A HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO JOB SECURITY:
THE PORTFOLIO CAREER AS A RESPONSE TO JOB MARKET CHAOS


By:
Tupper Cawsey Ph.D
Gene Deszca Ph.D
Maurice Mazerolle Ph.D

What comes to mind when we think of careers? Normally, we think of patterns: integration around a theme; orderly, sequential development; hierarchical progression in status. Implicit in these images is a ladder or pyramid metaphor which symbolizes career and career progress. This pattern no longer holds for many and the metaphor is false. Layoffs, rightsizing, decruitment, downsizing, re-sizing, etc., caused by the recession, global competition, information technology, shedding of overhead, demands for higher profit performance etc., have meant that the "normal assumptions" around careers are invalid.

Viewing oneself as having a portfolio of skills offered to a portfolio of organizational client (a portfolio career¹), provides a new way of thinking about and framing the relationships between work, organizations, payment and value for an individual. This concept, explored below, provides a new set of assumptions to help people cope with the uncertainty and chaos of the job market.

In today's world, there are many people who find themselves in the unsecured or contingent labour market. If they are not currently in a career, they are searching for phantom start points or credentials that "guarantee" a career. Witness, for example, the devaluation of a law degree to the level of a certificate that too many others have. Teaching, and other sectors that have not been as affected are in the process of developing entry barriers which require extraordinary academic achievement, as if that were some guarantee of the empathy and skills needed to be an excellent teacher today. Many graduates find relief in part-time or voluntary positions planning, plotting, predicting that these will lead to better things. But often they don't. As has been recently reported in Fortune magazine:

"the era that traded loyalty for job security is virtually dead. The new contract is: "there will never be job security. You will be employed by us as long as you add value to the organization, and you are continuously responsible for finding ways to add value. In return, you have the right to demand interesting and important work, the freedom and resources to perform it well, the pay that reflects your contribution, and the experience and training needed to be employable here or elsewhere." (Fortune, June 13, 1994, "The New Deal" by Brian O'Reilly).

This new deal kills the traditional notion of career: one company or one profession - one person. This view may be the "wave of the future" but is it likely to be one that a majority of individuals will willingly buy into. Will this "wave" in fact be a wave good-bye? To answer this, let us look at some of the underlying premises upon which this new contract is built.

The first assumption is that organizations are trustworthy. You as an individual must first deliver value added and only then does the organization entertain training you for your next job. This has the individual bearing all of the risk. Even if a person performs but things just don't work out for reasons not related to performance, the most one could hope for would be a good reference.

This presumed contract also says "you have the right to demand interesting and important work ..... and training to be employable here or elsewhere." While one might have the right to demand the foregoing, it is difficult to imagine how one might enforce such a right. Also, how does one ensure that the training the organization proposes for you will be what is required to make you super-mobile? Even those who are not overly cynical will view this proposed bargain with a grain of scepticism.

As well, this new contract assumes employment to be within organizations. In this age of contracting out, network organizations, virtual companies and ethereal alliances a la internet, it is increasingly likely that this assumption is incorrect. According to the National Association of Temporary Services, interim professionals now comprise 24% of temporary workers. Henry Conn and Joseph Boyett authors of "Workplace 2000: The Revolution Reshaping American Business", estimate that the average American beginning his or her career in the 1990's will probably work in 10 or more jobs for five or more employers before retiring (Henkoff, 1993). A more succinct restating of this new contract might be: depend on us now so that we can prepare you to never have to depend on us again!

How are individuals handling this upending of expectations? How are they coping with the trauma of new rules in a new game?

For many, the methods of coping are inappropriate and ineffective. Some are psychologically damaged and cannot cope effectively, while others become alienated and bitter, losing their effectiveness as a consequence. Still others adopt a "duck" philosophy -- feather my nest, keep my head down and perhaps I won't get shot. Many without work simply assume "there are no jobs" ²and stop looking. Many, however, are adopting a pattern of behaviour which has been labelled the portfolio career.

The Portfolio Career

Webster's dictionary defines a portfolio as:³

"a list of stocks, bonds and commercial paper owned by a bank or investor."

This definition suggests that a portfolio is a variety of things with value, held for the purpose of increasing that value.

