Growth Plan & Career Path

Context and problem

In the last few years, the way companies evaluate and grow collaborators has changed significantly, especially in remote environments. The traditional focus on formal education and static competencies is shifting toward skills that are observable in daily work and collaboration, which means the most reliable information no longer comes from a diploma or a job title but from how someone actually behaves in real situations. This shift is strongly connected to how fast tools, markets, and customer expectations evolve in digital businesses, where roles change more quickly than traditional job descriptions can follow. As a result, CVs and past titles remain a useful snapshot, but they are no longer enough on their own.

You need to update how you evaluate your people, especially because of market volatility and rapid technological change. In many sectors, and particularly in tech and e-commerce, tools, platforms, and best practices evolve so quickly that knowledge can become outdated in a matter of months, which means collaborators and companies must stay constantly updated — otherwise, the organization risks losing competitiveness compared to similar players in the market. In this context, a static description of past experiences is no longer enough to understand how someone will perform in a dynamic environment.

CVs are still a useful way to understand a person's background, but evaluation cannot be based only on what is written there. It is increasingly common to see CVs full of online and offline courses, degrees, and internships that look impressive on paper, while in daily work the person does not collaborate with others, focuses only on their own tasks, and rarely shares best practices, suggestions, or feedback with the team. Teamwork is a soft skill that cannot simply be added as a line on a CV or truly learned only through a course — it becomes visible in how someone communicates, supports colleagues, and contributes to collective results over time.

Real situations, especially in remote companies, are very different from the theory written in books or taught in online modules. For example, when working on a complex project, the collaborator with the "best" CV and the highest university grades might be excellent at producing detailed reports but less effective at interpreting the data with a critical and flexible mindset. In e-commerce and other digital businesses, this ability to read results, ask the right questions, and connect numbers with customer behavior is fundamental, because it often makes the difference between teams that simply execute tasks and teams that actively drive growth and innovation.

At the same time, a CV that shows different experiences across roles and companies can signal an open mind and a rich mix of perspectives, and exposure to diverse contexts often helps a person develop adaptability, creativity, and a broader understanding of how businesses work. This variety can be very valuable, especially when building cross-functional teams. However, it is also important to explore the story behind those moves: why did the person never stay long in one place? Were they looking for growth that was not available, or were there performance or engagement issues? Thoughtful questions during the interview and the first months of collaboration help distinguish healthy exploration from patterns that might repeat in the future.

In practice, a large part of the evaluation now happens through behaviors — how someone runs a call, gives and receives feedback, manages a project asynchronously, or supports colleagues in another time zone. Small signals, like who takes initiative to unblock a task or who helps connect different team members, become visible indicators of readiness for more responsibility. KPIs and hard skills remain important, and results must be achieved, but there may be many CVs with the same courses and technical skills, and only a few people who can truly perform well in a remote environment, because working well remotely means being independent, open to feedback, clear and respectful in communication, empathetic, and reliable with deadlines and meetings.

At the same time, many talented people have developed their abilities through self-learning, side projects, or non-linear career paths. They may not have the "perfect" CV, but they bring a combination of technical, relational, and problem-solving skills that only emerge when they are given space to contribute. Through self-learning or side projects, people often develop proactiveness, creativity, and a genuine love for learning without any external pressure to do so, and these collaborators tend to be naturally curious and consistently bring new knowledge, tools, or ideas to the table. If you keep looking only at diplomas and job titles, you risk missing a large pool of potential and creating frustration for those who are ready to grow but never get the chance.

One of the best video editors we have worked with had never completed an online or officially recognized video editing course. Instead, he had spent a lot of time playing online games with friends and even creating a game himself — a kind of experience that shows proactiveness, creativity, and the ability to collaborate with others in complex, fast-moving environments. After just a few days of working with us, he started asking questions about how our content flow was designed and how it could be improved. He proposed concrete changes, brought suggestions and ideas based on his previous experiences and on what he had seen in other companies, and quickly demonstrated strong storytelling and attention to detail.

From an assistant's point of view, one of the marketing assistants I have worked with did not have any formal background in marketing. However, she is the oldest sister of five children, and for many years she helped her mother organize the home, meals, school routines, and daily logistics without the support of a nanny. This life experience developed strong organizational skills, a sense of responsibility, and a high level of empathy — all fundamental qualities for assisting a manager in a remote context. In her role, she is highly effective at planning campaigns, coordinating with others, and following timelines.

From competencies to skills

When selecting or evaluating a collaborator, the CV is still useful, but it is no longer enough. What really matters are the skills a person demonstrates during the first interviews and the first months of collaboration — it is less about the attended school or the held certificates, and more about what the person enjoys doing, what they have already tried, and what they are willing to learn next. This perspective opens the door to people who did not have access to formal education but built strong skills on their own, and it helps companies move from abstract "competencies" to concrete, observable behaviors that can be supported, measured, and improved over time.

