Many professionals are currently striving toward their next promotion — but not all of them have the right coaching to get there.
In a recent study conducted by MIT’s Sloan School of Management, 49 percent of individuals surveyed expressed that a lack of guidance has hindered their ability to be promoted.
That’s why it’s essential for organizations to have the right structure — and people — in place to ensure its employees know exactly what they need to do to reach the next level in their career and are supported in doing so.
At data security company Rubrik, employees benefit from a focus on growth and development, rooted in what the company calls “ongoing performance excellence.” According to Director of Talent Development Andrea Moore, this structure combines regular check-ins, ongoing feedback and more to ensure team members have the knowledge and support needed to deliver their best work.
“Ongoing performance excellence and our signature programs empower Rubrikans to own their growth and amplify their impact, helping teams innovate faster and serve customers worldwide,” she said.
Internal growth hinges on having support leaders, and at AI agent platform provider firsthand, employees thrive in a culture rooted in one critical element: feedback. Throughout her career, Senior Director of Learning and Development Bonnie Anderson has seen impactful feedback in the form of mentors, supervisors or peers who help others see the bigger picture.
“When individual contributors are directly asked to consider a situation from a different lens, they can be pushed into a type of growth that asks them to move beyond their own performance and create value for the team as a whole,” she said.
Below, Moore and Anderson, alongside leaders from companies like Carbon Robotics and Golden Hippo, share how their employers approach internal promotions, the programs in place to drive these growth efforts and how the company’s leaders help drive careers forward.
Featured Companies
Rubrik is on a mission to secure the world’s data. With Zero Trust Data Security™, the company helps organizations achieve business resilience against cyberattacks, malicious insiders and operational disruptions.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
To ensure promotion criteria feel genuinely fair and clear, they must be demonstrably objective, transparent and consistently applied. Promotions must clearly link an individual’s business impact, the business need for a role at the next level and the mastery of defined competencies. At Rubrik, promotions recognize “Rubrikans” who deliver meaningful business impact, embody our RIVET values — “Relentlessness,” “Integrity,” “Velocity,” “Excellence” and “Transparency” — and advance our mission to secure the world’s data, grounded in transparent, equitable calibration.
“Promotions must clearly link an individual’s business impact, the business need for a role at the next level and the mastery of defined competencies.”
This structured approach builds trust and fuels motivation for growth, effectively preventing decisions based on subjective factors or simply time in role. To enable this, we leverage leveling guides and rubrics and follow a rigorous process for promotion calibration decisions. When these standards are applied equitably across the organization, it validates the fairness of the system and removes ambiguity. It also creates clarity around development planning, allowing Rubrikans to be intentional about the skills and experiences they need to grow in their career, whether for an upward promotion or a lateral move to an entirely new role.
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
At Rubrik, ongoing performance excellence is the foundation of growth and development. OPE combines regular check-ins, ongoing feedback, individual development plans and mid-year and annual reviews, keeping development top of mind throughout the year so Rubrikans can do the best work of their careers. OPE and our signature programs empower Rubrikans to own their growth and amplify their impact, helping teams innovate faster and serve customers worldwide.
Our programs include Thrive, which is geared toward “transformational leadership for top talent,” Frontline Fundamentals, tailored to people management essentials, and a Quarterly Development Series on pertinent, emergent topics, plus mentorship and business-specific technical and power-skills training.
The results: Thrive participants earn higher promotion rates and performance ratings than a matched peer group, and 83 percent agree, “Rubrik is a great company for me to invest in my development,” which is up five points versus the fourth quarter of the 2025 fiscal year. Our vision: Rubrik as the ultimate career destination, where meaningful work securing the world’s data pairs with exponential personal and professional growth.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
When people managers lead with curiosity, it unlocks a powerful new level of enablement for their team members. Curiosity lends itself to asking more questions rather than simply directing or telling, which prompts individuals to think critically about their situation, underlying problem and possible solutions. This crucial shift in conversation cultivates greater ownership of work, moving Rubrikans from following instructions to generating ideas and strategies. Curiosity-driven coaching also encourages thinking and innovation, helping teams solve the right problems and make better decisions. This commitment ultimately fuels engagement, empowerment and growth. Our manager and leadership development programs incorporate ample practice in asking questions and active listening.
Carbon Robotics is revolutionizing agriculture with AI and robotics to reduce costs and increase yields.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
I believe Carbon Robotics has some of the clearest promotion criteria: Work hard, perform at a high level and deliver when it counts, and you’ll be rewarded. The company’s structure reflects this; many of the people now in key leadership roles started in lower-level positions. Their growth within the organization shows that promotions are based on proven performance and reliability, which makes the process feel both fair and motivating, at least in my opinion!
