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Transitional Ethics: Responsibilities of Supervisors for Supporting Employee DevelopmentAuthor(s): Bruce H. Drake, Mark Meckler and Debra StephensSource: Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 38, No. 1/2, At Our Best: Moral Lives in a MoralCommunity (Jun., 2002), pp. 141-155Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25074785 .

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142 ruce H. Drake et al.

tion of career identity. Third are approaches thatconsider maturity in terms of attaining wisdom.Fourth are philosophical discussions of whatconstitutes autonomous moral action and selffulfillment.

Self-control

Psychological models of maturity focus onachieving a sense of competence, control overneeds, and formation of a stable self-identity.Competence includes actual skills as well as asense of cognitive self-sufficiency or self-efficacy

(Arnett and Taber, 1994). Control over aggressive needs, the expression of intimacy andemotion, and reconciling needs of autonomy andrelatedness are central in many definitions of

maturity (Levinson et al., 1962). In a similarfashion, Jourad and Landsman (1980) link mentalhealth with "positive self-regard; the ability tocare about others and for the natural world;openness to new ideas and to people; creativity,the ability to do productive work; and the abilityto love."3 Well-being is time expansive - "thebasic needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness must be satisfied across the life span for anindividual to experience an ongoing sense ofintegrity and well-being or 'eudaimonia'" (Ryanand Deci, 2000, p. 74).

Developmental stagesThe second view of maturity involves manifesting age appropriate actions associated withvarious life and career stages (Arthur and Kram,1989; Minor, 1985; McAuliffe and Eriksen,1999). Most frequently cited are the life stagemodels of Erikson (1959), Super (1957) andLevinson (1978). Erikson (1959) emphasized theimportance of exploration prior to assumingadult roles. Super (1983) links career maturityto mastering five processes essential to makinginformed career decisions: planfulness, exploration, information gathering, decision making,and reality orientation. Levinson, Ohler, Caswell,

Kiewra (1998, p. 474), in reviewing differentapproaches to assessing career maturity, focus on

"the readiness of an individual to make informed,age-appropriate career decisions and cope withappropriate career developmental tasks."

Arnett (2000) seeks to differentiate a developmental stage he labels as "emerging adults",

which occurs between the stages of adolescenceand adulthood. According to Arnett,4 this stage

would roughly correspond to the ages 18?25. Henotes that this parallels Levinson's (1978) novicestage and Erikson's (1968) psychosocial moratorium stage where young adults are allowed toengage in role experimentation. It is at this stagethat the greatest changes in self-identity takeplace as the person explores love, work, and

worldviews. This stage is marked primarily bysubjective qualities of character rather than demographics of age, marriage or work status: "Thetop two criteria for self-assessment of attainingadulthood in a variety of studies have beenaccepting responsibility for one's self and makingindependent decisions" (Arnett, 2000, p. 473).

Wisdom

The attainment of wisdom provides a thirdperspective on maturity as it develops over a lifespan. Bakes and Staudinger (2000, p. 124) define

wisdom as expertise in the conduct and meaningof life. This includes mastering fundamentalpragmatics ? "knowledge and judgment aboutthe essence of the human condition and the waysand means of planning, managing, and understanding a good life." Wisdom includes strategies and heuristics for giving advice and for thestructuring and weighing of life goals, ways tohandle life conflicts and life decisions, andknowledge about alternative back-up strategies ifdevelopment were not to proceed as expected.Beyond factual and procedural knowledge,wisdom involves (a) life span contextualism that

takes the many themes and contexts of life intoperspective, (b) acknowledgment of and tolerancefor value differences, and (c) recognition and

management of uncertainty.

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Ethical Responsibilities of Supervisors for Employee Development 143

Moral agency and self-fulfillment

Philosophers also wrestle with defining matureor responsible behaviors and the appropriate rolefor caregivers. Contemporary examples are foundin Maclntyre's (1999) discussion of dependentrelationships and Gewirth's (1998) discussion ofself-fulfillment. Gewirth (1998) sets forth auniversal standard, based on the work of Kant, ofthe primacy of respecting others' dignity andtheir right to be treated as ends rather than

means.5 Both Gewirth (1998) and Maclntyre(1999) specify several responsibilities that follow

from this premise and parallel psychological viewson maturity. These include respect forautonomous choice, reflection on actions,capacity expansion, emotional maturity, and thedevelopment of prudential virtues.

Respect for autonomous choice. Individuals have theright to pursue goals of their own choosing, as

well as the right to choose courses of action toreach these goals, as long as they do not interfere with the rights of others. Extending thisview of moral agency, Gewirth (1998) argues thatagents have a personal obligation to develop theircapacities and

acorollary responsibility to respectthe developmental needs of others.

