Individual Contributors

Individual Contributors Path

It literally means someone who contributes individually. Their main purpose is not management. The idea behind this is to recognize that there is a career path and opportunity for growth for people who have strong technical skills that don't go through the path of becoming a manager, and instead, work on developing these skills and contribute equally to a manager to deliver the goals and mission of Secure Group.

In order to progress in the ICs Path, each employee needs to meet the criteria of the Level & Step Chart shown bellow and also score at least a grade 4 in the KAI of their position in order to reach Level 3.

Individual Contributors Levels

Each Level and Step for Individual Contributors is evaluated based on well-defined criteria as shown below:

Levels Chart
IC Path	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5	Level 6
Strategy Involvement (Balanced ScoreCard)	Applies Secure Group policies and internal procedures to resolve issues on a daily basis.	Has some understanding of Secure Group's strategic plan, industry, and market space.	Understands Secure Group's strategy and contributes effectively to the business' goals and/оr initiatives in it.	Can easily explain Secure Group's strategies as part of his day-to-day job and acts like an owner of the business' goals and/or initiatives.	Has a deep understanding of Secure Group's strategy and it's directly responsible for achieving one or more business' goals.	Acts like a spokesperson for Secure Group Strategic Plan, market space, and products and has a thorough, holistic understanding of the business.
	In Practice: the employee is informed and follows our Internal Rules and policies. The employee knows there's a Strategic Map for the company and by department.	In Practice: the employee knows how to explain the overall strategy shown in the Strategic Maps and which products we sell and to whom.	In Practice: the employee knows exactly which KPIs and Initiatives are being tracked in order to reach the business goals shown in the Strategic Map of their department and can direct the tasks/projects to accomplish them.	In Practice: the employee is the owner of KPIs and some Initiatives from their department's Strategic Map, contributes to the business goals and can easily understand how it all relates to Secure Group overall strategy	In Practice: the employee is the owner of a significant number of Initiatives in their department, it's completely responsible for achieving goals in their department and contributes directly to one or more business goals from Secure Group Strategic Map.	In Practice: the employee is responsible for achieving a significant amount of business goals from Secure Group General Strategic Map. It's usually the owner of a whole Strategic Theme.
Job Complexity (defined in the RACI)	Works on limited scope issues.	Works on problems of moderate scope where analysis of situations or data requires reviews from a manager, a tech lead or a senior employee.	Works on problems of diverse scope specified in the RACI where analysis of data requires evaluation of already identified factors.	Works on complex issues determined in the RACI where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of a variety of factors.	Works on important and unique tasks where analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of intangible factors.	Works on issues that impact business success or addresses future concepts, products, and technologies.
	The employee is informed about our documentation process and knows how to find information when needed.	The employee is responsible for gathering relevant information and data for superiors to create documentation.	The employee is responsible for writing the documentation that is under its responsibility/accountability with the review from superiors.	The employee is responsible for selecting processes creating documentation for the department.	The employee is responsible for prioritizing and ensuring that the documentation is relevant and applicable to a variety of departments.	The employee is responsible for designing processes from scratch in order for the teams to document them.
	Follows the standard practices, procedures, and processes defined in the RACI.	Exercises judgment within defined procedures and practices described in the RACI to determine appropriate action.	Demonstrates good judgment in selecting methods and techniques that act as effective solutions driving tangible results.	It is capable of exercising judgment to select and define methods, techniques and evaluation criteria that act as effective solutions driving tangible results.	Exercises independent judgment in defining methods, techniques and evaluation criteria that act as effective solutions driving tangible results.	Acts as a spokesperson for Secure Group.
Knowledge (application of the KAI)	Understands how to use professional concepts.	Continually develops professional expertise and skills. Applies relevant knowledge to find resolutions for a variety of issues on a daily basis.	Possess a full understanding of tasks/projects; resolves a wide range of issues in creative ways.	Has a wide-ranging experience, is capable of using professional concepts and objectives correctly in order to accomplish tasks.	Has broad expertise or unique knowledge, uses a variety of skills to contribute to the development of Secure Group's business model, objectives, and principles and to achieve goals in creative and effective ways. Capable of transmitting knowledge to the other departments/employees (tech-sessions).	Expert in the field uses professional concepts in developing a resolution to critical issues and broad business matters. It's recognized in the industry.
	Your focus is on learning with guidance from others.	Your focus is on continuous self-learning.	Your focus is on developing through on-the-job experience.	Your focus is on applying and enhancing knowledge or skill.	Your focus is on broad organizational/professional issues.	Your focus is strategic.
	In Practice: the KAI will be most likely filled with grades of proficiency of 2 and 3 and may have some items graded with 4.	In Practice: the KAI will be most likely filled with grades of proficiency of 3 and 4 and may have some items graded with 5.	In Practice: the KAI needs to be filled with a minimum grade of 4 in all items.	In Practice: the KAI will be most likely filled with grades of proficiency of 4 to 6.	In Practice: the KAI will be most likely filled with grades of proficiency 5 and 6.	In Practice: the KAI is filled with almost every item with a grade of proficiency of 6.
Knowledge Sharing	You attend tech-sessions that were assigned to you	You support the creation of content and/or you give Tech-Sessions that are related to the application of tools within a defined process, with the supervision from superiors.	You create content and/or provide Tech-Sessions related to processes without any supervision.	You create content and/or give Tech-Sessions related to our business: concepts, models, frameworks etc.	You identify knowledge GAP from internal references and create relevant content to be applied in Tech-Sessions.	You identify knowledge gaps from external references and create relevant content to be applied in Tech-Sessions.
Teamwork	You respond to requests.	You support colleagues.	You actively engage with colleagues by providing constructive feedback and encourage collaboration.	You motivate others to work with themselves to reach the team's objectives. Facilitate and inspire cross-department collaboration.	You are an advisor in establishing a collaborative culture.	You engage in internal transformational partnerships that lead to high-performance. Identify external opportunities and instills a culture based on collaboration.
	You accept change.	You support change.	You point out the need for change.	You make compelling cases for change.	You mobilize others to initiate change.	You drive firmwide momentum for change.
	You accept different views.	You understand diverse views.	You integrate others point of view.	You function well across diverse groups.	You facilitates engagement between people.	You create an inclusive culture.
Supervision	Normally receives detailed instructions on different tasks.	Usually receives general instructions on routine work and detailed instructions on new projects or assignments.	Normally receives little instruction on day-to-day work, general instructions on new assignments/projects.	Determines the methods and procedures to be followed on new assignments and acts as an advisor to other employee's activities.	Acts independently to determine methods and procedures on new or special assignments. Supervises and advises the activities of others.	Exercises wide latitude in determining objectives and approaches to critical assignments.

