Career Development, Job Satisfaction, And Career Commitment: Evidence from the Singaporean Hospitality Industry (Report‪)‬

Introduction There is increasing evidence that institutions are being challenged to undertake proactive career management. In earlier periods of relative stability and somewhat predictable linear progression, the likely career advancement of cadres could be 'written on a wall' as organizations were male-dominated. Generally, employees worked in one company to a retirement age of sixty-five years, and thus, regular promotion was a feature of seniority (Hind 2005). But the emergence of a competitive, global marketplace, a shortage of qualified and skilled staff, a lack of leadership strength, and the increasing participation of professional and managerial women (Burke et al. 2006) are compelling organizations to revitalize and reposition career management. Indeed, attention to career development initiatives is encouraged by 'job hopping' and staff attrition rates of 20 to 25 per cent, which are being recorded in Asian workplaces in general, and in India and Singapore in particular. The condition has become so acute that governments and HRM departments of banks, call centres, and service organizations are devising novel ways to reduce the rate of turnover (Far Eastern Economic Review 2004; Maheswari 2006; Chatterjee 2007). In spite of companies trying a variety of measures to reduce talent losses there is a dominant contemporary belief that a firm can build competitive advantage by supporting career aspirations of staff, and thus, ultimately contribute to human capital accumulation.