SimplePractice Career Framework

Product & Design Career Framework for SimplePractice
Strategy & Storytelling

I joined SimplePractice in March of 2023 to lead their Design organization. Part of the initial work was to understand better the talent I would lead and then reshape our team to deliver against our business goals.

With clarity on where we needed to push our fantastic design talent, I partnered with my PM counterparts across our business units to rewrite our division's playbook for career growth.

The company's Product & Design Career framework includes a career planning framework, clarifies what it takes to succeed at the next level, correlates the company's mission and principles to our performance framework, and breaks down the specific responsibilities across our career levels.

T-Shaped Career Planning at SimplePractice

In the ancient wisdom of Greek poetry, we find a compelling metaphor for career growth: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This dichotomy, popularized by Isaiah Berlin, contrasts two distinct approaches to success: the adaptable, versatile fox versus the focused, specialized hedgehog. In the realm of career development, this analogy offers a guiding light.

With its agility and broad skill set, the fox thrives in dynamic environments and quickly navigates complexity. The hedgehog, on the other hand, delves deep into a singular domain, mastering it thoroughly.

However, when growing our teams, we value the middle ground: the generalizing specialist. (Hedgefox? Foxhog?) It’s a person who has deep skills in one area but can apply knowledge from other areas of expertise.These thinkers are also often called T-shaped people, reflecting their ability to dive deep into one area (the vertical bar of the T) while covering a broad range of topics at a lower level (the horizontal bar across the top of the letter).

SimplePractie subscribes to the T-Shaped Career Planning philosophy, which focuses on developing great, specialized skills in one area (the vertical bar of the "T") while also cultivating broader, complementary skills that span across multiple disciplines (the horizontal bar of the "T"). This approach is precious in such organizations for several reasons:

Deep Expertise in Product and Design: The vertical bar represents deep, specialized knowledge in areas critical to the company's core offerings, such as UX/UI design, product management, or specific technologies. This expertise is crucial for creating products that meet the sophisticated needs of business clients and maintaining a competitive edge.

Cross-functional Collaboration: The horizontal bar emphasizes the importance of having a broad understanding of complementary skills, such as project management, customer experience, analytics, and basic coding. This breadth of knowledge enhances collaboration among different departments, improving the product development process and ensuring that the end product aligns with customer needs and business objectives.

Agility and Innovation: A T-shaped professional can adapt to changes in the market or technology more efficiently, contributing to the company's agility. Their broad skill set allows them to see connections between their specialty and other business areas, fostering innovation and creative problem-solving.

Leadership and Influence: Individuals with T-shaped skills are often well-equipped to take on leadership roles, as they understand the intricacies of their domain and can communicate effectively with specialists from other areas. This facilitates better decision-making and project leadership, driving the product and design organization forward.

By connecting our org's career framework to the company's mission and values, we could define more explicit environmental goals and better articulate the behaviors we expect our resources to show up with as they define the customer challenge space and align on the solution for said challenge.

With our People & Operations team working on new performance factors, I also led the work to create a translation layer to the three dimensions our Product and Design organization measures across our various levels. These are Solving Customer Challenges, Driving Business Outcomes, and Embodying a Leadership Mindset.

Parity across PM and Designer Levels

The project also included a redesign that would ensure the same number of levels across our discipline. This ensures that all employees clearly understand their career progression opportunities. This clarity can improve employee satisfaction and retention, as individuals can see a pathway for advancement and know what they need to achieve to move to the next level.

Parity in role levels also simplifies the talent management process, including performance evaluations, promotions, and lateral moves within the organization. When the structure is consistent across disciplines, it's easier for HR and management teams to apply uniform standards and processes, reducing complexity and potential biases.

Equal levels across disciplines can promote equity and fairness within the organization. It helps address perceived department disparities, contributing to higher morale and a more inclusive culture. When employees see that their discipline does not hinder their career progression, it enhances their sense of belonging and commitment to the company.

Finally, our uniform structure can also provide more flexibility for employees to move between disciplines if their interests or career goals change. For example, a designer interested in product management may find it easier to transition if the levels are equivalent and the expectations at each level are clearly defined.

Paving the Way to Promotion

Our career framework must also clarify what it takes to get promoted to the next level. These include (1) a business need and funding for a role, (2) a track record for at least six months showing competencies at that new level, and (3) manager support for promotion (including asking for feedback from teammates the person has worked with). Beyond those foundational items, here's what else we look for:

Look outside your role for opportunities to take on new projects or tasks beyond your immediate role. Show initiative and a willingness to expand your skill set and contribute to the organization's broader goals. Learn how our business works and ground your work and goals in a way that ladders to the success of our company.

Related to the previous point, be open to learning and seek personal and professional development opportunities. A growth mindset will help our team members embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and seek feedback to improve their skills and performance.

Develop strong communication skills, both written and verbal. Articulate ideas, actively listen to others and effectively convey information to different audiences.

Uphold high ethical standards, demonstrate reliability, and maintain a positive and professional demeanor. Show respect for others, maintain confidentiality when necessary, and act with honesty and integrity in all interactions.

Build positive relationships with colleagues and be a team player. Collaborate effectively, listen to others' perspectives, and contribute constructively to group projects. Show a willingness to support and help your teammates succeed.

Finally, we crafted these design-specific role-level expectations to support their career growth.