Reflection on actions and capacity expansion. Agentsshould reflect upon whether their reasons foraction are sufficient to justify one form of actionover another. Standards should be assessed bothin terms of values and self-identity, the lattertaking into account who one is and wants to be.More than reflection on values is required toachieve self-fulfillment. A person also should beopen to new experiences and through his/heractive choices strive to create more authenticpersonal growth (Gewirth, 1998). In a similarfashion, Norton (1976) emphasizes that experi

mentation is a distinguishing and desired featureof adolescent development.Emotional maturity. Individuals need to developsufficient emotional maturity so that emotionsand low self-efficacy do not interfere withaspirations and reasoned choice. Gewirth (1998)asserts that establishing an ordering and control

of personal desires and avoidance of selfindulgent aspirations is an important step toward

maturity and having a secure sense of self.Maturity includes developing a realistic sense ofmastery or self-efficacy, such that one does notengage in fantasies or false beliefs, either undulypessimistic or optimistic, about one's ability toachieve chosen goals.Prudential virtues. Individuals need to developvirtues supportive of autonomous action.Courage, temperance, prudence, responsibility,and self-reliance are among the virtues associatedwith maturity (Gewirth, 1998;Maclntyre, 1999;Pincoffs, 1986). Beyond controlling one'semotions, these include the courage to ward offdistractions or obstacles to reaching one's goals.

Overall, these five responsibilities reflect thechanges that occur in the transition from adependent infant to an independent moralreasoner (Maclntyre, 1999). The development ofstandards for action, capacity for reasoning, andcontrolling one's emotions to allow sound reasoning are hallmarks of maturity. Given thatphilosophical and psychological literatures on

maturity have developed independently, the commonalities in their developmental objectives

areremarkable. However, both literatures need to besupplemented by deeper examination of formative experiences that occur during initial andlater career transitions and the intervention ofsupervisors in this developmental process.

Career transitions

Both individual and organizational perspectiveshave been used to examine career transitions(Bell and Staw, 1989; Nicholson, 1984, 1989;Sullivan, 1999). The socialization literature hasemphasized organizational influences, while thecareer literature allows for more individualagency. Schein and Van Mannen (1979) describeboth the formal and informal socialization

mechanisms that shape employee expectationsand behavior in early transitions. At the individual level, Louis (1980) discusses howemployees make sense of new experiences inrelation to both unrealistic and unmet expecta


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tions. The role of supervisors in these literaturesvaries from more limited instructing in socializing efforts to broader forms of support foundin mentoring roles (Kram, 1985). Increasingly,the tone of the career literature is placing theburden on employees to manage their owncareers and work experience (Hall, 1996).

There have been a few promising studies ofthe experiences and strategies of youngeremployees when faced with career transitions.

The following discussion starts by examiningNicholson's (1984) model as a framework and

then outlines Ibarra's (1999) recent study ofadjustment strategies of young professionals.

Contrasts are then provided between entry-leveljobs (Levinson et al., 1962) and early promotionalopportunities (Hill, 1992). Both active and passive strategies in managing these career transitionsare found. As the age group and level of professionalism of the target jobs increase, the responsesof employees become increasingly assertive,however wide individual differences remain.

Predicting adjustment to work role transitions

Nicholson (1984) createdamodel for predictingmodes of adjustment to work role transitions.

Role development and personal development arethe two underlying dimensions. In role development, the individual shapes the role to betterfit his/her individual needs and preferences. Inpersonal development, the opposite occurs. Here,as a result of work experiences and socializationpressures, it is the individual who adjusts or isshaped to fit the new role requirements. Fourpatterns of adjustment result as shown inFigure l.6Replication involves minimal adjustment in

personal characteristics or role systems. Both theindividual and the organization maintain thestatus quo. In absorption, the change is born bythe employee in terms of assimilating new skills,social behaviors and frames of reference. In deter

mination, the person seeks to change the contentor structure of the roles. In exploration, changesin personal attributes and role characteristicsjointly occur - both the organization and theindividual seek mutually beneficial adjustments.

Note that Nicholson uses the term developmentin a neutral sense - the outcomes of changes maybe positive, as well as negative, for either theindividual or the organization.

Throughout his discussion, Nicholson cautionsagainst an over-deterministic interpretation of the

model, asserting that most settings are moderatein their influence and allow some novelty anddiscretion in the definition of roles. Furthermore,he advocates that individual differences and priorsocialization experiences need to be included. Adesirefor control should facilitate role development,

while a desire for feedback should increase personaldevelopment. Two affective outcomes are outlined: anxiety when employees feel that they donot have an adequate response repertoire to meetsituational demands; and frustration, a feeling ofnot having adequate opportunities to utilize theircapabilities. Nicholson predicts that the mode ofadjustment for new employees is most likely tobe absorption. This is heightened if they have ahigh need for feedback and low need forcontrol.7 Prior socialization where they becameaccustomed to jobs with low discretion shouldfurther increase the likelihood of absorption ortrying to fit in.8

Nicholson (1984) relates his model to thework on socialization of Van Mannen and Schein(1979). He predicts that role development will

Role development

HighLow

Determination

Replication

Exploration

AbsorptionLow HighPersonal development

Figure 1. Models of adjustment to work role transitions (Nicholson, 1984).


