Growth Guide
Grubhub, 2019
As our design team grew, the leadership team received feedback that designers didn’t know what to work on to develop their careers.
We needed more consistency in formal reviews, with clear guidance throughout the year. We also needed leveling guidelines to maintain objectivity, to be used as the source of truth in manager evaluations.
Outcomes:
- Shipped a new Growth Guide, used by the entire Design org in performance reviews. Framework was applauded by HR, and adopted by the Product org for their own guidelines.
- Introduced a “steps” framework to guide development between levels. Team members at each level would be evaluated into Learning, Proficient, or Excelling steps.
- Clearly spelled out development into IC vs management career tracks, which was previously unclear.
- Developed a worksheet for quarterly performance reviews. Designers would self-evaluate all performance criteria, a manager assessment would follow, and the two would review together in a 1:1. Over time, a designer would be able to see their growth through their worksheet history.
Quarterly performance review worksheet for product designers.
