Employee career adaptability after an extreme event in a mining companyAbstract
Purpose: To understand how job changes resulting from an extreme event in a mining company led employees to deconstruct and reconstruct organizational practices through career adaptability.
Originality/value: In extreme events, the career adaptability of professionals goes beyond the dimensions proposed by the literature (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence), emerging a category not contemplated in the traditional Adaptability Scale: Cooperation. In addition, the unexpected nature of the event means that there are aspects of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices among the individuals themselves. Theoretically, the research seeks to fill a gap related to the return of the cooperation dimension to understanding career adaptability in extreme events.
Design/methodology/approach: Using qualitative research, fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted using a script based on the Career Adaptability Scale, which consists of four dimensions (Concern, Control, Curiosity, and Confidence). After transcription, the professionals’ narratives were analyzed using Content Analysis.
Findings: The results showed that a dimension not included in the Career Adaptability Scale emerged in extreme events: cooperation. In addition, aspects related to fear were identified in the statements of most respondents, and this could be considered the “trigger” present in the five dimensions, but with distinct characteristics in each. Finally, it was identified that, in extreme events, aspects of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices manifested themselves in some dimensions of career adaptability, especially cooperation.
Keywords:
career adaptability; job transition; extreme events; decons-truction and reconstruction; cooperation
Resumo
Objetivo: Compreender como mudanças de função decorrentes de um evento extremo na mineração levaram funcionários a desconstruir e reconstruir práticas organizativas por meio da adaptabilidade de carreira.
Originalidade/valor: Em eventos extremos, a adaptabilidade de carreira de profissionais vai além das dimensões propostas pela literatura sobre o tema (Preocupação, Controle, Curiosidade e Confiança), emergindo uma categoria pouco explorada na escala tradicional: a Cooperação. Além disso, o caráter inesperado do evento faz com que haja aspectos de desconstrução e reconstrução de práticas organizativas entre os próprios indivíduos. Em termos teóricos, a pesquisa busca preencher uma lacuna relacionada ao retorno da dimensão de cooperação para compreensão da adaptabilidade de carreira em eventos extremos.
Design/metodologia/abordagem: Por meio de uma pesquisa qualitativa, foram realizadas 14 entrevistas semiestruturadas com roteiro baseado na Escala de Adaptabilidade de Carreira, composta inicialmente por quatro dimensões (Preocupação, Controle, Curiosidade, Confiança). Após a transcrição, as narrativas dos profissionais foram analisadas por meio da técnica de Análise de Conteúdo.
Resultados: Os resultados demonstraram que em eventos extremos, emergiu a presença de uma dimensão pouco contemplada na Escala de Adaptabilidade de Carreira: a Cooperação. Além disso, observou-se que aspectos relacionados ao medo foram identificados nas falas da maioria dos entrevistados, sendo que este poderia ser considerado o “gatilho” presente nas cinco dimensões, mas com características diferentes em cada uma delas. Por fim, identificou-se que, em eventos extremos, aspectos de desconstrução e reconstrução de práticas organizativas se manifestaram em algumas dimensões da adaptabilidade de carreira, especialmente na de cooperação.
Palavras-chave:
adaptabilidade de carreira; transições no trabalho; eventos extremos; desconstrução e reconstrução; cooperação
INTRODUCTION
Four years. This is how much time separates two extreme events in Brazilian mining. The first occurred in November 2015, when a dam broke, causing the spill of about 60 million cubic meters of iron ore tailings, taking less than forty minutes to reach the nearest town, almost four miles away (Bowker, 2015). In 2019, a new extreme event involving a dam occurred, implicating one of the mining industry’s shareholder companies responsible for the 2015 disaster. In this event, about 270 people died, many of them employees of the organization itself (Quadros, 2019).
Extreme dam events have been present in literature in recent years due to their environmental and social impacts (Acosta & Pérezts, 2019). However, the breaking of this dam, known as the “Mariana Disaster,” brought up an additional factor related to the individuals working in that company: the consequences for the employees’ careers. Immediately after the event, the occupational activities of the company’s employees underwent significant changes, as they had to assume roles that were different from those they previously held in the organization, many of them adaptively (Weller et al., 2023).