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be more likely with informal socialization thatinvolves random assignments, disjunctive socialization (no role modeling by supervisors withdirect experience in the position), and investitureapproaches that affirm the individual's identity.Personal development is likely with formal socialization practices involving sequential assignments,serial socialization by experienced supervisors,and divestiture experiences that encourage theindividual to abandon or redefine personal statusand attributes.

Strategies for mastering transitions

Ibarra (1999) examines the strategies that youngprofessionals use to master new and challengingtransitions from analytic staff roles into increasedclient contact roles in investment banking andconsulting firms. She examines "how peopleadapt to new roles by experimenting with provisional selves that serve as trials for possible butnot yet fully elaborated professional identities"(Ibarra, 1999, p. 764). Although partly negotiated, adaptation is predominantly the result ofpersonal experiments where the person strives toimprove the fit between themselves and the workenvironment over time. The concept of possibleselves (Markus and Nurius, 1986), where individual's actions are based on self-conceptions of

who they are and who they would like to be inthe future, is central to Ibarra's (1999) analysis.

There are three primary strategies formanaging role transitions: (1) observing rolemodels to discover potential identities, (2) exper

imenting with provisional selves, and (3) evaluating experiments against internal standards andexternal feedback (Ibarra, 1999, p. 764). The firststrategy of observation involves subprocesses ofrole-prototyping to determine what constitutescredible role performance and identity matchingwhere the person assesses both the feasibility ofbeing able to convincingly play the new role andthe role's attractiveness. Attractiveness is theextent to which an employee shares or admiresthe characteristics underlying a role model'sbehavior. In other words, is this behavior compatible with their desired possible self?

Experimenting with provisional selves incor

porates further strategies. Wholesale imitationinvolves mimicking the style of a single role

model. Selective imitation involves adoptingelements from patterns observed in several role

models and trying to integrate these into a newpersonal synthesis. Finally, there are true-to-selfstrategies where the dominant concern is maintaining authenticity between what one communicates in public behavior and one's personalcharacter and true feelings.

The final task involves evaluation, whereemployees assess and modify their personal selves.

Options here involve internal evaluation whereone's affective reaction and personal sense ofcongruence are primary, as opposed to relyingon external evaluation from others to validate newbehaviors, receive feedback on how to improve,or obtain identity cues about who one isbecoming.

The more successful strategies involve selective imitation, emulating a wider range of role

models, and willingness to risk engaging ininauthentic behaviors that expanded the person'sadjustment repertoire (Ibarra, 1999). Theseapproaches are seen as more successful becausethey provide a richer repertoire of styles andmore direct

experientialevidence of congruence,

and send a stronger signal to superiors that theperson is engaged in trying to improve. Managerswere willing to invest more time in providingfeedback to those who were perceived to be"moving in the right direction" by followingdesignated role models versus "not getting it"(Ibarra, 2000). Being a chameleon, to use Ibarra'sanalogy, was both more effective and rewarded.True to self strategies were less effective.

Individual differences are found in development needs and strategies. Levinson et al.'s (1962)citation of the employee who looked to thecompany to help him grow up constitutes onetype of employee who has not yet worked outhis dependency needs or formed an adult workidentity. This type of employee is expected to

be found in the replication and absorption cellsof Nicholson's model. Using Goldner's distinction, Levinson et al. (1962) label this type ofemployee a "local". This is in contrast to more"cosmopolitan" employees who are expected toplay an active part in determining the content


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of their own position. Levinson clearly recognizesthe responsibility of leaders to help the lessassertive "locals" develop into more mature adults.

In contrast, Ibarra's (1999) study involvesprofessionals who are both better educated andin more professionally challenging roles than theentry-level utility jobs studied by Levinson et al.(1962). The organizations studied by Ibarra hadcultures that assumed their employees weremature but demanded an increasing assertivenessand professional demeanor in the new clientcontact roles. This represented a substantialchallenge for most of these young adults. Trueto-self strategies with less experimentation - a

moderate form of replication - were clearly lesssuccessful than the more active forms of absorption. Ideally these professionals would engage inimitation of multiple role models and dialogue

with mentors compatible with the exploration cellin Figure 1.

