Enhancing career wellbeing: The role of workplace friendship, career adaptability and organisational commitment

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of self-regulatory career behaviour (workplace friendship, career adaptability and organisational commitment) in the career wellbeing context. Therefore, the objective of this chapter is to make a theoretical contribution by providing an overview of current research on workplace friendship, career adaptability and organisational commitment, and conceptually and empirically clarify its relation to career wellbeing. The current world of work as known for the past century stands on a brink of a technological revolution. The speed of change is accelerating, and will fundamentally adjust the way individuals live, work and relate to each other. It further affects the skills organisations are looking for in their employees as well as the career wellbeing of employees. Career wellbeing refer to an individual's long-term contentment with their career outcomes, career achievements, career changes and their sustainable employability amidst the complexities of the contemporary work environment. Industry 4.0 is changing the relationship between employees and machines as well as the relationship between employees and their careers. Based on the theoretical relationships found between these self-regulatory career behaviours and career wellbeing, human resource practitioners and industrial psychologists should utilise interventions and strategies to promote individual self-regulatory career behaviours (workplace friendship, career adaptability and organisational commitment) to enhance career wellbeing of employees.