A Dissertation submitted to MUDCC as the partial fulfilment of the award of
Masters of Science Degree in Human Resource Management of Mzumbe
University
The focus of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of Dual
Career Paths to employee careers. The particular case taken is that of the Bank of
Tanzania, at Headquarters Dar es Salaam which is the country’s Central Bank.
Many technical professionals in today’s organisations are considered undervalued
because they do not always occupy management positions which tend to be associated
with success in individuals careers. But the skills and abilities that make an outstanding
manager may be very different from the skills and abilities that make a distinguished
specialist. In addition large organisations are facing challenges in balancing the
(workload of administrative roles and that of being highly responsive to the technical
expertise through research and coaching.) A need for creating a better option to
overcome such challenges has become inevitable with increasing work complexities
and the development of modern performance management systems.
Dual career paths are said to exist where professionals are given a choice at a certain
point in terms of their career development. This choice is for two equivalent career
progressions, one to recognise managerial contributions and the other to recognise
technical contributions.
The study sought to examine the impact that a Dual Career path will bring to
employee’s careers. The examining of such impact is through identifying the
challenges brought about by the traditional vertical career structure; and the
assessment of the extent to which dual career path will enable resolving the identified
challenges and being beneficial to employees talent management and increasing
organisational performance & ultimately productivity.
Findings from the study reveal that a Dual Career path has a positive impact to the
employee’s careers when applied in the organisation. The key point lies in the choice
of a career that an employee should pursue when this system is used. The argument is
based on the fact that at some point in the structure an employee is provided with a
choice either to advance as a purely technical contributor (technical path) or advance
to managerial role which are mostly administrative in nature (Administrative