The dual ladder: motivational solution or managerial delusion?

Abstract The ‘Dual Ladder’ reward system has been used for years by industry as an incentive system to motivate technical performance. Its effectiveness has been called into question on many occasions. The paper will report the results of a survey of nearly 1,500 engineers and scientists in nine U.S. organizations. In this survey, engineers were asked to indicate their career preferences in terms of increasing managerial responsibility, technical ladder advancement or more interesting technical work. Responses indicate marked age‐dependent differences in response, particularly a strong increase in the proportion preferring more interesting project work over either form of advancement. Conversations which one of the authors has had recently with managers of the thirteenth company question its status as an exception.