Summary
How do you evaluate designers fairly and effectively while providing a clear path toward career advancement? This is a question our organization has grappled with throughout our eight years as a company. Design can often be left up to gut reasoning by leadership and designers may not have a clear understanding of what their role means and how they may grow as designers. We’ve developed iterations of different tools and processes over the years to address these concerns and to evolve with our shifting needs as a growing company. All of which has led us to a robust tool that we’ve been using over the past two years which can serve as a model for how organizations can deploy qualitative career advancement. The session will cover our journey to this point and showcase the tools and processes we’ve deployed to make evaluation and career advancement systematic within a design organization along with surprising benefits and lessons we’ve learned along the way.
Key Insights
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Effective evaluation in design must consider the collaborative nature of the work.
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A structured career path helps align individual growth with company goals.
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Continuous feedback promotes timely growth and adaptation among designers.
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Fair evaluations require clear criteria and consistent expectations.
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Adapting the evaluation process to fit unique organizational structures is crucial.
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Transparency in development fosters a sense of comfort for designers.
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Regular performance reviews help facilitate necessary career conversations.
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Mentorship plays a critical role in guiding designer development and assessments.
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Tool flexibility allows for easy adjustments and optimizations based on user feedback.
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Promoting generalist skills over specialization enhances team versatility and client service.
Notable Quotes
"Evaluations can be awkward and nebulous in the design industry."
"We've developed this system to influence behavior across people and teams."
"It's about designing our own systems that work for us."
"Feedback is coming fresh from close collaborators in a timely fashion."
"We wanted to develop consultants who could solve problems across a variety of projects."
"What we're looking for in new hires aligns with our company values."
"The career path helps align individual aspirations with business needs."
"It's not a race to fill up the stages; everyone grows at their own pace."
"We realized that studio development should fall more to leadership levels."
"The system isn't perfect, and we've had to make adjustments along the way."
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