Although I’ve been always enjoyed working with top performers — discussing technical strategies, design choices, and brainstorming solutions for our customers — sometimes it might be challenging to keep everyone engaged and excited about the projects we work on. Finding the right opportunities to support high performers career advancement is crucial, yet not always straightforward.
Is exceeding expectations enough for a promotion?
Back in 2017, I was leading a team of 12 software engineers and a TPM. I had three SDEs who had great problem solving and deep dive skills, showed bias for action, and delivered on time or even ahead of time. Based on their exceptional commitment and delivery from my perspective, I proposed a promotion for all three of them, wrote the justification and discussed it with the org’s senior director (who was a great mentor and a friend). The response was a quick rejection! Here’s what he said: If they are not doing what they are doing, then they’re not meeting the job’s expectations; we don’t promote people for just doing their jobs! He was absolutely right! My mistake as a new manager was that I thought either exceeding expectations in some areas or evaluating an individual solely against their peers, without having a clear bar for each level, would qualify an individual for a promotion.
Having great skills, delivering on time and being the superstar employee is not enough for building a promotion case, what is enough? I think if an employee consistently takes on about 80% of the next level responsibilities, ensure the remaining 20% don’t have core competencies, and have a plan to address that gap at the next level, the employee should be ready for a promotion.
My mentor helped my change my perspective about moving people to the next level. Based on the justification I wrote, he persuaded me that none of them was ready for a promotion, and he was right for all of them except for one SDE, where I rewrote the promotion justification for her showing how she demonstrated the next level responsibilities, identified areas of improvement, and how she can address the gap at the next level. The org’s senior director was: “now this is a solid promotion case”.
Is promotion the only path to support high performers?
Although promoting employees shows them recognition and advancement in their career goals, it is neither the only way to help and retain high performers, nor is it the most important career goal from every employee’s perspective. Helping employees attain new skills and explore different areas also supports them in achieving their career goals. Once, I had an opening for a manager, and one of the senior SDEs reporting to me expressed interest in transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager and filling that opening.
It was a tough decision for me, as accepting this might jeopardize the team’s synergy since the SDE didn’t have previous experience in management. On the other hand, declining could have been demotivating for that SDE. Instead, I used this opportunity to help the SDE gain management skills. We discussed the required skills for an engineering manager, identified areas where they needed to invest, and assigned them an “acting” engineering manager role, while I shadowed them in most of the team’s meetings and 1:1s.
Although the SDE decided that management wasn’t the right role for them, and decided to switch back to an SDE, they gained new skills being in the driver’s seat. They experienced being part of performance reviews, managing diverse stakeholders and representing their team.
Managing high performers challenges
High-performing software engineers are often motivated by new challenges, acquiring new skills, and stepping out of their comfort zones. However, a common challenge for many engineering managers arises when solutions become redundant and do not foster innovation or the exploration of new technologies. Another challenge is managing a team crowded with high performers and limited opportunities, where each of them might accidentally step on each other’s toes.
As a manager, thinking long-term requires balancing the support of high performers with meeting business requirements. This balance is key to retaining top performers. While working on new technologies that may not have great impact on the business and could extend timelines might seem counterintuitive, occasionally pursuing such projects can help keep engineers engaged and excited about their work.
If pursuing engaging projects within your team is not an option, finding opportunities outside the team where top performers can achieve their career goals might be a viable alternative. While this approach may impact your team’s timelines, it should help accelerate the delivery for the hosting team and reduce the risk of losing a good talent.
Lastly, my two cents is to always be honest with your direct reports. Avoid giving them false hope about opportunities for the sake of delivery if you know there are no challenging projects in the pipeline that would help them advance their careers. Similarly, don’t look for gaps in their performance to prevent them from seeking opportunities elsewhere.
Back in 2019, I was leading three teams across three countries and was looking forward to moving to the next level. Due to the pandemic, the company significantly reduced the number of projects and laid off all outsourced employees. This situation created a setback for my promotion to the next level. I fully respected my manager’s feedback at that time: the company is going through a tough period, I can’t promise you anything. My advice is to have patience and wait until the business is back to normal.
To conclude, exceeding expectations and outperforming peers are not always enough for promotions; consistently demonstrating next-level skills is essential before proposing a promotion. While promotions can drive recognition and motivation, they are not the only way to support career advancement. Changing roles and gaining new skills are other options.
Managing high performers entails addressing challenges such as lack of engaging projects and crowded teams. As a manager, it is important to go above and beyond to address such challenges, even if it requires finding oppurtonities with other teams and prioritizing an employee’s career goals over your own.