A skill is the ability to perform a specific task or behavior well, in a way that can be observed and, in many cases, practiced and improved. Writing clear emails, running an effective meeting, analyzing a data report, editing a video, or organizing a project are all skills, and they show up in concrete actions: how you structure information, how you listen and respond, how you solve a problem in front of you.

A competence, on the other hand, is usually a broader combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in a certain area. "Digital marketing competence," for example, can include skills like copywriting, basic design, data analysis, and campaign setup, combined with knowledge of tools and concepts, plus attitudes such as curiosity and customer focus. "Leadership competence" may include skills such as giving feedback, delegating, and facilitating meetings, along with knowledge of management practices and attitudes like responsibility and empathy. Competencies are often described in frameworks or job descriptions, while skills are the visible pieces that show whether that competence is really there.

To make this concrete, imagine two collaborators applying for a role in a remote marketing team. The first has a degree in marketing and several certificates, which suggests a formal competence in the area. The second has no formal studies in marketing but has built and managed a small online store, written newsletters, created content, and experimented with ads. During interviews and test tasks, the second person might show stronger skills in writing, testing ideas, and reading campaign data, even if their CV looks "weaker" on paper — and this is exactly where focusing on skills helps you see beyond titles and formal labels.

Core skills for remote careers

Successful remote collaboration requires a specific set of skills that go beyond traditional office habits. Time management, active listening, feedback provision, empathy, respect, responsibility, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence all become essential, and each of them shows up differently when the team is distributed across screens and time zones.

Time management is the ability to plan, prioritize, and organize your tasks so that you deliver quality work on time without burning out. In a remote context, it means setting clear start and end times, breaking projects into smaller steps, and protecting focus time from distractions at home. A collaborator with strong time management will proactively communicate delays, adjust plans when priorities change, and avoid creating last-minute emergencies for others. Beyond productivity, burnout is a real and constant risk for remote workers, so managing time well means not just finishing tasks efficiently but also knowing when to step away from the screen and protect space for rest, hobbies, and life outside work.

Active listening is paying full attention to what others are saying, asking clarifying questions, and confirming understanding before responding. In remote meetings, this looks like not interrupting, taking notes, summarizing what you heard, and checking if you understood correctly — all of which help prevent misunderstandings that are far more likely when you cannot rely on body language or informal conversations in the office. A good way to practice active listening is to recap what has been heard and repeat the most important details back, and to ask questions whenever there is any doubt.

Feedback provision is the skill of giving and receiving feedback in a clear, respectful, and constructive way. It means focusing on behaviors and results instead of judging the person, and sharing specific examples rather than general comments. For that reason, numbers are necessary: feedback should be grounded in data, not feelings or impressions. When receiving feedback, the fundamental mindset to hold is that the feedback is given professionally, not personally — it would have been given to anyone in the same position.

Empathy is the capacity to understand and consider other people's emotions, perspectives, and constraints. In remote work, where stress and loneliness can be higher, empathy means noticing changes in someone's tone or behavior, asking how they are, and adapting expectations when needed. Contrary to what many people assume, empathy can be trained through practical exercises.

Respect is treating every person with consideration, regardless of their role, location, salary, or background. Practically, this means being punctual, using inclusive language, not interrupting, and avoiding public criticism. In remote environments, respect also shows in how you write messages, how you handle disagreements in group channels, and how you protect colleagues from being put on the spot in public calls. If the only reply available in a public moment is a negative one, it is better not to reply at all.

Responsibility is owning your tasks, decisions, and impact on others, even when nobody is watching. Working from home often involves less direct supervision, so responsibility becomes visible in how reliably you meet deadlines, how you communicate risks, and how you correct mistakes — because a responsible collaborator does not take advantage of distance but behaves as a trustworthy partner for the team.

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information, question assumptions, and make reasoned decisions instead of simply following routines. For digital and e-commerce work, this means not just generating reports but interpreting what the numbers really say about customers and business performance. With solid AI or Excel knowledge, any report is technically doable — but what matters more is having critical eyes when reading it, looking beyond the KPIs that were predefined and noticing what else the data might be saying.

Emotional intelligence is the combination of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills that allows someone to manage their own emotions and relationships effectively. In remote collaboration, it appears in how a person reacts under pressure, handles conflicts in chats or calls, and adapts their communication style to different people.

In remote meetings, people with stronger personalities or higher seniority can easily dominate the conversation, while others may feel intimidated, speak less, or stay silent even when they have useful ideas. You need patience and should consciously leave space for others to speak — most of the time the quieter ones have the most brilliant ideas and just need to be pushed.

