better” →

CDAA Keynote Speakers Podcast

On 9 Jun 20178 Jun 2017 By Dr Peter McIlveenIn BlogsLeave a comment

The Career Development Association of Australia brought four keynote speakers to its 2017 annual conference of members and industry bodies. Listen to brief interviews with Dr Ryan Duffy, Dr Ann Villiers, Dr Peter McIlveen, and Ms Marayke Jonkers, to learn more about their ideas for the field of career development.

Psychology of Working

ACCELL International Fellow, Dr Ryan Duffy, and ACCELL Research Director, Dr Peter McIlveen, emphasize issues associated with the psychology of working, decent work, unemployment, and evidence-based practice.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to CDAA Communications Officer, Georgia Kelly-Bakker, who recorded and produced the podcast.

Unemployment is Psychologically Destructive

On 27 May 2017 By Dr Peter McIlveenIn BlogsLeave a comment

The Psychology of Unemployment

ACCELL’s research into unemployment focuses on its social and psychological impacts on people who want to work but have no work or insufficient work to get by in life. More importantly, ACCELL’s research and development is focused on determining and developing social and psychological resources that better enable individuals’ employability to survive, connect with one another, and live happier, productive lives.

Kossen McIlveen 2017 front page

Research recently published by ACCELL in the Journal of Career Development (Kossen & McIlveen, 2017) reveals a new and important perspective on unemployment. The findings of this research show that unemployment can be understood in terms of the Psychology of Working Theory (Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016).

“I’m delighted to read about important research emerging from the psychology of working framework. Congrats to @petermcilveen and colleagues.” Professor David Blustein, Boston College, USA.

Psychological Factors that Remediate Employability

The research demonstrates factors that may worsen a person’s chance of securing decent work. More importantly, the research pinpoints psychological factors that may also improve a person’s chances of getting decent work–and this is where ACCELL is focused on making a difference. These so-called characteristic adaptations that improve a person’s chances of working in a good job can be learned. For example, one of the most important factors is self-efficacy associated with well defined job search strategies that target the “right job” not just “any job”. The “any job” strategy is a recipe for poor outcomes–despite what some politicians may say. Professional career development practitioners (e.g., Career Development Association of Australia) know about these strategies and how to develop their clients’ self-efficacy. Our R&D will sharpen the tools for improving their effectiveness and positive impact.

References

Duffy, R. D., Blustein, D. L., Diemer, M. A., & Autin, K. L. (2016). The psychology of working theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(2), 127-148. doi: 10.1037/cou0000140

Kossen, C., & McIlveen, P. (2017). Unemployment from the perspective of the psychology of working. Journal of Career Development, doi: 10.1177/0894845317711043.

This blog article is an extract from:

Kossen, C., & McIlveen, P. (2017). Unemployment from the perspective of the psychology of working. Journal of Career Development, doi:10.1177/0894845317711043.

A copy of the published version is available from the journal’s site or an “author pre-print version” is available at Peter McIlveen’s ResearchGate site.

A Measure of Decent Work

On 27 Apr 2017 By Dr Peter McIlveenIn BlogsLeave a comment

ACCELL has partnered with other researchers to establish an international benchmark measure of “decent work”. We wish to better understand your experiences of decent work as it relates to where you live.

Please support our research by completing the Online Survey.

The notion of “decent work” refers to fair, safe, and equitable conditions of employment as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This project will contribute to that international study and also explore a range of factors, such as psychological flexibility, career adaptability, decent work, meaningfulness of work, work engagement, place attachment, and job satisfaction, that influence the wellbeing and retention of workers in non-metropolitan areas of Australia. Continue reading “A Measure of Decent Work” →

Career Adaptability in Retirees

On 11 Apr 201711 Apr 2017 By Dr Peter McIlveenIn BlogsLeave a comment

Retirees returning to the workplace is not so unusual and there doing so is not always about meeting financial needs. Our research using in-depth interviews with 22 retirees of different working backgrounds, ranging from corporate professionals through to semi-skilled labourers, revealed consistent patterns and themes in the results. We found the qualities of “career adaptability” in these retirees who had returned to work. What is interesting about this finding is that career adaptability is not often thought of as a psychological strength within older folk; more often, it is associated with younger people entering into the world of work and adults surviving or, hopefully, thriving in their daily grind.

Dimensions of Career Adaptability

Measures of career adaptability tap four psychological dimensions: a future orientation to working (concern), a sense of feeling autonomy over work tasks (control), interest in learning and developing new skills and knowledge (curiosity), and feeling positive about one’s ability to contribute to a workplace (confidence).

The figure below depicts the links among the themes revealed in the interviews and it shows that career adaptability is connected up to all major themes.

Consider the example of two retired sheep shearers who returned to work as roustabouts in shearing sheds. Fit as fiddles, these two decided to job-share, splitting the tasks of this demanding labouring job between themselves, depending on their physical capacities (e.g., one’s arthritic knee and the other’s arthritic back). Why? Because working hard gives them a sense of satisfaction and meaning more than any other activity.

Implications for Workplaces and Policy

Policy makers and employers should note that older workers’ interests, needs, and reasons for working may be very different to those of younger workers. Indeed, a proven approach to attracting and retaining younger employees may not be as effective for older workers. Instead, harnessing older workers’ career adaptability and how they wish to express it may be just the thing to refresh motivation and restore dignity in the workplace.

This blog article is an extract from:

Luke, J., McIlveen, P., & Perera, H. N. (2016). A thematic analysis of career adaptability in retirees who return to work. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00193