Hill's (1992) study of the role transitions ofprofessionals moving from individual sales roles(in financial and computer service firms) intotheir first supervisory positions parallels many ofthe findings of Ibarra (1999). The new supervisors often started by trying to replicate their paststrategies, but only when they altered both theirstyle of interaction and personal sense of identity,thereby moving toward the exploration stage,were they successful. This transition tookupwards of a year and generated considerableanxiety and self-reflection for these new

managers.Other frameworks that look at developmentallinks between individuals and organizations

parallel Nicholson's work. These models focus onthe individual's fit with organizational practices

rather than leadership responses alone (Arthurand Kram, 1989). Two misfits can occur. First,the organization may mature faster than the individual - resulting in employees experiencingstress. Second, the opposite can occur. Whenemployee needs for challenge and masterydevelop faster than the organization's strategicadjustment needs, employees may experiencebeing under-challenged. The most restrictivecase, and unfortunately, one that is idealized, isthe matching of highly assertive and exploratoryprotean career styles (Hall, 1986) and the needsof self-designing organizations (Weick andBerlinger, 1989). These combinations create anadaptive individual-organizational fit but requirea special form of maturity. The employee mustbe highly self-confident and open to risk taking

while holding a self-identity that is detachedfrom longer-term commitments. The key

metaskills are adaptability (routine busting), tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty, and identitychange (Hall, 1986, p. 348). As Kegan (1994)

would caution, most young employees in theseroles are likely to be in over their heads.

Competing preferences for helpingrelationshipsWhile employees may need help in managing

transitions, awareness of this need and willingness to enter helping relationships may notbe shared equally by the employee and thesupervisor. Four main options are outlined inFigure 2 based on the fit between the employeeand supervisor's view of the situation.9

The first dimension considers whether the

Supervisor recognizes needbut withholds supportSupervisor recognizes needand provides support

Individual needsand seeks help Withheld support Welcomed support

Individual needsbut resists help Avoided support Imposed support

Figure 2. Competing preferences for accepting and providing help.


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employee seeks or resists help. On one end ofthis dimension, an employee is aware of his/herneeds and directly seeks help. At the other endis the employee who needs but resists offers of

help. Three reasons for resistance are likely,depending upon how the employee views thesituation. First, an employee may not believehe/she needs help and thus resists all offers ofhelp. In the second alternative, the individual

may be aware that help is needed but may rejectthe specific form of help being offered. A third,more passive form of resistance results when anemployee is unaware that he/she needs help andis unaware that others are trying to help. Hill(1992), for example, found that "inept per

formers" often did not understand what assistance they might need. As in the prior cases,their reluctance to accept help may be viewedas resistance by supervisors.

The second dimension evaluates whether thesupervisor withholds or provides needed help.

The combination of the two dimensions createsfour characteristic patterns of dependent relationships. There are two patterns where thesupervisor recognizes the employee needs help

but withholds support. In the case of withheldsupport,

thesupervisor may

realize theemployeewants help, but the supervisor may not have the

time, resources, skill, or interest in helping, ormay see this as someone else's responsibility.10 In

the case of avoided support, the supervisor mayknow or assume that the employee does not wanthelp, thus both parties avoid engaging in ahelping relationship.Two types of provided support occur. In thecase of welcomed support the supervisor recognizesthe employee needs help and provides support.

Both parties legitimate the helping role. In thecase of imposed support the supervisor believes theemployee needs help and recognizes that theemployee does not feel the same need for help.

Nevertheless the supervisor imposes support.There is a risk that certain types of leadershipmodels, such as stewardship, could encourage

imposed support. Arthur and Kram (1989,p. 303) note a supervisor may over dominate"when stewardship is allowed to operate unchallenged and without active questioning by junior

members."

Ethical guidelines for supervisorsThe primary goal is to move relationships fromavoided support to the welcomed support quadrant.

The two supporting goals are to encourage theemployee who needs help to be receptive tosupport from the supervisor and to prepareleaders to provide the needed help. The ethicalguidelines that are proposed to achieve thesedevelopmental goals build upon ethical frame

works targeted specifically at the role of supervisors (Moberg, 1994),11 ethical guidelinesfor assisting self-fulfillment (Gewirth, 1998;

Maclntyre, 1999), and ethical codes forcounseling and organizational developmentpractitioners (Human Systems DevelopmentConsortium, 1986).12 A sequential framework ispresented as a guide for supervisors to provideeffective and responsible support for employees.The steps in this framework include preparation,awareness, contracting, intervention, follow-up,and institutional adjustments.

Preparation

Preparation includes the knowledge and skill basethat supervisors should master in order to provideeffective support to employees in their develop

mental transitions. This is central to the HumanSystems Development Consortium (HSDC)guidelines on maintaining professional competence, where competence is defined in terms ofprofessional knowledge and interpersonal abilities, as well as self-knowledge of personal needs,values, and assumptions. The following competence standards are proposed as part of the super

visor's preparation for supporting employeetransitions:

1. Supervisors should be aware of life-stageand career-stage transitional needs ofyounger employees. They should be awareof individual differences in needs andadjustment strategies.

2. Supervisors should be aware of the natureof effective coaching interactions andshould strive to develop their own personalcoaching skills.

3. Supervisors should be aware of their own


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developmental needs and history and takethis into account in determining the rolethat they can effectively enact in facilitatingemployee development.

4. Supervisors should be aware of issues ofidentification and intimacy that arise incounseling relationships. Supervisors shoulddetermine the boundaries for expression ofemotion (display rules) and their owncomfort level in dealing with emotionalexpectations of employees.

