THE RELATIONSHIP OF ENGLISH ABILITY AND CAREER MOBILITY

Abstract

The aims of this study are to find out how the individual‘s own language competences affect career mobility and to find out how the common language acts as a facilitator for career mobility. The qualitative research method is used in this study. Interviews with personnel from the case organization, provide the opportunity to observe the views and experiences of the interviewees and to find out how they fit in to the prior research done on this subject. The empirical research on the common corporate language strategy as facilitator or barrier for career mobility implicated that the choice of English as common corporate language was generally seen as a facilitator for career mobility and as the facilitators‘ positive effect on career mobility also influenced the employee‘s subjective as well the objective measures of career success

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THE RELATIONSHIP OF ENGLISH ABILITY AND CAREER MOBILITY
Bejo Sutrisno
Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing – IEC Jakarta
Email: bejo@stibaiec-jakarta.ac.id
Handayani
Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing – IEC Jakarta
Email: yani_johan@yahoo.com
APA Citation: Sutrisno, B. & Handayani (2019). The Relationship of English Ability and Career Mobility.
Journal of English Language and literature, 4(1), 59-70. DOI 10.2540/jell.v4i01.70
Received: 23-01-2019 Accepted: 05-02-2019 Published:01-03-2019
Abstract: The aims of this study are to find out how the individual‘s own language competences
affect career mobility and to find out how the common language acts as a facilitator for career
mobility. The qualitative research method is used in this study. Interviews with personnel from the
case organization, provide the opportunity to observe the views and experiences of the interviewees
and to find out how they fit in to the prior research done on this subject. The empirical research on
the common corporate language strategy as facilitator or barrier for career mobility implicated that
the choice of English as common corporate language was generally seen as a facilitator for career
mobility and as the facilitators‘ positive effect on career mobility also influenced the employee‘s
subjective as well the objective measures of career success.
Keywords: English ability, career mobility, career success
INTRODUCTION
Jenkins (2003) stated that the position of
English language, in the field of entertainment,
business or science, is undeniably dominant.
English as an international language with
speakers all over the world. In fact, the number
of second and foreign language speakers of
English has exceeded the native speakers and
English has gained a lingua franca status in
different fields. It is being recognized as one of
the six official languages of the United Nations.
Earlier, people used to get a job if they
possessed expertise in their respective fields but
in the current era, the specific skills should be
complemented with communication skills. The
need for giving emphasis on the English
communication development is of utmost
importance in the present scenario with an
objective to make the job aspirants gainfully
employed.
According to Mehta (2012) In the last few
years, as the jobs becoming global, the
importance of English has increased manifold.
It has over the years become an important
medium of communication, both at the
international and intra-national levels. The
importance of spoken English is even more,
because there are many cases where one knows
his/her subject well, but fails to communicate it
properly. The practice of spoken English,
therefore, is quite essential. Learning English in
a country where it is not a native language
opens a number of opportunities for the
individual. In today’s corporate world, the need
for effective communication has been

