Career Management Paradigm Shift:

Career Management Paradigm Shift:
Prosperity for Citizens, Windfall for Governments

Phillip S. Jarvis
Vice-President, Partnership Development
National Life/Work Centre, Ottawa, Canada

ABSTRACT

Canada is on the verge of a workforce crisis from which, paradoxically, it could emerge with citizens enjoying a higher standard of living, and governments and corporations enjoying both increased revenues and reduced expenditures. Needed is a career management paradigm shift to help citizens navigate the new work environment. The industrial age vocational guidance mindset that still prevails simply isn’t working for too many people, and the costs in both financial and human terms are intolerable. A cornerstone of the paradigm shift is Blueprint for Life/Work Designs, a new national framework of competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes) citizens of all ages need to be self-reliant career managers.

Momentum for the career management paradigm shift is growing among government departments, educational leaders, community agencies, business owners, career and employment counsellors, and human resource specialists. The looming skills crisis provides compelling reasons to redouble our commitment to helping many more people acquire knowledge age career management skills to assure increased prosperity for citizens and corporations, windfalls for governments and an even brighter future for our country.
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The economy of the 21st century will need workers who are lifelong learners, who can respond and adapt to change. Canada’s labour market programs must be transformed to meet this challenge. - Speech from the Throne

The knowledge economy is changing the way people work. New labour market entrants can expect to experience a succession of jobs in a number of industry sectors during their working lives. They may have concurrent part-time jobs at one time, and no paid work at other times. Work periods will be interspersed with periods of learning, either full- or part-time, perhaps while working at one or more jobs. Krumboltz and Worthington(1999, 4, 312-325) describe a future where “ . . . there will be more of a need for worker flexibility as worker requirements change more frequently and new teams are formed to work on specific projects. Workers will increasingly be expected to move from project to project doing whatever work needs to be done, and not merely to fulfill a written job description.” That future is here. Project-based work is the norm in more and more public and private sector organizations across the country.

At the same time, our workforce is changing drastically. Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians (2002, 7-8), the recent discussion paper from Human Resources Development Canada, describes the challenges:
• First, the knowledge-based economy means an ever-increasing demand for a well-educated and skilled workforce in all parts of the economy and in all parts of the country….
• Second, there is a looming demographic crunch that will exacerbate these skills shortages….
• Third, our learning system must be strengthened if we are to meet the skills and labour force demands of the next decades.

We need more highly skilled workers, yet our workforce is shrinking. Half the 2015 workforce is already working. By 2011 immigration will account for all net workforce growth. In all sectors, it is more important than ever that Canadians connect with the best possible learning and work opportunities. Yet too few education and training institutions teach career management skills, and most companies of 50 or fewer workers have no employee training and development or human resource services. Thus, most adults make career choices unassisted, without the benefit of professional support, and without having learned career management skills they need to succeed.

The Key: Choosing Wisely
The key is helping students and adults choose education and training, and work that serve both their needs and those of our evolving workforce. The challenge is to help youth and adults learn how to choose wisely and commit to on-going self-improvement for the rewards of satisfaction and self-fulfillment in the near-term and contingency planning in the longer-term. Most youth are not sure how to make good career decisions, and they are not clear, even just prior to graduation, what they want to do when they enter the workforce. The majority of students do not proceed directly from secondary to post-secondary, in spite of projections that most work in coming years will require some post-secondary qualification. Of those youth who go directly to college or university programs, not to mention apprenticeship or trades training, nearly half change programs or drop our by the end of their first year. Of those who graduate, 50 percent will not be in jobs not directly related to their programs of study two years after they graduate.

In the words of Richard Froeschle (2003), Career Resource Network Director with the Texas Workforce Commission, "…labor market and career information is to students and job seekers what market research data is to business – invaluable.” High quality, current and comprehensive information is more important in today’s workplace than ever, but it’s not enough. Special career management skills are needed to use available information effectively to make sound choices. People need skills that give them legitimate confidence in their ability to construct fulfilling lives. They need:
• focus, on who they are, what they have to offer, and what is important to them;
• direction, knowing their options, what appeals to them, and how to qualify for suitable learning and work opportunities;
• adaptability, the skill of making the best of ever-present change; and
• healthy self-esteem and self-knowledge, to counter uncertainty and doubt.