It can be inferred that these individuals needed to undergo characteristics of career adaptability. Career adaptability is the resources individuals use to deal with current or anticipated occupational demands that may generate transitions or traumas (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). Previous studies on the subject have shown this phenomenon considering students’ adaptability for the sustainable development of education (Chen et al., 2020) and the impact of proactivity on the career adaptability of professionals (Spurk et al., 2020). Furthermore, there are studies on career adaptability and resilience among employers and employees (Ahmad et al., 2022), the relationship between adaptability and engagement for military careers (Pires et al., 2021), as well as the consequences of Covid-19 for employees’ adaptability and learning in the transition from face-to-face to remote work (Chen et al., 2020).
Hannah et al. (2009) identify extreme events as contexts that may constitute traumatic events requiring career transitions. This term characterizes events with the potential for massive physical, psychological, or material consequences, even if the organization strongly focuses on risk management policies and systems to map indicators that could prevent these events.
Considering career aspects in extreme contexts, Lent and Brown (2020) demonstrated in their studies that career decisions should consider context as fundamental in this process. Savickas (1997) further proposes that career adaptability is the central construct in career development theory, so it is possible to reinforce and simplify the integration between segments of career maturity, focusing on adapting to the individual’s environmental context.
Additionally, some literature on extreme situations is concerned with understanding how people deal with traumatic events in their personal and/or family lives, but the impact of these situations on their careers is still not often addressed (Hannah et al., 2009; Weller et al., 2023). Another aspect that deserves attention is how unexpected events raise the need for people and organizations to adapt to the situation and establish a new organizational order amid chaos (Kalkman, 2023). Furthermore, Hannah et al. (2009) emphasize the importance of better understanding the impact of leadership in extreme contexts. Given those mentioned above, this research sought to understand how the job changes resulting from an extreme event in mining led employees to deconstruct and reconstruct organizational practices through career adaptability.
To achieve this goal, qualitative research was conducted with professionals who underwent abrupt job changes after an extreme event in the mining industry. At the end of 2017, 14 professionals from the mining company where the disaster occurred who experienced abrupt career changes were interviewed. It is worth noting that the mining company’s activities resumed in December 2020; however, the interviewed employees did not return to the activities they held before the dam broke.
In theoretical terms, the study contributes to career adaptability theory by demonstrating that in extreme contexts, the dimension of cooperation helps individuals deal with unfavorable aspects through actions and forms of reorganization based on collectivity. Furthermore, career studies in extreme contexts can contribute to a better understanding the decision-making process resulting from the individual-environment relationship, its challenges and opportunities (Gati & Kulcsár, 2021). In practice, Kalkman (2023) demonstrates that timing is vital for deconstructing and reconstructing organizational practices to resolve unexpected or extreme events.
CAREER ADAPTABILITY DIMENSIONS
Career adaptability refers to individuals’ ability to adapt to changes, seeking a balance between their career roles and dealing with transitions or potential career traumas that alter their careers (Savickas, 1997). This concept develops through the interaction between the individual and the environment, allowing each individual to reflect on their self-concept in professional roles, enhancing job satisfaction, and building career structure (Ginevra et al., 2018). Building upon the definition of adaptability, Savickas and Porfeli (2012) developed the Career Adaptability Scale, a measure to assess an individual’s adaptability level. The scale can be described as a construct comprising four dimensions (Concern, Control, Curiosity, and Confidence) (Ramos & Lopez, 2018).
In the Concern dimension, individuals can contemplate their future and the consequences of their careers (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012). In their study of Brazilian professionals, Ambiel, Martins, and Salvador (2022) argue that individuals with higher levels of education tend to exhibit more significant concern about their professional future and the direction of their careers.
The Control dimension reflects how individuals feel responsible for building and managing their careers (Kusyadi, 2020). Curiosity considers the extent to which individuals explore the working environment and seek information about requirements, routines, and benefits that may assist them in career decisions (Chen et al., 2020). Finally, in the Confidence dimension, the professional believes their skills can successfully address career-related situations (Federici et al., 2021). According to De Andrade, Ferraz, Oliveira et al. (2019), the dimensions of career adaptability can be positive predictors of career success.
