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Career Ladders
The County has many career ladders in place that provide promotional opportunities for employees as they learn new skills and 'move up the ladder'. Career ladders provide management more flexibility to quickly promote employees (within Career Ladder Guidelines  ) in order to address staffing, recruitment, and retention concerns.
Once a career ladder is established (usually as part of the results of an audit), the department involved is responsible for creating criteria for movement from one level to the next. To find out if Career Ladder positions exist in your department check with your management.
The motivation and desire for additional education and continuous improvement are very important ingredients in the career development process.
Additional resources are listed below to assist you with your education and training needs.
Below are prior articles and Q & A's published in The Pen newsletter on this topic. Other
related topics are listed on the left menu navigation bar.
Rule 6 - Promotion
Rule 18 - Employee Training
Overview of functions handled by the Pay & Classification Division
Certified Public Manager Program (CPM)
Tuition Reimbursement
Your Benefits and Compensation
a monthly column in The Pen Newsletter covering Benefit & Compensation topics
Career ladders can be great tools for both recruitment and retention purposes. But what are they? How do they work?
Formal Career Ladders
In a formal process, the progression from one position or title to the next is based on pre-established criteria related to the job competency level required for the next pay level in the market. (The “market” can be internal, external or a combination of both.) Progression occurs based on individual performance and successful accomplishment of the established criteria for promotion, which could include tenure with the company or years of experience either in or outside of the organization. For example, in Business Technology Services, there may be an established career ladder for programmers such as:
• Programmer
Grade CL16
• Programmer Analyst
Grade CL18
• Senior Programmer Analyst
Grade CL20
• Lead Programmer Analyst
(Competitive)
Grade CL23
This career progression allows employees to advance from one position to the next without the need for a position opening up to a level that becomes competitive (in this case Lead Programmer Analyst) for any employee meeting the qualifications for promotion. There can be formalized career ladders that limit the number of employees on any one “rung” or level in the ladder, but that is based more on budgetary requirements than anything else.
Dual Career Ladders
In some Divisions, two separate ladders or paths could be established in which employees could choose to move through their careers. This would allow for technically competent and valued employees to continue growing in their careers and increase their opportunities for pay without taking on management responsibilities that may not fit their personality profile, or where jobs are similar but licenses or certifications are required to perform particular duties (such as various types of Engineering positions).
Informal Career Ladders
The type of career ladder that is seen most often is informal. The progression from one job to the next usually is not based on the mastering of the preestablished criteria for the next position in the job family. Typically, it is based on a job opening in the department where individuals apply and selection is made based on the most qualified applicant.
Getting Started
There are many opportunities to develop career ladders and Human Resources can provide guidance and information on developing career ladders. When looking at developing career ladders, it is important to seek input from those in the organization who will help develop the specific criteria necessary for movement from one level to the next while also providing insight on motivators.
A career ladder improves productivity and efficiency by allowing the manager and employee at least two good methods for filling jobs, i.e., a manager may either career ladder promote an eligible employee or use the normal promotional process which requires an Employee Requisition, eligible register, interviews, etc. As with any type of career path program, management and executive support is required if the program is to succeed.
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Q: What are the benefits of a Career Ladder Promotion Program? What are the responsibilities and how do I get involved?
A: A Career Ladder Promotion Program is a personnel management tool designed to give managers and supervisors the discretion to promote employees into certain positions without waiting for a vacancy to occur. This eliminates many of the steps that are normally involved in the selection process. Employees under such programs can be promoted after pre-set training and performance criteria have been met. Such programs enhance management’s ability to recruit and retain desirable employees as prospective and current employees can foresee that progressive movement is attainable. Career Ladder Promotion Programs are growing in popularity throughout the Unified Personnel System. It should be kept in mind that while Career Ladder Promotion Programs offer significant benefits, they are not appropriate for all work situations. There are also several responsibilities and assurances associated with such programs:
Management must assure that there is a legitimate business need and sufficient higher-level work to justify a career ladder promotion program.
The desire to reward long-term employees or high achievers, or an attempt to simply boost morale, are not sufficient as there are other programs in place to address such situations.
Management must ensure that each eligible employee is given an equal opportunity to enter into such programs.
Beyond this, there must be assurances that each employee is provided an equal chance to succeed in such programs. All necessary training and resources must be made equally available to all participating employees. Keep in mind that important steps in the selection process are absent from Career Ladder Promotion Programs. Therefore, promotion decisions rest solely with your departmental management. It is therefore management’s responsibility to ensure the program is administered fairly to all and to maintain documentation to support it.
As stated previously, management must assure there is sufficient work at the higher level to justify each position recommended for career ladder promotion. Keep in mind that the lower level work must still be performed. If and when position audits are conducted by the Pay and Classification staff of the Human Resources Department, it would be expected that the higher level duties (i.e. those used to justify the establishment of the career ladder promotion program) are assigned to affected positions at least 50 to 60% of the time to avoid the possibility of being downgraded.
With all of that said, the Career Ladder Promotion Program remains an excellent management tool by providing management with latitude and flexibility while enhancing recruitment efforts and increasing employee morale. Requests to institute a Career Ladder Promotion Program must be submitted to the Pay & Classification Manager by the Appointing Authority, Department Director or designated management staff. Requests should include a complete description of current duties and responsibilities; all training and performance criteria and time frames required to achieve eligibility for promotion; and a complete description of duties and responsibilities to be assigned upon promotion.
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Career Ladders - Lessons Learned from Star Wars
(excerpt from Astron Solutions)
Through George Lucas’ storytelling, filmgoers have come to know Darth Vader as the epitome of evil. But as we learn from the latest Star Wars trilogy, underneath that intimidating exterior beats the heart of a man whose turn to the dark side was largely a result of his frustration with his former employer.
What if the Jedi had an effective HR program? Perhaps we would have seen Anakin chatting with Yoda over intergalactic eggnog at the Jedi holiday party, rather than Darth Vader bowing to the evil emperor, in Revenge of the Sith.
So where did the Jedi’s HR program go wrong? At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be a problem. After all, the Jedi offer an excellent training program for new employees, surely making them one of the galaxy’s employers of choice. Where else can you learn how to wield your very own LightSaber and do Jedi Mind Tricks? They don’t offer that type of training even at Microsoft.
In Revenge of the Sith, we see that Anakin, now a Jedi Knight, has become one of the Jedi’s “star employees.” However, even though Jedi Knight is a highly respectable title, Anakin is unhappy regarding his entry level status. He desperately wants to be promoted to Jedi Master believing that this new title would bring him the respect that he feels he deserves. What Anakin doesn’t seem to understand is that each Jedi Master has years of solid experience and knowledge of The Force under his or her belt. As a result of this disconnect, Anakin becomes increasingly frustrated and considers another job offer.
A Career Progression program would have helped in this situation. Building career paths lets employees know that they are moving forward within an organization, giving them a sense of direction. Anakin would have realized that the Jedi cared about his career growth, and that the promotion to Jedi Master was an attainable goal with a clear career progression program in place.
As the story unfolds, we see that there is also a serious lack of communication between Anakin and the Jedi’s upper management, the Jedi Council. In fact, Anakin reveals to his wife that he feels lost and doesn’t believe that the Jedi Council trusts him.
It may be too late for Anakin/Darth Vader, but it’s not too late to have a solid Career Development Program or Career Ladder in place. If the Council had considered periodic reviews, provided an understanding of the corporate culture, encouraged open communication, and established career ladder criteria, the fate of Anakin and Darth Vader could have been much different.
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