Growth Velocity Rubric

A role-normalized assessment for measuring how quickly and effectively someone is becoming more capable over time.

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What This Measures

Growth velocity is the rate at which someone converts feedback, new challenges, and increasing ambiguity into demonstrably better performance.

Impact asks: what did the person deliver?

Growth velocity asks: how much more capable is the person becoming, and how quickly is that change appearing in their work?

Assessment Setup

Rubric

Score each dimension from 0 to 3 against the selected role level. A score of 2 means healthy expected growth for the current level; a score of 3 should be reserved for unusually fast, repeatable, or leverage-building growth.

Calibration Reference

Use Evidence

  • What changed over the review period?
  • Is the change observable?
  • Is the evidence tied to output, behaviour, or stakeholder impact?

Avoid Confounds

  • Do not score effort, ambition, busyness, or long hours as growth velocity.
  • Do not reward confidence or communication polish without evidence.
  • Check whether a rating is based on one recent event.

Normalize by Role

  • Junior growth often appears as reliability and basic independence.
  • Intermediate growth often appears as ownership and tradeoff quality.
  • Senior growth often appears as judgment, influence, clarity, and leverage.