Bejo Sutrisno & Handayani
The Relationship of English Ability and Career Mobility
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recognized and accepted more than technical
knowledge.
English is being the most commonly used
language in the corporate world; the knowledge
of English is one of the most important
employability skills. Knowledge of English is
much sought after in the corporate world.
Proper English does not mean only the ability
to make grammatically correct sentences. It
means other related skills for effective
communication like presentation skills,
convincing and negotiation skills and
interpersonal skills using that language.
Based on Raman and Sharma’s opinion
(2012) that the Effective communication skills
include oral skills for public speaking,
presentations, negotiating, conflict resolutions,
knowledge-sharing; Writing Skills for
preparing reports, proposals, instruction
manuals, writing memos, notices and official
correspondence. It also includes a
combination of verbal and non-verbal skills
marked with proper and distinct articulation,
appropriate pause, and voice modulation. If
the medium of communication is English,
certain amount of proficiency is needed in it.
As English for us is a second language and not
our mother tongue, a constant practice and
study are absolutely needed.
Meanwhile according to Arthur and
Rousseau (2000) that organizations cannot
offer lifelong careers anymore and career paths
have altered from traditional linear career
progression towards more horizontal
movements. Individuals need to adapt to the
changes in their working environment,
regardless of their willingness to do so.
Also, Jones (2005) added that the attitudes
of individuals towards the employer and their
views about their careers and employment have
changed, and are changing, dramatically, thus
challenging the traditional assumption
commitment and motivation.
The changing nature of careers in today's
business world inspired the writer to think
about factors affecting career mobility that
leads to career success. Having started her
career ten years ago in one of the international
organizations in Jakarta, makes her believe that
she could find out interesting results from the
study of the relationship between English and
career mobility.
The writer’s current position is the third
position she has so far during her service in one
of the international organizations in Jakarta.
She has had certain level of English
competency tests to get to each position. Based
on her experiences, the writer believes that
English competency is one of the most
important things that affects her career
mobility. In the international organization she
works for, some of her colleagues who have
already equipped with knowledge, skills, good
attitude and other positive attributes but have
no improvement in their English ability.
Competency stayed in certain position for a
long time. On the other hand, her colleagues
who have good English competency and
communication skills, along with the requested
knowledge, skills and experiences, have
changed their positions/ got promoted several
times.
The other reasons why the writer is
interested to discuss about English that
affecting career mobility/success because she
recently appointed to be one of the TEC
(Technical Evaluation Committee) members to
recruit one Operations Manager in her section.
A certain level of English competency is
needed for this position. Four out of nine
selected candidates were chosen to get the
interview opportunity based on their English
competencies and communication skills. Most
of the selected candidates have experiences,
knowledge, skills, and educational backgrounds
more than what the organization are expected
for this position, but their English ability has a
very important role in the selection criteria that
brought them to the next level of recruitment
process.
Having this invaluable experience, to be the
member of recruitment team has given wider

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perspective to the writer of how important it is
to learn/ master English for career mobility.
Therefore, the writer was eager to see if the
study would show similar results compared to
her personal experience as well as if her
perception of language management in the
international organization would be shared by
the interviewees.
This study aims to take a critical look at the
effect of language practices on careers in an
international organization environment through
the study. In addition, the research will be
looking at language effects on individual career
mobility by individual interviews. The research
objectives of this research are (1) to find out
how the individual‘s own language
competences affect career mobility and (2) to
find out how the common language acts as a
facilitator for career mobility.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Language strategies and practices in an
organization
Janssens, Lanbert and Steyaert (2004) define
the language strategy as something that can
refer to several components like a decision of
which language(s) can be used, the role of
translators in creating multilingual texts, the
method used to validate the translation process
or the types of texts that are expected to be
produced. Moreover, the writer will also look at
HR processes and the role of language in
recruitment, training and development activities
in the case organization.
Based on previous researches, language
strategy or practices affect for example
networking, communication and knowledge
sharing. All of the presented language
strategies and practices: common corporate
language; lingua and multilingualism, include
elements that can be perceived as a barrier or a
facilitator for individual career development.
1. Common corporate language
The common corporate language is often
supplemented with so called ‘company speak’,
in other words with particular abbreviations and
expressions reflecting the culture of the
company in question and its way of operating
(Welch & Piekkari:2005). Feely and Hazing
(2003) also stated that the common nowadays
that multinational company/ organization
makes a choice of an official corporate
language in order to ease communication
within and outside the company/ organization.
A main reason for a common corporate
language is to make information flow efficient
within the company/organization in for
example formal reporting, information systems
and cross-national interaction. Employees thus
know that in common communication one
official language can be used as a rule.
Today, English is the most universally
accepted language for international business
and provides a baseline that puts everyone on
the same page. Information and knowledge
sharing are two aspects speaking in favor of
common corporate language; it levels the
playing field in terms of others than native
English speakers, so that everyone is speaking
another language than their mother tongue.
2. Lingua Franca
Today, people from all over the world use
English or a variety of English to communicate.
According to Crystal (2003) There are 320-380
million people who speak English as a first
language, 300-500 million people who speak
English as a second language, and nearly one
billion people who speak English as a foreign
language, or as a lingua franca.
Varra (2005) stated that during the course
of recent years, the English language has
secured a position as the lingua franca of the
business world. The English language has in
fact such a strong position in multinational
companies that it can be adopted as common
language in a company where no one actually
speaks English as his or her mother tongue, or
without the official policy that English would
be the official language.
3. Multilingualism

