Managing the Career Plateau

Author(s): Thomas P. Ference, James A. Stoner and E. Kirby Warren

Source: The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Oct., 1977), pp. 602-612
Published by: Academy of Management
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/257512
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 Managing the Career Plateau'

THOMAS P. FERENCE JAMES A. F. STONER

Columbia University Fordham University
E. KIRBY WARREN
Columbia University

Managerial careers are characterized by early rapid upward mobility

followed by inevitable leveling-off or plateauing. Based on interviews
with managers in nine major organizations, a general dynamic model
of managerial careers is presented. Some key issues associated with the
career plateau are isolated and suggestions for managing the plateau
process are offered.

A plateau is defined as the point in a career pirants at each higher rung of the organizational
where the likelihood of additional hierarchical ladder, virtually all managers reach positions
promotion is very low. Career plateaus are a na- from which further upward mobility is unlikely.
tural consequence of the way organizations are Unfortunately, the phrase "career plateau"
shaped. Since there are fewer positions than as- has a negative tone, suggesting failure and de-
feat, which hinders understanding and manage-
Thomas P. Ference (Ph.D. - Carnegie-Mellon University) is ment of this aspect of careers. Discussions of
Director of the Masters Degree Program for Executives and plateaued managers have focused largely on
Adjunct Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Busi- problem situations: "shelf sitters", "deadend-
ness, Columbia University, New York. ers", "deadwood", and so on (7, 18, 21). But
James A. F. Stoner (Ph.D. - MIT) is Associate Professor at the there is nothing inherently negative about the
Joseph P. Martino Graduate School of Business Administra- notion of a career plateau. To say that a person
tion, Fordham University, New York.

E. Kirby Warren (Ph.D. - Columbia University) is Professor of

1 The authors would like to express their gratitude to the
Management at the Graduate School of Business, ColumbiaFord Foundation and the Samuel F. Bronfman Foundation for
University, New York.
financial support associated with preparation of this article
Received 3/10/76; Revised 7/23/76; Accepted 8/31/76; and to H. Kurt Christensen for his numerous contributions to
Revised 10/15/76. the work reported here.
602

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Academy of Management Review - October 1977 603

Current Likelihood of Future Promotion

Performance '
Low High

Solid Citizens
(effective plateauees)
High Stars
Organizationally Per
Plateaued Plateaued

Deadwood Learners
Low
(ineffective plateauees) (comers)

FIGURE 1. A Model of Managerial Careers.

has plateaued tells us nothing about that as suggestions as to how organizations might
per-
manage this phenomenon more effectively.
son's performance on the job, morale, ambition,
or any other personal or behavioral characteris-
A Model of Managerial Careers
tic. It simply describes that individual's current
career status within a particular organization.
During the past few years, the authors have The first parameter in a model for classifying
discussed the career plateau phenomenon managerialwith career states is the likelihood of fu-
experienced managers in a variety of organiza- ture promotion - the organization's estimate of
tions. The observations and conceptual model the individual's chances for receiving a hierarchi-
presented here are based on exploratory cal promotion. The second characteristic is per-
inter-
views conducted with 55 senior executives in formance in present position - how well the in-
nine major organizations. The interview sample dividual is seen by the organization as doing his
was composed of senior personnel, management or her present job. By classifying individuals as
development executives, and division-level line "high" or "low" on these two parameters, we
and staff management. The organizations were can produce a straightforward classification of
drawn from the following industries: banking, in-managerial career states, as shown in Figure 1.
surance, entertainment, paper manufacturing, Naturally, a more detailed model would allow for
petroleum, pharmaceutical, technical products, finer gradations of each characteristic or would
introduce other dimensions. Some elaborations
steel, and electrical equipment. (For a full report
of the total study, see Stoner et al. (27).) on the basic model are discussed below and in a
The interviews were intended to elicit the subsequent paper (10).
reactions of these executives to the conceptual The four principal career states in the mod-
model we were formulating and to obtain theirel are:
insights into major issues associated with manage- "Learners" or "comers". These individuals
rial career plateaus. This article describes a meth- have high potential for advancement but pres
od of viewing the career plateau in the context of ently perform below standard. Obvious exam-
the entire organizational career and presents a ples are trainees who are still learning their new
series of issues associated with plateauing, as welljobs and are not yet integrated into the organi