In most cases, the psychosocial aspects that trigger individuals’ career adaptability are related to more internal, individual factors (Nye et al., 2017). However, what is still underexplored in literature is that the Career Adaptability Scale was initially conceptualized as a five-factor construct, with the existence of the cooperation dimension (Nye et al., 2018). This construct seeks to understand more interpersonal aspects of adaptability, how the relationship between the work environment and people influences career changes, and the impact of these changes on both personal and professional levels (Rottinghaus et al., 2012). In Brazil, the cooperation dimension was strongly related to a preference for working in groups (Ambiel et al., 2023). This factor can be explained by the country’s collectivist culture (Gouveia & Clemente, 2000).
CAREER ADAPTABILITY AND EXTREME EVENTS
In recent years, the career development of individuals has been characterized by volatility and uncertainty (Ambiel et al., 2023). According to Schmid and Mitterreiter (2021), developing career plans and goals through adaptability contributes to individuals managing career transitions and adapting to stressful work incidents. However, according to Seibert, Kraimer, and Hesl (2016), no matter how many people analyze their aspirations and plan career opportunities, unexpected developments often involve unforeseen changes. Such developments may be driven by personal processes, such as changes in goals and individual needs, or external events that were not planned or expected, referred to in this research as extreme events (Hannah et al., 2009).
Regarding the type of organization, Hannah et al. (2009) adopted the concept of high-reliability organizations, those with high levels of risk and focus on constantly presenting contingencies and normative restrictions that prevent extreme events from occurring. The time factor, in turn, concerns the risks related to the magnitude of the extreme event and the speed with which it occurs. The authors argue that in an extreme event, time is essential for contingencies and that a lack of transparency and agility can lead to hearsay and rumors that can spread quickly (Hannah et al., 2009; Weller et al., 2023).
Wehrle et al. (2019) studied career adaptability among refugees and demonstrated how extreme cases contribute to a discontinuous and unintentional career transition. This aspect, which is also influenced by the context of adaptive responses, can lead to career shocks. Thus, the triggering event of career shocks can be expected or unexpected and can induce strong emotions that impact the worker’s thoughts and feelings about their status and future career direction (Seibert et al., 2016).
When analyzing organizational practices of military personnel who worked in recovery actions from Hurricane Dorian, which affected the Bahamas in 2019, Kalkman (2023) demonstrated that extreme situations, referred to by the author as unexpected, lead to emerging practices. It is a set of actions by individuals who voluntarily come together to carry out activities focused on customized, creative, and quickly implemented solutions to provide rapid responses in a disaster (Kalkman, 2023). Pires et al. (2021) demonstrate that, in challenging careers carried out by professionals who work in military organizations (such as police officers and firefighters), career adaptability and engagement are factors that contribute to transition processes.
In Brazil, the “Mariana Disaster,” considered an extreme event in mining, has been addressed in recent years through theoretical and practical studies. Medeiros, Silveira, and Oliveira (2018) investigated the mechanisms of moral disengagement among company employees after the disaster. Ribeiro et al. (2019) highlighted the perspective of public agents responsible for helping and supporting displaced victims after the mud hit. Finally, Bortolon et al. (2021) analyzed the social representations of the company and the dam collapse for former employees who joined the organization’s Voluntary Dismissal Program in 2016.
METHODS
This qualitative research aimed at understanding how role changes resulting from an extreme mining event led employees to deconstruct and reconstruct organizational practices through career adaptability. Boo et al. (2021) argue that career adaptability profiles may vary, depending on the method. Thus, a qualitative approach allows for an expansion of the literature through an interactive focus between researchers and the research participants.
The participants were selected as individuals who experienced the extreme context and had their roles and activities in their jobs altered. After the extreme situation, the employees were also required not to return to their previous professional activities, which did not happen even when the mining company resumed its activities in December 2020.