“I believe Carbon Robotics has some of the clearest promotion criteria: Work hard, perform at a high level and deliver when it counts, and you’ll be rewarded.”
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
The manufacturing program at Carbon Robotics has significantly expanded my capabilities as both a leader and a professional. By placing trust in my potential, my leadership empowered me to build a rapidly scaling, highly capable and effective team that consistently delivers at a high level. As a result, we now have an internal manufacturing organization that spans three production-capable facilities globally that can iterate quickly, meet demand efficiently and outperform our previous contract manufacturer in both production volume and product quality.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
I believe it to be a combination of two coaching habits that help people grow: actively listening to them as well as challenging them with new goals or more responsibility.
Golden Hippo builds and operates health and wellness brands for both humans and their pets.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
Promotion criteria can be hard to put down on paper. What we do that makes it fair and clear is that we follow our values of being results-oriented and data-driven. First and foremost, if you can achieve measurable results, you have a great chance. We also make sure that the criteria involves being a person who can work across departments with external stakeholders. Being the best or meeting your goals are great, but when it comes to promotions, the next level involves more coordination and collaboration with others.
“First and foremost, if you can achieve measurable results, you have a great chance.”
I feel that the way we highlight wins and great results in our company meetings is a great support of that. In addition, those great results highlight all the people directly and indirectly involved in those achievements. Over the last few years, there have been promotions that happened to be individuals mentioned regularly in those win presentations.
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
Our mentorship program has tremendously helped in socializing our collective capabilities. It pairs senior leaders with those who are interested in career progression. This is not just people who are looking to be promoted but also those who just want to improve on their skills and background. Since it has been established, there have been various mentees who have then gone on to be promoted, two of whom I know personally from either being on my team or being my mentees. The measurable part is the amount of people who were promoted, but there are many other great benefits that are harder to measure in cross-functional collaboration and skill enhancement that will undoubtedly help all the participants in their careers going forward.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
For me, the ability to attain buy-in is the key to moving careers forward. I use it as well but preach buy-in as a key factor to getting results from teams and on projects. As your career progresses and you are in charge of bigger teams, your direct impact on projects and results is diminished. Your influence on projects and teams is what needs to increase. The best way I have found to do that is to make sure that my teams buy into the goals or projects. This is a process in itself. It comes with thorough explanation, sometimes hearing valid counter points and emotional resistance to change. This is where positive results are established. If a leader can take the time to take those points in and show that they are taken into account, buy-in usually follows. If the team has bought into the goal, your role as a coach is made much easier, because you are not trying to convince or create the momentum. The team rightfully takes that role. You can now be the one who removes obstacles and uses their experience to help the team along.
MVF is an integrated media and marketing company that specializes in services related to lead generation, advertising and market insights.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
A promotion should still, in my opinion, be based on clear evidence and some assessment of the role. If there is an opportunity for a promotion, there should be an opportunity for all successors to go for the role, with a clear consistent framework and scoring to ensure the highest scorer gets the role. This helps remove unconscious bias.
“If there is an opportunity for a promotion, there should be an opportunity for all successors to go for the role, with a clear consistent framework and scoring to ensure the highest scorer gets the role.”
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
Not sure this is relevant to MVF, but I am aware of people having one-to-one coaches, which has been really helpful, but they have been isolated rather than structured programmes for all with more self-led learning.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
Action practice coaching is thought- and verbal-led. Understanding what we could do differently or how to progress is the first step. The real change comes with practicing the learnings time and time again in different situations to assess how they work, followed by considered reflection.
Leader Bank offers a wide range of financial services, from checking and savings accounts to commercial lending.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
For promotion criteria to feel fair and transparent, a few key elements must be in place. There should be a clearly defined process and criteria for consideration. For instance, promotions to a vice president level or higher require a nomination by the current manager. To be nominated, the individual must have a proven track record of success, demonstrate leadership attributes across the bank, possess a strategic mindset and show the ability to delegate rather than doing all the work themselves. Potential candidates must undergo a 360 review, which includes feedback from direct reports, peers and senior leadership. Human resources will ask for suggestions from the candidate but will ultimately choose the participants.
Once the results are in, the chief talent officer meets with the CEO and president to present the findings and decide on the promotion. Communication is crucial in this process. Understanding the reasons behind the process and its components is essential for all team members. They need to feel in control of their career and future moves. If a manager believes a team member is not ready for the next level, they can collaborate on a development plan to reach that level.
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
Many programs are designed to help team members develop new skills and advance in their careers. At Leader, we have launched a program for our top talent called Emerging Leaders. This program focuses on self-leadership, people leadership, thought leadership and results leadership. By concentrating on these four domains, we prepare our emerging leaders for their next position. As a leader, it is essential to understand yourself and manage your emotions, feelings and work. People leadership skills will help you motivate and inspire your team to achieve the best results, allowing you to focus on how to get those results.