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604 Managing the Career Plateau

zation's culture. Also included are longer serv- are highly developed assessment and training
ice managers who have recently been promoted programs for learners (4, 5), development pro-
to new positions which they have not yet mas- grams for stars (24), and rehabilitation or out-
tered. placement programs for deadwood (7, 17). Iron-
"Stars". These persons presently do out- ically, the largest group, the effective solid citi-
standing work and are viewed as having high po- zens, frequently must fend for themselves.
tential for continued advancement. They are on
the "high potential", "fast track" career paths. Some Elaboration of the Career Model
They are a readily identifiable group in most or-
ganizations, and probably receive the most at- The basic model can be elaborated to ana-
tention in development programs and manage- lyze sources of plateauing and to consider differ-
rial discussions. ent types of effective plateauees. It is also ame-
"Solid citizens". Their present performance nable to an analysis of the development of ca-
is rated satisfactory to outstanding, but they are reers over time.
seen as having little chance for future advance-
ment. These individuals are probably the largest Types of Effective Plateauees
group in most organizations and perform the
Respondents indicated more than one iden-
bulk of organizational work. Management effort
tifiable subgroup within the solid citizen (effec-
and research seldom has focused on them.
"Deadwood". These individuals have little tive plateauee) category. Individuals may be-
come plateaued for reasons that can be grouped
potential for advancement, and their perform-
into two broad categories:
ance has fallen to an unsatisfactory level. These
people have become problems, whether for rea- 1. Some are organizationally plateaued, al-
sons of motivation, ability, or personal difficulty. though having the ability to perform
Probably a small group in most organizations, well in higher level jobs, because of lack
they are often the recipients of considerable at- of openings.
tention, either for rehabilitation or dismissal.
The individuals on the left-hand side of the
2. Some are personally plateaued, because
model - the "solid citizens" and the "dead-
they are seen by the organization either
as lacking in ability for higher level jobs,
wood" - are the plateaued managers. The solid or as not desiring a higher level job.
citizens are effective plateauees; the deadwood
are ineffective. For most organizations, only in- The most important source of organizational
dividuals in the deadwood category are seen as
plateauing is the narrowing pyramid (or cone) as
current problems. diagrammed by Schein (25). At each sequentially
Formulation of the model in this manner higher level, there are fewer positions above
suggests three major implications. First, an im-(the pool of opportunities shrinks) and more po-
portant challenge for management is to preventsitions below (the pool of potential candidates
solid citizens from slipping into the deadwoodincreases). For a specific manager, jumping a
category. Second, different managerial ap- major hurdle, such as obtaining a general man-
proaches and styles are likely to be needed for agement position by age 35, may indicate many
effective management of individuals in each ca-opportunities ahead with few true competitors,
reer state. Third, while there is considerable an apparent broadening of the funnel. But for
"technology" in place for dealing with manag-all managers as a group, the probability that each
ers in these three categories, few measures are promotion will be the last increases with every
available for dealing with the solid citizen. There step.

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 605
Academy of Management Review - October 1977

Other sources of organizational plateauing reer path; they may be sidetracked too
include: long in a job that has been mastered.