In a portfolio career, an individual has a portfolio of skills which he/she sells to a portfolio of clients. Like the financial portfolio, the purpose of the portfolio is to manage risk. The financial portfolio handles risk by having various stocks with differing risks for differing parts of the economic cycle. The career portfolio minimizes risks by having skill sets which can produce a variety of value added activities. If one skill is not in demand, another might be. As well, risk is minimized because the individual deals with several clients -- if the relationship with one client ends, the cost is not extreme. The dependence on one employer is eliminated. Paradoxically, this results in job security being acquired not on the basis of loyalty and commitment, but by detachment and diversification.

The concept of the portfolio career is significant because it provides a new way of viewing our relationship to work. Many of us have the perspective of "job" equals "career". However, if there are no "jobs" it is easy for us to be frozen into inaction. Rethinking the structuring of work into projects provides much more flexibility to the individual and to the organization, with the possibility of mutual gain. For example, the individual can earn his/her way into ever increasing skilled contracts, while at the same time organizations can have work done, perhaps even a long term relationship, without the long term commitment.

SKILLS RISK

In a portfolio career, individuals recognize that their value to organizations comes about because of the skills they hold which can produce results. The risk of obsolescent skills is reduced by acquiring proficiency in a variety of skills and continually developing new ones.

A skill or skill set can be viewed as having a product life cycle akin to that of a consumer good. This is complicated somewhat because the development of the skill is related to both the expressed and perceived needs of clients. However, the following categories of skills might be considered:

• A developing skill is a skill or skill set that the individual has decided is worth pursuing and developing. Thus, an individual who is familiar with internet and has international contacts may beleive that they could conduct market research via internet. Their skill is not at the stage where the individual feels confident and would not be ready to "sell" the skill on anything but a results basis (that is, payment would be for results not for time or effort).
• A mature skill is one that is fully developed and can be sold to organizations. For example, a university graduate could well have excellent skills in report writing. This craft would be of value to organizations in communicating to their internal or external publics.
• A post-maturity skill is one that is either no longer in demand by clients or is subsumed by other more complex skills by the individual. Thus, skill in using particular computer packages may be valueless because of new software developments. Or the individual's skill levels may grow and this particular skill is not worth pursuing.

To reduce skills risk, individuals must begin to see themselves as holders and developers of skills. Skills have a life cycle of usefulness. The process of development, maturity and decay is essential for the renewal of the individual's skill set and the minimization of risk.

Many managers or university graduates see themselves as "holders of degrees" or "specialists in". These perceptions are limiting and block the insights possible from a skills orientation. Thus, most arts or humanities students have skills in researching, analyzing, synthesizing, writing, etc -- all valuable skills in the knowledge society which Nuala Beck (1992) claims we are moving into. Graduates need to become aware of their skill sets and their value.

CLIENT RISK

The second risk that "career portfolio-ists" need to manage is their client risk. As one shifts orientation away from "one company and one career" to "many jobs and contracts with many skills", the risk is minimized by having a variety of clients in your portfolio. With one company and one career, the individual is betting that the organization will continue to view his/her skills as valuable and that the organizational environment will continue to be positive for that organization. In today's world, it is not sufficient to merely add value to the organization, this is now a requirement for individual survival. However, even this offers no protection if the organization has problems.

To minimize these risks, an individual must develop a set of clients that, in effect, mirror an individual's skill sets. These clients can be categorized as:

• Money Clients. Money clients provide the money needed to pay the bills. The skills used for these clients are generally not particularly unique or valuable. Individuals have these clients out of necessity not choice. Little learning takes place doing work for money clients.
• Learning Clients. Learning clients provide opportunities to learn new skills and concepts. Doing these activities the individual learns the skill set which will provide him/her with the "next generation" of skills to market. Generally, concrete or extrinsic rewards are not the focus of these skills. If payment is made, it will be for results since the individual is learning on the job and developing their skills as they work.
• Niche Clients. Niche clients result from the matching of developed skills with a significant need. Here the individual can market or sell his/her skill at an appropriate price. Niche clients also allow you to develop your reputation and network for future work.

An alternate way of viewing this is to classify clients according to the amount of learning on the job or the amount of pay received. Fig 1 classifies high and low learning situations versus high and low pay situations. Individuals should strive to work in cross-diagonal areas; that is, areas of low pay and high learning or areas of high pay and low learning. Areas of low pay and low learning should be avoided whenever possible since the rewards will be low or non-existent. Areas of high pay and high learning appear attractive. However, they are also areas of high risk. It is possible that the client will expect more than the individual can deliver since he/she is just in the learning phase. Individuals should strive for both types of work: high pay and high learning but recognize the balance of each which is desirable.

