Career dual ladder

P G s reward and recognition system is best exemplified by our dual-ladder system for promotion. Employees in R D will choose, early in their career, whether to advance as a technical expert or as a manager of science. Both are equally valued, and this is important, so there is no stigma associated with one choice or the other. The management path for promotion is traditional and basically resembles all other industrial corporations, as well as the tenure track promotion system in academia. But the key here is that such a promotion system is public, not personal and private. It goes beyond a handshake and a raise and awards titles to individuals selected for advancement. Our titles include such terms as section head, associate director, director, company officers, etc. Others may use different titles, but the title used is far less important than its symbol, namely, the outward recognition of personal success. 

Figure 1.5 Developing a career the dual-ladder approach.

One of the advantages of these multiple tracks is the flexibility in choices, particularly for dualcareer couples. These ladders enable people to take on new challenges, in many cases without having to relocate families, and grow within the same company or organization. For dual-career couples, this flexibility allows both partners to enjoy more fully their job or career choices, and while sacrifices are still in many cases required, the degree of sacrifice is somewhat less. 

To judge an offer you receive or a company where you might like to work, it s important to estimate your prospects for advancement. How any given company cultivates its scientists aspirations is not widely known if it is publicly available information at all. A few companies Web sites do, however, describe their policies. For the most part, familiarity with their practices comes from networking or interviewing, with a notable exception. A. M. Thayer s 1998 essay Dual Career Ladders offers valuable insights into a corporate structure commonplace among research-based companies. 

Hard questions. To devise equitable means for rewarding performance is not an easy task. For that reason it is essential to ask critical questions about the dual career ladder in any company that adopts this system. Here s a selection of such questions, which may find answers through networking or interviewing tact in voicing them is obviously desirable. Perhaps the best advice you can follow is to ask these questions when you have an offer in hand. 

Thayer, A. M. Dual career ladders, Chemical and Engineering News, November 2, 51-55 (1998). 

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