These competence standards require supervisorsto be better informed about normal patterns ofdevelopment of young adults and their experiences with career transitions. Supervisors alsoneed to enhance their coaching skills, particularly since their employees are unlikely to havedeveloped the complementary skills needed tofully reciprocate in these interactions.13Supervisors should have a realistic appreciationof how long it normally takes to establish trustand reciprocity in counseling roles. Kram (1985)found these roles took two to five years to reachfruition.

These competence standards draw upon boththe diligence standards and feminist ethics standards described by Moberg (1994). Since supervisors are in a helping role that clearly involvesemotional work, they need to move beyondtechnical knowledge of helping to assess theirown needs and comfort level with the affectiveside of counseling roles. Understanding the affective component is particularly important inestablishing trust and a caring attitude (Noddings,1984).

Awareness of employee needs and organizationalconstraints

An initial step in organizational developmentinterventions is scouting (Cummings andWorley,1997). In many ways the interaction between asupervisor and a younger employee correspondsto becoming aware of the immediate landscapeof concerns as well as constraints on actions.

5. Supervisors should be aware of normalcareer transition pressures experienced by

younger employees and any additional pressures associated with their organization'sHRM practices and their own managementexpectations.

6. Supervisors should be aware of alternativecareer adjustment strategies used byemployees and determine the fit betweenthese strategies and the organization'sculture.

7. Supervisors should evaluate the fit betweentheir own needs and their employee's transitional needs.

8. Supervisors should be aware of individualdifferences in the specific needs, concerns,and receptivity to support experienced bythe younger employees that they supervise.

A supervisor should start by assessing how normaltransition pressures and employee adjustmentstrategies fit with the specific HRM practices andculture of the organization. In addition toassessing their organization's practices, supervisors should evaluate the fit between their own

management assumptions, expectations, andcoaching style and their employees' transitionalneeds. Supervisors should continue to be awareof individual differences among their employeesas to their needs and adjustment strategies.

ContractingIn counseling interventions, as in ethical contracts, the supervisor is expected to fully disclosehis/her expectations, describe planned activities,note risks, clarify issues of confidentiality, andspecify likely outcomes. Standards of diligenceand disclosure, aswell as caring, shape initial contracts for helping relationships within hierarchicalrelationships (Moberg, 1994). Standards encompass candor, realistic expectations, appropriateness of interventions, disinterestedness, andappropriate levels of caring.

9. Supervisors should disclose the nature andexpected goals of any coaching interventions and obtain concurrence from theemployee regarding these developmentalinterventions.

10. Supervisors should not intervene where


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they lack the skill, time or resources toeffectively intervene. Supervisors shouldbe aware of additional assistance that canbe provided to employees given current

HR resources and outside programs.11. Supervisors should be sensitive to thebroader range of indicators that an

employee is experiencing developmentalproblems rather than just relying on performance indicators.

12. Supervisors should initially clarify withemployees any information that they

would not be able to hold confidential andshould not divulge any personal information obtained in subsequent counseling.

Candor and disclosure are foundationalresponsibilities to clients in helping relationships.

One should "discuss candidly and fully goals,costs, risks, limitations, and anticipated outcomesof any program or other professional relationship under consideration" (HSDC, 1986). Thisincludes disclosing information about the super

visor's intended role, assumptions, and values.Following a full discussion of these issues, thesupervisor should obtain the employee's agreement to

participatein the activities and intended

relationship. Part of disclosure involves anavoidance of paternalism - "being less candid

with the employee in order to bring about abetter outcome for them" (Moberg, 1994). Thisis intended to respect the employee's dignity andself-direction.14

Expectations must be realistic. Again, diligencerequires the supervisor to recognize the limits ofhis/her competence.15 Likewise, the supervisormust take into account the time and resourcedemands of this helping relationship in relationto needs of other employees and broader managerial obligations. Thus, supervisors shouldavoid employee needs that are frivolous or overlytime consuming (Moberg, 1994). This is not tosay that supervisors can sweep away most issues.

Part of the supervisor's role involves being adiagnostic agent - "he will need to sharpen hissensitivity to subtle, early indictors of stress and,at the same time, he will need to counteract thetendency to dismiss as unimportant conflicts

which do not have a "four-alarm quality"

(Levinson et al., 1962, p. 161). In dealing withtroubled employees, supervisors should not limittheir responses to problems which have performance measures but should be sensitive to moresubtle signs of adjustment problems (Hopkins,1997).The contracting stage should meet standardsof disinterestedness, including conflicts of interestand confidentiality (Moberg, 1994). Avoidingconflicts of interest is a central responsibility toclients in helping relationships (HSDC, 1986).

This becomes a sensitive issue in hierarchicalrelationships, since the supervisor also has responsibilities to others. Part of this broader responsi

bility involves acting impartially relative to theinterests of other employees. Favoring the needsof some employees over those of others wouldbe inappropriate if itwere based on favoritism orbias.16 Likewise, the supervisor has responsibilities to the organization. The supervisory rolerequires performance evaluation and judgmentsabout the person's long term potential. This roleconflicts with the level of candor that would besought in true counseling roles.