1. Competition. For a given position, the 3. Lack of sufficient desire. Some individ-
individual may be seen as less qualified uals explicitly make known their desires
than other candidates, including some not to be promoted further; others send
presently outside the organization. ambiguous signals or place constraints
on proposed promotions and transfers.
2. Age. The individual may be seen as a less An individual classified as a star by the
desirable candidate because of the need
organization may not desire additional
to utilize the position for training young- promotion; such a person may become
er, high potential managers who might increasingly frustrated by the organiza-
have longer useful lives with the organ- tion's efforts at advancement and devel-
ization.
opment (2).
3. Organizational needs. The individual Cognizance of an individual's career state
may be seen as too valuable in his or her and how he or she got there is an essential input
present position to be spared for other, to management decisions about that individual.
albeit higher level, work. Different management styles and strategies
These considerations may or may not be seen as should be adopted for different managers. Indi-
equitable from the perspective of a given indi- viduals who are organizationally plateaued be-
vidual, but they are part of an individual organi- cause of lack of openings may thrive on manage-
zational decision-making process. rial job enrichment efforts which distribute some
For individuals who are personally pla- of the boss's responsibility downwards. The same
teaued, promotion to a higher level position is approach might overwhelm managers who are
unlikely even if openings occur. The organiza- personally plateaued because their abilities are
tion's judgment might be based on a number of being fully utilized in their present job.
personal factors and qualities, including:
The "Elusive Learners"
1. Lack of technical and managerial skills.
This includes absence of job context
In discussing the "learner" or "comer" cate-
(interpersonal competence) or job con-
gory, several managers indicated difficulty identi-
tent (technical proficiency) skills needed
fying specific individuals currently in that
for effective work at the next level. Skill
category. Yet they recognized the category as
deficiencies could arise from lack of ap-
logically consistent. They offered three major
titude, lack of exposure to responsibility
reasons for their difficulty in citing examples of
or development opportunities, or lack of
learners. First, many managers above entry-level
ability to respond to changing job re- positions learn new jobs and achieve high per-
quirements.
formance quickly, and thus are learners only a
2. Lack of career skills. Some individuals short time. Second, some managers are pre-
are organizationally naive and lack an pared for a new job before being promoted into
adequate understanding of the com- it, often doing the work before the promotion
plexity of organizational realities (12). becomes official; an assistant vice president may
Others tend to stay within a limited defi- become a high performing vice president from
nition of their present job, failing to take the first official day in the job because the work
active steps to move along a viable ca- was mastered before the promotion. Finally, ex-

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60
Managing the Career Plateau

Plateauing

A. The Life-cycle View F+

of Careers C )bsolescing
4

B. The Peter Principle

(Unsuccessful Plateauing)

Exit
_,-c~-

Plateauing
1

C. Maintaining a
Successful Plateau

71

FIGURE 2. Three Views of Career Dynamics.

pectations of potential often influence formal
evaluation of managers during that learning pe-
riod. Such managers are likely to be rated as "do-
ing very well for someone new at the job" or are
given a "too early to evaluate" performance rat-
ing. Thus, for a specific promotion or movement
into a new job, a given manager may skip the
learner category, may remain in it for only a
short period of time, or may be in the category
without public acknowledgement by other or-
ganizational members. These possibilities were
not seen by the interviewers as challenging the
validity of the category, nor were they seen as
mitigating the necessity of managing and sup-
porting the development process during the
learning period.

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Academy of Management Review - October 1977 607

Careers Over Time are likely to be targets for remedial programs or

decisive action such as demotion or dismissal.
This essentially static model classifies manag-
Comparable attention is not focused on
ers at a particular point in time. But the model
maintaining the performance of the solid citizens
also can be viewed as a description of how ca-
who constitute the greater bulk of the manage-
reers progress over time. Individuals typically
ment group. Organizations need solid citizens
enter an organization and embark upon their ca-
to maintain stability, provide continuity, and
reers as learners. Mastery of the job brings move-
keep the level of competition for higher level
ment into the star category and candidacy for
jobs within manageable bounds. But interview-
promotion. Subsequent promotions and sus-
ees reported a tendency to treat solid citizens
tained performance produce passages between
passively. They may be denied access to develop-
the learner and star categories. Individuals grad-
ment programs and challenging assignments.
ually or abruptly drop out of competition for the
Such practices may starve solid citizens of exactly
next promotion and move on to the inevitable
the types of stimulation and opportunity they re-
career plateau - they become solid citizens and
quire to remain effective.
remain there as long as their performance holds
up. As age, lack of challenge, lack of motivation,
What to Do: Tentative Suggestions
or lack of attention begin to undermine perform-
ance, they drift toward the deadwood category.
Although understanding in this area is at an
This progression traces out a life cycle of growth-
early stage, recent research offers suggestions
stability-decline (Figure 2a) which parallels de-
about what senior executives and their organiza-
scriptions of other aspects of human develop-
ment.
tions should and should not do to manage the
plateauing process more effectively. Three areas
This description of the progress of a manage-
of action are: (a) preventing plateauees from be-
rial career resembles the Peter Principle, a popu-
coming ineffective (preventing a problem from
lar but pessimistic description of organizational
arising); (b) integrating the relevant career-re-
life (21). This principle suggests that the typical
lated information systems (improving monitoring
career is a series of promotions based upon ef-
so emerging problems can be detected and
fective performance in successively higher posi-
treated early); and (c) managing ineffective pla-
tions, culminating with promotion to the individ-
teauees and frustrated managers more effective-
ual's "level of incompetence". If organizations
ly ("curing" the problem once it has arisen).
were allowed to follow their preferred proce-
These three areas of action focus specifically up-
dures, managers would not reach the solid citi-
on the career plateau. Hall (14) provides a more
zen category but would recycle between learner
general yet thorough discussion of ways in which
and star until they are "terminally placed" as
organizations can promote more effective ca-
deadwood (Figure 2b).
reers on a continuing basis.
Neglecting the "Solid Citizen"
Preventing Deadwood
The solid citizen - the effective plateauee
- is performing well in her or his present job, The ineffective plateauee's performance has
not identified as a "star" nor as "deadwood". declined, and he or she may have a negative im-
Much of an organization's management devel- pact on the performance of subordinates and co-
opment efforts are focused on the extremes workers.
of While dismissal is a possibility, it is a dis-
the performance continuum. High-potential tasteful action for many managers. Consideration
managers are most likely to have access to de- of obligations incurred through past service, age,
velopment programs, and poor performancers and the limited availability of alternative work

