Designing an Equitable Career Framework Process Template

This template was created in partnership with Barbara Gago, founder and CEO of Pando.

Introduction

Why We Have an Equitable Career Framework

At our company, we believe that every employee deserves the opportunity to grow and succeed, regardless of their role or career aspirations. An equitable career framework allows us to create clear, transparent pathways for progression that recognize and reward contributions fairly. This framework ensures that individual contributors (ICs) have just as much potential for growth and advancement as those on management tracks, eliminating the pressure to pursue leadership roles solely for career progression.

By focusing on equity, we can provide all employees with the tools, resources, and support they need to achieve their goals. It also helps us build a culture of trust, transparency, and inclusion, where everyone feels valued for their unique skills and contributions. Ultimately, this framework allows us to attract, retain, and develop top talent, ensuring that we remain competitive and aligned with our core values of fairness and opportunity for all.

Core Principles

An equitable career framework is built on three key principles: equity, transparency, and growth beyond leadership. Together, these principles ensure that every employee has a clear and fair pathway to grow and succeed, regardless of their role or career aspirations.

• Equity means providing equal opportunities for both ICs and managers to progress in their careers. Historically, career growth has often been tied to management roles, creating barriers for ICs who want to advance in their expertise without taking on leadership responsibilities. An equitable framework recognizes the unique value of both tracks, ensuring that ICs and managers have access to comparable opportunities, levels, and compensation.
• Transparency is essential for building trust. Employees should clearly understand what is expected at each level, how progression works, and how compensation is determined. By removing ambiguity, we create a culture where employees feel confident in their ability to grow.
• Growth Beyond Leadership recognizes that not everyone aspires to be a manager. Many employees excel as experts in their field and want to deepen their skills. By offering a robust IC track alongside management roles, we empower employees to pursue meaningful growth in a way that aligns with their strengths and interests.

Steps to Design an Equitable Career Framework

Step 1: Assess Current Structures

Before creating an equitable career framework, it’s essential to evaluate your existing systems. Start by auditing current career tracks and identifying gaps in growth opportunities, particularly for ICs. Examine how roles, responsibilities, and progression are structured across teams and compare this to employee feedback.

Look for signs of imbalance, such as a disproportionate focus on management tracks or a lack of clear progression for ICs. Review compensation practices to ensure fairness and alignment across similar roles and levels. Collect data on how employees currently experience career development, using surveys, interviews, or focus groups to uncover common frustrations and roadblocks.

This assessment will provide a clear baseline, revealing areas where your framework needs improvement. By identifying these gaps early, you can design a structure that addresses them head-on, creating a foundation for equitable growth and development across the organization.

Step 2: Define Levels and Competencies

Defining clear levels and competencies is the foundation of an equitable career framework. Start by creating a progression system that includes both IC and management tracks, ensuring that each track has an equal number of levels. Each level should represent increased responsibility, impact, and expertise rather than relying on tenure or subjective measures.

For each level, outline role-specific competencies that describe the skills, behaviors, and results expected at that stage. These should be measurable and aligned with organizational goals. For example, competencies for a marketing role may include campaign strategy, data analysis, and communication, while engineering roles may focus on technical problem-solving and code quality.

Additionally, incorporate shared organizational values, such as collaboration or communication, that apply across all roles and levels. By creating clearly defined and transparent expectations, employees can understand exactly what is required to advance, empowering them to take ownership of their growth.

Step 3: Align Compensation Bands

Compensation is a critical component of an equitable career framework. To ensure fairness, align salary bands with the defined levels for both IC and management tracks. Each level should have a specific compensation range that reflects market benchmarks and internal equity, eliminating gaps that may arise from negotiation disparities or biases.

When setting compensation bands, ensure that IC and management roles at equivalent levels receive comparable pay. For example, a senior IC and a senior manager should have similar earning potential, acknowledging their respective contributions and responsibilities. Avoid linking compensation solely to titles or subjective factors, focusing instead on measurable competencies and results.

Additionally, make salary ranges transparent to employees to build trust and reduce uncertainty. Clearly communicate how pay is determined, how raises are earned, and how progression within a band works. This approach reinforces fairness and motivates employees to pursue growth with confidence.

Step 4: Create Progression Guidelines

Progression guidelines provide employees with a clear roadmap for career growth. These guidelines should outline the specific criteria required to advance from one level to the next, focusing on measurable competencies, impact, and results rather than tenure or subjective opinions.

For each level, define what success looks like, including role-specific skills, behaviors, and accomplishments. For example, progression in a customer success role might require demonstrated expertise in managing high-value accounts, while an engineering role may require mastery of advanced technical challenges.

Make the guidelines accessible and transparent, ensuring all employees understand what is expected of them and how their performance will be evaluated. Regularly review progression with employees during development conversations, using these guidelines as a reference.

