EDUCATION AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN COMPANIES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES Vol 4, No 2, 2012 ISSN: 1309-8047 (Online) EDUCATION AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN COMPANIES IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Zijada Rahimić School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo/Human Resource Management Ph.D., Associate Professor E-mail: ─Abstract ─ Globalization, increased complexity, turbulent and uncertain business environment, as well as technological innovations have all contributed to knowledge obsolescence. Therefore, companies must participate in different educational programs or trainings in order for their employees to acquire additional knowledge and skills, which are, in turn, required as present and future job prerequisites. Through acquisition of new skills and knowledge, employees are able to perform more challenging and complex tasks. This also means that employees can prepare for future tasks in accordance to organization’s aims. The purpose of this paper is to analyze through what extent do education and career development opportunities motivate employees in companies across Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to confirm the relationship between company characteristics and stimulating effects of education and career development, the research includes employees from various organizations. The methodological framework of this study is found in Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation, according to which achievements, recognition, job challenges, responsibility, growth and advancements depend on employee satisfaction and motivation. The results of this research could be of help to managers of companies across Bosnia and Herzegovina, notably in the process of employee motivation, education costs and creation of career development frameworks. Key Words: education, career development, employee satisfaction, motivation JEL Classification: M12, M51, M53 1. INTRODUCTION Knowledge acquired through schooling, as well as knowledge of the procedures and methods obtained through work, do not present a sufficient guarantee for employee success in the long-run. A thriving company needs qualified employees – those who will adequately and readily respond to rapidly changing technical and 201 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES Vol 4, No 2, 2012 ISSN: 1309-8047 (Online) organizational demands, and those who will be able to overcome these challenges. Simply said, in order for a company to survive it is decisive that it continuously adapts to changing environments and advances employees’ learning abilities. Rapid technological advancement, increased unpredictability, fierce competition and evermore complex work and decision-making processes, as well as job market changes, social processes and value system transformations, create an increased need for continuous investment in education and career development programs. In predicting social change, P. Drucker (1993:39) emphasized that biggest changes will occur precisely in the field of knowledge; its form and structure, its meaning and its accountability. On one hand, these transformations resulted in a fast process in which knowledge became obsolete, while on the other a new path for development of new knowledge and skills was opened. The former created more competitive companies, and allowed for market positioning in relatively unpredictable and dynamic environments. It is precisely for this reason that one of the key tasks of every top management is organizational openness to new knowledge. This is achievable through applying the concept of continuous learning, with the aim of developing skills which will enable companies to adapt to new environments, and embrace changes that occur in business processes and ambience. Education and career development opportunities contribute to each individual’s readiness to take action (Kuwan, 2011:169). In short, they influence one’s motivation. Whether and to what degree education and career development possibilities really have a motivational effect on an individual will depend on a number of factors, ranging from those organizational (individual characteristics, job description, organizational characteristics) to those external (living standards, the system of values, social and economic development, etc.) (Rahimic, 2010:270). Although, it is true that internal and external motivation factors are permanently tied together when it comes to their influence on people, for the purposes of this research we will focus only on internal factors. This work will tackle the issue of whether the employees of companies across Bosnia and Herzegovina consider education and career development opportunities to be important motivational techniques. 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR EMPLOYEES - A BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW The issue of education and career advancement has been on the agenda for one hundred years. At the beginning of the 20th century, within the framework of scientific management theory, Taylor emphasized the importance of knowledge. He defined five principles, two of which were: organized education instead of 202 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES Vol 4, No 2, 2012 ISSN: 1309-8047 (Online) approximation, and maximum employee development for maximum prosperity (Weihrich, 1994:469). Thus, it is obvious that Taylor supports career development in specific activities in order to increase productivity. Human development was also highlighted by Mary Follett, who stated that people can only advance through mutual and continuous cooperation with others within an organization (Stoner, 2002:33). The positive effects of education on work loyalty and performance were later accentuated by the supporters of Neoclassical Theory of Management, as well as the creators of the Theory of Needs. Therefore, education and career development, according to Maslow’s Theory of Needs, are higher level needs (Maslow, 1954). According to Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, education and development belong to the so called “motivator factors”, which contribute to employee motivation and satisfaction. There are cases in which satisfaction can be low, but in no case can motivator factors cause dissatisfaction (Herzberg, 1964:57). In the last century, more specifically during the 1970s, additional education was regarded as a continuation of previous organized learning, which followed after a period (of varying lengths) of formal education. The use of this term spread during the 1990s, when continuous education encompassed both formal and informal learning (Kuper,2008:39). The switch from industrial age to knowledge economy was characterized by the introduction of the so called “knowledge worker” and a decrease in uneducated workforce, within the entire population. The transformation of industrial society into a post-industrial altered the role of traditional production factors, including work, capital and state, whose primacy in reaching competitive advantage abru (...truncated)