The difference between grades is the path from Junior to Principal
What is the fundamental difference between the roles of specialists at different levels, — Kirill Romanovsky, designer, former head of design, told in his column Mail.Ru Group and Kaspersky.
Kirill Romanovsky
Each specialist has his own unique background, history and, of course, a vector of development. The task of the manager is just to help the employee understand himself better, determine the horizons of development, and choose the appropriate path.
It is a challenge to convey the principles of career development to everyone in the team and organize regular assessment. It is necessary to explain — and what is the difference between grades, and how an employee can move to the next one, and how to grow up to Senior.
If there is no answer, you will not be able to help, and the document with the individual development plan will turn into a useless piece of paper.
It was the work on grading systems that made me think about how to briefly and clearly formulate what the difference is between specialists of different levels.
The difference is not measured in years. The main drivers of growth are completely different. Here, the availability of expertise in several disciplines (T-shaped), soft skills and the level of control (ownership) comes out in the first place.
Based on this approach, I came to the following characterization of grades:
- Junior – Aware;
- Middle – Follow;
- Senior – Influence;
- Staff – Drive (maintenance);
- Principal – Strategize/Raise the bar (management).
Junior
Understanding is the foundation for the development of junior specialists:
- team values;
- common processes;
- the basics of discipline.
Without this knowledge, it will be difficult for a novice specialist to launch a career. Therefore, the best definition of the role of a Junior—level specialist is awareness.
In addition, the importance of soft skills should not be overlooked. Aspiring professionals who understand the importance and value of feedback, actively participate in providing and receiving it, as well as actively participate in discussions and collaboration, significantly accelerate their professional growth.
Middle
The specialists who have moved to the Middle position already have sufficient practical skills to confidently follow all the processes in the company. Actually, that's why the word Follow perfectly describes this level.
The basic knowledge of a specialist acquires practical experience. There is an increase in both expertise and autonomy.
At this level, the specialist confidently resorts to feedback as a tool, conducts research, contributes something to the system himself, justifies his decisions to the team and formulates hypotheses.
With experience comes new knowledge. It is at this point that the growth of specialists begins and in a multifunctional way, they begin to understand more about related areas of work. That is, their T-shaped expertise is growing.
Senior
At the previous level, the specialist began to grow knowledge in related fields (it does not matter which ones, but, as a rule, management becomes one of these areas). At some point, this knowledge reaches a critical mass and the focus shifts from following to influencing processes, teams, or the product.
That is why it is appropriate to talk about influence as a definition of a role.
The specialist becomes a fully autonomous unit with a wide range of T-shaped skills and demonstrates a high level of control over the product or processes (ownership).
Senior-level specialists always bring new experience and a new perspective, they are able to influence the strategy, whether it is a product or brand strategy. Such specialists become full-fledged partners for a product manager or marketer.
Staff
So, a person has experience, knowledge, autonomy, partnership and influence. What's next?
- Experience, knowledge and influence lead to mentorship. The specialist begins to be an active source of changes in the team and product. He organizes the exchange of knowledge within the team.
- Partnership, influence and autonomy are transformed into co-leading. This is the next step. The specialist works as a full-fledged partner with several teams at once and acts in different roles. It is from this point in the career path that it is best to switch to the managerial path.
The word drive perfectly illustrates the transition from autonomy to active collaboration, engagement and facilitation. This role is strategically important for the team because it accelerates its development.
Principal
From the Senior level, knowledge of the T-shaped model begins to be enriched by practical experience. By the Principal level, this experience becomes very extensive.
The accumulation of experience takes place in different ways. I know examples when specialists from one field moved to another. Some returned, others grew in a new direction for themselves. Moreover, it was not about changing a profession, but about growth, about gaining new experience, which, among other things, gave a greater angle of view, which is necessary for management.
Principal operates at the level of the big picture. This allows him to raise the bar and create challenges for the team and the product. Contributors at the Principal level are responsible for generating and implementing strategic thinking in the team.
Principal are super—experienced contributors, equal to the director or VP. They work best in direct conjunction with these roles.
It should be noted that the role of Principal is critically important for large teams and ecosystems, where the word "strategy" becomes more tangible. Exactly at the moment when the company receives a request for a long-range conceptual vision of the product.