“People leadership skills will help you motivate and inspire your team to achieve the best results, allowing you to focus on how to get those results.”
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
The key to advancing careers is having a coach who genuinely cares. When someone sees you beyond your work product, they can identify what truly inspires and motivates you, unlocking your full potential. We are often our own worst critics and do not see ourselves as others do. A great coach will help you see yourself through the eyes of others.
firsthand is transforming the way individuals living with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) receive care.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
At firsthand, we have a promotion committee that regularly meets and calibrates to ensure we are rewarding high performance. Managers present a rubric of performance to the committee, which includes members of our leadership team. Then, when we celebrate promotions widely, we explain what contributed to the decision. Team members at all levels at firsthand can see what they need to do and celebrate others, knowing that their promotions are well-deserved and fairly won.
Promotion criteria is most impactful when team members clearly know what it is and can directly see the business impact. When goals for promotion are clearly laid out and aligned with what our firsthand business is trying to do, it is more motivating, empowering and easy for team members to hop on board.
In some places where I’ve worked, promotion criteria, if laid out at all, felt like a lot of hoops to jump through. Meeting the expectations didn’t actually impact my work product or quality but felt like boxes to check that were only examined during the review cycle.
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
At firsthand, our business is all about interaction. Our team members are an extra layer of support for individuals who traditionally feel disconnected with the healthcare system. Since so much of our work revolves around conversation, we knew that we had to develop a program that helped team members dive in quickly and understand what quality looks like but still feel empowered to adjust their practice based on the individual need.
We spent a lot of time with successful team members and leaders, observing and naming the skills and qualities that made them successful. Then, we incorporated that knowledge into a robust onboarding program, complete with detailed rubrics and rigorous assessments that get team members practicing early and often. We wanted to make sure that new team members could learn from those that came before them, so they could level firsthand up even faster. This updated onboarding has led to some of our most successful new market launches and encouraged team members to truly stop and reflect on their own skills.
“This updated onboarding has led to some of our most successful new market launches and encouraged team members to truly stop and reflect on their own skills.”
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
While the first thing that comes to mind is always feedback, I think that some of the most impactful feedback I’ve seen is when mentors, supervisors or peers help someone zoom out and consider the bigger picture. Oftentimes, we get really focused on our own metrics, performance and perception. We can stop thinking about how our actions impact the greater team and business.
When individual contributors are directly asked to consider a situation from a different lens, they can be pushed into a type of growth that asks them to move beyond their own performance and create value for the team as a whole. Careers move forward when people become invaluable members of a team, the type of person who everyone would want to work with again.
ClassWallet’s platform is designed to help government agencies, nonprofits and K-12 schools manage funds securely and transparently.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
ClassWallet supports growth both within the department where you started as well as the ability to move laterally throughout the company. I began my career here seven years ago, and six months later, I was in a new role. There’s an inherent belief system that one person can lead and learn simultaneously, and I was given the opportunity to stand up whole departments and create the corresponding processes. That came with the ability to fail, learn quickly from my mistakes and continue improving, both personally and professionally, from these experiences.
Our senior leadership values drive and innovation, with a realistic lens that “version 1.0” will likely be imperfect. A specific example is our new learning management system. I recently led the LMS transition, which underscores ClassWallet’s belief in professional development. Colleagues have the opportunity to take classes “for fun” that speak to their interests, and my team is also creating specific paths for individual career mapping and department-specific learnings.
“Our senior leadership values drive and innovation, with a realistic lens that ‘version 1.0’ will likely be imperfect.”
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
There is not a program per se but rather the ability to create programs as part of on-the-job opportunities or “real learning.” I implemented ADP by myself! We switched PEOs, and it was a true learning experience where I was relied upon to identify risks, perform gap analysis and ultimately define the greater opportunity.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
Feedback! In my role, it’s important to give feedback that both demonstrates active listening and empathy. I’m a very direct person, so ensuring the message is received as I intended it is paramount to my success in this role. By affording me a series of very challenging growth opportunities, I developed this skill, and it is essential to my continued success. I recently served on a women’s panel, where we discussed imposter syndrome. I grew with this experience, as it helped me better know my value and increase my confidence.
A big take-away was living the difference between nice and kind. I used to place a stronger emphasis on being nice, and today, I’m less concerned about being liked because I’m nice versus being respected for my contributions, which I share in a kind paradigm. I’m an introvert, and this helped me expand my voice. ClassWallet has been incredibly impactful in my career development, primarily by affording opportunities and believing in my abilities; occasionally, more than I even believed in myself. Today, I freely give and receive feedback with an eye on moving the business forward and personal improvement.
