As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a role progression framework.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open your current role description, team objectives, competency framework and grading or promotion policy, then gather the documents that describe the work people actually do.
   2. Ask role holders and managers for examples of outcomes, decisions, responsibilities and skills that distinguish developing, effective and advanced performance.
   3. Remove confidential personal information from the material and paste the remaining organisation context, role details and level information into the prompt.
   4. Ask the chatbot to produce the framework using observable evidence, and to mark assumptions, missing information and subjective criteria instead of filling gaps.
   5. Paste the draft into a document and compare every level with current role descriptions, team objectives, policies and real examples of work.
   6. Ask an HR or people colleague to check the criteria for consistency, indirect disadvantage, accessibility, grading implications and alignment with employment policies.
   7. Test the framework with managers and role holders using anonymised examples, revise unclear criteria, and send the approved version through your organisation's normal HR governance route.

   Prompt

   Create a role progression framework for [ROLE OR ROLE FAMILY] in a [INDUSTRY OR ORGANISATION TYPE] organisation.
   
   Use the information below and do not invent company policies, qualifications, pay figures, legal requirements or performance data. If information is missing, mark it as an assumption or a question for me.
   
   Organisation context:
   [PASTE CONTEXT]
   
   Role purpose:
   [PASTE ROLE PURPOSE]
   
   Current responsibilities and expected outcomes:
   [PASTE RESPONSIBILITIES AND OUTCOMES]
   
   Proposed levels, if any:
   [PASTE LEVEL NAMES OR WRITE NONE]
   
   Skills, knowledge and behaviours needed:
   [PASTE DETAILS]
   
   Examples of work at each level:
   [PASTE EXAMPLES OR WRITE NONE]
   
   Existing grading, promotion or pay information that may be relevant:
   [PASTE INFORMATION OR WRITE NONE]
   
   Create a practical framework with three to five levels, or use the proposed levels if provided. For each level, include: scope of responsibility, expected outcomes, decision-making authority, technical or professional capability, collaboration and communication expectations, examples of evidence, and what would demonstrate readiness for the next level. Separate essential requirements from helpful development areas. Use observable, work-related language rather than personality traits. Make the standards consistent across levels and flag any criteria that could be subjective, exclusionary or difficult to evidence.
   
   Then provide:
   1. A short explanation of how the framework should be used in development and performance conversations.
   2. Questions managers should ask when assessing evidence.
   3. A list of missing information and decisions that an HR or leadership colleague must resolve.
   4. A plain-language disclaimer that the framework is a draft and must be checked against the organisation's policies, grading structure and employment-law obligations.
   
   Do not decide who should be promoted, assign pay, or present the framework as legal advice.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.