More than Words: Bringing your Leveling Frameworks to Life

Imagine spending months crafting the perfect leveling framework, only to watch it slowly fade into the background of your organization's day-to-day operations. Sound familiar? You're not alone.

As a tool that defines expectations across your organization, leveling frameworks are packed with valuable guidance. A leveling framework might define the difference in expected scope for a manager vs. a senior manager or the ways in which a mid vs. senior level individual contributor collaborates cross-functionally. On their own, each of these descriptions are helpful to managers and employees alike. However, when taking in the entire framework, the content can be overwhelming, feeling more like word soup than a useful management tool. 

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I've seen this challenge repeatedly in my work with organizations, which is why I often say: "It's not the words in your framework that matter, but how you use them." The most brilliant framework sitting unused is far less valuable than an imperfect one that's actively integrated into daily operations.

So, how do we ensure these valuable frameworks don't just become digital paperweights? Here are five practical ways to breathe life into your leveling framework, transforming it from an unused document into a dynamic force that shapes your culture and drives performance.

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1. Upgrade Manager-Employee Conversations

The most immediate opportunity to activate your framework is in regular 1:1 discussions between managers and team members. These conversations provide the perfect context for translating framework language into meaningful, role-specific guidance.

Key practices:

• Train managers to convert general framework language into concrete, role-specific examples. For example, you managers may say, “As a P3, you are expected to own projects end-to-end. In your role as a recruiter, I expect you to own a job req from scoping the role through closing candidates.”
• Encourage managers to use framework terminology when delivering both positive and constructive feedback.
• Help managers reference current and next level expectations when having conversations about performance and growth.  

When managers consistently reference the framework in conversations, employees gain clarity about current expectations and growth paths, transforming the framework from a static document into a practical tool for development.

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2. Redesign your Performance Reviews

Performance reviews naturally align with your leveling framework, offering clear and consistent criteria against which everyone is assessed. By directly connecting review criteria to framework competencies, you create a clear and transparent system where daily feedback and formal evaluations share consistent language and standards.

Key practices:

• Structure review templates around framework competencies. Your review can be as simple as rating each competency in your framework. For more details on how to design your review, see this blog, which highlights best practices for making your reviews practical and fair. 
• Encourage specific examples that demonstrate performance against level expectations.
• Focus calibration sessions on the consistent interpretation and application of framework expectations.

This alignment reduces bias in evaluations and ensures consistent standards across teams, reinforcing that framework competencies are meaningful criteria for measuring performance.

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3. Improve Your Promotion Process

Perhaps the most powerful way to embed your framework into company culture is through your promotion process. A clear connection between the framework and advancement opportunities demonstrates that the organization truly values the behaviors and skills outlined in the document.

Key practices:

• Create promotion readiness assessments based on the leveling framework expectations. This can be as simple as side-by-side ratings of the current and next level competencies to easily identify gaps in readiness.

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• Be clear about the extent to which an employee needs to be meeting expectations at the next level in order to be considered for promotion.
• Use calibration sessions to ensure consistent assessment of promotions, calibrating promotion candidates amongst those already at the next level.

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When employees see a direct link between the framework and advancement opportunities, they're more likely to internalize and work toward the expectations outlined. This connection creates powerful incentives for growth in the areas the organization values most.

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4. Power Individual Development Planning

Your leveling framework provides an ideal foundation for individual development planning. The gap between current performance and next-level expectations offers a roadmap for growth that benefits both the employee and the organization.

Key practices:

• Use the framework as a diagnostic tool to identify development opportunities. This may come directly from performance and promotion processes described above, or as a stand alone exercise between employees and managers. 
• Designing stretch assignments that target specific framework competencies. 
• Map learning resources and growth experiences to specific competencies. For example, you may categorize your company’s training courses by framework competency. 

This approach helps employees take ownership of their growth journey while ensuring development activities align with organizational needs. It transforms the framework from a potentially limiting structure into an empowering growth tool.

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5. Enhance Recognition Systems

Recognition programs offer a powerful opportunity to reinforce your framework by celebrating behaviors that exemplify your desired culture. When you acknowledge and reward actions that align with framework competencies, you signal their importance and provide clear examples of what excellence looks like.

Key practices:

• Align recognition criteria with framework competencies. For example, you might build a spot bonus program around key competencies from your framework. A “scope” award may recognize employees taking on larger than usual responsibilities, or a "collaboration" award might reward employees who led cross-functional work.  
• Share stories that highlight framework competencies in action during team meetings, company all-hands, or internal newsletters, explicitly connecting the story to the relevant competency.
• Use recognition to highlight less visible but valuable contributions outlined in the framework, particularly the types of “glue” work that may not often be noticed. 

Recognition brings your framework to life through storytelling and celebration, making abstract competencies concrete through real examples. This approach helps employees better understand what success looks like while creating positive associations with the framework itself.

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Moving Forward

Using your leveling framework consistently creates a culture where it becomes the shared language for discussing performance, development, and growth. Over time, the framework shifts from being viewed as "HR paperwork" to becoming "how we work"—a foundational element of your organizational culture.

By transforming your leveling framework from a static document into a living tool, you'll create greater clarity, consistency, and growth opportunities across your entire organization.

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Don’t have a leveling framework yet? Check out LevelUp. We are on a mission to make it simple for startups to create a custom, company-wide leveling framework that reflects their culture.

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