Career
Career is, undoubtedly, an imposing phenomenon in society, which has made a real career due to organisations. Career is an important part of social identity (at least it is in the industrialised nations). Whereas, in the 18th century salvation depended upon a choice between heaven or hell, nowadays no person can escape the question of “What career have you pursued (or not)?
If someone wants to explain who he is, he usually must also explain if and where he pursued his career. Since this has become so significant for social and psychological identity, organisations have also become significant in society – and visa-versa. Therefore, according to Luhmann, one can view career as a decisive coupling mechanism between organisations and people. Making a career means preparing oneself for positions, roles and functions, to apply for them, take them up by choice or have them allocated to you, to retain them and to prepare all over again.
In the eyes of people, organisations can score points with their career chances and people always evaluate the events in an organisation by whether they encourage careers, whether they are neutral or whether they inhibit them. Therefore, for the guiding process personnel, all factors connected to the context of ‘career’ are of importance.