Client’s Problem: “Our company is undergoing a transformation via a re-org to better focus on the development of our people. We do not have a legacy of strong technical leadership and thus are uncertain of how to create a career pathing that is appealing to our younger tech employees. This is a critical need for us now and going forward as it impacts hiring and retention of people working on high-value technology projects.”

Our Client was within range of several tech hotbeds and had the added stress of competing against those markets. Unfortunately, providing extensive “perks” inside the office, ala Silicon Valley, was not an option. So, the Client needed to be creative. We were a good fit for this engagement based on our history of growing up within the industry and having some ideas that did not require getting into an arms race with other companies.

Our initial interviews and scoping with employees in IT and HR revealed survey data that painted a clear picture: the technical people wanted to feel a sense of purpose, to be motivated by their work, and to have their work make a difference to the business. These are typical desires for many people in the workplace, so we set to the task of combining these desires with a career trajectory.

The first order of business was to rewrite job descriptions based on industry best practices and standards. We also created new titles, duties, and responsibilities that reflected the kind of work people were doing, going to be doing and wanted to do. We tiered these jobs in seniority based on a combination of experience, expertise, and merit to capture the upward mobility expected from doing good work driven by passion.

Our industry experience has taught us that segregating technical expertise from business leadership on distinct career tracts is a red herring that demotivates professional people. Thus, we built into the managerial tiering modifiers (manager, supervisors), which could be added to people’s jobs as they grew into and desired those responsibilities. The result was lengthy but specific and valued, with titles such as Sr. Data Architect, Manager or Principal Data Scientist, and Director.

Having a career path mapped out did not address the job’s desired purpose, motivation, and difference-making. Our career model was given life by including coaching (bought) and development (built) processes that enforced a plum tree paradigm where management existed only to support. As a result, the people were empowered to manage the work, and the managers led the professional and technical development of the people. This inversion encouraged everyone to self-motivate because the individual now determined their career path and work purpose.