Enhancing career adaptive responses among experienced employees: A mid-career intervention

Abstract: Highlights • Validating a new career intervention based on career construction theory • The intervention combines an efficient and scalable ePortfolio and half-day event. • The intervention enhances career adaptive responses among experienced workers. • The intervention is validated in the context of organizational restructuring. • Results are based on a 6-month quasi-experimental control group design. Abstract In today's world of work, workers need to adapt their careers to ever-changing demands and circumstances, a possible challenge for employees of traditionally stable organizations. This raises the call for efficient and effective interventions that support employees in this adaptation. In the current study we present and validate a scalable intervention, combining an ePortfolio with a half-day event, designed for experienced employees in the context of an organizational restructuring. Career adaptive responses were measured before and six months after the intervention with 20 employees who participated and 28 employees who did not participate in the intervention. Employees who participated showed increases on self-awareness and career decidedness (control), self- and environmental exploration (curiosity) and career planning (concern), whereas employees in the control group did not. No effects were found for self-efficacy (confidence). Based on these results we conclude that it is possible to offer an efficient, scalable and effective intervention for enhancing experienced employees' career adaptive responses in the context of a looming organizational restructuring.