More 'hands on' please: Career development in the accounting profession

Abstract

Historically the organization played a greater role in managing the careers of their employees. By the mid 1990s however, this view was superseded by the notion of the 'boundaryless' career, where career development was framed as the responsibility of employees. In this paper, drawing on a sample of accounting professionals, we consider the question of what role employees believe their organizations should play in managing their careers. The results of the research question the validity of the boundaryless career concept. The accounting professionals in this research do not appreciate the 'hands off' approach adopted by organizations. For accounting firms to retain their most valued staff they may need to attend more closely to their career development needs.