At Elements we understand how important it is for you to grow professionally. This is precisely why we developed Elements Growth Framework. This framework will help you find your path, start relevant conversations for your growth and determine the steps you need to take to achieve the desired objectives. Moreover, this framework will guide you in providing adequate feedback to your colleagues and in assessing candidates during the recruitment process.
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Although we are a tech company, the heart of everything we do is you, the human element. People come first is actually our #1 value. Regardless of your position, you always have a valuable impact on our business through the daily tasks you do and contribution that you bring to your project, team and company. As you become more knowledgeable in your craft and/or stronger in soft skills, your impact on the company and our core business grows.
Learn more about the different impact levels we have defined and their definitions, because they will play an important role in interpreting your career progression.
At this level you as well as your area of influence are mostly focused on your own tasks. You are, however, probably part of a project and we totally expect you to be a team-player. You spend most of your time learning your skill and company’s way of working in order to become increasingly effective to the project team.
At this level your sphere of influence is within your everyday project team. You have proven to be an effective contributor and team-player for the entire project.
At this level your area of influence goes beyond your everyday project team. This might be because you master a skill, or bring wide experience and can, therefore, resolve complex challenges that span across teams/projects/disciplines; This could also be because you have strong interpersonal and leadership skills and are thus, trusted to support and mentor your colleagues.
Here are some examples for such teams: BCN office, all Elementeers at the client, Staff team, Python Developers, iOS Developers, Designers, Android Developers, Front-End Developers, HR, Finance Team, Project Managers, etc.
At this level your sphere of influence is on the highest level of the company. You spend a significant amount of your time working across the organization and your daily work influences the team, discipline as well as the company strategy and growth.
When we initially embarked on the journey for defining Elements’ Growth Framework, our project team realised that several principles are close to our hearts and that these must be made explicit to everyone.
1.
Often, learning happens before you have reached the destination. At Elements we strive to have a fail-safe learning culture where you feel free to experiment, ask yourself what you want, make mistakes and learn from them, work hard and start a conversation about your growth – this should naturally get you to your destination.
2.
Initiate conversations with your supervisors and HR about things that matter to you. We hope that this new model gives you the push you need to be proactive and take initiative.
3.
Yes, we expect you to be proactive, but we also want you to know that we are here to support you and we often try to do so proactively: We encourage all supervisors to have regular meetings with their team in order to develop trusting relationships and ensure a continuous dialogue about your professional preferences. Furthermore, we established a performance evaluation model that allows you to request feedback rounds and start conversations about your growth at any time that feels right to you. Moreover, we also have quarterly meetings, where relevant parties (e.g., for developers, these are the CTO, Team Lead and HR) gather to discuss everyone’s situation and determine adequate action points if needed (these include performance related topics, promotions, salary discussions, etc.). Through these ways we try our best to be on top of everyone’s path and support you as proactively as possible. But again, sometimes we might overlook things or fail to see what’s truly important to you, so point 2 (Own your growth) always applies.
4.
The growth path is flexible and dynamic, and it should not be seen as a linear / vertical ladder. What we describe within the path is simply a reflection of what we have typically observed in a person’s growth at elements. If you are comfortable where you are, we support you! If you want to grow horizontally by learning another field, we support you! If you want to change your path completely, we are here to hear you out! If you can’t see yourself in the path, please, come talk to us! The bottom-line is that no matter how hard we try to improve our growth framework, it will always be hard to define something that fits absolutely everyone, so, use this path as a reference point to ask yourself questions and start relevant conversations about your growth.
5.
As we learn more about how it lands in our company, we will be asking critical questions on how it can be continuously improved in the future.
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Besides career progression, the Growth Framework is directly linked to our Compensation and Benefits Plan, Appraisals and Recruitment. This implies that as we roll out the current framework, some of these processes/frameworks would also have to be revised.
We defined the following four competences that apply to everyone at Elements: Communication, Working with others, Effectiveness and Craftsmanship. These core competences are based on Elements’ company values and culture. Each core competence has several key dimensions; we refer to these as sub-competences.
