Work Adjustment: A Neglected Area in Career Counseling

Abstract

The author suggests that counselors should devote more attention to work adjustment problems and proposes a systems model for counselors to use in conceptualizing the development of work adjustment and work adjustment problems and in formulating strategies of intervention to address these problems.

Business Student And Practitioner Work Goals And Their Implications

“…The correspondence between work competencies and requirements has its primary effect on performance while the correspondence between work goals and available rewards has its primary effect on job satisfaction and motivation. However, both competencies and work goals can have secondary effects on satisfaction and performance due to interactions between work competencies and work goals and between performance and satisfaction (Hershenson, 1996). Research supports the contention that satisfaction of intrinsic work goals can increase performance (Dodd and Ganster, 1996;Dunegan et al, 2002;Leach et al, 2003).…”

“…Information and knowledge are the keys to avoiding these mistakes and can come through experiential or vicarious learning. Modeling and imitation are important forms of the latter (Bandura, 1977) that Hershenson (1996) contends are particularly influential in shaping work goals. Lower satisfaction, and in some cases lower performance, are expected when employees inaccurately assess the importance of work goals.…”

“…The fit between work competencies and requirements and between reward preferences and their availability are considered critical for satisfaction, motivation, and performance (Dawis and Lofquist, 1984;Hershenson, 1996). Business educators have naturally focused on the matching of student work competencies with work requirements, but the fit between reward preferences and reward availability has the greater impact on satisfaction and motivation (Locke, 1976;Robertson, 1990;Edwards, 1991;Maier and Brunstein, 2001).…”

Income

“…During this experimental process, individuals compare their self-knowledge of their work competencies and work values with the requirements, characteristics, and benefits of the different careers. According to Hershenson (1996b), individuals begin developing work competencies in early childhood through their successes and failures in their interactions with their environment. Work competencies include the person's work habits, physical and mental skills that are applicable to jobs, and interpersonal skills (Hershenson, 1996a(Hershenson, , 1996b.…”

“…These concepts are potentially influenced by psychological, environmental, and cultural context factors, of which more than one may be operating simultaneously. This idea has been discussed by Hershenson (1996b), who described worker satisfaction as "involving gratification resulting from one's work, which is primarily related to the work goals of the person and the rewards and opportunities in the work setting" (p. 443). Dawis and Lofquist (1984) also touched on the relationship of worker satisfaction in terms of a correspondence described as "the individual fulfilling the requirements of the work environment and the work environment fulfilling the requirements of the individual" (p. 54).…”