Traditional career progression, as presented at school and university, frequently emphasises managerial roles as the endpoint, and this is reinforced in the workplace by the higher pay incentives often available to managers. However, not all employees aspire to be, or are suited for management roles. An individual may be an excellent programmer, writer, analyst, trainer, or marketer, while not necessarily having the best leadership skills or even aspirations. What is the best way to develop individuals like this without forcing them into a shoe that doesn’t fit comfortably?
In this article, we will look at how leaders can design and support alternative career paths to cater to diverse employee aspirations, in order to bring out the best in each employee and recognise the value of individual expertise.
The managerial career path assumes that, as an employee progresses in skills and experience, they will simultaneously grow into roles with increasing leadership responsibilities. This often starts as a team leader or supervisor and progresses into middle management, and potentially then to executive leadership positions. To be an effective manager, however, individuals need a strong set of leadership and administrative skills, including the ability to guide and inspire others, and strategic thinking to align team efforts with business goals. The manager also needs to be able to make effective decisions to address emerging challenges and drive the right results. Unfortunately, being good at your primary role or skill (e.g. analyst) does not necessarily mean that you will thrive in a leadership position.
Organisations should, therefore, provide alternative career options, including specialist roles, in which individuals can develop deep expertise in their own fields. Specialist roles allow your employees to contribute value to the organisation without taking on managerial responsibility – which, in any case, diminishes the time available for these specialists to contribute to frontline roles. With the right training and development, high-level specialists can become internal consultants, mentors, and even project leaders.
Another alternative career avenue is project-based roles. These offer experienced employees dynamic opportunities to work on a range of assignments across different departments and with different customers, helping your employees to develop versatile interpersonal skills and gain varied experience. Some employees springboard from here into project management and consultancy, and a few – even those who never intended to be managers – then go on to head their own departments or project-based teams.
One of the reasons that some people are reluctant to take on management roles is a lack of available training and development. People are thrown into management and expected to find their feet. However, this reticence may disappear in organisations that provide high quality leadership training for all managers and supervisory staff, introducing additional responsibilities in tandem with training and development, so that new managers go into their roles fully equipped with the skills and support they need to thrive.
While not specifically leadership or management focused, it’s worth incorporating accountability and empowerment training into all continuous professional development for your employees, so that employees are encouraged to take ownership for their skills, roles, responsibilities, and acquire a greater awareness of where they fit in their wider teams and organisation. This can strengthen collaboration between colleagues and, over time, prepare employees to take on more supervisory or leadership responsibilities when they are ready to do so.
Our range of leadership development and managerial training programmes empower your leaders to recognise and develop the innate potential and ambitions of their workforce. To find out more and to discover how GRA can help you, please contact us today by clicking here, or by calling 0118 933 2222.
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