The effort to level roles and employees and operationalize leveling on an ongoing basis involves many steps. A generic example of the steps involved in the leveling process include:

1. The leadership team should agree on levels and finalizes leveling worksheet (titles, levels, all descriptions, etc) before beginning. Company leads conduct the leveling prior to company-wide roll out.
2. Ideally, you will have job descriptions for all roles prior to starting the leveling process so you can accurately level the role based on the current job description. It is possible to level without this, although it will be less accurate. To launch leveling internally to staff you will need to have updated job descriptions.
3. The easiest way to level is to create a staff census (a spreadsheet) that includes each employee, their department, current title, and current salary, and if they are an IC (individual contributor) or PL (people leader). In the spreadsheet add the leveling guide on tabs for easy reference as you work through leveling.
4. Hide all cells except titles and departments. Level existing roles. The work is to level the role, not the current person in the role. If this is your first time, it can be difficult to do without an experienced guide. Ask for an impartial party to assist you by being a sounding board. The key question is "If we were hiring for this role today, what level would we be hiring for?"
5. When you are done leveling roles, add a column for "Leveled title" and note what the title should be based on the role level and the leveling guide. Note where there are title discrepancies between current titles and new, leveled titles.
6. Now, you can un-hide the names of staff. Add a column for "Individual Level" and level each person based on the level they are currently performing their role. Note the level discrepancies between role level and individual level.
7. Add a column for action items. Create a plan for staff who are operating below or above their role level and a plan for any title adjustments that need to be made. For example:
   • Some staff will be underperforming their role level and you will want to coach them up to perform at their role level because they are performing some of the higher-level responsibilities and have the potential to level up. Other staff will be underperforming and you will want to adjust their role level down to meet their current performance.
   • Some staff may need their title adjusted to match their role level. You may decide not to adjust the titles of certain key people where it may introduce too much risk of attrition that the company is not yet prepared for.
8. Create salary bands for existing roles and departments. OpenComp is a helpful resource for this.
9. Add salary bands to the worksheet. Compare current employee salaries against salary bands to determine if any adjustments need to be made. Typically, employees do not move down in salary if they are outside of their band—they have just reached the limit where there will be no further increases to salary. And if you have many employees being compensated lower than their band, you can make a plan to increase salaries on a cadence that works for your operating plan, cash flow, etc. Every staff member does not need to be brought into their appropriate salary band at once. Create your mitigation plan for salary gaps in a new column in the sheet.
10. Create manager communication & training plan. Communicate and socialize the concepts and methodologies in group training. Work with people leaders individually to review the results of the leveling work for their departments/team and gain alignment on the current leveling mitigation plan. Create an ongoing manager training plan to ensure adherence to leveling and align it to the company performance management framework.
11. Create a staff communication & rollout plan.
    • Typically to include announcements in all-hands meetings, and then individual manage/employee conversations for each impacted employee. Launch the official leveling guide in the appropriate area of the staff knowledge base. Conduct optional lunch & learns to share more information about leveling (what it means, why it is important, how it helps career progression, etc). Ensure job descriptions with levels are also posted in the appropriate centralized knowledge base.
12. Create a process that includes regular updating of job descriptions, leveling positions before opening new positions, and frequent review of staff levels. Introduce performance management conversations that take leveling into consideration in quarterly and annual reviews.