How To Create a Great Career Progression Framework (+Free Template)
96% of executives plan an organizational redesign over the next two years, and 43% plan to restructure around talent populations rather than technical disciplines. Knowing who to upskill, when to upskill them, and what training they need has never been more critical. Enter the career progression framework.
Traditional job structures based on hierarchical roles were initially designed to facilitate job evaluations and compensation schemes. These structures can confine employees to narrowly defined roles across numerous traditional levels. Unfortunately, this extensive grading system sometimes encourages counterproductive behaviors, such as employees prioritizing title pursuits and promotions over excelling in their present positions.
Today, organizations can implement a modern career progression framework that aligns with the current work environment and adapts to changing market trends and essential skills.
Contents
What is a career progression framework?
The top 10 benefits of a career progression framework
10 steps to building a career progression framework
HR best practices when developing a career progression framework
4 examples of career progression frameworks
Career progression framework template
Download our free career progression framework template in Excel:
What is a career progression framework?
A modern career progression framework is a structured system that outlines the path employees can follow to advance within the company. This framework typically includes job levels and titles, providing a clear hierarchy and outlining the different stages an employee can move through in their career.
It includes entry-level positions, mid-level roles, and senior leadership roles. This is accompanied by detailed descriptions of each role, including responsibilities, required skills, expectations, and the specific skills, behaviors, and competencies needed for each level.
Metrics and benchmarks assess performance and determine when an employee is ready to move to the next level. Importantly, this is about career development, which means possible career paths that employees can take within the organization are central to the framework. These can include upward mobility (promotions), horizontal moves (role changes), or cross-functional experiences.
Career tracks have changed
Traditionally, career growth has been limited to progressing up the ladder to management and senior leadership. But this approach does not always suit every role, or the needs of the organization.
More and more, companies are embracing a different career progression framework that offers two career tracks: Manager and Specialist/ Expert. At AIHR, we believe that this career progression framework offers improved growth opportunities for our employees — who can elect which career track they want to pursue based on their career aspirations.
Read more about how we do this in the example below
The top 10 benefits of a career progression framework
According to Mercer’s Global Talent Trends, 48% of HR leaders see skills shortages as a top threat to their business this year. Implementing a career progression framework offers several benefits that you can use as an HR professional to attract and retain talent.
Here are ten benefits to be aware of:
- Offers a clear career path and growth development: A clear career progression framework can increase employee engagement by providing a visible career path and growth opportunities, motivating employees to stay committed and driven.
- Improves employee retention: Organizations that offer clear career advancement opportunities are more likely to retain top talent, as employees see a long-term future within the company.
- Boosts employee productivity: Knowing there are opportunities for advancement can motivate employees to work harder and more efficiently, boosting overall productivity.
- Provides performance expectations: A well-defined framework helps in setting clear performance expectations, which in turn helps with better performance evaluations and feedback.
- Succession planning: A career progression framework helps identify and develop potential leaders within the organization, making succession planning smoother and more strategic.
- Help attract top talent: Organizations with a clear career progression structure are more attractive to high-quality candidates who are looking for growth and development opportunities.
- Learning and development: The framework often includes training and development programs that help employees acquire new skills and refine existing ones, contributing to their professional growth.
- Internal promotions: By promoting from within, organizations can save on external recruitment costs associated with sourcing candidates.
- Fosters a positive company culture: A career progression framework that promotes transparency, recognition, and growth can contribute to a positive workplace culture and make the organization a more enjoyable place to work.
- Provides employee growth: It helps align employees’ individual goals with the organization’s broader objectives, ensuring that personal growth supports business success.
10 steps to building a career progression framework
Developing a career progression framework is a strategic process that involves several key steps. Your role as an HR professional is to help design and implement your organization’s framework.
Step 1: Determine your company’s needs
Understand your organization’s current and future needs in terms of roles, skills, and leadership.
→ Try this: Conduct surveys and interviews with current employees and leadership to gather insights on existing gaps and future needs.
Step 2: Define clear job levels and titles
Establish a hierarchy of roles within the organization, each with a clear title and level.