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It can be vital for the organization to also
take into account local languages as that can
have a major impact on relations with local
stakeholders and customers (Born:2010).
Furthermore, in the recruitment of competent
local personnel, limiting oneself to just one
language might have an effect on the quality of
recruits. Feely and Hazing also state that
functional multilingualism is relying on a mix
of language and whatever means one can think
of to get the message across to the other party.
Born (2010) stated that despite the
importance of English in business
communication, foreign language competence
facilitates especially relationship and network
building when conducting international
business. Foreign language competence
influences the international buyer and seller
relationships, establishes trust, signals
commitment and respect for the customer, and
has a major effect on the atmosphere that
characterizes the relationship.
Moreover, needs for effective
communication is not restricted to external
communication with clients or suppliers. A
company must have effective means to
communicate internally, thus language is a key
issue also in internal communication
(Pekkari:1999).
Examined the role of language in the
development of personal cultural identity,
empirically finding that knowledge of
languages certainly facilitates a broader
worldview. Most importantly, foreign language
skills tend to make us more tolerant and open to
other ideas and make us more comfortable with
new experiences and situations, increasing our
ability to effectively navigate encounters with
new ideas and new ways of doing things. In a
multilingual and multicultural world, foreign
language skills and knowledge of other cultures
are the essential global competency and social
skill.
Careers
In the Handbook of Career Studies wrote
by Gunz & Peiperl that the field of career
studies is and has been very fragmented and
researchers seldom agree on which topics
influence careers the most.
Arthur at al (1989) defines career as
evolving sequences of a person’s work
experiences over time. This definition implies
that career is a structured steady line going one
direction from bottom to the top and does not
reflect the modern changing nature of careers.
Gunz and Peiperl (2007) raise question of
whom the career should be fit for, diving also
into factors of extrinsic and intrinsic career
success measures. The most commonly
investigated influences were demographical
matters such as the age or gender of the person,
or the human capital factors such as work
experience or education. The aim of this
empirical research is to take a closer look on
how language skills, or the lack of them, can be
seen as a factor influencing career mobility and
career success.
1. Career Mobility
Hegedus & Haman (1992) define career
mobility as individual job change cycles in an
employee’s personal life and some researchers
argue that human capital factors influence
career objectives and mobility and can be
explored from two different perspectives:
horizontal and vertical mobility.
This means, according to Ibarra (2002),
that career mobility maybe towards a position
that is higher or similar to a job in the same
field. The authors refer to horizontality in
career mobility as moving sideways within an
organization’s hierarchy, for example means, to
different assignments, to different departments,
without being promoted upward. Verticality in
career mobility means, on the contrary, moving
up in an organization’s hierarchy to more
responsible positions, for example, to become a
specialist expert, or to supervisory and
managerial jobs.
2. Career Success
Arnold (1997) argues that careers can be
measured in terms of pay, promotion and

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status. Subjective career success is harder to
define as the terms of definition are subjective
to each individual. Common factors in
measuring subjective career success is the
subject itself, career and general life
satisfaction. Also Gunz & Peiperl (2007) write
about extrinsic and intrinsic career success the
former meaning measures of salary, number of
promotions and occupational status, and the
latter the subjective ranking of one’s
satisfaction with one’s career.
The researcher tends to use Arnold’s
terminology because it is a more self-
explanatory term and more represent the
interviewee’s opinion.
3. Language effects on careers in the X
international organization on organizational
level
Lauring and Selmer stated (2011) that there
is no doubt that globalization has had its effects
on how organization‘s view language, or at
least the question of language cannot be
overlooked. Language is one of the main
means of communication on knowledge
sharing, and multicultural organizations are
often said to have the potential knowledge
resources to increase performance.
The requirements for employees‘foreign
language skills in international organizations
and multinational corporations have been on
the rise in the 21st century. Piekkari (2008)
argues that international mergers and
acquisitions that constantly shape the business
has shifted focus from solely professional skills
towards requirements on language capabilities.
However, the view of language skills‘
effects on career progression is still seen as
quite narrow, even though it could open doors
to opportunities that might otherwise be
unattainable. The narrow appreciation of
language skills can partly have its roots in the
strong position of English as the lingua franca
of the business world. In order to ease
communication, many companies choose
English as the common corporate language but
the effect might be that employees‘ only
required language skill is English.
From the point of view of knowledge
sharing and communication language
dissimilarities can cause uneven patterns of
interaction and knowledge sharing. In contrast
to the belief that diversity in groups is seen as
beneficial, language differences can have a
negative impact on interaction and knowledge
sharing when the group members have
inadequate language skills.
4. Language effects on careers in organization
on individual level
Language effects on careers from the
individual person‘s perspective have had little
attention in academic research.
Language skills may provide the
individual the ability to establish networks that
provide career opportunities or a specific
language skill can give the individual a cutting
edge over another candidate for a coveted
position in the organization/ company. As per
writer found in her research that bilingual
individuals in the international organization
she works for, local employees who speak
good English as the common corporate
language can become gatekeepers that get
opportunities as well as responsibilities in the
office that go beyond the scope of their actual
position, due to their language capabilities.
For instance, those who had a native level
knowledge of English in the organization got
interpreting/ translating tasks of important
documents/ important event that were beyond
their normal duties.
The above mentioned findings in the
writer research speak for language‘s role as an
enabler or barrier for career mobility. An
individual with good language skills might be
able to use his/ her language skills as
facilitator in networking and finding new
opportunities. His or her language skills may
facilitate career mobility within the
organization/ company both horizontally and
vertically.