These are all career management skills, and they cannot be learned solely from printed publications and websites. Human support in the learning process is essential, as it is during times of voluntary and involuntary career transitions. In fact, most adults with good career management skills did not learn them from institutionalized education and training programs. They were fortunate enough to have parents, relatives, teachers, bosses or other mentors who modeled successful life and career management skills, and encouraged, perhaps even at times prodded them throughout their learning process.

The New Career Management Paradigm
The knowledge economy demands a new approach to career development. Too many youth do not have the good fortune of enjoying ready access to good mentors in their home situations. Even in two-parent families, both adults are often so focused on “making ends meet” they cannot give to their children the time, energy and support they would like. Indeed, most parents were never taught the contemporary career management skills their children now need.

Mastery of career management skills cannot be left to chance. It needs be part of mainstream primary, secondary and post-secondary education programs, employee training and development programs and remedial programs for adults in career transitions. Acquisition of these skills increases likelihood of workplace success, and success in relationships, family and community. An investment in helping more citizens master these skills will provide a multi-faceted return on investment, add relevance to the learning experience, and benefit both individuals and society.

The traditional vocational guidance paradigm expected young people to make an informed, long-term career choice before graduating from high school. Yet, when adults are asked if they are now doing what they expected to be doing when they graduated less than 10 percent (teachers and nurses excepted) raise their hands. The evidence suggests only a small minority of us is able to identify a “calling” at a young age.

The vocational guidance model was primarily about helping people make an informed occupational choice, and went as follows:
1. Explore one’s interests, aptitudes, values, etc. (often with tests and professional help)
2. Explore the world of work (occupations)
3. Determine a “best fit” occupation by matching personal traits to occupational factors
4. Develop a plan to obtain the prerequisite education and training
5. Graduate, obtain secure employment, work hard, climb the ladder
6. Retire as young as possible on full pension

Steps 1 through 4 apply to the new career management model as well, although the terms work role, cluster or industry sector may be substituted for occupation. Contemporary workplace realities, however, now make these steps recurrent, and increase the need for career and labour market information and support services. Step 5 is no longer assured, and step 6 will only occur for those who learn career management skills, including financial planning skills and self-discipline.

The career management paradigm is not so much about making the right occupational choice as it is about equipping people with the skills to make the myriad choices necessary throughout their lives to become healthy, self-reliant citizens, able to cope with constant change in rapidly changing labour markets and maintain balance between life and work roles. Cornerstones of the career management paradigm are the “high five” principles:
1. Know yourself, believe in yourself and follow your heart.
2. Focus on the journey, not the destination. Become a good traveler.
3. You’re not alone. Access your allies, and be a good ally.
4. Change is constant, and brings with it new opportunities.
5. Learning is life-long. We are inquisitive by nature, and most alive when we’re learning.

Those who master career management skills and follow the high five principles are more likely to find satisfying and fulfilling work in the knowledge economy, and prosper. Regrettably, most educators, corporate executives, legislators and policy makers, community leaders, workers, parents and children are still encumbered by a vocational guidance mindset.

The catch phrase of the old paradigm, "What do you want to be when …?" focuses on destination, and loses relevance in a world in which most workers will experience regular job, even industry changes. It is no longer realistic, if it ever was, to expect young people to choose an occupation for life. Indeed, educators, spouses and parents who do not fully comprehend the new work world often create undue stress for those they are trying to help. Many adults, for instance, feel young people are failing somehow if they cannot land a “permanent” job soon after graduation. In fact, permanent, secure jobs are simply becoming scarce, particularly for youth. At the same time, there are more interesting and rewarding work opportunities, albeit in less permanent packages, than ever before.

In the career management paradigm the question, “What do you want to be when … ?” is replaced by questions like:
“Who are you now, and what do you love to do?”
“What are your specials talents and skills?”
“What types of situations, environments and work roles have special appeal for you?”
“What types of organizations need what you can offer?”
“What innovative work arrangements will suit you and potential employers?”

