Summary
DesignOps takes the lead to author our internal career matrix, so we can objectively and uniformly refresh each discipline, and establish org-wide skills echoed throughout each role. DesignOps at Salesforce is also included within these Career Competencies, allowing for our team to hold more consistent career discussions, and unifying promotions by leveraging the same language when discussing each DesignOps employee. Plus, since DesignOps is seen as a fairly "new" discipline, having it paired alongside more "well-known" disciplines (Designer, UX Engineer), elevates the understanding of our role and skills, and provides a baseline paired alongside our peer's disciplines. There’s great power in language, and the words we choose to use makes an impact. Making conscious efforts on our word choices and communications with one another can affect change at both the individual level as well as team-wide.
Key Insights
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Salesforce's UX career ladder contains 180 unique skill attributes for designers alone, spread over six levels.
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The career competencies undergo annual refreshes to remain industry-relevant and inclusive.
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Replacing vague terms like 'soft skills' with specific attributes such as 'active listening' clarifies expectations and reduces bias.
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Gender-coded words in career competencies influence perceptions of who can succeed; thus, language was carefully neutralized using tools like the Gender Decoder.
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The UX team added a new DEI-focused skill category called Relationship Design, built on four mindsets: courage, compassion, intention, and reciprocity.
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Relationship Design attributes vary by career level, from expressing gratitude at junior levels to holding difficult conversations and sharing power at senior levels.
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Incorporating inclusivity required a three-year iterative and collaborative process with volunteers from different UX disciplines.
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A non-scoring assessment option allows for neutral evaluation of competencies that may not yet be observed or relevant.
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Competencies are conversation starters to support development, not a checklist or rigid promotion criteria.
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Manager feedback shows that the career competencies foster consistent, repeatable conversations while still valuing individual strengths.
Notable Quotes
"Our career competencies are not a checklist or promotion; it's not an expectation that directs get excelling scores across their level to advance."
"We replaced soft skills with active listening to be more specific about what we were asking for."
"We updated gender-coded words to make the competencies gender-neutral using a tool called the Gender Decoder."
"Relationship Design is about how you do your work, not just what you do."
"For senior employees, we ask them to hold difficult conversations that question projects, processes, and assumptions that may be harmful to others."
"Early career employees should express gratitude and appreciation for those who offer help as part of compassion."
"We had to ensure that many voices contributed because I could not be the only one making org-wide changes."
"If something was unclear or uncomfortable by just one person, that was an indication it had to be edited."
"Competencies allow managers to celebrate individualism while ensuring consistency."
"Starting small is okay, and I actually recommend it for kickstarting this kind of work."
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