Graphcore Leadership & Management

What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports it?

At Graphcore, we’re building well-defined career pathways that help make promotion criteria clear by showing what meaningful growth looks like at each level. To bring these to life, I’ve created a grade framework for my team that sets out the increasing technical capability, responsibility and autonomy expected at each grade. I’ve reviewed this framework with the team to answer questions, align expectations and support their career development.

As our U.S. team is still relatively new, we don’t yet have a large body of promotion data to draw on. In the meantime, we focus on ensuring the process is as transparent and consistent as possible through clear expectations, regular career conversations and a shared understanding of the capabilities expected at each grade.

Which program most improved your team’s capability — and what changed?

Our in-depth onboarding week has had the biggest impact on accelerating team capability. Every new joiner attends an in-person onboarding week, including remote employees, where they gain hands-on exposure to our projects, systems and ways of working, alongside one-on-one introductions with key team members.

We finish the week with a dedicated one-on-one feedback session to identify any remaining knowledge gaps and tailor ongoing support. We also use this feedback to continuously refine our onboarding program, making it even more effective for each new hire. By giving new joiners a strong understanding of our technology and ways of working from day one, they gain the confidence to contribute meaningful ideas sooner, helping them grow their skills while making a meaningful impact.

What recurring manager/mentor behavior accelerates growth?

Regular one-on-ones with a strong emphasis on two-way feedback have been one of the most effective ways to accelerate growth. We encourage team members to give feedback to their manager just as readily as they receive it. Building a culture of psychological safety, where open and honest conversations are encouraged, helps everyone continue to learn and enables managers to better support their teams. This openness, combined with the friendly and collaborative culture we’ve built, creates the conditions for innovation, where ideas can come from anyone and are always welcome.