The concept of 'boundaryless career' is about a boundary crossing career. Boundaries such as those of domain (Finance) or sector (Oil & Gas) are often the important means of defining and interpreting career movement.

The largely uncertain and unpredictable nature of economic growth and a competitive environment has led to a monumental shift in the way organisations contract with their employees. Given the constant shift in skills, organisations find themselves frequently pivoting their business models and talent requirements. This is an indicator to the fact that organisations find it difficult to promise a traditional career path to their employees, leaving them with fewer options, apart from constantly reinventing it on their own. (Arthur, 1994).

As organisations shift towards leaner and more evolving models for sustainable growth, they have begun to signal the end of traditional careers for employees, in which individuals follow a progressive hierarchical path towards the top. This is being replaced by independent career paths, driven by the employee (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996). In this new model of careers, the key principles are flexibility, networking, marketable skills, and continuous learning. Employees enhance and leverage their performance in a single career or multiple careers, in different work contexts across organisational boundaries (Sullivan and Arthur, 2006). This concept of free movement is termed “Boundaryless Career”.

Organisations find it difficult to promise a traditional career path to their employees, leaving them with fewer options, apart from constantly reinventing it on their own.

Shifting responsibilities

A key outcome of this “boundaryless” (Arthur, 1994) or “protean” (Hall, 1976) career concept is the shift in the responsibility of career management from the organisation to the employee. Increasingly, employees are developing their identities independent of their organisational settings and taking ownership of their careers by developing marketable skills (Arthur, Khapova, and Wilderom, 2005). This could lead to independent career aspirations of employees, fuelling lateral movements across the organisation as well as mobility across organisations, rendering a truly boundaryless career trajectory.

The concept of boundaryless career has been further elaborated upon for multiple interpretations (Arthur, 1994: 296) as below:

♦ Employee moves across the boundaries of organisations

♦ Specific instances of careers such as academicians or carpenters that draw their marketability and credibility from external reference points rather than the present employer

♦ Careers such as that of headhunting or real-estate agency that are fuelled through extra-organisational networks or information

♦ The shift in the traditional organisational career perspective towards lateral movements rather than hierarchical advancement principles

♦ The employee at the centre of the career trajectory, who may perceive a boundaryless future outside of the structure he is currently in

Interpreting Career movements

 In real life, this concept of ‘boundaryless career’ is not as much about boundary-less, but about a boundary crossing career. Boundaries, such as those of domain (Finance) or sector (Oil & Gas) are often the important means of defining and interpreting career movement. More significantly, individuals tend to locate themselves in the social order by referring to opportunities they cannot attain due to constraints. Employees could be constantly trying to make themselves marketable and may be less committed to achieving Organisational outcomes that come in the way of their personal career aspirations.

Employees with protean and boundaryless career attitudes are more likely to proactively craft their jobs to fit their aspirations, leading to career commitment and career satisfaction.

Sometimes, functional boundaries associated with an organisational career tie employee to specific occupations. Geographical constraints could also impose restrictions on true ‘boundarylessness’, as could other demographic barriers such as nationality, education levels etc. An employee who wishes to be a part of the pool needs to constantly re-invent himself and remain flexible in the job market. At times, this could create conflicts within the individual with respect to subjective career determinants such as the meaning and purpose of their vocation and objective career determinants, such as remaining employable. The bigger obstacle for individuals, which is the very premise on which the theory of boundaryless career is created is the sustainability of a career choice in the light of changing market forces. Very often, the choices made by individuals to be employable in a market demand situation might counter their personal preferences.

The boundaryless career concept could even be viewed as the privilege of an elitist few due to the demands made for constant investment of time, effort, and resources into re[1]invention, and might still be restricted to those who are well-educated or geographically mobile. At the same time, it could pose challenges in the extent of depth of expertise an individual could gain in a particular area if he is constantly moving across different skillsets and capabilities.

More significantly, employees need to feel a sense of coherence with their evolution in the career, while achieving a sense of stability within their work identity. Employees with protean and boundaryless career attitudes are more likely to proactively craft their jobs to fit their aspirations, leading to career commitment and career satisfaction.

A double-edged sword

However, this could be a double[1]edged sword for the organisation that is seeking to develop and retain highly valued employees. The war for talent has emphasised the significance of addressing concerns such as these through interventions. Organisations might find that they are constantly losing out on the more “marketable” or “adaptable” talent while being left with those who are not as driven or marketable, presenting a new set of challenges to succession planning and leadership pipelines. Within the organisation, the concept of ‘boundaryless career’ could be pushed through the Talent marketplace, enabling the deployment of employees across cross-functional projects.

While the democratisation of careers can create opportunities in the market and help constant re[1]invention of talent, there is a danger of a negative association between a protean career orientation and organisational citizenship behaviours. Employees would prioritise their personal aspirations over the organisational requirement which could undermine team performance. Likewise, a constant exodus of high calibre talent would affect the leadership pipeline readiness and succession planning for key positions. Project-based organisations might propagate boundaryless careers, but it might cause confusion and lead to substandard performance. Besides, while employees might navigate towards skill consolidation and lateral growth, they might continue to expect traditional hierarchical growth out of the organisation.

While the concept of boundaryless and constant movement to stay in a place is a new age remedy for the impermanence of organisations and economies, it could pose several new challenges in terms of new boundaries. The advent of technology in itself creates boundaries in one’s career, leading to possible displacement of entire career paths. In real life, an employee often deals with the simultaneous effect of multiple boundaries while carving his career.

While the concept of boundaryless and constant movement to stay in a place is a new age remedy for the impermanence of organisations and economies, it could pose several new challenges in terms of new boundaries.

A lot about this is uncharted terrain, and the notion of the multiplicity of careers might itself undergo a sea[1]change as we ride into the future. At present, organisations could do well to take cognizance of the true boundarylessness of the employees that they have and modify or enhance their talent propositions to achieve a balanced and more nuanced approach to continuity of talent pipelines for the organisations.

References:

Arthur, M. B. (1994). The boundaryless career: A new perspective for organizational inquiry. Journal of organizational behaviour, 295-306. Arthur, M. B., Khapova, S. N., & Wilderom, C. P. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behaviour: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behaviour, 26(2), 177-202. Inkson, K. (2006). Protean and boundaryless careers as metaphors. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 69(1), 48-63.