Facilitating a Whole-Life Approach to Career Development

Abstract

This article focuses on the “whole-life” approach to career development. A review of the ways in which career paths have been conceptualized over time demonstrates that increasing consideration has been given to nonwork factors (i.e., personal life and family life) in defining careers. The whole-life perspective on career development acknowledges that employees are striving for opportunities for professional development as well as individualized work–life balance, which changes over the life course. Although the careers literature has emphasized interorganizational mobility as the primary mechanism for achieving these goals, whole-life career development can also be achieved within a single organization when organizational leadership is willing to address employees’ work–family needs. This article addresses how leaders across organizational levels, including executive-level leaders and first-line supervisors, can foster whole-life career development. In addition to beneficial outcomes for employees, potential competitive advantages for organizations implementing the whole-life approach to career development are discussed.