A frontline engineer or salesperson can be a company expert and still receive the same pay raises and promotions as the manager who leads her team, says Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite.
At most companies, climbing the corporate ladder still starts with assuming a management role. As your control extends over larger and larger teams, and eventually entire departments, you ascend in an organization’s hierarchy. Advancement – in terms of title, pay and recognition – is inextricably tied to people management.
But isn’t it time we asked whether this actually makes sense? After all, managing people is a specific skill set. Not everyone has it. Not everyone wants to develop it. And there’s a strong case to be made that shunting top performers down a one-size-fits-all management track is hardly the most effective use of company resources.