By providing clarity and consistency, progression guidelines empower employees to take ownership of their career development and ensure that advancement decisions are fair and based on merit.

Step 5: Build Supporting Tools and Resources

To ensure the success of the career framework, it’s essential to provide employees and managers with the tools and resources they need to navigate the process effectively. Start by creating comprehensive documentation that outlines the career framework, including the defined levels, competencies, and progression guidelines. This should be accessible to all employees, offering clarity on the path for growth within their roles.

Develop career maps for each department or function, showing the various levels and how employees can progress within their track. These maps should highlight key competencies required at each stage and provide examples of what success looks like at each level.

Provide training resources for managers to help them guide employees through the framework and ensure they are equipped to have meaningful development conversations. Additionally, offer templates for career development plans, feedback sessions, and regular check-ins to track progress. These resources will support both employee growth and managerial effectiveness.

Embedding the Framework

Integration in Onboarding

To ensure the career framework is fully integrated into our organization, it’s crucial to embed it into the onboarding process for all new hires. From day one, new employees should be introduced to the career framework, including the levels, competencies, and progression guidelines. This sets clear expectations for their growth opportunities within the company.

During onboarding, provide new hires with a detailed overview of how the framework supports their career development, whether they are in IC roles or on a management track. Ensure they understand how their performance will be evaluated, the resources available for growth, and how they can take ownership of their career path.

Additionally, include regular touchpoints throughout the first few months to reinforce the framework, offer support, and address any questions. By embedding the career framework early on, employees can immediately begin aligning their goals with the company's growth structure, ensuring a seamless transition into the organization.

Communication

Clear and consistent communication about the career framework is key to ensuring its success and maintaining employee engagement. Once the framework is established, ongoing communication should focus on transparency, updates, and reinforcement.

Regularly remind employees of the framework during team meetings, one-on-ones, and performance reviews. Ensure they understand the criteria for progression and how their contributions align with their growth opportunities. Managers should actively encourage open discussions about career development and use the framework to guide development conversations.

In addition, provide updates whenever there are changes to the framework — whether it’s new levels, adjusted competencies, or revised progression guidelines. Sharing these updates in a timely manner helps employees feel informed and valued, reducing confusion and fostering trust.

Use company-wide communications such as newsletters, intranet posts, or dedicated Slack channels to keep employees aware of any framework changes. Ongoing communication reinforces the framework's importance and keeps employees motivated to pursue their growth within the company.

Managers: Guiding Career Development Discussions

As a manager, one of your key responsibilities is to guide your team members through their career development using the framework. Career development discussions should be structured, goal-oriented, and based on the clear competencies and progression guidelines outlined in the framework. These conversations help employees understand their growth path, feel supported, and stay motivated to achieve their goals.

Here are some tips to guide these discussions effectively:

• Start with Clarity: Begin by reviewing the career framework with your employee, ensuring they understand the levels, competencies, and progression criteria.
• Assess Current Progress: Discuss where the employee currently stands in terms of skills, behaviors, and impact. Use the competencies to evaluate strengths and areas for improvement.
• Set Clear Goals: Establish specific, measurable, and time-bound goals for the employee’s growth. Align these goals with the competencies required for the next level.
• Encourage Ownership: Empower employees to take ownership of their growth. Provide guidance, but let them set their own goals and timelines.
• Provide Regular Feedback: Offer constructive feedback consistently, referencing the competencies and growth guidelines. This helps employees stay on track and make improvements.
• Support Development: Provide resources, training, and mentorship to help employees meet their goals. Regularly check in on their progress and adjust as necessary.

By using the framework to structure career development discussions, managers can ensure clarity, fairness, and continuous progress for their team members.

Review and Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is essential for keeping the career framework relevant and effective over time. As the business evolves and employee needs change, it’s crucial to regularly assess and refine the framework to ensure it remains aligned with organizational goals and provides equitable opportunities for growth.

Start by gathering feedback from employees and managers about their experience with the framework. This could be through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one conversations. Use this input to identify areas for improvement, such as clarity in progression guidelines or gaps in competencies.

Next, monitor employee performance and progression to ensure the framework is supporting desired outcomes, like higher engagement and retention rates. Regularly review industry trends and best practices to keep the framework competitive and relevant.

Finally, update the framework periodically to reflect these insights, ensuring it continues to meet the needs of both the business and its employees. A commitment to continuous improvement fosters a culture of adaptability and long-term success.

Conclusion

Have Questions?

An equitable career framework is essential for fostering a culture of growth, transparency, and fairness within our organization. By providing clear paths for advancement, aligning compensation with roles, and supporting both individual contributors and managers, we empower our employees to thrive and succeed. As managers, you play a critical role in guiding your team through this framework and ensuring they have the support and resources needed for continuous growth.

If you have any questions about the career framework or need guidance on how to implement it with your team, please reach out to the HR team.