Technical Career Ladder Versus Managerial Career Ladder

Many companies have created a career path on the technical ladder that parallels their career path on the managerial ladder. The purpose of a technical career ladder is to provide advancement opportunities for employees who bring great value to the company through their technical expertise and wish to focus their careers on that expertise rather than build their careers by entering and rising through the managerial ranks. These companies have created a career path for these technical employees with titles and rewards that equate to the ranks of manager, director, and vice president using titles such as “consulting engineer” or “corporate marketing consultant” instead of management titles such as “director of operations.” engineering”. or “vice president of marketing.”

In the absence of a technical career ladder, many technically gifted employees have been forced into management to attain higher positions and the rewards that come with those positions. The result for many has been that they find themselves unhappy in the managerial role and long to return to their technical specialties, but are reluctant to give up the higher salaries and perks they have earned. When this happens, many have found that the company has lost a competitive technical advantage and, at the same time, they have a senior manager who is dissatisfied with their role and ends up leaving the company, voluntarily or involuntarily.

In most companies using this approach, there are very specific criteria (a different set of competencies) that employees must meet in order to move up the technical ladder. These criteria typically include the following:
• Contributions to company products or services
• Patents obtained
• Reputation (external to the company) in their field of specialization
• Presentations at industry conferences or technical articles for industry magazines
• Tutoring of junior technicians.

Employees who want to move up a technical ladder are typically required to prepare a portfolio documenting their achievements, and that portfolio is reviewed by a panel of senior company officials who pass judgment on each application. People running the technical ladder program often criticize the company’s managerial ladder for not using a similar set of criteria to decide promotions to management positions; Establishing your company’s LDP, including the talent review process, will help counter these complaints.

Although technical ladders were primarily started in technology companies, their scope is not limited to technology areas, such as engineering or manufacturing, but they are also used in fields such as marketing, sales, and finance. A technical career ladder can help you retain people with outstanding technical experience and keep them in roles that add optimal value to the company.

If your company is planning a leadership development program, it’s important to focus not only on those employees who will eventually become your business leaders, but also on those who aspire to technical leadership positions.