Antwerp Management School and HR service provider SD Worx have agreed to renew their partnership. Five years ago they jointly established the ‘Next Generation Work: Creating Sustainable Careers’ chair. Their aim: to map out the career policies of organizations and formulate recommendations to prepare both employers and employees for tomorrow’s job market. On 14 November 2016, Antwerp Management School and SD Worx will present the insights gained from five years of career policy research and kick off the renewed partnership.

Need for a more dynamic career policy

Earlier research conducted by Antwerp Management School and SD Worx has shown that companies often fail to capitalize on opportunities to create feasible and flexible work situations by implementing a decent career policy. For instance, the number of companies with an active career policy has hardly increased in the last four years: 57% in 2016 as opposed to 52% in 2012.

Nevertheless, 75% of organizations attach a great deal of importance to an improved feasibility and staff flexibility. This is in stark contrast to the active policy on the subject: 46% offer all employees flexibility in terms of the number of hours worked and 41% in terms of work schedule; 38% let their staff determine how they perform their duties.

Career policy geared to tomorrow’s job market

Antwerp Management School and SD Worx have decided to renew their partnership in order to prepare staff and employees for the job market of the future. On the agenda for the next few years are studies on successful career policy measures as well as an impact study on the subject. In other words, the renewed partnership will continue to focus on career policy.

According to professor Ans De Vos the need for an efficient career policy is more relevant than ever: “Organizations should reflect carefully on how to shape their employees’ careers. Offering them growth and perspectives makes it possible to hire and keep suitable staff. Times are changing at breakneck speed so the chemistry between an employee and his job may dissolve. What is happening right now in the financial sector is just one example of the major impact the ongoing digitization is having on the survival of jobs. There are challenges with regard to working longer and deployability, and a well-thought-out career policy enables organizations to meet them.”

The Chair moves away from the conventional way of thinking and will focus on such initiatives as flexible talent management and co-sourcing, which involves employers exchanging staff in the short or long term. Flexible working hours give organizations and their employees greater freedom. Using talent to best advantage through different types of contracts and working arrangements makes organizations more flexible and versatile.

Between dream and action

“The government is taking measures to facilitate and intensify the future of labor. Organizations must concentrate on deployability and career development. Mobility throughout a career is an important lever to ensure feasibility. Much remains to be done in this regard because 67% of organizations are characterized by a low degree of internal mobility. Why are employers still so hesitant to opt for career development? Why do employees rarely change jobs? One thing is certain: something has to give because the traditional career policy model is no longer effective”, says Sige Mariën, Director of Consulting at SD Worx.

Ans De Vos has compiled the insights from five years of research within the scope of the chair in her new book ‘Careers in Motion’, published by Acco last October.