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METHODOLOGY
The researcher chose a qualitative research
method for the empirical part of the study
as the main aim of this research was to find
out how English and language skills affect
a person‘s career in terms of mobility and
success. Interviews with personnel from the
case organization, provide the opportunity
to observe the views and experiences of the
interviewees and to find out how they fit in
to the prior research done on this subject.
As Bogdan & Taylor (1975) have stated
that qualitative methodologies produce
descriptive data in people‘s own written or
spoken words. The interviews were semi-
structured and the interviewees were
encouraged to describe their experiences
openly and freely. However, in order to
ensure the preciseness of the results
questions by the interviewer were also
made when needed.
FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS
Findings
Interview Findings
During the course of the interviews it
became clear that at least the organization
X operates in the organization official
language very effectively. According to
some comments the ability to use English
language is very important in the
organization; especially to keep good
communication with upper level of the
International Organization X and other
international organizations. People make
an effort to speak English. However, it was
recognized that the phenomenon of English
as business language does not stretch
throughout the entire organization. One
interviewee currently working in the
Facility Management and he speaks on
behalf of his staff who works as
technicians:
“I know that our official language
is English but in my office, some
technicians who have limited English
keep avoiding to communicate directly
with the American officers just because
they don’t have enough confidence to
do it, it is understandable but it will not
improve their English skills. You know
that our Officers are never bothered
with our grammar, they usually
understand what we are trying to say
even it is not in a good composition or
complete sentences, so it is ourselves
who create the limitation and boundary
in English”
One of the HR interviewees had a
strong opinion that the international
Organization X would need an official
language strategy because the official
common corporate language still being a
big issue for some of employees who have
very limited English:
“It’s not that you cannot survive
without English, but some of us need to
improve our English periodically and
regularly, so we can catch up with this
organization objectives. If we have the
language strategy in place, not only that
we can develop ourselves, it will make
our job a lot easier, effective and
efficient, absolutely!”
And some of the interviewees
wondered why there could not be an
official strategy that would align what is
anyway done in practice when it comes to
language practices. The reason might have
been given in their own answers to the
question, if they encounter difficulties
caused by language issues in their daily
work; some reported misunderstandings but
the general view was that the existing
practices were enough and it was clear that
English is the main language for

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communication. Yet, there were some
reports of cultural misunderstandings and
communication difficulties caused by
English.
The multilingual approach to language
matters was often seen as a must by the HR
interviewees. It was clear to all that
employees are expected to work in English
and speak at least a good level of English;
and it was also seen as a prerequisite to
work in the first place. This view was also
supported by the fact that the recruitment
advertisements are in English and the
applicant have to apply it in English.
However, even basic language skills
seemed to lower that language barrier:
“To clarify, I have always,
whenever I have been in the other
office which not I’m familiar with, just
in the sense of good manners, and being
polite, wanted to learn to say “Hello”
and “Good Morning” and “Thank
you”… and have some basic skills
outside work situations. I think it’s part
of this motivation thing to try and find
the small things that help you fit in a
bit.
On the other hand, the common
corporate language was seen as a facilitator
for career mobility by all interviewees both
on HR and individual side. One of HR
interviewee commented that:
“Anybody who can speak English at
any level has the same advantage as
native (English) speakers because
anywhere you go in the world then you
can communicate as well as if you
would like to move to the other
positions/ offices.”
Also, the HR interviewees pointed out
that the official common corporate
language is also a statement from the
organization side to the employees on what
the key language requirement is and where
the company wants to position itself in the
global world.
Other interesting comments from the
interviewee regarding to career mobility
and career success:
“My English is not bad, I can apply
to other position if I want it, but I am
now comfortable with what I do, I love
my colleagues here in the office and the
Bosses are very nice to me so I can’t
find any reason why I have to apply/
move to the other position. Finding a
better job/ higher position is not my
goal. Success is not always about
getting higher position that you can get,
but when you know that you can do
your job well, you have a good
relationship with the others, your family
is okay, you are HAPPY, that’s enough
for me, more than enough”.
Most of the interviewee agree that
English is very important for their career
mobility and career success, because to get
higher position it needs certain level of
English competency. If they want to have
the job you
Recruitment
Based on a discussion the writer had with
one of the HR, the recruitment language in
the International Organization X is by rule
English. She stated that it is really not even
a discussion but a rule that all the
recruitment advertisements are published in
the official language of the organization,
even if it opens internally. The recruitment
team plays an important role in providing
their expertise in finding the right talent for
the company. She says that the recruiting
language plays a role in both building the
image of the organization and attaining the
right talent for each position.