“People don’t succeed by migrating to a ‘hot’ industry. They thrive by focusing on who they really are – and connecting to or creating work that they truly love (and, by doing so, unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined). Companies win when they engage the hearts and minds of individuals who are dedicated to answering their life question.” People who love what they do are more productive. In the words of Yahoo chief solutions officer Tim Sanders, "Over and over again, I've discovered that the businesspeople who are the busiest, the happiest, and the most prosperous are the ones who are the most generous with their knowledge and their expertise. People who love what they're doing, who love to learn new things, to meet new people, and to share what and whom they know with others: these are the people who wind up creating the most economic value and, as a result, moving their companies forward."

Tests seldom answer people’s life questions, and certified professionals are not needed to ask them. The career management paradigm puts control, and responsibility, in the hands of the individual, not in tests, computer systems or specialists. To be fully in control of their own lives, people need to learn career management skills just as they learn math, science, language or technical skills. Career development is now an on-going, learning process for all rather than an occasional counselling process for the few “who need help.” All staff can contribute to the career management learning process, as can parents, spouses and any one else who knows and cares about the individual. As resident career experts, counsellors and practitioners who understand the new paradigm become pivotal players in the paradigm shift in their organizations, playing vital coaching, mentoring and coordinating roles for the learners and for those assisting in the learning process, rather than increasingly being relegated to the periphery in declining numbers.

The workplace of the knowledge era is a radically different place at the beginning of the 21st century than that of the 20th century. Over 95 percent of Canadian businesses have fewer than 50 employees. 750,000 have fewer than 5 employees. Self-employment, particularly among aging baby boomers, is growing. Even in larger organizations, the notions of self-employment and working for customers and clients have replaced working for a boss. Doing what you are told to do and following set procedures are now balanced with encouragement to invent new solutions to getting the job done and to serving customers and clients better. Just being responsible for your job has been replaced by pressure to be a good team player and help the team continuously learn and improve. Respect used to be accorded to position. It is now earned by people, at any level in the organization, on the basis of their contribution, commitment to learning and growing and their willingness to help others improve.

What is emerging is a new language register. The new terms denote concept shifts, not just “vernacular du jour.” They are occurring at different rates in different regions and sectors of society indicative of a global career management paradigm shift that is traced in the chart on the following page.


Old Paradigm New Paradigm

General
Office Virtual space
Success = career ladder Success = valued skills
Authority Influence
Manager/Management Leader/Leadership
Entitlement Marketability
Loyalty to company Loyalty to work and self
Salaries and benefits Contracts and fees
Job security Personal freedom and control
Identity = job, position, occupation Identity = contribution to work, family and community
Attention to bosses and managers Attention to clients and customers
Employees Vendors, entrepreneurs, team members
Retirement Self-employment – 2nd career

Private Sector/Employers
Social Contract At-Will Workforce
Mass Production Customization
Industry Knowledge Consumer Pull
Cost Reduction Revenue Growth
Vertical Integration Outsourcing
Incumbent Workers Contingent Workers
Retail Stores “E-tailing”
Bureaucratic organization Shared Vision and Mission
Local Labour Supply Global Labour Competition
Jobs as Continuous Duty Project Orientation
Job Security Employment Resilience
Job Description Task/Duty Statements

Public Sector/Education

Entitlement Personal Responsibility
Employment Service One Stop Co-Location Centers
Worker Training Work First-Welfare Reform
Job Qualifications Skills Standards
Occupational Titles Skills Clusters
Diploma or Degree Skill Certification
Degree Attainment Non-linear Perpetual Learning
Recruitment Informed Choice
Academic Calendar Open entry/Open exit
Semester Courses Discrete Learning Events
Carnegie Unit/Seat Time Competency Demonstration
Bricks and Mortar Distance Learning
School Teacher Learning Coach
Career Guidance Career Development/Building/Management
Process/Peer Review Outcomes/External Evaluation
Evaluation Impact Assessment/Provide Evidence
Mainframe Computers Internet Connectivity
Keepers of Knowledge Democratization of Knowledge

As technologies and skill requirements change, demand for workers changes. Workers need to be able to follow occupational and industrial trends, observe where job growth or decline is likely to happen and position themselves to adjust to the trends. The fastest growing category of companies is the smallest ones, which have the greatest failure rate. Larger companies are being merged, downsized, split up, re-engineered, or bought out. Job security is no longer a given for anyone at any level in any organization, and it has become an individual matter. Workers need to prepare themselves for periodic job loss and the inevitable loss of income. The very notion of “job” is shifting dramatically. In most contemporary settings those who say "That’s not my job!" won’t have a job for long! Workers are seeking meaning, purpose and fulfillment from their work roles, not just paycheques.

