Why we use progression frameworks at Cleo

Transparency - Always

Here at Cleo, we value many things: user input, trust to experiment, accountability, amongst others. But one company trait that always stands out to me is transparency. Since joining the company earlier this year, the level of transparency has been great to see - whether it’s our CEO talking staff through growth plans in our Weekly All-Hands, or the regular performance and progression reviews that take place. 

However, we don’t just strive for transparency internally - we want to be transparent externally too, especially when it comes to how we interact with potential future employees. 

We write very detailed job adverts that detail what you’ll be doing, what we’re looking for, and what you’d get for all your hard work. We also let the world know how we do interviews at Cleo, so people can prepare in advance. But the best example of transparency in my opinion, is how we publish our entire progression framework online for all to see. 

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What is a progression framework?

You can find our progression frameworks here.  

For those that haven’t seen them before, a progression framework is a tool to help people understand expectations (both in terms of skills, behaviours, and knowledge) at each job level, tied to compensation. So if you join us as a Backend Engineer SE1 (our most junior role in this vertical), you’ll be able to find out what you need to do now, what to do to become an SE2, and even what an SE5 does on a day-to-day basis. You’ll also be able to see our pay structures, to start planning your own career with more certainty. 

We want to avoid the instances where someone gets hired for a role today, with no understanding of how they’ll get to the next step, or even what’s expected of them. Having internal frameworks is (or should be) commonplace for most companies now, but we want to go one step further and let people know about progression before they’ve even decided to join the business. 

There are so many tangible benefits to publishing our progression framework: 

• We let prospective candidates know what progression looks like at Cleo, allowing people to make a more informed decision on whether our working environment is right for them. 
• By tying job level to salary bands, people can see if a role aligns with their financial expectations up front, avoiding any wasted interviews. 
• When people start to interview,  we can tie their feedback to the framework and give context as to why we have levelled them in a specific position. 
• When you start at Cleo, you know what you need to be doing, and you can work with your manager in 1-2-1s to ensure you’re doing what you need to do. This is also useful to plan promotions, as you can see what is expected of you at higher levels and work to demonstrate those skills early on! 

There are loads of real impacts behind publishing our frameworks for all to see, but the biggest reason is transparency. As a company, we are transparent and will continue to be so. 

So, if you’ve looked through our progression framework and are keen to work in a transparent environment, check out our live roles here, or get in touch with a member of our Talent Team.