Figure 1: A Matrix of Client Attractiveness

In a similar vein, Handy (1989) describes 5 types of work: wage work, fee work, home work, gift work and learning work. Wage work is work where payment is for time or effort. Fee work is work where payment is for results. Home work is that done in the home: child raising, lawn care, etc. Gift work is voluntary or charitable work. Learning work is studying, learning a new skill. At times voluntary work will lead to wage or fee work. Learning work creates the next generation of skills which provide wage or fee work.

In a portfolio career, increasing amounts of work will be done in the learning and fee categories. While many individuals will strive to have wage work, this is not the direction being taken by many of today's firms. Instead, as both employers and career portfolio-ists recognize the value of contract work, a combination of market forces and contract negotiations will assign a value to the task to be performed. Skilled, high demand portfolio-ists will bargain for premium rates -- including payment for uncertainty. Learning or low-skilled portfolio-ists will suffer from market surpluses and pay the penalty of low wages and dull jobs.

IMPLICATIONS OF PORTFOLIO CAREERS

While organizations have been quick to accept the benefits and inevitability of contracting out, temporary jobs, and part-time employees, perhaps they need to consider if this is going to be beneficial in the long run. In a global context can U.S. and Canadian firms compete against Japanese and European rivals that often retain the lifelong loyalty and commitment of their employees. How does one build a collaborative effort if every one is working for themselves? (Business Week, Oct 7, 1991).

Drucker recently pointed out the dramatic power shift that occurs in the knowledge society (Drucker, 1994, p71). For the first time, "the employees -- that is, the knowledge workers -- own the tools of production." The tools of production become the knowledge held by the individual and the skills to implement that knowledge. While the cry for generalists is often heard, Drucker states that contributions of knowledge workers, can only be accessed through their specialty, the skills held in their portfolio. And these skills are best utilized in teams working together tapping into the expertise of each.

The paired forces of globalization and information technology imply an increased likelihood that teams of people will be working together across great distances requiring yet another type of relationship skills. Workers who are able to flourish in this new environment may be so prized by employers that companies will go out of their way to build a new corporate loyalty (Sherman, 1993). Reducing the risks associated with unemployment through longer, more frequent, or more interesting contracts, should enable companies to attract creative and productive employees. Furthermore, if training and development is used to teach knowledge that is less firm specific and more generalizable employees will recognize the value of these skills. This ironically may produce more committed workers and higher performance.

Should companies choose this approach, then there needs to be some rethinking of the rules concerning both the explicit and implicit psychological employment contracts. For example, here is Apple Computer's written employment contract with every full-time employee.

Here's the deal Apple will give you; here's what we want from you. We're going to give you a really neat trip while you're here. We're going to teach you stuff you couldn't learn anywhere else. In return we expect you to work like hell, buy the vision as long as you're here. We're not interested in employing you for a lifetime, but that's not the way we are thinking about this. It's a good opportunity for both of us that is probably finite. (Ettorre, 1994)

If this "new age" Apple Deal is a harbinger of things to come as far as employment contracts go, one has to ask if this is enough? Besides interesting work and the opportunity to learn, how might firms respond to ensure that these highly valued types of individuals are there when needed? The answer might, in part, be found in some of the approaches that so-called new age firms are bringing to the employment relationship. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Nichols (1994) observed that creating meaning may be the true managerial task of the future. Common values, and a shared sense of purpose can turn a company into a community where daily work acquires a deeper meaning and sense of satisfaction. But is this really going to be possible given the emergence of borderless, faceless, nameless groupings of individuals pursuing portfolio careers?

In order to overcome this paradox, organizations must recognize the need to form and reform teams capable of accomplishing great things. If this is the case, then so-called "people" skills or process skills become vital. Recruitment systems must be transformed in order to handle the increased volume of contract and temporary work while identifying the critical core employees who will be "permanent". Induction and orientation mechanisms must be revamped so that they quickly and smoothly make newcomers aware of essential information on a need to know basis and not much else. Outplacement or ending mechanisms must be reconfigured to provide for intermittent continuity.