This allowed us to describe what our values truly mean to us practically and how we can establish a coherent culture where certain behaviours and qualities are expected from everyone. These definitions and behavioural examples must not be seen as a checklist, they are intended to serve you as a solid reference point to (1) take control of your professional path, (2) to assess your colleagues’ professional contribution and (3) recruit new teammates.
Clearly and concisely conveying information and ideas through a variety of appropriate media. Actively listening to your colleagues and responding to them in a manner that is sensitive to the context, verbal and non-verbal cues and audience at hand.
Key sub-competences
Listening, Oral & Written Expression, Timing, Sensitivity
Working cooperatively towards a common goal and building/maintaining/valuing effective interpersonal relationships. Being helpful, reliable, respectful, empathetic and sensitive; Adaptive to new people and situations. Willing to give and receive valuable feedback to improve teamwork.
Key sub-competences
Helping, Approachability, Adaptability, Ability to give/receive Feedback, Reliability, Empathy
A journey towards mastering your craft by constantly investing time in gaining knowledge and experience. Eager and curious to grow their knowledge and experience in order to create high quality output with care, attention to detail and passion.
Key sub-competences
Quality Orientation, Knowledge, Growth Mindset (learning/curiosity)
Doing the right things to get the desired results. Identifying, defining and solving problems while managing yourself, balancing priorities and communicating clearly. This requires you to have a flexible and pragmatic approach. It’s not about doing things right, but rather doing the right things in order to get the job done.
Key sub-competences
Planning & Organising, Creative problem solving, Pragmatism, Resilience, Commercial awareness
...psssssssst!
Our definitions and behavioural examples must not be seen as a checklist, they are intended to serve you as a solid reference point to (1) take control of your professional path, (2) to assess your colleagues’ professional contribution and (3) recruit new teammates.
As you will soon find out, we defined four levels within each of these core competences. Depending on where you are in your career path, the expectations we will have from you will be on one level or another. For example, as a developers’ Team Lead the expectations will be on higher levels of these competences (possibly at levels three and/or four, no pressure!).
When defining the core competences, we also realised that there are several qualities that cannot be simply put as a sub-competence and/or a behavioural example. Instead, these are qualities that we hope to see reflected across all aspects of our work as we feel they truly represent Elements’ culture. We are talking about initiative, authenticity, self-awareness, independent thinking and positive energy.
So, in addition to considering the core competences, we also want to ask you to keep these qualities in mind as you assess yourself, others or people that will be joining your team. Ask yourself, are you proactive or waiting around passively for something to happen? Does your colleague bring energy that is appreciated and needed in the team? Do you feel you can be trusted? Can you rely on the colleague you are assessing? Is the candidate able to speak their mind transparently? Are you self-aware and understanding of the impact you have on others? These qualities will most likely play a part in your appraisal conversations with your supervisor.
Depending on your position at Elements, we may have expectations from you that go beyond the core competences. These position-specific expectations can be further determined and defined under secondary competences. An easy example for a secondary competence would be Leadership, which will be applicable for certain positions like Team Leads, some Seniors, etc. but unnecessary, for instance, for Trainees and starting designers.
As a first step, have a look at the description for the positions that most fit with your current responsibilities. As a second step, have a look at what’s expected from that position in terms of core (and, if applicable, secondary) competences. If you see that you already show and do 100% of those things, check the next position in line or if you see you still need to improve/demonstrate significant part of the things stated, give a read to the previous position. Nobody is a superhuman, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, so, we will often see that no one really is at 100% of their position. As a third step, use your self-assessment to talk to your supervisor, together you will determine your actual position.
The key question that everyone will ask us is when do you start a conversation about promotion? When do I know I am eligible for one? If you see that you are really showing and doing almost all of what’s expected from your current position, then we know it’s time that you check what’s next and start a conversation about it.
Our compensation model is impact-driven (please, check the impact section above to better understand what we mean by impact). This means that more than your position or craft, we closely look at your added value to Elements and try to reward you for the amazing impact you have on our company.
These definitions and behavioural examples must not be seen as a checklist, they are intended to serve you as a solid reference point to (1) take control of your professional path, (2) to assess your colleagues’ professional contribution and (3) recruit new teammates.