I'm a software engineer and have been stuck on one level since i joined the company. The career ladder is rigid and because i lack interest in the managerial path, and i work in isolation (no one to mentor) it's capping me at a certain level.
The ladder is biased towards the managerial path, (there's only one ladder) but there is a possibility of being on a different tangent the "individual contributor" technical path.
I feel that due to my unique role in the company i provide a lot of value to the company itself, more than i fit the framework of my particular organization within the company.
I was told that if i'm given the promotion while not satisfying all the parameters in the matrix, someone would complain.
This seems to imply only others in the same organization. At the same time, there are hires in other departments that have been promoted in a matter of months.
Does this put me in a similar position that my manager is trying to avoid, can i complain how others can move and i'm stuck?
Can i ask for my performance or contribution to be evaluated outside of just my department? We also are required to wear many other hats from the adjacent areas (i often deal with product and UX) but this has no bearing on the software engineer career ladder.