After the extreme event, employees were asked to help in the areas impacted by the dam collapse along the entire length of the Rio Doce due to the need for recovery actions, engaging in processes about which they had no technical or academic knowledge. This lack of knowledge made it necessary to adopt adaptability characteristics. It can then be suggested that these aspects are important and relate to the factors of the Career Adaptability Scale proposed by Savickas et al. (2009), as people tend to develop their careers by dealing with social expectations related to preparation, entry, participation, and exit from different positions.
Twenty employees were invited to participate in the research based on the previously presented criteria. Of these, 14 accepted. Individual interviews were conducted using a semi-structured script based on the Career Adaptability Scale proposed by Savickas and Porfeli (2012). In the invitation to participate in the research, all ethical aspects regarding the basic information of the study, objectives, risks, and discomforts related to the topic, as well as the guarantee of confidentiality regarding the participants’ identity, were observed. All interviewees signed the Informed Consent Form.
The interviews lasted 40 minutes to two hours and were recorded with the participants’ prior authorization. The participants were chosen according to the main changes in the company’s activities after the disaster when they assumed roles that differed from their previous ones. Seven of the participants left the company. The others remained, assuming new organizational roles after the company’s operations resumed in 2021. Table 1 presents the profile of participants.
The interview script consisted of five sections (Research Presentation, Professional Trajectory, Adaptability in Extreme Event, Career Adaptability Scale, Conclusion, and Acknowledgment) and was designed to collect information on the career paths of the participants before and after the extreme event. The first section collected descriptive data (age, education level, marital status, place of birth, gender, and position), and the subsequent sections contained a set of semi-structured and descriptive questions divided into subsections and based on the interview protocol used by McMahon, Watson, and Bimrose (2012). The questions were adjusted for the extreme event situation.
The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the content analysis technique (Moraes, 1999), which involved three stages of coding. During the initial coding process, events, actions, or interactions were compared with others for similarities and differences to create conceptual labels corresponding to the career adaptability factors proposed by Savickas and Porfeli (2012). After freely coding and assigning conceptual labels related to career adaptability, the grouping of the identified codes in each dimension was initiated.
During this process, theoretical notes, commonly called Memos, were written. Corbin and Strauss (1990, p. 10) state that “memos are not just about ideas. They are involved in formulating and revising theory during the research process.” Therefore, we sought to maintain consistency in data procedures by identifying the most important concepts in each interview since new information may emerge during the analysis process (Corbin & Strauss, 1990).
In this study, although the coding process was carried out deductively through prior categories based on the traditional Career Adaptability Scale (Concern, Control, Confidence, and Curiosity), a dimension was identified, removed from Savickas’ and Porfeli traditional scale (2012), but considered important for explaining the phenomenon of Career Adaptability in Extreme Events: Cooperation. Nye et al. (2017) advocate the inclusion of cooperation since it is theoretically adequate due to previous conceptualizations of general adaptability that reinforce the inclusion of a conceptual dimension focusing on the interpersonal aspect of career adaptability (Pulakos et al., 2000; Rottinghaus et al., 2012; McMahon et al., 2012).
For these reasons and given the similar characteristics that may occur in extreme events, we decided to maintain the original concept with the five factors of career adaptability, considering cooperation as a dimension of the construct, and five codes related to this factor were established, considering the example of McMahon et al. (2012). Thus, there were a total of 24 codes for the five dimensions of Career Adaptability (Table 2).
Subsequently, the subcategories were identified in three of the five career adaptability factors (control, curiosity, and confidence). Additionally, following the guidance of Ryan and Bernard (2003), a meta-coder was created to examine the relationship between the prior themes to discover potentially new themes and overarching meta-themes.
The confidence factor has two subcategories: Readiness and Pride. The Readiness subcategory refers to employees’ agility in accepting role changes after a disaster. In most cases, they had to move to the impacted cities to help with humanitarian and environmental tasks. The Pride subcategory relates to the satisfaction of a “job well done,” even in an adverse scenario.
For the curiosity factor, the subcategories found are related to the Investigative aspect, which emerged as a focus for problem-solving, and a second subcategory called Learning. In the control dimension, the subcategory found was the decision maker, which was aimed at professionals who had a consistent profile for taking responsibility even when there was no formal direction or guidance to follow.
