Designing and Explanation of Career Plateau Model with Emphasis on the Role of Ethical Factors (Case study: Tehran University of Medical Sciences)

New organizational structures have changed rapidly, and progressive ladders have become short and flat, so human resources in the organization have faced various threats, including the career plateau. Lack of attention to ethical criteria as a double factor in the management process can be one of the causes of career plateau. Therefore, the present study attempted to design and explain the career plateau model with emphasis on the role of ethical factors.

The research method was mixed. In the qualitative part, the Grounded Theory methodology was used. The statistical population consisted of 11 human resources experts (university professors, consultants, and senior managers) from Tehran University of Medical Sciences who were selected by snowball sampling. The data collection tool was in-depth and unstructured interviews. The coding method was used to analyze the data and obtain a conceptual research model. In the quantitative part, the method was a descriptive correlation. The statistical population consisted of 338 operational managers and employees of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, who were selected by stratified random sampling proportional to the sample size. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Qualitative findings led to the identification of 13 main categories in the structure of the paradigm model. The category of employees' disappointment in job promotion was chosen as the central category and a model was designed and presented to describe the career plateau including causal conditions, background conditions, intervening factors, strategies, and its consequences. In the quantitative part, structural equation modeling analyses supported the suitability of the proposed model with the data.

The results indicate that the establishment of the system of meritocracy and merit selection, justice and fairness, dissemination of ethical context in the workplace, and the use of empowerment programs lead to the reduction of career plateau and ultimately increase productivity and effectiveness of the organization.