Hiro Systems creates developer tools for Stacks, a network that enables apps and smart contracts for bitcoin, in an effort to enable teams to build the next generation of bitcoin apps.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
At Hiro, we have a published competency matrix that clearly defines our levels: how to excel within your level and how to grow into the next one. Managers at Hiro do a fantastic job of tying your wins and areas for growth directly to the competency matrix so that if growth is on your mind, you know how to get there.
“Managers at Hiro do a fantastic job of tying your wins and areas for growth directly to the competency matrix so that if growth is on your mind, you know how to get there.”
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
Hiro’s learning and development program offers employees $1,200 per year to explore areas that interest them. For me, that was taking courses! During my time at Hiro, I’ve taken software engineering courses on Codeacademy, took creative writing courses with Coursera and completed a strategy course with Harvard Business School Online. These classes have helped me grow as a strategic thinker, given me tons of useful context as a non-technical operator and helped me grow as a leader.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
In my experience, one-on-ones have been so helpful. We’re self-starters at Hiro, and there’s no micromanaging. This has given me the opportunity to set my own goals and track success with metrics that my manager and I have agreed are important. These consistent one-on-ones and goal-setting conversations have helped me grow from an executive assistant at Hiro to our head of operations.
Snyk’s AI trust platform is designed to integrate into developer and security workflows to accelerate secure software delivery.
What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports that?
Promotion criteria should be fair and transparent. They should be clear, objective, consistently applied and well-communicated to all team members. At Snyk, in the solution engineering organization, we defined a career ladder with clearly defined levels and titles, behavioral and technical competencies and what good looks like. Organizations need to clearly outline the responsibilities and requirements of the next-level role so everyone knows what they are aiming for. Most importantly, all team members must have easy and clear access to the promotion criteria and the entire evaluation process. Nothing should be hidden. At Snyk, our leaders were educated on how to socialize and have conversations with their team members to foster a growth mindset. Promotions should also be based on measurable performance metrics and not subjective opinions or favoritism or “time in seat.” At Snyk, within the solution engineering team, we have defined KPIs that we track that include strategic execution, revenue impact, tech win rates and demonstrated competencies. Ultimately, the team member should own their careers, but it is on leadership to give them a platform to succeed.
“Ultimately, the team member should own their careers, but it is on leadership to give them a platform to succeed.”
Which program changed your capability — with what measurable result?
The most impactful learning and development program for my own advancement has been the synergy created by practical experience, complemented by high-quality mentorship and the formal grounding provided by programs like the Harvard Business School learning program on management and leadership principles, two programs I enrolled in at the start of my management journey and the leadership principles principles program a couple of years ago. While practical application offers crucial, real-time feedback and develops intuitive decision-making skills, mentorship provides the necessary context, strategic guidance, and accelerated learning by transferring institutional knowledge and experience. The HBS-style formal education delivered a robust framework of established management theories and leadership models, turning disparate experiences into coherent, actionable principles. This multi-faceted approach ensured for me that leadership development is not just theoretical or purely experiential, but a comprehensive process that builds both competence and confidence.
Practical experiences I’ve had, like leading a difficult project or managing a conflict, is the crucible where leadership was truly forged. The real work revealed exactly what I didn’t know, creating a clear, compelling need for the knowledge provided by the formal program and the advice from my mentors. The structured program, with the Harvard Business School’s focus on management principles and leadership principles, provides the foundational knowledge and analytical tools, especially since it was in a practical business case format, with real-world examples and leadership challenges.
What coaching habit consistently moves careers forward?
Consistently helping people move their careers forward is centered around fostering self-discovery, accountability and strategic action. These habits shift the focus from the coach giving answers to the coachee finding their own path. A good coach resists the urge to jump in with advice and instead stays focused on what the coachee is truly saying, including their emotions and underlying assumptions. Asking open-ended questions is also key to self-reflection. Use questions like, “What is the real challenge here?” or “What do you want?” to help the coachee articulate their goals and identify the root challenge, not just the symptom.
I’ve personally found the “5 Why” method a great way to get to the root cause of the problem. It’s an oldie but a goodie! The method, originally a manufacturing problem-solving technique from Toyota, is a powerful coaching tool I’ve used to help individuals move beyond surface-level symptoms and uncover the root cause of a personal, career or behavioral challenge. The iterative asking of “Why?” fosters deep self-awareness and leads to more sustainable, impactful solutions. I’ve also been a big fan of strengths-based empowerment, like the strength finder’s principle. This coaching method continuously helps the coachee recognize, articulate and leverage their existing strengths and transferable skills to build confidence, which is vital for making smart career decisions. This way helps identify and gently question the self-doubt or negative thought patterns, like imposter syndrome, that hold the coachee back, helping them reframe setbacks as learning opportunities.