Ideally, employees should feel comfortableseeking help, discussing mistakes, expressinganxieties, and reflecting

on theirdevelopingcareer identity and organizational commitment.

However, because of the potential conflict ofinterest built into the supervisor's role, employeesin transition are often very reluctant to discussthese misgivings with supervisors (Hill, 1992).

There is no easy resolution for this particularconflict of interest. Trust develops slowly inhierarchical relationships. Mentors who areoutside of authority relations can avoid this directconflict, but mentoring relations are relativelyrare (Kram, 1985).

Choice of interventions

Interventions should be appropriate to the situation and the employee's emotional and developmental readiness. Part of the caring obligationis to be receptive to the other's needs and takeactions calibrated to the specific situation(Moberg, 1994). Implicit, and increasinglyexplicit, within the life and career stage


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approaches is the recognition that this assistanceshould be linked to the current stage of a person'sdevelopment (Bakes and Staudinger, 2000;

McAuliffe and Eriksen, 1999). Skills, attitudes,and emotional readiness all impact the appropriateness of interventions (Brammer and ?brego,1985; Kidd, 1998).

13. Supervisor interventions should be appropriate to the employee's readiness forchange based on their current career andlife-stage development and abilities.

14. Supervisors should select interventionsthat are appropriate to the degree of trustand respect they have established withemployees to allow sufficient reciprocitybetween the parties in expressing theirconcerns.

15. Supervisors should not intervene at a leveldeeper than needed to resolve the problemat hand.

16. Supervisors should not set developmentgoals for employees that are unduly challenging.

17. Supervisors should be sensitive to the selfidentity concerns of employees and shouldstrive to help employees achieve authentictransitions.

Interventions selected by the supervisor shouldbe appropriate to the quality of the relationshipestablished with the employee. Moberg (1994)refers to this as relationships based on authentictrust. Others cite the importance of achieving atrue sense of reciprocity in the relationship(Chase, 1999; Ibarra, 1999; Kram, 1985;

Levinson, 1968).Supervisors should

notimpose help where itis not desired. Harrison (1970) cautions that

interventions should be appropriate to the levelof the problem as it is experienced by the client.

He deplores strategies premised on overcomingresistance, where resistance is treated as a sign of

where the true problem resides. Supervisorsshould not intervene at a level more personalthan needed to solve the problem at hand. Theyshould become aware of normal forms ofemployee resistance in counseling and recognizethat several forms of employee defense mecha

nisms serve positive adaptive functions (Vaillant,2000).

Supervisors should not set unrealistic developmental goals nor unduly undermine anemployee's self-esteem or self-confidence.17 Thisrequires fine calibration. Most developmentmodels are premised on the value of challengingor stretching experiences that require new behaviors, attitudes, or cognitions (Gerber and Basham,1999; McAuliffe andEriksen, 1999). Transitionalexperiences, almost by definition, require somechange in an employee's response set. For transitions to occur, the employee must realize somepersonal attributes or behaviors are no longerappropriate in his/her adult work roles. Thiscreates a delicate role for supervisors. They needto be aware of the tradeoff between accuratefeedback and feedback that enhances support andemployee well-being.18 Likewise, supervisorsshould strive to provide affirmation versus

blaming responses to risk-taking and initialmistakes in order to encourage the autonomy andexploration essential to development.

Finally, supervisors should be aware of theadjustment strategies being used by employees.Supervisors should counsel employees on the

match between their developing self-identitiesand the culture and expectations of the organization, so that a realistic balance can be achieved.Supervisors should provide support for alternative strategies for role and personal developmentand not simply reward chameleons. At the sametime they should help employees be aware oftradeoffs among the different strategies. Ibarra(2000) provides several positive guidelines for

managers to follow in counseling employees onadaptation strategies.

Follow-up and evaluation

Supervisors should monitor employee achievement of developmental outcomes and seekfeedback on their own effectiveness in thesehelping roles. Standards of diligence as well asongoing caring and concern apply here.

Relationships develop slowly over time and needto be "recalibrated" through ongoing dialoguebetween the supervisor and the employee (Kram,


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1985; Moberg, 1994).19 This developmentaldialogue often continues even when an employeehas moved on to another position. Hill (1992)found that new managers frequently soughtcounsel from their first supervisors rather thancurrent supervisors in making transitions.

18. Supervisors should help employees anticipate and prepare for future personal andcareer transitions.

19. Supervisors should anticipate maturationin their relationships with employees.

They should encourage employees tobecome more self-reliant and at the sametime recognize their own need to move

beyond a nurturing role.

Helping roles in most developmental relationships, particularly those involving young adults,seek to have the recipient become more selfreliant. This is a typical standard in organizationaldevelopment interventions and is equally true ofparenting roles. This shift from dependence toautonomy or interdependence is the hallmark ofhelping roles involving young adults, and requiresadjustments by both parties in the helpingrelationship.