→ Try this: Ensure consistency in naming and leveling across departments to avoid confusion and ensure fairness.
Step 3: Develop role descriptions
Create detailed job descriptions for each title, including responsibilities, required skills, and success metrics.
→ Try this: Involve current job holders and managers in the process to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Step 4: Identify competencies
Define the skills and behaviors needed at each career stage.
→ Try this: Use a competency framework that aligns with the industry standard and can be adapted as roles evolve.
Step 5: Create evaluation criteria
Determine how performance for each role will be measured using both qualitative and quantitative data.
→ Try this: Develop clear, objective, and measurable criteria to facilitate fair assessments and feedback.
Step 6: Map career paths
Outline potential career progression paths for employees. Show possible vertical (Manager track) and lateral (Specialist or Expert track) movement within the organization.
→ Try this: Make these paths flexible to accommodate individual employee strengths and career aspirations.
Step 7: Develop supporting policies and procedures
Establish policies that support career progression, such as promotion criteria, transfer requests, and employee development cycles.
→ Try this: Clearly communicate these policies to ensure organizational transparency and understanding.
Step 8: Implement training and development programs
Provide training programs that help employees develop the necessary skills and competencies for advancement.
→ Try this: Offer a mix of in-house training, external courses, and mentoring opportunities.
Step 9: Monitor and evaluate the framework
Review and update the career progression framework regularly to make sure it meets the changing needs of the organization and its workforce.
→ Try this: Set up a feedback loop with employees to continuously improve the framework based on actual experience and changing conditions.
Step 10: Communicate the framework
Ensure that all employees understand the career progression framework and how they can advance within the organization.
→ Try this: Use multiple communication channels, such as meetings, your intranet, and training sessions, to ensure the message reaches everyone effectively.
HR best practices when developing a career progression framework
When you start developing your company’s career progression framework, keep these best practices front of mind to ensure their effectiveness and alignment with your larger organizational goals. Career progression frameworks are an excellent way to attract and retain employees, so they deserve careful consideration.
- Involve leadership: Ensure top management supports the framework to align it with the company’s strategic vision. It’s also a good idea to regularly update leadership on the development process and solicit their input to maintain alignment and support.
- Engage stakeholders: Involve employees, managers, and other key stakeholders in the design process to incorporate diverse perspectives and needs. Use workshops, focus groups, and surveys to gather insights and generate buy-in.
- Ensure transparency: Be transparent about how decisions are made within the framework to earn trust and clarity. Typically, 36% of workers say that job and project opportunities are not visible to everyone. You have an opportunity to ensure that within your organization, the details of the framework are openly and regularly shared through multiple channels.
- Customize to fit organizational culture: Tailor the framework to reflect the organization’s unique culture and values. Consider cultural nuances when defining roles, competencies, and career paths.
- Align with business objectives: Ensure the framework supports the organization’s current and future business goals. Review business strategies regularly and adjust the framework to stay relevant and supportive of these goals.
- Incorporate flexibility: Design the framework to be adaptable to changes in the organization and job market conditions. Allow for lateral moves and diverse career paths to accommodate different employee aspirations and organizational needs.
- Promote equitable opportunities: Focus on fairness in how career progression opportunities are structured and communicated to prevent biases. Regularly review your processes for biases and implement training to address them.
- Provide necessary resources: Ensure employees have access to the training and development resources needed to advance. Continually assess and update learning and development offerings to meet the changing needs of your workforce.
- Use technology: Use HR technology tools to manage the framework efficiently, from tracking progress to facilitating training. You can also implement career planning tools that allow employees to see possible career paths and track their own progress.
HR tip
Establish metrics to evaluate the framework’s effectiveness. These could include employee satisfaction surveys and retention rates. Regularly review and refine the framework to ensure it meets its objectives and remains relevant.
4 examples of career progression frameworks
Example 1: AIHR
At AIHR, we believe in the core value of ‘Hunger to Grow.’ We practice what we teach by continuously improving daily and fueling our desire to learn. Our career progression framework is based on our desire to LEARN.