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The choice of recruitment media is also
important. She points out that an open
vacancy advertisement is not only in the
official website but also in printed media as
well.
Also, the recruits coming from outside
the organization have a global image of
International Organization X. When asked
why they have applied for a position in the
organization, many say that the reason is
the willingness to work for an international
organization with rotation possibilities and
the option to work abroad and on a global
scale, yet many stress the fact that they
value International Organization X is very
high/ prestige.
According to HR person the most
important information about the applying
candidate is prior work experience,
previous employers and good references.
As good as all positions in International
Organization X require a very good, or at
least good level of English. That is often
nonnegotiable, as well as local language is
still an asset. She also explains that she
often asks the reason the candidate has left
his or her previous jobs in order to ensure
that there is a natural and understandable
reason for the career moves.
Training & Development
Most of trainings are conducted in English,
but sometimes it is held with bilingual: the
trainer will speak in English and there will
be someone who translates it to Bahasa
Indonesia. This is considering that not all
employee have a good understanding of
English language.
The international organization X
provides English language course/ training
with different subjects/ discussions to
improve the English skill of the employee
but it is not held regularly.
Language effects on careers in
International Organization
Language effects on careers in International
Organization from organizational point of
view:
International Organization X official
language is English, based on the research,
despite English being the common
corporate language, some of employee who
have limited English would possibly see
that as a barrier for their career
development.
Therefore, the common corporate
language being English can be seen as a
facilitator for career mobility with a
positive influence on the variety of the
individual’s career possibilities and
success. From organizational point of view
the outcome can be interpreted as positive
since by defining the common corporate
language as English, International
Organization S seems to be able to get the
full potential from manning positions with
the right people when language matters are
not a hinder. The fact that English was
recognized so strongly as the main
language in International Organization X.
In recruitment, were announced
internally and externally always in English,
enabling anyone with English language
skills to apply for the position and allowing
the company to choose the best candidate
with the right set of skills and background.
Also in recruitment, no other language skill
requirement was raised to the level of
English, but they were seen as an asset.
One of HR interviewees stated that career
mobility can be influenced positively by
language skills in the sense that if you are
for instance the employee of International
Organization X, performing well in your
work and possessing some other language