Career is increasingly being viewed as something every human has, for a lifetime. Outdated definitions of “job” and “occupation” remain cornerstones of too many guidance processes and post-secondary education and training offerings. “Work is now defined not by occupational titles or categories, but by skills and values. Effective career builders know how to shape and build their careers, project by project. This is a new competency, still largely unrecognized by most adults in the workforce.”

It’s becoming acceptable, even desirable, to have one’s “eggs in more than one basket.” More and more people are experiencing satisfaction, feeling stimulated, garnering respect, acquiring wealth and freedom by brokering portions of their time and skills to multiple organizations in creative new work “packages.” Security derives from the knowledge that should one contract end abruptly, others are still in place. As companies do not pay benefits and can initiate and terminate contracts easily, they are willing to pay more. (“We can pay you $500 per day for 10 days every three months, but we can’t offer you a full-time job”). Self-employed workers who deliver reliable, high quality service often find more employers want more of their time. To succeed, self-employed workers in atypical, contract work arrangements need to have specialized, in-demand skills, be aware of their value to specific employers, and be able to market themselves effectively. This engagement with contingent work demands a high level of self-knowledge and self-confidence, both of which are career management skills.

The more education and skills a person has, the greater the likelihood of securing work, earning a good income, and remaining employed. High school dropouts have an unemployment rate of more than 18 percent, compared with 7 percent for those with a university degree. Over the next five years, occupations that require less than high school education will account for less than 6 percent of new job opportunities. More than 70 percent of new jobs will require at least some post-secondary education. The main activity of 61 percent of respondents in a recent British Columbia survey in their first year after high school was attending school full time or part time. Thus, 39 percent were rejecting advice from “the system,” their teachers and their parents.

Society expects people to select an occupational goal then pursue the prerequisite education and training. While preparing to enter the workforce they are graded on acquisition of academic and technical skills, not career management skills, despite constant pleas from employers to teach “employability skills.” While academic and technical qualifications open doors, career management skills largely determine selection, success and advancement. Those who can describe the skills they bring to an organization to help it achieve long-term success, in whatever combination of or packaging of roles, are in greater demand. The key in the workplace as in life is not just finding the right job, friend or life partner: it’s becoming the right worker, friend or life partner.

“Increasingly, career development is about leadership. It’s about the personal leadership required to take action, take risks and learn new skills. It’s also about the leadership required to help others develop, grow and learn. Creating things that don’t yet exist is now part of career development, not just choosing among existing options. Preparedness for an environment that does not yet exist is key to adaptability, and leadership – therefore, it’s key to career management.”

Over the past quarter century disparities in earnings from employment have widened. The well paid have experienced earning gains, while market incomes at the low end of the spectrum have stagnated or even declined. Almost two million adult Canadians work for less that $10 an hour – about one in six employed people. These jobs do not pay enough to support a family, yet workers face barriers to advancing their incomes. Workplace barriers occur because employers concentrate more on controlling payroll costs than on productivity growth and development of skills. The prevalent assumption that money is the shortest route to freedom and happiness is flawed, as so many stressed professionals have discovered. In fact “the shortest route to the good life involves building the confidence that you can live happily within your means while doing work you truly love.”

The new career management paradigm recognizes that career development is a life-long process of skill acquisition and building through a continuum of learning, development and mastery. This process enables people to be in charge of their own career, with enough focus and direction for stability and enough flexibility and adaptability for change along the way. Career management equips people to make good choices throughout their lives. The aim is to help people become self-reliant, allowing them to enjoy personal satisfaction and fulfillment while contributing as fully as possible to our ever-changing society. Failure to do so will be costly. In fact, it already is.

