Effects of concepts of career plateaus on performance, work satisfaction and commitment

The discussion on career plateaus is marked by a diversity of operationalizations. This paper focuses on the independence of three dimensions of career plateaus and the impact they have on outcome measures in three areas: performance, work satisfaction and commitment. Data from 165 university staff and 77 school teachers confirmed the independence of the concepts of career plateaus. Contrary to the general assumption that an extended period working at the same position has detrimental effects, outcome variables were not connected to position immobility. Results for most of the outcome measures showed the work-content dimension to account for significantly more variance than the subjective structural dimension. Advances in work content can even moderate negative effects emanating from low expectations of hierarchical promotion. Specifically, the negative effects were most pronounced where the two subjective dimensions of career plateau coincided. These have implications for individual and organizational career management processes.