Priya Singh Pundhir, Senior Manager at Vodafone

As corporates are becoming more competitive and leaner, the pyramid is getting steeper at the top. In recent past there have been instances especially in IT industry where ‘middle’ heavy corporates have restructured and retrenched middle management either due to cost pressure or redundancy of roles. The managers retrenched are mostly those who have become commoditized in the job market. These managers have been in similar roles for ‘extra’ long time, doing similar kind of work with non-differential soft skills and outdated hard skills. As a result the value addition by these managers has depleted over time, making them easily replaceable by better talent available at a lower cost.

It made me wonder how such a large pool of highly experienced people in such situations get absorbed in the job market. Lucky few might get a similar role in some other company, but what about the others? If they do get a job, they may get an Individual Contributor (IC) role. But after so many years as a manager, would they like to do an IC role? Or more importantly will they be able to do an IC role?

But why wait for such a situation? Isn’t it good to be prepared and ensure that if any such change happens in your company, you should be the least impacted? Therefore, I feel there is no harm in taking an IC role for some time to reinforce your capabilities and upgrade your skills.

Largely, it is considered a natural progression to move from an IC to a manager role. And as per conventional wisdom it is considered as ‘being successful’. But sometimes people also move from a manager to an IC role either ‘by choice’ or ‘by compulsion’. It is difficult to find any trend in the ‘by compulsion’ cases but there is normally a common trend seen in ‘by choice’ cases. (Due to complexity and sensitivity of the issue, I am not touching the ‘by compulsion’ cases in this article.)

Some of the reasons for a successful manager to move to an IC role in ‘by choice’ cases are: 1. Get promoted - The only way to get a promotion is to take the next level IC role. 2. Opportunities of interest: To shift in teams/departments/company of interest and therefore take whatever role is available as of now. 3. Find time for other priorities: To take some time out from office for other activities like – higher studies, passion like teaching, musical band, theater, family needs, writing etc. 4. Upgrade skills: To upgrade hard skills because concerned industry / company has undergone major changes / advancements and it has become necessary to upgrade your technical skills for future growth etc.

I spoke to few colleagues / friends who have taken this bold step (including myself) and there are some common learnings from their experience as:

1. Boosts confidence: A successful stint in a ‘by choice’ IC role helps overcome your inhibition and boosts self-confidence. If you have successfully transitioned from an IC to a manager and to an IC again, never in your career you will face the question of ‘Will I be able to do it?’ But be judicious in taking the roles that suits your core competencies.

2. Better time management – An IC role gives ample time at hand because you can plan most of your day as per your requirement without having much dependencies on others. In the free time you can do either voluntary projects in office to learn new domain or techniques, enroll in courses to upgrade soft skills and hard skills (MOOCs, Corporate courses, classroom training etc.), follow your passion etc.

3. Upgrade skills – The additional free time at hand also allows you to upgrade and update your technical skills and domain knowledge. These are the skills which will help you stand out in the crowded job market. This will also help you in justifying your move from a manager to an IC and showcase an opportunity well utilized.

4. Improve personal brand – It tags you as being ‘versatile’ and reinforces the fact that you can do both the roles equally well. Needless to say it opens plethora of opportunities for you in both kind of roles.

5. Edge on strategic thinking – As a manager you are groomed/conditioned to think at broader and strategic level instead of being silo-ed like a typical individual contributor. Becoming an IC again does not necessarily makes you shift your approach from a strategic thinker to a silo-ed being. Rather it gives you an edge over other ICs for being a strategic thinker.

6. Earn respect – A leader earns respects from his team due to multiple reasons. One of the important aspect is the ability to do things himself / herself i.e. being ‘hands-on’. A ‘hands-on’ manager commands more respect and credibility than managers who just know how to get the work done but can’t really do the same work themselves.

7. Get a different perspective - It’s always great to be able to see the world from a different angle. It gives you an opportunity to realize the mistakes you were doing as a manager and to put yourself in your team members’ shoes and see what challenges they were facing. Were you too unrealistic and demanding or even though you were a good manager but were not a good mentor for your team? There is enough opportunity to view things from both the sides of the table and improve from each learning.

So if you are planning to consider an IC role that interests you and suits your capabilities and long term career goals then take the leap of faith. Most likely your colleagues and friends will advise you against it as most of us are conditioned to think as per conventional wisdom. The success of your move will depend on how well you have utilized the benefits and time at hand and how you want to showcase it - as a checkpoint and therefore a step ‘forward’ or a step ‘backward’?

Have you ever done such a role change? Have you ever thought of doing so but couldn’t take the leap? Share your experiences and help others gain from it. Would love to hear your thoughts here.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-manager-individual-contributor-step-backward-forward-pundhir