Dual-Career Paths

A career path is a sequence of job positions involving similar types of work and skills that employees move through in the company. For companies with professional employees, a key issue is how to ensure that they feel they are valued. The traditional career path model has limited advancement opportunities for those in the technical career path.

Traditional career path for scientists and managers:

Director

Assistant Director
Principal Research Scientist Department Manager Manager

Research Scientist Scientist

Individual Contributor Career Path

Assistant Manager Management Career Path

A dual-career-path system enables employees to remain in a technical career path or move into a management career path.

Example of a dual-career-path system

Executives

Fellow

Functional Management

Senior Technical Staff Member

Senior

Senior

Development

Advisory

Project
MANAGEMENT LADDER

Staff
TECHNICAL LADDER

Senior Associate Associate Engineers, Programmers, Scientists

Characteristics of Effective Career Paths

Salary, status, and incentives for technical employees compare favorably with those of managers. Individual contributors base salary may be lower than managers, but they are given opportunities to increase their total compensation through bonuses. The individual contributor career path is not used to satisfy poor performers who have no managerial potential.

Characteristics of Effective Career Paths (continued)

The career path is for employees with outstanding technical skills. Individual contributors are given the opportunity to choose their career path.
The company provides assessment resources. Assessment information enables employees to make comparisons between their interests and abilities with those of employees in technical and managerial positions.

Plateauing
Plateauing means that the likelihood of the employee receiving future job assignments with increased responsibility is low. Mid-career employees are most likely to plateau. Plateauing becomes dysfunctional when the employee feels stuck in a job that offers no potential for personal growth. Such frustration results in poor job attitude, increased absenteeism, and poor job performance.

Reasons Employees Can Plateau

Discrimination based on age, gender, or race. Lack of ability. Lack of training. Low need for achievement. Unfair pay decisions or dissatisfaction with pay raises. Confusion about job responsibilities. Slow company growth resulting in reduced development opportunities.

Possible Remedies for Plateaued Employees

Employee understands the reasons for plateau. Employee is encouraged to participate in development activities. Employee is encouraged to seek career counseling. Employee reality-tests his solutions.

Skills Obsolescence
Obsolescence a reduction in an employees competence resulting from a lack of knowledge of new work processes, techniques, and technologies that have developed since the employee completed her education. Not just a concern of technical and professional occupations. All employees are at risk. Obsolescence needs to be avoided if companies are trying to become learning organizations.

Factors Related to Updating Skills

Manager
Provide Challenging Work Assignments Encourage Employees to Acquire New Skills

Company Climate
Emphasis on Continuous Learning

Update d Skills
Peers
Discuss Ideas Share Information

Reward System
Sabbaticals Pay for New Ideas

Pay for Employee Development