Management has long been treated as the default marker of professional success. Moving into leadership is often seen as a sign of growth and the next logical step for high performers. But for many, this assumption that career progression must lead to people management can leave talented individual contributors feeling misaligned with their passions and strengths.
Take this common pattern: a brilliant software engineer gets promoted to team lead, only to find the new role demands completely different skills. Technical expertise doesn’t always translate into leadership success. Managing people requires mentoring, conflict resolution, and strategic decision-making—skills that aren’t always developed in technical roles.
When companies push top performers into management without proper support or alternatives, they risk losing great individual performers, like engineers or developers, and gaining ineffective managers. As a result, some employees may feel disconnected from the work they love, and stepping back can feel like failure rather than a strategic career choice.
This default move to management can often be a symptom of an organization’s professional learning gaps, where high-performing individual contributors can plateau because structured learning paths for deepening expertise are missing. Plus, it can often be a moment where professional learning is missing and newly minted managers aren’t provided with the proper management training, which sets both individuals and teams up for struggle. Professional learning plays a critical role in this juncture of individuals’ careers, and being able to provide the appropriate learning in this moment is crucial.
The case for dual career paths
Not everyone is cut out for—or interested in—management. A 2024 survey by CoderPad found that 36% of tech workers have no interest in taking on managerial responsibilities. Some professionals thrive as individual contributors, while others excel as people managers, technical leads, or mentors. Recognizing this, forward-thinking companies offer a genuine choice: pursue a management career or deepen expertise as a specialist. This dual-ladder system allows growth that aligns with their strengths, interests, and motivation.
Retaining talent by valuing expertise
Providing both management and expert career paths does more than boost job satisfaction; it helps retain top talent. When employees see a future that matches their interests, they are more likely to stay, contribute at a higher level, and innovate. It also fosters a culture of continuous learning, where growth isn’t reserved for those who manage others.
Organizations don’t just need boardroom executives or “managers of managers”; they need top performers at every level. That means intentionally creating and rewarding non‑managerial opportunities—with clear progression, pay parity, and visibility.
Supporting employees in finding their path
Effective support for career choice goes beyond general promises of opportunity and structures on paper. Organizations need a clear distinction between management and expert tracks, defined criteria for progression, protected time for learning, and leaders equipped to coach learning and development across both tracks. It also calls for clarity on which competencies are evolving in both leadership and expert roles, ensuring development targets skills, not titles.
Turning that clarity into impact requires a learning infrastructure: curated curricula, mentoring, communities of practice, and visible milestones that normalize expert development. In the SAP context, SAP Learning Journeys and skill-validation programs provide organized resources that can support building and maintaining skills over time, enabling development at different depths and paces, independent of title changes. SAP Certifications serve as neutral milestones that can validate skills, increase transparency, and make expert progression comparable to managerial advancement.
Redefining success at work
Ultimately, career growth doesn’t have to mean management. By embracing dual career paths—and by investing in learning infrastructure and credible certification for both paths—organizations can unlock the full potential of their workforce. The companies that will thrive are those that make every path a route to meaningful impact, recognizing that value comes from contribution and capability, not just position.
Diana Rösner is head of Certification Transformation at SAP.
