Fraunhofer IAO | R&D Management“Promoting a researcher to a management position implies the risk that he may not meet the necessary requirements and, consequently, turns from a good researcher into a poor manager.“ (Specht, Beckmann, Amelingmeyer: F&E-Management, 2002, S. 315)
Topic and project experts have an important role in R&D-intensive organisations. Topic experts have to keep an eye on sometimes fast (technological) developments, provide competent advice to their colleagues and superiors and build up stable networks to external experts. Project experts handle complex, international initiatives that require a high degree of (cultural) empathy, flexibility and coordination excellence.
In many companies, the recognition and support given to these experts does not match the importance of their role. Their salary progression often does not catch up with the one of their colleagues in management career paths, just as their training schemes and and the equipment they work with.
As a consequence, it is difficult for many companies to keep and motivate their most important experts. This also puts superiors under pressure: in their search for a way out they sometimes fall back on informal and unsuitable solutions, such as the placing of a project expert in a management training programme or the promotion of a topic expert to a management position.
Innovation leaders increasingly rely on differentiated career systems that offer topic and project expert career paths that fit their competencies and interests and provide them the recognition that complies with their roles. To ensure the successful development and introduction of these systems, it is crucial to come up with company-specific, hands-on concepts that are recognized as a real alternative to management career paths. Fraunhofer IAO guides companies through the complex phases of this process, by providing methodical support, hints to critical success factors and case studies of other companies.
To find out more, please feel welcome to have a look at our publication Karriere- und Anreizsysteme für die Forschung und Entwicklung (in German only) that presents insights into the current state-of-the-art in science and industry as well as detailed cases studies. Further information can be found in the summary of our surveys on Betriebliche Karrieresysteme and Mitarbeitermotivation in der Forschung und Entwicklung.