Costs ands Savings
Many workers go through their entire working lives without focus or direction. They fall into employment without preparation and planning. The old paradigm has not worked for them. Many spend 50 percent of their conscious lives in work settings they don’t like. Some take out the stresses of the work day on family members, seek relief in alcohol or substance abuse, and have little energy left for anything other than passive, inert escapes like watching television. The loss of productivity and the waste of human capital are palpable, whether measured in training costs or unrealized human potential. Unquestionably, this sort of investment by both the public and private sectors yields an unacceptable return.

Most Canadians are proud of the social systems and infrastructure we have put in place to ensure as many citizens as possible, young and old, enjoy one of the highest living standards in the world. We invest heavily to support individuals, groups and regions in need. We accept higher taxes than most countries to ensure a better quality of life for more of our citizens. The vast majority of the expenditure items discussed below are essential infrastructure costs, well invested. The numbers are so large, however, that minuscule elements of “slippage” equate to sums large enough to make a real difference to governments, corporations and communities. Fallout from gaps between people’s skills and workforce needs reduces the return on investment we rightly expect from education, health care and social services investments. It also represents lost revenues to governments and lost competitiveness to businesses.

Lost Productivity and Reduced International Competitiveness
For businesses and for our economy, productivity is the key to competitiveness. We rely on the productivity of our workforce to keep us competitive in the global marketplace. If we increase our productivity, our entire economy and social structure benefit. If productivity slips we all lose, and we all pay.

Variability in employee productivity influences the economics of an organization. Employers who can select more congruent (right person in the right job) employees from a better applicant pool have a distinct advantage over their competitors. After conducting a meta-analysis of 85 years of research on personnel selection, Schmidt and Hunter (in press) conclude that person-job congruence benefits the worker, the company, and the nation. In Po Bronson’s words, “We are sitting on a huge potential boom in productivity – if we could just get the square pegs out of the round holes.”

Our annualized Gross Domestic Product as of the second quarter of 2002 was $1,138.2 billion. A 1 percent increase in productivity would have resulted in an increase of over $11 billion in goods and services in 2002. Better mechanisms for helping people connect with work roles they like and in which they excel can have profound ramifications for our society. A modest 1 percent increase in productivity through better matching of individuals’ skills and workforce requirements could generate as much as $10 billion annually in increased gross domestic production. Imagine, over time, a 5 or 10 percent increase in productivity across the country. Any generalized gain would favourably impact our international balance of payments and would be felt in standard of living improvements in communities across the country.

Education Funding
$64.1 billion was invested by all levels of government across the country in the past year on primary, secondary and post-secondary education. Our education systems are among the best in the world. Nonetheless, too many students are floundering or unsure why they are learning what they are learning. Many more cannot decide what programs they should be in. Many change programs, underachieve or drop out. Some extend their education because they are reluctant to move on. Most students do not fully understand the diversity of work roles that match their academic and technical skills. Only a few students are acquiring and mastering the skills of personal management, work and learning exploration, and career management they will need to complement their academic and technical skills in becoming self-reliant career managers beyond graduation. Effective career management programs would help youth develop these skills and gain greater focus and direction. While we might hope to do better, even a 1 percent increase in efficiencies through having more students learning what they are motivated to learn translates to $600 million annually being better invested.

Health Care Funding
Those who are unemployed or in work roles they dislike are subject to increased stress, have increased likelihood of unhealthy lifestyles, and may be more prone to substance and physical abuse. Good jobs foster mental health whereas poor jobs cause distress (Loscocco & Roschelle, 1991) . For instance, in a September 2002 Ipsos-Reid survey for the Globe and Mail and CTV , one in six adults surveyed (17%) said there has been a time in their life when they’ve been under so much stress that they’ve wanted to commit suicide. The main causes of stress cited by survey respondents were associated with their job or work (43%) and their finances (39%).

Over $76.9 billion was invested by all levels of government in the past year on health care. If only 1 percent of the people now availing themselves of health care services require them directly or indirectly as a result of inability to find and keep work they like, nearly $800 million annually could be saved. If the actual percentage is higher, say a modest 5 percent, this equates to $4 billion annually. Some or all of this could be invested in improved health care services for all citizens.

