Les déterminants du succès subjectif de carrière : possibilités de mobilité externe et congruence personne-organisation
Career success has been the focus of much research. In the literature, two forms of success have been identified, subjective and objective career success. In our study, we are interested in subjective career success given its confirmed association with psychological well-being, quality of life at work (Nabi, 2003; Peluchette, 1993), intrinsic motivation, self confidence (Abele & Spurk, 2009b) and commitment to the organisation (Hennequin, 2009). In addition, according to various studies (Arthur, Khapova, & Wilderom, 2005; El Akremi, Guerrero, & Neveu, 2006), career success is more often examined on the basis of objective criteria (e.g., pay level, promotions) than in terms of the perception of the individual.   Furthermore, a meta-analysis of 140 studies published by Ng, Eby, Sorensen, and Feldman (2005) examined the predictors of objective and subjective career success in the light of the two theoretical perspectives advanced by Turner (1960), namely contest mobility and sponsored mobility. The authors of this synthesis concluded that «There is only a limited range of variables being examined as predictors of career success » (p. 396); hence the importance of examining other predictors of career success that relate to the theoretical perspectives developed by Turner (1960).  Our study is therefore situated in research that aims to analyze the predictors of career success. It examines the links between external marketability, person-organization fit and subjective career success. Based on the recommendations of Ng, Eby, Sorensen, and Feldman (2005), we associated external marketability to contest mobility and person-organization fit to sponsored mobility.   We used data collected from human resource professionals, all members of a professional association located in Quebec (Canada) (Saba & Dufour, 2005). The analysis tested the relationships that we hypothesized between the dependent variable (i.e., subjective career success) and the independent variables (i.e., person-organization fit and external marketability). Further analysis tested the mediating influence of organizational sponsorship in the association between person-organization fit and subjective career success. These analyses included age, gender, marital status, education, organisation tenure, and experience in the labour market as control variables.  Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and multiple regressions were used to describe the sample and to test our hypotheses.  In general, our research hypotheses were supported. External marketability and person-organization fit are positively related to subjective career success. In addition, we have identified a partial mediation of organizational sponsorship in the relationship between person-organization fit and subjective career success.
Career success Subjective career success External marketability