The themes that emerge from the experiences of professional employees who transition from a technical role to a management role in their organizations

The transition of professional employees from a technical role to a management role often presents significant challenges for individuals. These challenges have implications for organizational managers and the human resource development (HRD) field. Essentially, professionals are defined and valued in organizations for their unique knowledge and skills. When they decide to voluntarily transition from technical roles to management, they may encounter difficulties as they learn new skills and align their professional identity with the demands of their managerial responsibilities. The difficulties they encounter during voluntary role transition may come from this notion that individuals who are skilled in their own area of expertise may also be skilled in managing others involved in that area. However, in spite of the relatively high level of attention given to this phenomenon, numerous questions remain about understanding the transition of professional employees from a technical to a management role. Specifically, during this role transition process, professional employees often experience psychological conflicts stemming from the misalignment between their organizations' expectations for the management role and their individual professional identity. These professionals undergoing the role transition differ in self-concept, mindset, motives, self-esteem, expertise, and prior occupational socialization, all of which independently influence their transitional experiences into management. The purpose of this study is to investigate the themes that emerge from the experiences of professional employees who transition from a technical role to a management role in their organizations. This study uses a qualitative analytical approach combining the critical incident technique with a semi-structured interview guide. The study aims to address five correlated research questions by gathering experiences from nine respondents who have undergone the transition from a technical role to a management role. Data analysis involves the use of a thematic analysis guide to categorize these experiences into themes and to connect these themes with relevant literature and narrative forms. The findings of this study shed light on the experiences and strategies that professional employees adapt to address the challenges they encounter when transitioning from a technical role to a management role in their organizations. Respondents faced challenges related to team delegation, balancing expectations, and setting priorities between their technical and management roles. In response to these challenges, they engaged in processes of sense-making to negotiate their professional identity in the workplace. The emerging themes explain that the process of learning in current management role is intertwined with adapting to the associated role attributes. This learning and role interplay have consequences for individuals’ career advancement strategies after assuming a management role. The analysis of themes explains how individuals learn, adapt, and perceive themselves when juggling two distinct roles, technical and management, in their organizations. The study findings are particularly relevant to mid-career technical professionals transitioning into management roles, which is a predominant career change. Based on these findings, this study presents a revised conceptual framework and proposes a framework of HRD research questions to support first-time managers in knowledge-based organizations. This research provides a synthesis of management development practices for future HRD research and practical application.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Rahman, Shoptorshi

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jacobs, Ronald L.
• Pak, Yoon Kyung
• Oh, Eunjung Grace
• Möller, Karla J.

• Technical
• Engineering
• Role Transition
• Management
• Professional Employees
• Professional Identity
• First-time Managers
• Career Advancement Strategies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Shoptorshi Rahman

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124628

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124628