Social Services
In societies committed to improving living standards for all citizens, the term “social inclusion” has received increased attention in recent years. To be included is to be accepted and to be able to participate fully within our families, our communities and our society. Those who are or perceive themselves to be excluded, whether because of poverty, poor health, gender, race, or lack of education or skills, do not have the opportunity for full participation in the economic and social benefits of society.

Anna Diamantopoulou, European Union Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, points out that social inclusion makes good economic sense. Her Commission estimates that social exclusion costs between 12% and 20% of the GDP of the European Union member states. If our situation is similar, these percentages translate to social exclusion costs here of $136 to $228 billion annually. The EU regards the fight against social exclusion as a worthwhile investment and has committed 27 billion euros to the Social Fund for the period from 2000-2006.

In Canada, $113 billion was invested by all levels of government in the past year on social services, including social assistance and welfare. Inability to locate and maintain suitable and fulfilling learning and work opportunities is a contributing factor for some recipients. Significant savings could accrue if more citizens possessed the skills they need to self-reliantly plan and manage their careers and constructively address change. For example, a modest 1 percent saving on these expenditures would generate over $1 billion annually.

Protection, Prisons and Corrections
Over $15 billion was invested by all levels of government in the past year on “protection of persons and property,” including policing, prisons and correctional services. One might expect that a contributing factor in the case of some law-breakers and detainees is their inability to connect with appropriate life and work roles. A 1 percent improvement in helping more of these youth and adults acquire career management skills, become hopeful about their future and achieve increased self-reliance, could generate savings of $150 million annually.

Employment Insurance
Human Resources Development Canada paid a total of $9.5 billion in the year ending March 31, 2001 to about 650,000 EI Income Benefits Program recipients, who received an average of 18.5 weeks of payments. For workers in seasonal situations or those subjected to economic forces beyond their control, this income support is invaluable. Some recipients, however, are searching for work they feel suits them. If more in these circumstances were able self-reliantly to manage their work and learning opportunities and to move from one work role to another as needed, EI payments would decrease. A 1 percent improvement in this category would result in savings to the EI fund of about $100 million annually.

Lost Government Revenues
Over $432 billion was collected by all levels of government in the past year in income taxes (individual and corporate), property taxes, consumption taxes, health premiums, social insurance contributions, etc. If more Canadians were able to connect with steady work they like, all levels of government could anticipate increased revenues. A 1 percent improvement here would generate over $4 billion annually in increased government revenues. A 5 percent improvement would yield a $20 billion annual windfall for all levels of government.

The ability of our citizens to make effective connections to meaningful work is the underpinning of improvement in each of these areas. Excellent career, learning and labour market information and mastery of career management skills can help them make these connections. If even a small percentage of our citizens increase their mastery of career management skills, the savings can be enormous. Consider the impact on our economy and society of freeing up that amount of money, no matter how it might be redirected!

What is Needed?
How do we attain the improvements suggested above and the savings that come with them? Some of the necessary tools are already in place. What is needed is a concerted effort to use the tools now in place effectively and in concert with each other, to increase understanding of the necessity of this paradigm shift and to help as many people as possible increase their mastery of career management skills. We need programs and resources based on clear career management learning and performance outcomes. We need a comprehensive accountability infrastructure for this proposed career management paradigm shift. We need a means by which career practitioners, counsellors, educators and human resources specialists can easily select resources based on the outcomes they want to achieve with their clients and the skills they wish to build. We need a common map or framework of career management skills to see the linkages, or overlaps, between programs, and to identify gaps in existing programs and services. We need a common language of career management so there is no ambiguity or confusion among career practitioners, employment counsellors, educators and human resources specialists and the public. Like the health and fitness culture of the “Participaction” and non-smoking movements, we need a new, national career management culture.

Pioneering work on a national career management skills framework began in the United States in 1988, under the leadership of the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) and its network of 58 State Occupational Information Coordinating Committees (SOICCs). The process of adapting what became the U.S. National Career Development Guidelines for Canada began in 1998, lead by the National Life/Work Centre in concert with the Canada Career Information Partnership , with support from Human Resources Development Canada. The result is Canada’s Blueprint for Life/Work Designs. Thousands of American and Canadian career practitioners, employment counsellors, educators, human resources specialists and researchers have spent fourteen years developing, piloting, evaluating, revising and implementing this North American career management skills framework.