At the individual level, the career portfolio-ist must reframe his or her definition of a job or career along a skills/client basis. What am I good at? What are organizations willing to pay for? The facing up to these questions will be the start for the portfolio-ist. Each of us must undergo a form of self assessment in order to know the state of our skills. Once we have taken stock, these skills have to be benchmarked in relationship to the marketplace. Self understanding, determination, and a tolerance for ambiguity will become the basics of portfolio careers. Finally, each person who undertakes a portfolio career must learn to structure uncertainty in order that ambiguity be lessened.

In "The New Individualists:The Generation After the Organization Man", social researchers Paul Leinberger and Bruce Tucker (1992) contend that the communities of the future are going to emerge from far-flung networks of professionals battling time-zone differences. For these authors, true community doesn't grow out of a shared higher purpose but evolves through the pragmatic need to solve common problems. Can these new "self-careerists" be as committed to the solution of problems and the seizing of opportunities as the old time "organizational-careerists"? This may, in fact, be the ultimate test facing portfolio careerists.

Cast Offs

The current restructuring of the American and Canadian economies is increasing the polarization of the labour market between good jobs and bad jobs. Bad jobs are often casual, temporary, part-time, poorly paid, devoid of benefits, insecure and low-skilled. By resettling workers from high paying permanent jobs to low paying uncertain jobs one of the impacts is that many no longer qualify for mortgages, car loans credit cards, apartment reference checks, insurance or benefits (Swardson, 1991). Temporary workers are excluded from minimum service eligibility requirements for a range of benefits from maternity leave to termination notice to unemployment insurance (Fudge, 1991).

The answer to these questions lay, in part, on the degree to which companies are successful in utilizing these new work arrangements to balance efficiency goals at the organizational level, and equity goals at the individual level. If workers are to be rewarded for knowledge and adaptability, then adopting a portfolio career will force people to not get stuck in any one particular mind-set. Furthermore, with the emergence of new forms of organization, it is likely that teamwork will replace hierarchy as the dominant form within organizations.

Individuals need to recognize the price attached to a "permanent" job. Dependency becomes the baggage of a regular career. Only with a portfolio of skills and a portfolio of clients will the individual become sufficiently independent to then chose his or her interdependencies.⁴ Recognizing the limitations in the commitments offered provides the career portfolio-ist the opportunity to engage in longer term but finite relationships while spreading the risk and minimizing dependency.

Bibliography

Beck, Nuala, Shifting Gears: Thriving in the New Economy. Harper-Collins Publishers Ltd., Toronto, 1992.

Ettorre, Barbara, "The Contingency Workforce Moves Mainstream", Management Review, Vol. 83 (2), February, 1994.

Drucker, Peter, F. "The Age of Social Transformation", The Atlantic Monthly. Nov. 1994, pp 53-80.

Fierman, Jacyln, "The Contingency Work Force", Fortune, January 24, 1994.

Handy, Charles, The Age of Unreason, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass., 1989, pp. 183-85.

Henkoff, Ronald, "Winning the New Career Game", Fortune, July 12, 1993.

"I'm Worried About My Job", Business Week, Oct 7, 1991.

"Jobs Unfilled at Student Employment Centre", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, August 3, 1994.

Leinberger, Paul and Bruce Tucker, The New Individualists: The Generation After the Organization Man, Harper Collins, New York 1992.

Nichols, Martha, "Does New Age Business Have a Message for Managers?" Harvard Business Review, March-April, 1994.

O'Reilly, Brian, "The New Deal", Fortune, June 13, 1994.

Sherman, Stratford, "A Brave New Darwinian Workplace", Fortune January, 25 1993.


End Notes

1. The term portfolio career was first used by Handy in his book, The Age of Unreason. Our usage is similar but stresses the match between skills and clients.
2. See for example the Kitchener-Waterloo Record article "Jobs Unfilled at Student Employment Centre", August 3, 1994.
3. Webster's dictionary has a second definition of a portfolio: a flat, portable case usually of leather for carrying loose sheets of paper, manuscripts or drawings. This might serve as a metaphor! Many of us have been flattened by the recession and downsizing that has occurred in organizations. We have become aware of how portable we are -- far too often an involuntary exit form of portability. We become cases or incidents not employees or people. We wish we were made of leather to withstand the wear and tear. And we carry inside us valuable things, the skills, knowledge and abilities that enable us to accomplish things.
4. For a discussion of the relationship between dependence, independence and interdependence, see R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.