The number of changes in profession and job increased in the last years and will rise even more in the future. Scientific research could prove that these developments have an effect on organization members‘ (OM) commitment towards their organizations – one facet of the psychological contract. Against this background the following paper deals with a yet hardly explored question: What influence do different types of psychological contracts have on the implementation, realization and evaluation of competency development (CD) concepts? The frame of reference is composed of the following theoretical approaches: 1st learning culture (Sonntag et al., 2005; Seufert/Euler 2008), 2nd psychological contracts at work (Millward/Hopkins 1998; Rousseau 1995), 3rd positive psychology (Seligman 2002), especially the Strengthen Strenghts Concept (SSC) (Creusen/Eschemann 2008), 4th biographically orientated competency development (Wittwer 2003) and 5th dialog-oriented management approaches (Weick 1995). In many cases CD efforts do not lead to the desired outcome. Diverging types of psychological contracts among the organization members of an organization could serve as an explanation for differences in success of CD measures. Based on a multitude of empirical studies two kinds of psychological contracts are distinguished: the transactional and the relational contract. 
Besides, it can be distinguished between self-organization and external organization: Self-organization refers to the assumption that competence development is organized by those who seek to develop their competencies. In contrast, within external organization it is assumed that competence development is organized by those who accompany it. The balance between self-organization and external organization is essential for the success of competence development.
Those organization members who identify strongly with their enterprise distinguish themselves by higher working effort and a higher motivation to give the enterprise an edge (Riketta 2005). This higher involvement can express itself by a greater willingness to self-organizing the own competence development.
Futhermore, facing a constantly changing working world, employees are challenged to orientate themselves anew. As those who have often changed their job have consecutively been confronted with different working standards, it is obvious that they have recognized that they possess certain strengths. Thus it can be assumed that they are particularly ready to support CD concepts.
Besides, scientific literature considers monetary incentives as a central factor to enhance the OM’s performance. At the same time, a danger is pointed out. Distinctive financial incentives can suppress intrinsic motivation and reinforce extrinsic motivation (Rost/Osterloh/Rütsche 2007).

Following theses constitute the starting point of the empirical study: (1) The stronger organization members identify with the enterprise, the greater is their readiness to self-organize competence development and to uncover, use and foster their strenghts. (2) The more changes organization members have in their professional biography, the stronger they approve the application of SSC. (3) Diverging opinions between employees and executives concerning concrete instruments to a) uncover strengths, b) support strengths and c) to evaluate the success of competency development concepts impede or prohibit the use of competency development concepts decisively. (4) Those who demand performance-based payment are more willing to participate in the realization of SSC. 

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