The Blueprint identifies core career management competencies with associated performance indicators for each competency at four developmental levels across the lifespan. The core competencies are the basis upon which career development programs can be designed. The performance indicators, which are organized by learning stages, can be used to measure learning gains and demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs.

Competencies and performance indicators are arranged under three key headings:

Area A: Personal Management
1. Build and maintain a positive self-image
2. Interact positively and effectively with others
3. Change and grow throughout ones' life

Area B: Learning and Work Exploration
4. Participate in life-long learning supportive of life/work goals
5. Locate and effectively use life/work information
6. Understand the relationship between work and society/economy

Area C: Life/Work Building
7. Secure or create and maintain work
8. Make life/work enhancing decisions
9. Maintain balanced life and work roles
10. Understand the changing nature of life and work roles
11. Understand, engage in and manage one's own life/work building process

These competencies include the employability skills employer groups suggest are lacking in too many prospective employees, particularly youth. In fact, work habits and attitudes strongly influence early adult earnings, so educational and training programs need to emphasize work behaviours as much as they emphasize job skills. Self-reliance grows out of the acquisition of these skills.

The Blueprint recognizes that people at different ages and stages learn differently, and that even young children can learn and appreciate the Blueprint competencies. In fact, we know that attitudes toward work are formed early in life, so workforce and vocational guidance policy should take a developmental perspective. Vocational psychologists such as Super, Crites, Gribbons, and Lohnes have each concluded from their longitudinal studies that planful competence in early adolescence relates to more realistic educational and vocational choices, occupational success, and career progress . For this reason, the Blueprint's core competencies are defined for four developmental levels:

Level 1: Primary/Elementary School
Level 2: Junior High/Middle School
Level 3: High School
Level 4: Adult, including Post-secondary

There are performance indicators for each competency, at each level, organized by "learning stages." For example, the performance indicators for Competency 5 at Level 3 are:

Competency 5 – Level 3 (High School)
Locate, interpret, evaluate and use life/work information

Learning stage a: Acquisition
5.3 a1 Explore the educational and training requirements of various work roles.
5.3 a2 Discover how key personnel in selected work roles could become ideal information resources and/or role models.
5.3 a3 Explore how trends and work opportunities in various economic/industry sectors impact the nature and structure of work roles.
5.3 a4 Explore how employment and workplace trends impact education and training scenarios.
5.3 a5 Understand how a variety of factors (e.g., supply and demand for workers, demographic changes, environmental conditions, geographic location) impact work opportunities.
5.3 a6 Understand how labour market information (profiles, statistics, etc.) should be used when making life and work decisions.
5.3 a7 Explore a variety of work alternatives (e.g., full employment, multi-tracking, contracting, consulting, self-employment, entrepreneurship).

Learning Stage b: Application
5.3 b1 Use career information resources such as career monographs, occupation classifications systems, labour market information, mass media, computer and Internet-based career information delivery systems to educate oneself to the realities and requirements of various work roles.
5.3 b2 Consult key personnel in selected work roles as information resources, role models and/or mentors.

Learning Stage c: Personalization
5.3 c1 Determine, according to one’s preferences, the advantages and disadvantages of various work alternatives (e.g., full employment, multi-tracking, contracting, consulting, self-employment, entrepreneurship).
5.3 c2 Assess life/work information and evaluate its impact on one’s life/work decisions.

Learning Stage d: Actualization
5.3 d1 Improve one’s strategies to locate, interpret, evaluate and use life/work information.

The Blueprint provides the basis for setting the learning outcomes, establishing performance standards, and measuring success in any public or private sector agency in the career development business. It’s a foundation piece of the new career management paradigm, and implementation is well underway.

Many provincial and territorial ministries of education, human resources and employment, community services and others are adopting the Blueprint as the foundation of their career management programs or imbedding its competencies into their own guidelines. Career resources, programs, curricula and services from public and private sector organizations, large and small, are being coded to the Blueprint competencies and performance indicators. Free Blueprint Orientation and Leadership Sessions are being offered across the country to develop local Blueprint Facilitators to teach educators, career and employment counsellors and human resources specialists to make effective use of the Blueprint and its support materials.

