Development Department Discussion: Gathering Feedback on the Updated Engineering Career Matrix
What change is being proposed?
We are replacing the current Engineering Career Matrix with this new Career Framework.
Why is this change being proposed?
During the GitLab Engagement Survey, we received feedback regarding improving the Engineering Career Matrix. Some feedback included:
- The Competencies in the current Matrix did not accommodate each department.
- For example, some of the expected behaviors did not apply to UX or Support, but they applied to Dev. This made the current matrix unreliable for some team members as it was not reflective of their jobs.
- There was too much Developer specific language (e.g: code, tech debt, etc) that was not applicable to everyone
- A Baseline across the different levels was missing (e.g.: Engineering, Development, Dev)
- The current matrix is too rigid. It is not expandable to cover different roles (e.g: Backend, Frontend, etc)
As a result, the Engineering Career Matrices Working Group was established in March of this year. Working Group Participants were selected from the various departments in Engineering to ensure that we had cross Engineering collaboration. Proposal to update the existing Engineering Career Matrix was also created to gather input from across the Engineering Organization.
What is the difference between Career Matrix/Framework, Compa Groups and the Compa Worksheets?
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Career Framework
- Focus on Competencies and expected behavior for team members in specific levels and for specific roles
- Completing each item in this Framework does not guarantee you will get a promotion. There are multiple factors that feed into the decision to promoting a team member. Click here to learn more about our promotion process.
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Compa Groups
- Measures knowledge, skills and abilities compared to Market
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Compa Worksheets
- This is an optional worksheet that is different for each group
What are you being asked to do?
We would like to collaborate with team members across the Development Department to gather feedback on the new Development Department Career Framework. There are 3 levels to this Framework. Each level builds off of the next. (E.g. The Dev Sub Department framework includes expected behaviors from both the Development Department and the Engineering Division):
- Engineering Division
- Development Department
- Dev Sub Department
For this issue, please comment on the expected behaviors for the Development Department. Here are a few suggestions for comments:
- Does this matrix address any concerns you may have had from the previous matrix?
- Do you have questions or concerns?
- Do you have suggestions for improvements?
Keep in mind, we are trying to create more generic expected behaviors so that this list does not become too overwhelming