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608
Managing the Career Plateau

opportunities mitigate against severe action. pirations of individual managers. Many

Recognition that the organization has played a organizations depend upon informal
role in making some managers ineffective con- observations and interpretations of su-
tributes to reluctance to use the dismissal route. periors. Conditions maintaining individ-
Rising concern among middle managers ual performance vary across individuals
about their career situations and prospects is ac- as a function of particular goals and val-
companied by increasing pressures for job secur- ues (13).
ity, education opportunities, and an improved
The authors of this article feel that it is un-
bargaining position with upper management
duly cynical to assume that all plateaued manag-
(17). Potential for these trends to result in organ-
ers are incompetent. The Peter Principle is a
ized collective action by middle managers, in-
cluding unionization (8), provides a further ra-
special case of plateauing, which leaves little
room for healthy, constructive solutions (al-
tionale for attention to organizational career
though some suggested solutions for the individ-
management practices.
ual to use in managing his or her own career do
To the extent that management can avoid
appear in The Peter Prescription (20)). A more
practices that lead to ineffective plateauing,
reasonable assumption is that managers can pla-
painful decisions arising from dealing with
teau while still effective and are capable of per-
"deadwood" can be reduced. Some potentially
harmful practices include:
forming well and adjusting constructively to
their career situations. Plateauing indicates only
1. Failure to appraise accurately marginal arrival at a presumably permanent position in the
or poor performance and to initiate cor- organizational hierarchy; it does not necessarily
rective action. Long-run problems can imply cessation of personal growth and develop-
be fostered by avoiding the short-run ment. Many avenues for personal and career de-
unpleasantness of negative appraisal, velopment remain available to the plateaued in-
thus allowing possibly correctable be- dividual (18, 25), and it is the task of senior man-
havior to become entrenched habit, agement to assist individuals in adjusting effec-
which later becomes "someone else's tively to their hierarchical situation - to remain
problem" (14, 22). in the solid citizen category until they leave the
organization (Figure 2c).
2. Failure to provide training, skill upgrad-
ing, and development of solid citizens.
Two Key Issues
This tends to assure that performance
will slip as the requirements of a given
The managers interviewed identified two
position change, even if the incumbent's
ways in which their organizations made the in-
motivation remains high. Kaufman (17)
evitable plateauing phenomenon into a poten-
and Kay (18) suggest ways to combat ob-
solescence.
tial organizational problem.