Organizations across the country are contributing to the career management paradigm shift in different ways. For example, the Conference Board of Canada’s Employability Skills 2000 , Human Resources Development Canada’s Essential Skills , and the Workinfonet national partnership of career, learning and labour market information Internet gateway sites are making important contributions. The Canada Career Consortium , Industry Sector Councils, Canada Career Information Partnership , Career Circuit , Canadian Career Development Foundation, and National Life/Work Centre are as well. The National Career Development Standards and Guidelines for Career Practitioners is a complementary competency framework for career and employment counsellors and career practitioners. The Real Game Series, now in thousands of schools from coast-to coast, provides national curricula to teach career management skills in educational and community settings. The Blueprint provides a map of the career management terrain by which these and many other contributions of large and small, public and private sector organizations across Canada can be plotted and tracked.

Conclusion
School-to-work transition and workforce development initiatives have failed too many citizens because career management skills have not received the curricular focus that academic and technical skills receive. Career theorists provide clear and unequivocal evidence to demonstrate the need to imbed career management skills in all education and training programs and services designed to help people succeed in the employment market of the future. Implementing career-relevant programs that integrate the Blueprint career management skills and accountability procedures will:
 help more youth and adults become satisfied, fulfilled, self-reliant, contributing and prosperous citizens;
 bring more motivated and engaged learners to teachers and trainers;
 provide more qualified and motivated workers to Canadian businesses that are increasingly challenged to find the talent they need to compete successfully;
 save billions of dollars annually in support of people who have difficulty locating and maintaining suitable work roles; and
 increase our international competitiveness and improve living standards in communities across the nation.

The OECD applauds Canada’s approach in its current 14-country Career Guidance Policy Review. After visiting Canada from July 2nd to July 10th, 2002 the OECD reviewers noted:

“The team identified the strengths of the career guidance system in Canada as including:
• the extent and quality of labour market information;
• the development of creative resources (like The Real Game);
• the development of strategic instruments (notably the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs and the Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners); and
• the creative support for public-private sector partnerships and for third-sector initiatives, both a national level and at local level.
In all of these respects, Canada is widely recognized as being a world leader, a position endorsed and reinforced by the two recent international symposia on career development and public policy (funded by Human Resources Development Canada and managed and coordinated by the Canadian Career Development Foundation).”

Momentum for the career management paradigm shift is growing among government departments, educational leaders, community agencies, business owners, career and employment counsellors, and human resource specialists. Their support will help close the gap between workers' skills and workforce needs. The looming skills crisis provides compelling reasons to redouble our commitment to helping many more people acquire knowledge age career management skills to assure increased prosperity for citizens and corporations, windfalls for governments and an even brighter future for our country.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author is grateful for the contributions of many people to this paper, but in particular: Yves Boutot, National Life/Work Centre, Fredericton; Dr. Bruce Cassie, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, North Bay, Ontario; Susan Deruelle, Nova Scotia Community Services, Sydney; Nova Scotia; Rich Froeschle, Texas Career Resource Network, Austin, Texas; Robert Goguen, National Life/Work Centre, Montreal, Québec; Dale Gullekson, Elk Island School Division, Edmonton, Alberta; Helen Hackett, Arcadia Works, Ottawa, Ontario; Vicki King, California Career Resource Network, Sacramento, California; Carol Kososki, South Carolina Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, Columbia, South Carolina; Paul Lukaszek, BC Ministry of Education, Victoria, British Columbia; Marie Lapointe, National Life/Work Centre, Ottawa, Ontario; Dr. Roberta Neault, Life Strategies Ltd, Coquitlam, British Columbia; Juliette Noone-Lester, formerly ED of the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, Washington, D.C.; Dave Redekopp, Life Role Development Group, Edmonton, Alberta; Gunter Rochow, CAPRA International, Cumberland, Ontario; Dr. Mark Savickas, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, Ohio; Rob Straby, Life Works by Design, Elora, Ontario; Lee Wallace, Car-Ed Consulting, Ottawa, Ontario; Dr. Tony Watts, OECD, Paris, France; Jessi Zielke, BC Career Education Society, Vancouver, British Columbia.