Institutional responsibilities

Supervisors have a responsibility to assess currentorganizational practices and to make improvements that will balance individual and organizational developmental objectives.

20. Supervisors should help assess existingHRM practices and their fit with personaland career development of employees.Selection processes should evaluate thepsychological needs of younger employeesand provide appropriate placement andsupport.

21. Supervisors should help assess currentsocialization practices and the desired levelof balance between individual diversityand common developmental objectives.22. Supervisors should evaluate ongoing leadertraining programs and employee develop

ment experiences. Training should help

employees anticipate transitions and learnfrom experience.21 Supervisors shouldexamine the range of employee adjustment strategies and effectiveness given thedesired organizational climate.

Part of making improvements involves sharingwhat they have learned with other supervisors22and critically assessing whether the organizationcan do more to enhance positive relationshipsacross the life and career stages of all of itsemployees.

Conclusion

The suggested ethical guidelines help to examinethe role of supervisors in the four relationshipsfound in Figure 2. Ideally, when employees needand seek help, the supervisor will reciprocate andprovide welcomed support. Following the guidelines should enable the supervisor to create andsustain trust and dialogue with the employee,thus enhancing their relationship. The otherthree relationships in Figure 2 violate one ormore ethical standards expected in helping relationships.

The case of withheld support may occur for bothlegitimate and less legitimate reasons. Diligencestandards would advocate that the supervisorwithdraw from extended coaching if he/she lacks

knowledge, skill, time or resources. However, thesupervisor would be expected to make reasonable efforts to correct these constraints and/orobtain outside assistance. Less legitimate wouldbe to withhold support due to lack of caring orempathy for employees with developmentalneeds. Itwould be unethical to take actions thatwould keep employees in a dependent role23 orwould impose a "survival of the fittest" cultureon immature employees.

Avoided support initially may be legitimatewhen an employee's resistance prevents jointconcurrence on voluntary participation in developmental activities. Nevertheless, the supervisorshould help the employee to become morereceptive to needed help. This may involve bothaccurate performance appraisals and realistic

mentoring where the supervisor discusses the


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career implications of resisting what he/she seesas needed developmental improvements.Imposed support also violates ethical standards

when voluntary concurrence is not achieved. Asupervisor may in fact have a caring attitude anda sincere goal of helping the employee. However,good intentions are often found in interventionsthat go too deep without employee concurrence(Harrison, 1970). A well-intentioned supervisor

might fully disclose the objectives and nature ofany interventions but still mandate participationin the activities. The least ethical approaches

withhold information about the nature and trueobjectives of imposed developmental activities,corresponding to paternalism (Moberg, 1994).

Overall, welcomed support best fits the ethicalstandards for helping employees through life andcareer transitions. Arguments could be made asto whether imposed or withheld support isless ethical. Professional diligence would favor

withholding or avoiding support, while caringstandards might favor imposed support.

It should be noted that the literature frommainstream ethics is divided on appropriate formsof support. There is agreement about negativeduties but less about positive duties. Negativeduties include responsibilities of others to removebarriers to a person's development. Gewirth(1998, p. 34) asserts "People have a moral rightto be free from social obstacles to the effective

formation of aspirations". Likewise, partiesshould not hinder or distort development bycreating false expectations, deprecation of ability,or other forms of exploitation (Maclntyre, 1999,p. 97). Regarding positive duties, advocates of

moral autonomy chastise nearly all interventionsbeyond youth as paternalism (Gewirth, 1998;

Norton, 1976),while others recognize

theimportance of helping roles in dependent relationships that extend throughout adult life stages(Maclntyre, 1999). Arguments also arise as to

whether knowledge based training (Pincoffs,1986) or experiential learning should be used(Norton, 1976, 1991). Some argue that a helpershould take a strong judgmental stance to convey

values (Pincoffs, 1986), while others advocateempathetic and non-judgmental listening(Noddings, 1984). Increasingly writers are tryingto blend both autonomy and particularistic caring

themes (Gewirth, 1998), but this may result inconflicting ethical standards.

Prudence might suggest that we are asking toomuch of supervisors to expect them to meet all

these standards for ethical behavior. However, itis clear that a large part of the entering workforce are adolescents or emerging adults who will

need some assistance in developmental transitions. The literature is very clear that mostsupervisors are ill-prepared for this helping role(Hill, 1992; Hopkins, 1997; Levinson, 1976).

Ethical standards from both professional andcaring perspectives suggest that supervisors andorganizations have clear obligations to help meetthese developmental needs. We hope that this

paper focuses attention on the need to examinehelping relationships within organizationalsettings and encourages further debate and clarification of ethical standards guiding thedevelopmental roles of supervisors.