Individual Contributors Steps

Steps Chart
IC Path	Step 1	Step 2	Step 3	Step 4
Level 1	Ownership: No ownership, receives instructions on almost all tasks.	Ownership: Little ownership, receives instructions on most tasks.	Ownership: Some ownership, receives instructions on some tasks.	Ownership: Increasing ownership, can work independently on many routine tasks.
	Initiative: None expected, does work as instructed.	Initiative: Little expected, does work as instructed.	Initiative: Starts taking the initiative by asking questions and learning more about the tasks/projects.	Initiative: An Increasing by asking targeted/relevant questions.
Level 2	Ownership: Works mostly independently on individual tasks.	Ownership: Works on individual tasks entirely independently.	Ownership: Mastering ability to break down projects into tasks; co-owns projects with strong guidance.	Ownership: Co-owns projects' and owns pieces of larger projectss with decreasing guidance.
	Initiative: Begins deeper questioning of processes to understand them better.	Initiative: Deep questioning of processes; begins to suggest improvements.	Initiative: Shows some initiative through optimization of existing processes.	Initiative: Takes more initiative through iterating on existing processes.
Level 3	Ownership: Co-owns projects and individually owns pieces of larger projects in their area completely.	Ownership: Fully owns projects in their area with the guidance of superiors.	Ownership: Fully owns projects in their area with decreasing guidance.	Ownership: Owns projects in their area wholly.
	Initiative: Makes relevant decisions within their scope without constantly seeking consensus.	Initiative: Makes effective decisions within their scope without seeking consensus.	Initiative: Takes some initiative through identifying gaps and opportunities.	Initiative: Takes more initiative through identifying gaps and opportunities.
Level 4	Ownership: Works independently and owns projects entirely, both in their area and cross-functionally.	Ownership: It is seen as a mentor and known as the expert in their subject area.	Ownership: Identifies and proactively attacks significant challenges and problems in their area.	Ownership: Leads adoption of new systems/tools/methodologies and/or technologies in their area.
	Initiative: Gives guidance and unblocks stuck processes; finds opportunities to mentor and grow teammates.	Initiative: Gives guidance and unblocks others; finds opportunities to mentor and grow teammates.	Initiative: Shows some discretion in delegating tasks and focusing on a higher level.	Initiative: Shows more discretion in delegating tasks and focusing on higher levels.
Level 5	Ownership: Conceives and owns projects entirely, both in their area and cross-functionally. Identifies scopes and work stages to transform them into well-defined milestones for projects or initiatives.	Ownership: Demonstrates knowledge of industry trends; researches and leads adoptionof new approaches or technologies in their area.	Ownership: Starts being involved in setting direction at an area level.	Ownership: It's wholly involved in setting direction at areas level.
	Initiative: Minimizes the complexity of projects/processes to get to work more effectively.	Initiative: Reduces the complexity of projects/processes to get more done with less work.	Initiative: Takes some initiative in identifying and solving important problems, often coordinating cross-functionally within departments.	Initiative: Takes more initiative to identify and solve important problems, often coordinating cross-functionally within departments.
Level 6	Ownership: Drives projects on which multiple teams depend on.	Ownership: As subject matter expert (recognized authority), plays a crucial role in developing the overall company strategy.	Ownership: Decisions have a direct impact on the long-term success of Secure Group.	Ownership: Leads the company in developing direction in significant areas.
	Initiative: Routinely and consistently pushes forward multiple teams/areas within the company.	Initiative: Drives the conversation about the area’s direction, drives team-wide consensus to develop and adopt orientation.	Initiative:Identifies significant strategic opportunities to allow Secure Group to 'grow as a business.	Initiative: Identifies and acts on significant strategic opportunities to allow Secure Group to achieve global strategic goals.