What if the right career move is actually a step back?

Here's something you don't read every day: in a recent BI article, a senior engineer at Meta talked about how he actively asked his organization to demote him. 

Not because of poor performance but because the new role did not allow him to do the things he was really good at (and thus, add value).

His request was denied and he eventually went back to his previous employer. 

His story got me thinking about something we almost never talk about at work: the shame of demotion.

We treat careers as ladders - the higher you go, the more successful you are. But, what if "up" is the wrong direction for you?

👉Why this happens more often than we admit

There is a well known concept in organizational psychology called the Peter Principle.

In 1969, Laurence J Peter observed that in hierarchies, people tend to get promoted for doing well in their current role, until they reach a role that requires a completely different skill set. At that point, performance drops. Not because people got worse, but because the job changed.

Most organizations are very good at promoting people into the wrong role, but they are very bad at helping them step back out of it - even if it means, higher churn, burnout and a huge cost on output.

👉The stigma is real

Demotion is loaded with shame because we confuse status with value.

A lower level is seen as regression, even when the work itself creates more impact, better results, and more sustainability for the person doing it.

👉When demotion actually makes sense

🔻You feel drained by the core expectations of the new role.

🔻The delivery goals of the job do not match your strengths.

🔻You are evaluated on criteria that do not reflect how you create value.

🔻A lower level would let you contribute at a higher quality for longer.

👉 The employer side

Most large companies have detailed career ladders and promotion criteria but not clear processes for down-leveling.

Without a safe way to step down, employees face a binary choice: stay misaligned and unhappy, or leave.

From a policy perspective, the biggest hurdle is adjusting compensation, which may have legal implications and can get very complicated. However, figuring it out may help the organization retain a valuable employee for longer - which surely proves more profitable in the long run.

🗺️Careers were never meant to be straight lines

Most people will change jobs around 12 times in their working life. Many will change careers entirely 3 to 7 times.

Statistically speaking, it is almost guaranteed that not all of those moves will be upwards. 

👉Sometimes the smartest move in a long career is not climbing higher but stepping back into the work where you actually do your best thinking.

🌟Sparking Leadership # 37: a weekly series on human-centered, sustainable leadership. Hit the like button to share the love and follow for real talk and practical tools. In the meantime, lead with spark!