3. Failure to appraise, counsel, and devel- Early Identification and Creation of Plateauees
op career paths in the context of an indi-
The judgment that an individual has pla-
vidual's total life situation, and the paral-
teaued is becoming increasingly more explicit
lel tendency to promote individuals be-
and, as a result, probably more permanent and
yond current ability, leading to ineffec-
consequential. Interviewers reported that their
tiveness and psychological stress.
organizations are developing increasingly so-
4. Failure to monitor the attitudes and as- phisticated performance appraisal and succes-

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Academy of Management Review - October 1977
sion planning systems which bring the manage-
rial workforce and particularly their promotabil-
ity under continual scrutiny.
In addition to assessing current perform-
ance, managers are being asked to estimate: (a)
extent of the appraisee's potential for promo-
tion; (b) when the appraisee will be ready for
promotion; and (c) the appraisee's training and
development needs and plans. Performance ap-
praisal, especially in the early years of an individ-
ual's career, frequently determines visibility to
higher level managers and access to develop-
ment opportunities. Thus it initiates organiza-
tional actions which subsequently confirm the
appraisal.
Even more explicit decisions about an indi-
vidual's long range career possibilities are made
by succession planning processes that attempt to
link individual potential to particular positions.
The principal concerns of such systems are to:
(a) identify specific candidates for specific posi-
tions; (b) determine when the candidate will be
ready; (c) determine the candidate's need for ad-
ditional skills and experiences; and (d) develop
plans for filling these needs.
The succession plan becomes a definitive
mechanism for identifying plateauees because it
forces a distinction between abstract potential
(common in the appraisal process) and potential
for a specific position. To the extent that these
formal systems become more widely adopted,
definitive judgments increasingly will be made
early in the individual's career. These judgments,
whether accurate or not, affect training and de-
velopment opportunities offered to individuals,
and strongly influence eventual career experi-
ence. Studies show that early job experiences
and events are powerful predictors of future
work performance and career mobility (3, 4, 9,
26). As early organizational judgments increas-
ingly become formalized, these judgments will
more nearly become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Organizations will have to develop conscious
strategies for managing the plateauees that the
systems help to create.
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609
Integrating Career Management Procedures
Performance appraisal and succession plan-
ning, which make the plateauing judgment ex-
plicit and self-confirming, are seldom integrated
or cross referenced within an organization. In
many organizations, the several personnel func-
tions, such as development, internal placement,
out-placement services, and counseling, are not
only vested in different units or individuals but
are frequently conducted as if the other activities
did not exist. Poor coordination leads to confu-
sion in signals transmitted to individuals and to
failure to identify developing problem areas.
The systematic integration of appraisal sys-
tems and succession planning would sharpen the
organization's manpower planning efforts, facil-
itating attention to career progress and increas-
ing possibilities for intraorganizational transfer
of individuals. It also would highlight discrepan-
cies between assessment of potential on apprais-
al forms and designation for promotion in succes-
sion plans. Hall (14) suggested potential for im-
proved organizational performance and individ-
ual satisfaction through a more explicit integra-
tion of the wealth of information buried within
personnel systems.
Managing Ineffective or Frustrated Plateauees
There are no easy answers to the critical
problem of how to bring the performance of in-
effective plateauees to an effective level or how
to motivate plateauees frustrated by the absence
of advancement. For the ineffective plateauee,
promising paths for restoring performance in-
clude:
1. Educational programs which upgrade
technical skill, allowing the individual to
keep pace with the changing job;
2. Development programs that allow for
emotional and intellectual recharging,
although care must be taken to avoid un-
deliverable promises of advancement or
unintentional threats of being phased
610
out (7);
3. Job rotation to provide a change of
scene, through new duties, skill de-
mands, or location. This can provide
some of the stimulation normally asso-
ciated with promotion although careful
planning is needed to encourage man-
agers to move from comfortable niches
into new challenges. Ironically, the same
effect can be obtained under certain cir-
cumstances through demotion as
through lateral transfer (11).
For the frustrated plateauee, the potential
and need for job enrichment in place is consid-
erable. Possibilities for growth through educa-
tion and other special focus activities are limited
only by the imagination of senior managers and
their willingness to share the excitement and po-
tential of their jobs with subordinates.
Critical Questions for Research
and Policy
These suggestions only begin to touch upon
the intensity of the challenge to managerial in-
genuity presented by plateaued managers. Re-
maining questions for research and managerial
thought include:
1. To what degree is personal and profes-
Schneider as follows:
sional stagnation the inevitable conse-
quence of long tenure in a given posi-
tion?
2. Is it better to tell a manager that he or
she has plateaued or to allow the indi-
vidual to maintain hope of eventual pro-
motion?
3. Are plateaued individuals more effec-
tive when they accept their situation
realistically or when they continue to as-
pire?
4. Which career management methods are
likely to lead to continued satisfactory
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Managing the Career Plateau
performance and a healthy adjustment
to one's career situation?
Relationship to Other Career Models
Further directions for research are suggested
by this model's potential to guide extensions of
the career models of Schein (25), Hall (14, 15),
and Hall and Schneider (16). Schein has dis-
cussed the timing of innovative behavior of man-
agers during their careers. He hypothesizes that
managers will be more innovative in the later
part of their careers, because they have achieved
"organizational tenure", and between "bound-
ary passages" (sometime after a promotion is re-
ceived and before the next promotion is antici-
pated). While lacking empirical support, his rea-
soning is provocative. But conventional wisdom
suggests that late career managers are not gen-
erally seen as particularly innovative. The distinc-
tion between effective and ineffective plateau-
ees, as well as consideration of the timing and
level of plateauing, should sharpen an under-
standing of the conditions under which the in-
novation hypothesis is likely to hold.
The predictive and explanatory power of
Hall's "psychological success" model might be
enhanced by contrasting trainees and stars with
effective plateauees and ineffective plateauees.
Based on the work of Lewin (19) and Argyris (1),
its basic components are summarized by Hall and
If (1) the individual sets a challenging goal for
himself ....., and (2) he determines his own
means of attaining that goal, and (3) the goal is
relevant to his self-concept, then he will ex-
perience psychological success upon attain-
ment of that goal. This sense of personal suc-
cess will lead to an increase in self-esteem,
which in turn will lead to increased future lev-
els of expectation (16, p. 2).
The data used to test their more elaborate ver-
sion of this basic model did not yield strong con-
firmation, and led to some revision of the model.
One elaboration that might sharpen the
model would be inclusion of the individual's per-
Academy of Management Review - October 1977 611