Finally, concern and cooperation did not have subcategories, which can be explained by the individual aspect of the Concern factor and the generality of information in the cooperation factor. It was also possible to observe that, despite the career adaptability factor, aspects related to fear were identified in most of the interviewees’ statements. In this case, fear is the “trigger” presented in all five career adaptability factors, but each has different characteristics.
All categories were compared to find relationships between the five factors of career adaptability in an extreme event. To achieve this objective, incidents applicable to each category were compared and were subsequently integrated into a central category of Career Adaptability in Extreme Events, in which the aspect of fear and the Cooperation factor are highlighted.
Still, during the data analysis process, a comparison of the career adapta-bility phenomenon in extreme situations with the existing literature on extreme events and crises was carried out to seek elements that explain other aspects related to the dimensions. The data analysis was completed once theoretical saturation was reached, meaning no new aspects related to the adaptability categories or the extreme context were found. Thus, characteristics of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices were found (Kalkman, 2023), since, in extreme events, routines, rules and procedures, and hierarchy become secondary due to the necessary response timing to the event. These particularities and their relationship with career adaptability dimensions are presented below in the Results section.
RESULTS
This section presents the results that guided the conduct of the research and will be discussed in the following topic. It was possible to infer that, in extreme events, the dimensions of the Career Adaptability Scale proposed by Savickas and Porfeli (2012) are present. Characteristics of Concern, Control, Confidence, and Curiosity were perceived in the statements of all interviewees based on the role changes that the context required of these professionals. It was also possible to identify an additional element that was important for explaining Career Adaptability in extreme events: the dimension of Cooperation. A psychosocial aspect that acts as a trigger in the adaptability process of these professionals should also be mentioned: fear permeates all five identified dimensions, manifesting in different ways.
Based on the study by Kalkman (2023), it was also possible to identify aspects of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices in the dimensions of Control, Confidence, Curiosity, and Cooperation. Motivated by collectivity and the necessity to solve various problems even outside the organization, there were key elements of the organizational structure, leading to tensions and deconstruction and reconstruction processes. Deconstruction refers to the breakdown of organizational structure into different parts, such as leaving or creating one’s authority system or discarding plans. Reconstruction, on the other hand, considers the creation of a new and emerging organizational structure with autonomy for decision-making and improvised actions.
Concern: The end for some, a new beginning for others
In extreme events, two contexts were presented in this dimension: career planning is done by individuals during their professional trajectory and optimism, demonstrating the importance of experiencing the event in terms of learning. In the first case, even without leaving the company, professionals ended their careers after the disaster, taking on different roles, planning actions, and evaluating how the choices would impact their professional future. Fear of the future in the Concern dimension was a predominant factor for the career decisions made, according to Employee 5:
I liked the Company, but I knew that incident was a complete stop for many things. I do not need it to define my future. I am still capable of defining what I want for myself. So, I went abroad to study. [Employee 5]
Regarding optimism, the end of the current career trajectory has given way to a new beginning, as these professionals, upon assuming a new role, assessed how they could gain personal and professional experience:
[...] but I also cannot say I had no gains; I had much personal gain because you start to look at many things from a different perspective, and these many things are from the point of view of behavior as a whole. [Employee 7]
Another point in the Concern dimension is the influence of time on changes in perception about the new role. Initially, employees understood the experience as a way to prepare for the future, as something transitory that would end in a short period. After a few months, they began to ponder since the major emergencies had already been solved. In a less conflictive scenario, by connecting the present to the future, they began to fear what would come along in their careers, which led them to search for new trajectories, sometimes continuing the newly acquired knowledge due to experience.
Control: “If it needs to be done, tell me how”
The Control dimension presented as its central characteristic an independence in decision-making, since in an adverse context there was no contingency plan at the necessary level of detail for the size of the event. The influence on decision-making, even with aspects of Control, differed in two ways. When thinking before acting, there were employees who sought the support of their superiors preventively, to protect themselves from the unknown, and those who were independent in decision-making. Thus, there were manifestations of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices, since the timing of the response showed the existing authority system in the company to be unfeasible (deconstruction). Power needed to be decentralized to produce a structure of faster response and focused on problem resolution (reconstruction).