LEARN is a guideline for growth with the skills our employees need at each level of their career in AIHR. Growth talks are scheduled every 6 to 12 months. It is an employee-led growth plan, with goal setting and actions to work towards the employees’ aspirations. The employee’s manager supports the process with resources, mentoring and coaching.
Within the LEARN framework, there are two tracks that an employee can take — the Individual Contributor and the Manager track. One is not better than the other; they are both equal. This means that a Lead and a Manager are on the same level. The Sub-Levels show how established an individual is in their current role, and how they can make progress within that role. When an employee reaches ‘Mastering,’ they may be able to move up to the next career level. Their manager assesses readiness based on their skills and performance in relation to their responsibilities.
Example 2: Wise
Wise Transfer is revolutionizing the online money transfer industry with its low fees for international transactions. It has also redesigned its career framework to include detailed role specifications, an important feature previously lacking.
We have used Wise’s product management career framework as an example. It consists of six distinct levels, each featuring a detailed breakdown of the necessary skills, responsibilities, and behavioral criteria for success. This structured approach provides employees with a clear understanding of expectations at each level and the steps needed for advancement. Despite the defined career paths, all employees still undergo annual reviews to fine-tune their development plans.
Importantly, each level is also thoroughly described with:
- Scope (the role’s area of influence)
- Impact (the role’s and their team’s effects on Wise, colleagues, and customers
- Behavior (soft skills, mentoring, coaching, cultural contributions, team support, and advocacy)
- Expertise (technical, design, architectural, process, and organizational skills).
Example 3: Buffer
Buffer is a well-known tool for managing various social media accounts from one place. In 2015, the company expanded to 50 employees and developed a sophisticated career framework after transitioning to a fully remote model.
Buffer says it is committed to nurturing a supportive and friendly work environment, a claim substantiated by a high employee satisfaction rating of 4.5 out of 5. The company’s career framework was designed to provide ‘growth opportunities beyond the traditional management track.’ This initiative recognizes the practicality of horizontal rather than vertical career growth within the company.
The dual-path framework is organized into levels (rows) and steps (columns). Advancing from one step to the next reflects increased complexity in an employee’s role, along with enhanced knowledge, expertise, and overall responsibilities.
Promotions, which involve moving up a level, are standardized and typically require collaboration with other departments, reflecting traditional career advancements.
Steps, on the other hand, represent smaller, horizontal progressions and can often be navigated under the guidance of an area director without needing cross-departmental approval.
Example 4: Dropbox
SaaS company Dropbox organizes its engineering career framework into two main components:
- Level expectations: This defines the roles, functions, and impact expectations at different levels within the organization.
- Core and craft responsibilities: These are the specific behaviors expected from an employee in their role.
The Dropbox framework primarily focuses on impact, which essentially means enhancing customer services to drive Dropbox’s success.
To effectively navigate this framework, employees are expected to:
- Initiate actions that have a significant and enduring effect
- Be clear on what is expected at their team and level. The company provides detailed descriptions of the role’s reach, scope, and impact levers at each level
- Comprehend the expected behavior concerning the company’s cultural pillars, talent, direction, and the results tied to the core responsibilities of their role
- Achieve technical proficiency required at their current level
- Meet with their area manager to set objectives for the upcoming period
- This structured career framework at Dropbox is designed to guide both individual employee growth and overall organizational development.
Career progression framework template
The free career progression framework is based on our own AIHR LEARN career progression framework. Our framework offers AIHR employees two career tracks: The Individual Contributor track and the Manager track.
The free download provides you with an adaptable template based on our LEARN framework. If your company still prefers to follow a more traditional, vertical career progression, the template also includes a single Manager track to help you build yours.
Over to you
A well-designed career progression framework is an HR professional’s secret weapon in attracting and retaining talent and upskilling a future-fit workforce. It serves as a bridge connecting individual ambitions with organizational goals and drives employee engagement by providing clear and achievable career pathways, enhancing overall productivity and workplace satisfaction.
Implementing such a framework can help organizations remain competitive by attracting and retaining top talent, nurturing potential leaders, and aligning employee development with the business’s strategic needs.
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