ception of organizational career state as a mod- and expected such a person to become a prob-
erating variable. This would allow a distinction lem.
between individuals who direct their efforts to-
The official description of a managerial ca-
wards enhanced organizational performance reer fosters expectations of reasonably steady
and those who channel increased motivation upward progression in the organization hier-
stemming from enhanced self-esteem in otherarchy and of achieving self-fulfillment through
directions. this progression. This expectation is often so per-
The phenomenon of plateaus in managerial vasive that the termination of upward movement
careers presents a challenging problem to organ- is seen as a sign of failure. Despite this "official"
climate, increasing numbers of managers do re-
izations. The culture has increasingly emphasized
ject promotions and transfers; solid citizens are
the desirability of fully utilizing one's potential,
and somewhere along the way self-actualization necessary and valuable, and the proportion of
has come to be correlated with career success. plateauees in managerial ranks is likely to in-
Aspiring managers have grown up in a society crease.

which provides an official view - a conventional The emphasis on promotion has led
wisdom - of the world of work and the nature the managerial and professional rank
of proper ambition. tion the quality and value of manager
The rhetoric of management thought sus- The experience of middle managers in
tains this imagery. Ambition and desire for pro- menting job enrichment programs for t
motion are more than just acceptable; they are ordinates has led some of them to ask,
often essential to being judged as an effective about job enrichment for me?" The need
contributor. One manager, in describing a sub-ways to enrich managerial jobs is recei
ordinate who turned down an offer to join an-attention. The challenge to top managem
other company at a higher position and salary, develop climates that acknowledge th
said, "My estimate of his abilities and his work of plateauees, and accept and confirm
has gone down a lot. I have to question his mo-ments to quality work which do not in
tivation and ambition." Some respondents sires or expectations of hierarchical a
doubted that a subordinate who did not desire ment.

promotion could really do an outstanding job,

REFERENCES

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tion (New York: Wiley, 1964). Weick. Managerial Behavior, Performance, and Effective-
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