Thus, decisions were made transparently, showing responsibility and prevention in the work performed, according to personal principles. This lack of a general contingency plan and autonomy in decision-making can be identified in the statement of Employee 1:
Today, I do not have a boss; no one is looking out for me, asking what I am doing or why I am doing it. I am out there contributing because I know I must get things done. Nevertheless, today, I do not really have a boss. [Employee 1]
Regarding the psychosocial factor of fear, in the Control category, it is demonstrated by the apprehension about the consequences of making a decision guided by personal principles rather than by general guidelines for everyone. Thus, not knowing if the outcome of the solution will have a positive return generates anxiety and apprehension, as reported by Employee 7, when mentioning the work carried out in the environmental recovery fronts of the extreme event, compared to other professionals who were later hired to continue the activities:
What could be done at our best... right? No, now you are going to sit in that chair calmly, and many things will make you think I did the craziest stuff, but it was at the time I had, with the resources I had. [Employee 7]
Confidence: “Between a rock and a hard place!”
In the Confidence dimension, the characteristic of readiness for the call to a new role stood out. This aspect differs from others found in the remaining dimensions since, in this case, readiness was associated with fear and acted as a “trigger” for employees to adopt a particular posture. Fearing that their careers might be negatively impacted, they readily accepted the new roles imposed on them.
Another characteristic concerns pride in a job well done, which remained unchanged regarding career trajectories, both before and after the extreme event. Thus, the pride in work done efficiently was identified in more stable career trajectories before the event and in extreme situations when they had to take on other roles. This Employee 5’s statement represents a line of thought prior to the event regarding motivations for working at the company:
Just as much as I put that aside and saw that I was having opportunities within the company, that people looked at me positively, and that my work was recognized, I thought, I will leave here when I retire. [Employee 5]
In this dimension, fear is one of the most substantial components found, as these professionals perceived it as a fear of failing and being unable to perform what needed to be performed with excellence. To overcome this trait, many interviewees got involved in various fronts simultaneously, which generated a pattern of solutions and deliveries for the activities that needed to be carried out. This pattern of solutions arose from a more unrestricted response structure with characteristics of reconstructing organizational practices, as employees made their deliveries based on the acquired knowledge.
Another aspect of fear identified in this category was perceived when employees reported the attitudes and thoughts that arose when they found themselves with few activities within the company, with colleagues being laid off or going on collective vacation. Out of fear, they preferred to contact other employees already working on the recovery fronts to examine the possibility of collaboration. For most interviewees, the option to “run” promptly to the available roles was a matter of survival.
Curiosity: Learning through experience
The curiosity dimension manifested itself in the search for possible solutions to the various problems imposed by the event. Professionals began to observe and investigate different ways to present a quick response to the demand, mainly due to the lack of prior technical knowledge required for the role, which generated different problem-solving strategies. Some professionals were found to overcome technical ignorance through individual professional experience, not intimidated by the requirements of the new roles. For others, the fear of being unable to perform activities led them to focus on learning complementary technical knowledge to perform their new role, addressing the lack of skills through new learning. Employee 2 says he adapted “well to the change of pace by trying to understand a bit about water monitoring.”
This “better understanding” reported by Interviewee 2 also involved seeking a foundation for the actions that needed to be executed, once again due to fear and the consequences of performing the new role, according to Employee 7:
Doubts arose with the mechanics. I was not a mechanic, so I asked my colleague for help. [...] For a good part of the management team in that area, because it was them, I would ask for support and with whom I would have to talk about it, so I talked a lot with those guys. [Employee 7]
The search was not always to supply or overcome the lack of technical knowledge required for the new role. Another characteristic of Curiosity was the reflection made by all the interviewees on how going through the experience, even with the difficulties, would contribute to their careers. Without exception, the interviewed employees saw the new roles as personal growth when reflecting on what they went through or even when accepting the challenges the disaster imposed on them. Regardless of how long they acted in the new role when accepting, they evaluated the experience as something that would add to their careers somehow.