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skill, you might get the opportunity to
move and work in International
Organization X and get valuable experience
there. In that sense, people who have good
English competency can be seen as a real
asset for the organization because they are
able to transfer their professional skills to
multiple environments.
From organizational point of view,
English as common corporate language
seems to work in favor of career mobility
with a positive influence on success.
However, the overall perspective of the
linguistic environment did have an effect
on the daily life and networking of the
individual employees. For example, in HR
many documents, rules and guidelines are
in English.
Language effects on careers in UPM
from individual point of view:
When asked what the interviewees thought
affects career mobility the most, the most
popular answers were English, attitude,
experience, skills and integrity. Language
skills were absolutely seen as important
when asked specifically if language skills
affect career mobility and career success in
the international organization X. What was
interesting is that the interviewees that were
bilingual/ multilingual stated, that their
language skills affected more their own
reasoning of what kind of positions they
strived for because they wanted to use their
language skills at work.
One interviewee explained that he had
gotten additional task beyond his current
positions thanks to her Exceptional English
skill and said that in general that had a
positive effect on his perception of his own
career success. Another interviewee told
that she needs to help out her colleague
who struggles with English on a daily basis,
thus receiving also the helping role besides
her own work. The extra helping role was
experienced as stressful from time to time
but in general made her more familiar with
the colleague‘s area increasing her own
professional skills in the unit. On HR side,
the networking abilities and capabilities
were identified as an important facilitator
for career mobility and success.
One interviewee said that she had
applied for a position that she did not get
due to the fact that she did not have the
English level that is required for the job.
Naturally, this was something that she felt
was one of the major reasons herself for not
having a very good English skill. Of
course, there are positions need to have a
good relationship with the Government of
Indonesia and other stakeholders which
need a good communication skill and
negotiation in local language.
Discussion
The individual‘s own English competences
affect career mobility.
The research presented pros and cons of
language strategy options from the
viewpoint of career mobility. The empirical
research on the common corporate
language strategy as facilitator or barrier
for career mobility implicated that the
choice of English as common corporate
language was generally seen as a facilitator
for career mobility. Moreover, if the
individual possessed English language
skills it had a positive effect on the
individual‘s career mobility within the
International Organization X and that in
turn had a positive influence on the
individual‘s perception of his/ her own
career success.
On the other hand, the empirical
research did not suggest that the

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68
interviewees, in the individual interviewee
group or HR interviewee group, saw
foreign language skills as unimportant for
career mobility and career success as
suggested by Enderwick and Akoorie
(1994) and Bloch (1995). Rather language
skills were seen as a competitive
advantage, a facilitator for relationship and
network building for new career
opportunities.
Also, the common corporate language
being English was seen as a neutral and
clear language choice for an international
organization. Additionally, the level of
English language skills of employees was
ensured always in the recruitment phase in
order to neutralize disturbances in
communication due to lack of language
skills. This counteracts the phenomenon
described by Mäkelä et al. (2007) where
inadequate language skills have a negative
impact on interaction and knowledge
sharing. According to the empirical
findings the individual‘s own language
competence affected his/ her career
decisions in the way that multilingual
employees strived to make career choices
that enabled them to benefit and use their
language skills. The multilingual
interviewees also reported similar events
such as Borenius (2009) about receiving
additional tasks beyond the scope of their
regular duties thanks to their language
skills which had a positive influence on
their own perception of their career
success.
How does the common language act as a
facilitator for career mobility/ success?
In addition to language skills, when asked
about what affects career mobility, the
interviewees identified professional skills
and track record of previous positions,
attitude and communication/ social skills as
factors affecting career success. The open
recruitment process of International
Organization X was also identified as a
major facilitator for career success by all
the interviewees.
The facilitators‘ positive effect on
career mobility also influenced the
employee‘s subjective as well the objective
measures of career success. The perceived
facilitators were: International Organization
X strategy, practices and common
corporate language, professional
competences, common corporate language
skills, attitude and communication skills.
Organization level barrier for career
mobility was local language requirement in
certain positions where local language
knowledge is needed. That was found to be
a barrier for career mobility and affecting
the subjective but not objective perception
of the employee‘s career success.
Furthermore, the individual level barrier:
lack of local language skills was not
necessarily perceived as a hindrance from
the organization side for career mobility as
the common corporate language is
perceived as enough in International
Organization X in general. However, on
individual level, the barrier can affect
subjective career success in terms of
difficulties with fitting into requested level
of English skill.
CONCLUSIONS
In the international organization X’s
environment where business is conducted
mostly in English, the common corporate
language was seen as a facilitator for career
development, as well as facilitator for
knowledge sharing and communication in
general. However, it was acknowledged

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Volume 4, Issue 1,March 2019
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https://journal.stibaiec-jakarta/ojs/index.php/jell
that English is not widely spoken despite its
official status as common corporate
language. Some of the employee still find it
as a barrier in communication.
The interviewees defined their
perception of career success mostly by
subjective terms meaning that career
success for them was being happy about
what they got to do, contributing to the
organization‘s and coworker‘s success and
being able to develop and challenge
themselves.
When specifically asked about the
importance of career mobility, or other
subjective career success determinants, one
interviewee said that of course it was
something that had to be on a certain level.
Moreover, two interviewees, one of the
individual group and one HR interviewee
said that their career goal was definitely not
aiming to be a Director for something but
being recognized as an expert in their own
field and getting experiences to widen their
knowledge rather than moving up in the
hierarchy.
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