Employable and Satisfied: Organizational Consequnces of Employees’ Career Capital Development

This paper presents a study of the relationship between employees’ investments in their career capital development (conceptualized as knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowingwhom) and their contributions to their employing organizations, and the role career satisfaction plays in this relationship. With this focus, the paper aims to contribute to research on the consequences of employees’ career self-management. Survey data were collected as part of a longitudinal investigation of career mobility and behaviors among alumni of a large public university in the Netherlands. The results reveal that by investing in their career capital, employees contribute to organizational core competencies, namely, organizational culture, capabilities, and connections. However, these contributions depend on the level of employees’ perception of their career satisfaction. If employees are satisfied with their careers, they contribute more to organizational culture, capabilities, and connections. Interestingly, individual contributions to organizational culture through knowing-why are greater for employees with high career satisfaction than for employees with low career satisfaction.