For professionals with characteristics of Curiosity, the main fear was not being able to bring different solutions or learn new ways of conducting certain activities. Despite this, the interviewees perceived that there was learning even with all the difficulties. Characteristics of reconstructing organizational practices were found in the curiosity dimension due to the need for improvi-sation to seek creative solutions to the problems that appeared along the way.
Cooperation: “It happened; it is over, but we need to unite”
The Cooperation dimension was the most evident in the interviewees’ statements in extreme events. Faced with sudden role changes that the adverse scenario imposed, individuals who worked in the company felt the need to unite and collaborate for different reasons, such as solving problems quickly and efficiently and having a great capacity for achievement. This can be observed in Employee 1’s statements when he highlights that “the company’s good professionals had a great capacity for achievement, great mobilization for results.” Other motivations that led to cooperation characteristics were the solidarity of individuals due to the event, who volunteered to help in a humani-tarian way:
Let us form groups and act together; we must act together; if we do not act together, it is no good. We lived all that period delivering the most we could. We wanted to contribute to that, whether with the Company, the environment, or the people there. Of course, with people, we have a human side and want to deliver that. [Employee 7]
In addition, fear made many employees understand that not running to the recovery fronts or supporting whoever was no longer an option. This can be perceived in the statements of Employee 5, who reports that it was “more for the person who called him,” or Employee 3, who says she told her manager at the time: “However you think I can contribute, you can involve me whenever you think it is necessary.” Thus, many adopted Cooperation out of fear of being judged, and others out of fear of losing their jobs. Despite this, even with fear as a motivation, the characteristics of solidarity of the employees who mobilized and sought to do their part, to collaborate in some way, should not be denied:
You saw people in need of help and worked for that. It differs from increasing a company’s profit; the work was for real people. Something that motivates people a lot. [Employee 2]
This delivery was also collaborative because the environment in which these employees would act was unknown. Without this information, they sought to support each other, regardless of their positions-new colleagues, the displaced victims, and other organizing institutions involved-since they had a common goal.
In the Cooperation dimension, there was also deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices, emphasizing leadership aspects. In extreme events, the need to reduce hierarchy due to response time led to tensions and formal structure ruptures. Even outside the company and acting in positions different from their original roles, leaders and subordinates followed patterns and routines according to the company’s internal organizational chart (deconstruction). During the deliveries, employees began to perceive the need to establish more fluid relationships in a structure distribu-ted by deliveries and not by hierarchical structure (reconstruction).
Next, a schematic model is presented with the dimensions of adaptability and the characteristics of deconstruction and reconstruction of organizational practices after the extreme event researched.
Dimensions of adaptability, deconstruction, and reconstruction of organizational practices of employees after an extreme event
DISCUSSION
The research findings allow us to infer that, in extreme events, the existing dimensions in the Career Adaptability Scale proposed by Savickas and Porfeli (2012) are present. Characteristics of Concern, Control, Curiosity, and Confidence were perceived in the statements of all interviewees to a greater or lesser extent, based on the role changes that the context required of these professionals (Chen et al., 2020; Kusyadi, 2020; Federici et al., 2021). The Cooperation dimension was also present in the results, corroborating the studies of Nye et al. (2018) and Prasad et al. (2021), which suggest incorporating this dimension into the traditional Career Adaptability scale.
Nye et al. (2018) explain that Career Adaptability previously included the Cooperation dimension. However, it was discarded because it mainly concerned external relationships outside the self instead of the four factors that have an internal focus. For Prasad et al. (2021), cooperation is an important component of organizational citizenship behaviors, which includes helping and supporting others at work and collaborating with activities that go beyond the scope of work. These authors also suggested analyzing the inclusion of the cooperation dimension in different cultures, considering Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, such as individualism and collectivism (Nye et al., 2018; Prasad et al., 2021).
Ambiel et al. (2022) argue that despite being diverse, the cultural context presents similarities in the cooperation dimension. This construct occurs through the level of commitment among individuals. Thus, the extreme context makes individuals commit to each other and their activities to organize and create solutions to problems that may arise.