Notes1 Transitions in later life and career stages are equallyimportant but will be outside the scope of this

paper.2 Maclntyre (1999, p. 81) makes a similar point: "Inmost moral philosophy the starting point is one thatalready presupposes the existence of mature independent practical reasoners whose relationships are therelationships of the adult world."3 This list is cited by Flanagan (1991, p. 327) in hisdiscussion of virtue, mental health, and happiness.Levinson et al. (1962, p. 18) also provide five indicators of mental health: "1. They treated others asindividuals. 2. They were flexible under stress. 3.They obtained gratification from a wide variety ofsources. 4. They accepted their own capacities andlimitations. 5. They were active and productive." Onewould expect maturity and mental health to coincide.4 Arnett (2000, p. 470) further notes that emergingadulthood is a period of the life course that isculturally constructed, not universal and immutable,and occurs in cultures that allow people to postponethe entry into adulthood (Schlegel and Barry, 1991).5

Respect for autonomous choice and self-reflectionunderlies many ethical theories (Audi, 1997).6 Rows 1 and 2 have been reversed from the originalto allow easier comparison between Figure 1 andFigure 2. Exploration and welcomed support, found


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respectively in the upper right quadrants, are thedesired developmental patterns.7 Bell and Staw (1989) make similar predictions inlinking personal predispositions, such as internal locusof control, field independence, and risk taking, to theinitiation of control strategies in new positions.8 Nicholson (1984) notes that studies of adjustmentstrategies typically involve white male professionals.

Likewise, there have been few studies of supervisors'views on helping responsibilities among ethnic or

minority groups (Hopkins, 1997).9 The fit examined in this paper is between theemployee and the supervisor. Arthur and Kram (1989)examine a related fit between the employee's developmental stage and the developmental stage orstrategic needs of the organization. Similar predictionsare made but less attention is given to responsibilitiesto assist the employee.10 Different patterns will emerge when several typesof subordinates are involved. Hill (1992) found thatnew supervisors often were overprotective of inexperienced sales staff and had to learn to allow themenough latitude to learn from their mistakes. At thesame time these new supervisors tended to ignore theongoing needs of experienced employees.11Moberg (1994) distinguishes between professionalethics standards for diligence, disclosure and disinterestedness and feminist ethics concerns for caring,enabling emotional work, and authentic trust.12 These ethical guidelines for Organization andHuman System Development professionals areoutlined in terms of I.Responsibility for Professional

Development and Competence, II.Responsibility toClients and Significant Others, III. Responsibility tothe Profession, and IV. Social Responsibility. SeeGellerman et al. (1990).13 Kram (1985) lists the skills needed for a fullyeffective mentoring relationship: both parties haveeffective skills in listening, giving and receivingfeedback, managing conflict and disagreement, and

managing competition and collaboration. These skills,corresponding to what would be required of a fullyfunctioning adult, would exceed the skills and attitudes of adolescents and emerging adults (Levinson,1976).14 Lewicki (1980) suggests that all socializationpractices be subjected to a similar standard in orderto avoid those akin to seduction.15 HSDC (1986) states "Recognize the limits of mycompetence, culture, and experience in providingservices and using techniques; neither seek nor acceptassignments outside those limits without clear understanding by the client when exploration at the edge

of my competence is reasonable; refer client to otherprofessionals when appropriate."16 Hill (1992) found that new managers often focusedon the needs of inexperienced employees and thusdid not respond adequately to the needs of otheremployees. Ibarra (1999) noted the tendency forhigher managers to ignore employees who pursuedtrue-to-self adjustment strategies.17 There is a clear recognition of the risks ofexpecting children and adolescents to take on adultroles prematurely, and their subsequent difficultycarrying out developmental responsibilities as adults(Chase, 1999; Elkind, 1981; Jurkovic, 1997).18 Ashford (1999) reviews the difficulties foremployees in obtaining and accepting accuratefeedback. Brown (1998) reviews a number of studiesthat link well-being to moderately unrealistic butpositive self-perceptions. People with the most realistic self-perceptions often are depressed.19 Dialogue plays an important part in counselingroles, particularly constructivist approaches whereboth parties jointly create narratives that make senseof the client's experience (Gerber and Basham, 1999;McAuliffe and Eriksen, 1999). Even in these relationships supervisors will have to be sensitive to thedevelopmental level of employees since with age"people acquire a knowledge base that is conduciveto input from interpersonal consultations or dialogue"(Bakes and Staudinger, 2000, p. 131).20 Levinson et al. (1962, p. 160).21 Hill (1992) stresses the importance of helping new

managers build skills for learning from experience.22 HSDC guidelines include sharing of learning aspart of the responsibilities of helping professionals.23 Likewise, role reversals where the supervisor makesthe employees compensate for the supervisor's owndependency needs, paralleling expecting children tocarry out parental roles, would not be appropriate(Chase, 1999; Jurkovic, 1997).

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Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. School of BusinessAdministration,

University of Portland,5000 N Willamette Avenue,Portland, OR 97203,

U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]@up.edu

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