The bar: define it, write it down, hold it
A hiring bar that lives in people's heads drifts downward, and not only under pressure. Comfort is the force nobody names. Write the criteria, then give somebody other than the decision-maker standing to invoke them.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Interview loops that predict performance
Most loops measure interview skill. Give each stage exactly one job, and let the highest-weight stage be a structured judgment conversation with the people who'll actually work with the person.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Levels and ladders, later than you think
A career ladder written too early encodes a company you don't have yet. Write it when the same fairness argument has surfaced two or three times.
20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
One-on-ones are their meeting
The one-on-one is not where you get updates. It's where a person's growth, frustration, and confusion get a scheduled place to surface, and it only works if you talk for a fifth of it.
0-5 · 5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Feedback while it still matters
Feedback only does its job while there's still time to act on it. Held past that point, the cost doesn't disappear. It lands on the person who finds out later than they should have.
0-5 · 5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Coach before you answer
Coaching means asking before telling, because the questions teach more than the answer does. Some moments need a straight answer instead, and the job is knowing which moment you're in.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Performance management without the theatre
If a review surprises someone, the process already failed. Run feedback continuously through one-to-ones, and keep exactly one scheduled formal ritual: the 360.
20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Sponsorship is what you say when they're not in the room
Coaching changes someone's work while you're in the room. Sponsorship changes what happens to their career when you're not, and it only runs on trust you've actually earned rather than trust you've claimed by title.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Compensation that doesn't leak
Comp is a system, not a negotiation. Bands visible internally, a stated market position, and an annual correction pass prevent most of the damage.
20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Managing out, humanely and quickly
Once the decision is made, days rather than months. But speed only works on top of honesty. The team already knows if you've been having the conversations, and if you haven't, fast just reads as arbitrary.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Growing managers out of engineers
Promoting your best engineer into management is a coin flip unless you've already handed them the job in pieces and they've come back for more.
20-50 · 50-150 · 150+
Onboarding that pays back in 30 days
Time to first meaningful change is the most honest measure of your engineering environment. Onboarding is a stress test you run on yourself, with a fresh pair of eyes attached.
5-20 · 20-50 · 50-150 · 150+