What is a Professional Ladder?





"You cannot become the person you were born to be by staying who you are."

-- A SUN Proverb

A Unique Tool for Solving Problems With Pay and Promotion

Google for professional ladder and you'll likely find a lot of ladders made for construction contractors. But that's not what we're talking about today. It is sometimes called a career ladder, and while the metaphor of climbing the corporate ladder is useful, it is not precisely what is discussed here. A professional ladder need not be for stratified promotion models, or limited to promotion at all.

For the sake of discussion, we will define a professional ladder as: "a tool for measuring the capability and contribution of an individual person".

The concept is not a new one. Construx appears to have originated the idea for the tech industry, and leaders such as FogCreek have implemented their own versions. You'll also find ladders in nursing, the military, and even unicycling.

How Does a Professional Ladder Work?

Criteria

An organization defines the criteria by which employees will be measured. The criteria are up to the organization, and may consider things like:

  • Skills
  • Responsibilities
  • Experience
  • Qualifications
  • Tenure
  • Roles

Each of these may be represented as a rubric that describes the criteria and ascribes some number of points for meeting the requirements. For example, consider this very generalized table:

Keyword Points Activity
Intern 0 Interns, student workers, your favorite sister's kid that just "needs a break".
Beginner 1 Is learning the basics. Often can't complete tasks without additional learning or information. Never works directly with customers.
Apprentice 2 Is learning the basics, and typically works under a more experienced or skilled individual. Completes tasks as instructed, but not without some defects. Rarely works directly with customers.
Journeyman 3 Has some background or experience in the industry. Understands and utilizes best practices. Completes tasks with some autonomy. Sometimes works with customers.
Specialist 4 Specializes in a particular field and has obtained extensive experience in this area. May work with customers.
Master 5 Has mastered an area of expertise and has extensive experience in the field.
Expert 6 Has expert skill level in multiple areas of expertise. May be regionally or nationally recognized.
Guru 7 Is an authority in the field. Recognized worldwide.

Assessments

Employees are assessed on the pre-determined criteria and receive points based on how well they match each requirement. I recommend one official assessment each year, at which time the employee's level may change. But to avoid surprises, it's a good idea to engage in frequent (perhaps quarterly) assessments.

Levels

This level is a measure of the overall capability and contribution of the person. Points received during assessment are used to calculate the level. This can be done in various ways. Here is a simple example of total points required for each level:

Total Points Level Title Prefix/Suffix
0 0 Intern
3 1 Assistant
7 2 Associate
17 3 (none)
21 4 (none)
35 5 Senior
50 6 Specialist
75 7 Master

Using a professional ladder can solve a number of prickly problems related to compensation, promotion, and other personnel issues.

Increased Objectivity

A well-done professional ladder leaves little room for subjectivity or favoritism. The criteria is (or should be) self-explanatory and the calculation is precise. Employees welcome the objective nature of the ladder, because now the requirements for advancement are documented.

Linking Levels to Pay

The organization may link a level to a specific pay or pay grade, thus bringing the objectivity of the system to bear on the assignment of compensation. This eliminates problems of secretive pay and the trust this sacrifices, because (for example) all level 3 systems administrators are paid the same. Avoid the temptation to link a level to a range of pay as this reduces the transparency and objectivity of the ladder.

Eliminate Salary Negotiation

Linking levels to pay means that the assessment of prospective employees occurs as part of the interview process. A person will enter the organization's ladder at a specific place for a specific pay. Salary negotiation is almost always unfair to at least one party, but the most common loser is the existing employee who now makes less than a new hire, but does exactly the same job, thus avoiding salary compression.

Driving Professional Development

The assessment criteria of the ladder exposes natural areas for improvement and a possible focus for professional development. A development plan combined with quarterly assessments is a very powerful combination.

Facilitate Technical Promotion

The Peter Principal states that people are promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. This is because IT, like most other industries, views promotion as climbing a hierarchy of authority. A professional ladder, on the other hand, can facilitate promotion based on a technical skill and responsibility -- where an individual may rise to a pre-identified level of competence.

Conclusion

The Cost of the Status Quo

Good people progress and often outgrow an organization. This is the natural order of things. As a measurement tool, a professional ladder helps document growth. It also exposes, in a quantifiable way, those people that don't add value. The result allows a savvy organization to reward growth and retain the best talent, while trimming the not-so-talented.

Yet, many organizations settle for the status quo, thus leaving the unrealized potential of their staff to be exploited by headhunters, staffing agencies, and want ads.