In recent years, "unbossing" has been gaining popularity as a concept and a strategy to "flatten" organizations or reduce overly layered orgs. But contrary to what the name might suggest, it shouldn't be about eliminating management—but rather fixing a systemic problem decades in the making.

We Fell into The "Manager" Trap

For years, we built organizational structures with a fatal flaw: making management the only real path to career advancement. With limited individual contributor (IC) levels that "feed into" fewer, higher-paying management roles, we essentially told talented specialists, "if you want to grow, you'll need to become a manager (..but oh, by the way, there aren't that many of those jobs available), which not only led to rewarding the wrong kinds of behaviors to get one of those few coveted roles, it left the majority of our organizations still lacking clarity around how their impact can continue to grow and recognized over time in the absence of a manager role.

We now see lots of middle managers who might be or have been brilliant developers, marketers, or salespeople, but not necessarily skilled at—or even interested in—leading people. We promoted people to their level of incompetence (the Peter Principle) and then wondered why middle management became bloated and ineffective. Not wanting to be a manager is not a new thing, but the failing of this fundamental approach to progression in the workplace is now causing enough tension that organizations are finally taking a first principle approach to how to solve this problem.

The Real Solution: Parity

The answer isn't simply removing managers—that would be overcorrecting. Instead, organizations need to implement parallel paths and pay parity.

Create parallel career tracks

• More equal number of IC and management levels
• Having pay bands relative to level vs title or role (pay parity between roles)
• Clear paths where ICs could outrank some managers (vs artificially ranked lower)
• Standardize frameworks across teams for fairness, scalability and sustainability of system

Redefine "management" as a different but not better career path

• Not a promotion from IC work, but a different skillset
• Focus on enabling teams, not directing work
• Hiring and developing specifically for management capabilities
• Evaluate manager performance on manager competencies and team outcomes

Developing Better Managers

As Russ Laraway, author of "If They Win, You Win" and Co-founder of Radical Candor, points out, the key is to "hire motivated people" and clearly define the behaviors you want to see. For managers, this means:

• Creating explicit behavioral standards tied to core values
• Assessing managers on their ability to develop others, not their individual output
• Developing "scoreable" rubrics for hiring and performance evaluation (like in Pando)‍
• Focusing on impact to the business and through their teams, not just hustle

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Change Management Journey

Making this transition requires a structured approach:

Align Your Framework

1. Create clear level definitions for both tracks
2. Remove titles initially and focus on role expectations
3. Ensure standardization across departments

Develop Manager-Specific Competencies / Leadership Frameworks

1. Define clear behavioral expectations at each level
2. Create progression paths based on leadership skills
3. Build assessment rubrics that focus on team enablement

Implement Training and Support

1. Invest in management development programs
2. Focus on coaching and people development skills
3. Create feedback loops for continuous improvement

Enable Transparency and Alignment

1. Share levels and progression paths openly
2. Align individual and team goals
3. Create clear metrics for success in both tracks

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The Future of Work

This isn't just about organizational design—it's about creating sustainable, people-centric workplaces that can thrive in the future. With Gen Z's expecations and demands for clear career paths  (those that don't force them into management for example), pay transparency legislation becoming more common, and the need to move and adapt quickly to rapidly shifting markets, organizations simply can't afford to maintain outdated structures.

The most successful companies will be those that:

• Value technical expertise equally to management skills
• Create multiple, transparent paths for career growth
• Hire and develop managers who truly want to lead
• Maintain transparency about levels and progression
• Pay for performance against clearly outlined expectations

Taking Action

Stop hiding levels from your people. The pain of calibration today is nothing compared to the exodus you'll face tomorrow. Start by:

1. Audit your current structure
2. Developing parallel tracks with equal opportunity
3. Creating explicit behavioral standards for managers and individuals by level
4. Train and support both tracks appropriately
5. Learn how to think about levels and career frameworks in this 1 hour course

The future isn't about eliminating management—it's about ensuring the right people become managers for the right reasons, while giving everyone else equally valuable paths to growth which in turn benefit the business.

Want to learn how Pando can help modernize your performance management program and enable managers to be better coaches? Request a demo below.