Regarding career adaptability after an extreme event, it was possible to identify the emergence of organizational practices with characteristics of deconstruction and reconstruction (Kalkman, 2023). Through career adaptability, employees underwent a deconstruction and reconstruction of their organizational practices, with cooperation being the most evident manifestation (Hannah et al., 2009).
This finding complements Kalkman’s (2023) studies on military institutions in disaster situations, as the author’s research presents an unexpected event and a ten-day operation carried out by teams that commonly operate in extreme events. In the case of this article, employees experienced career transitions (Gong et al., 2022). They needed to develop in various aspects for almost two years until a foundation was created to take over environmental and social recovery actions (Maher, 2022).
Expanding the theoretical understanding of career adaptability, it is worth highlighting a psychosocial aspect that drives the adaptability process of these professionals. Fear permeates all five identified dimensions, manifesting differently according to each category. Along with the characteristics already identified by Savickas and Porfeli (2012) for the dimensions of Confidence and Curiosity, fear was also identified in the search for knowledge to provide security in the steps taken.
Contrary to the usual focus given to fear as a negative emotional aspect (Creed et al., 2009; Spurk et al., 2020), the present research found the mani-festation of fear as a promoter of favorable characteristics for career adaptability, aligning with the idea that fear can be a motivator for action. These factors also corroborate the studies of Weller, Brown, and Clarke (2023) on individuals who volunteer to act in dangerous situations, such as rescues, as an aspect that leads to satisfaction and gives meaning to their lives. Mansur and Félix (2021) explain that in unfavorable situations, the higher the affectivity levels, the greater the characteristics of adaptability. The present research supports these authors’ studies. It goes further by presenting affectivity not only as a favorable emotional bond (affection) but also as an indicator that can manifest positively or negatively depending on the dimension of adaptability.
Finally, it is worth noting that this research has a similar character to the studies of Ribeiro et al. (2019) and Bortolon et al. (2021) by highlighting the perspective of individuals. However, this study advances academically by contributing to the literature on career adaptability by drawing the relationship between the “Mariana Disaster,” considered an extreme event, and how the company’s employees took on roles quite different from those they performed before the dam collapsed, needing to deconstruct and reconstruct their organizational practices based on the dimensions of adaptability.
CONCLUSIONS
This research aimed to understand how changes in roles resulting from an extreme event in mining led employees to deconstruct and reconstruct organizational practices through career adaptability. This approach provided an in-depth understanding of how unintentional career transitions due to extreme events force professionals to adopt strategies to cope with adaptive contexts, represented by the dimensions of Career Adaptability.
In extreme contexts, the dimensions of career adaptability manifested in the interviewees’ statements to a greater or lesser extent. However, the importance of the Cooperation dimension highlights the complexity of what represents a career transition or shock resulting from a change in the organizational environment related to the context that impacts the individual. Another finding that deserves attention regarding career adaptability in extreme events is fear as a propeller for action, not as a negative aspect.
Career adaptability must be understood from the perspective of individuals and consider the complex personal, social, geographical, and sociopolitical systems in which professionals and their organizations are. Thus, a path for possible studies is opened to assess whether the dimension of cooperation helps explain career adaptability in other contexts where the individual does not have autonomy over their career, such as career adaptability of refugees, countries at war, accidents, or crises that lead to the closure of companies.
A second aspect that deserves attention concerns the participants’ education level. Ambiel et al. (2022) demonstrated in their studies that professionals with higher education levels have greater adaptability characteristics. In this study, all participants have a higher degree. Therefore, future studies can test whether there is a positive or negative influence on the dimensions of adaptability considering professionals with lower levels of education.
It is noteworthy that Brazil was one of the countries that participated in the validation of the Career Adaptability Scale. Future research should adopt the five-dimension model to verify whether the Cooperation dimension results from an extreme event in the Brazilian company. Furthermore, since career adaptability cannot be considered a stable trait (Savickas, 1997), longitudinal studies would be of great relevance for a better understanding this phenomenon.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the Brazilian National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), the Espírito Santo State Research Foundation (FAPES), and the Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo (Ifes) for the financial support. Additional thanks to the anonymous reviewers and editorial staff of Revista de Administração Mackenzie (RAM) for their valuable contributions to improving this article.
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