At Wild Audience, leveling reflects how consistently someone delivers, shows up, and grows. It is not a subjective discussion or a title-driven decision, but a structured process grounded in observable behaviours and real data.

For us, Soft Skills are equally as important as Hard skills. Neither compensates for the other.

Leveling decisions are driven by three inputs:

• 360 Feedback → Data gathering: captures both hard skill delivery (using roles) and soft skill behaviours
• Soft Skills Framework → Assessment: structures soft skill data into a level
• Career Level Framework → Calibration: uses data to confirm the level

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A note on hard skills: There is no dedicated hard skills framework yet, although that is on the roadmap.

In the meantime, hard skill delivery is assessed through three things you already have:

• the responsibilities of the role (what good looks like in this discipline)
• the Expertise dimension of the Career Level Framework (is this person solving problems at the right level of complexity?)
• and 360 feedback (how does their technical delivery land with others?)

Together, these give a solid enough picture for the level assessment.

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1. 360 Feedback → Data gathering

360 feedback is the primary data collection process. It gathers qualitative input from peers, circle leads, and the team member themselves and captures data on both dimensions of performance:

• Hard skills → How someone delivers on their roles. Are they fulfilling their responsibilities? Are they operating at the right level of technical complexity? Roles serve as the reference point here, and the 360 provides narrative data on delivery.
• Soft skills → How someone shows up. How they communicate, collaborate, make decisions, and embody the culture.

This feedback is used as data to understand the full picture before assessing level, and it feeds directly into both the soft skill assessment and the career level calibration.

2. Soft Skills Framework → Assessment

The Soft Skills Framework is used to structure and assess the soft skill data gathered through 360 feedback. It covers five dimensions, each with observable behaviours anchored to career levels:

1. Ownership & Accountability
2. Strategic Thinking, Decision Making & Problem Solving
3. Project Management & Communication
4. Adaptability & Learning
5. Company Culture