Assessing skills in practice

Self-advocacy becomes a key skill in remote work. Collaborators may often feel alone behind a screen, especially during large or very technical meetings, and self-advocacy means being able to speak up for yourself in a respectful way: asking for clarification when something is not clear, explaining your point of view, and sharing your needs or ideas without waiting to be "invited" to talk.

Asking questions instead of making assumptions helps avoid misunderstandings and gives you useful information. A simple "Can you confirm if I understood correctly?" or "Is this the priority for this week?" can save hours of work done in the wrong direction. Feedback should be welcomed as a tool to verify whether perceptions match reality.

Assessing the skills of digital workers is a shared responsibility between the direct manager and the People Manager. As the direct manager working closely with the collaborator, you can identify strengths that might be useful in other roles — problem-solving, initiative, or calm under pressure, for example. The People Manager supports this process from the first interview and throughout the collaboration, using meetings, targeted questions, and small role plays to uncover hidden skills.

In collaboration with the People Manager, you can also design practical tests for the collaborator. Together, you create a project or task where the collaborator is directly responsible and has to demonstrate the specific skills you want to analyze, without explicitly labeling it as a "test." If the collaborator shows leadership potential, you might ask them to temporarily lead a meeting or substitute you for a short period and then observe what happens.

During meetings, both you and the People Manager can observe how the person listens, explains, solves problems, and interacts with others. Over time, these observations form a more complete picture than any CV can provide. When you and the People Manager share these notes regularly, you are better able to design growth paths, propose new responsibilities, and avoid the risk of talented people remaining "invisible" behind their screens.

Role plays and cross-department scenarios

Role plays are a practical way to evaluate skills that do not always appear in routine tasks. By organizing meetings that involve people from different departments and designing different scenarios, you can invite collaborators to temporarily act in roles that are not part of their usual job — someone might play the Manager, the Finance Specialist, or a Creative Strategist in a simulated situation, which allows people to step outside their comfort zone and show how they think and react when the context changes.

To make role plays effective, the scenarios should be as close as possible to real situations in the company. You can simulate a difficult client call, a budget negotiation, a crisis in operations, or a campaign briefing where different priorities are in conflict. Before starting, clearly explain the context, the objective of the meeting, and who is playing which role.

During these sessions, you can observe how collaborators behave, how they reason, and which skills come more naturally. Some people will show leadership by structuring the conversation and involving others; some will demonstrate analytical thinking by asking precise questions and connecting data; others will reveal empathy and facilitation skills by mediating conflicts and making sure everyone is heard. Recordings of the meetings can be watched again in case of doubts or to notice details that were missed live.

Thanks to this type of exercise, you might discover the next team leader, manager, or key assistant who was previously "hidden" inside another role. Someone who is quiet in routine meetings may become very clear and structured when asked to lead a scenario, and over time, a regular practice of role plays and cross-department simulations helps the company build a richer picture of its internal talent.

Skills matrices and KPIs

To systematically analyze skills by role, it is useful to start from a clear, shared list of roles and their related skills. For each role, define the key skills, write a short description of what each skill means in that specific context, and then derive simple KPIs or criteria that make them observable and measurable. These definitions should be aligned between you and, when possible, the broader leadership team, so everyone uses the same language when talking about empathy, problem-solving, communication, ownership, or leadership.

Once the framework is clear, you assess whether each collaborator already demonstrates these skills in daily work, while the People Manager shares and explains the expectations directly to the collaborator. If some skills are missing or underdeveloped, the next step is to design training paths, learning opportunities, or stretch assignments that allow the collaborator to practice in a safe but challenging context.

This process, however, also presents challenges that should not be underestimated. A shared skills taxonomy is needed so that everyone uses the same definitions and criteria when speaking about concepts like leadership, ownership, or problem-solving. Intangible skills such as empathy or problem-solving must be translated into observable behaviors and simple scales — for example "asks clarifying questions before acting" or "summarizes decisions at the end of a meeting."

Over time, the skills framework itself can be refined through feedback from you and your collaborators. It is also helpful to connect skills and KPIs with concrete career paths — for example, clarifying which skills are essential to move from specialist to team leader, or from assistant to project manager, and what kind of evidence is needed to show readiness for the next step.

Example — Role: Creative Strategist. The People Manager prepares the evaluation format and structure, including the list of core skills — creative thinking, strategic vision, collaboration, communication, analytical thinking — and examples of observable behaviors for each one. The direct manager completes the evaluation with ratings and concrete examples from daily work. Together, the Creative Strategist, the People Manager, and the manager review the evaluation, decide whether there is a need to improve a specific skill, and co-create a plan with clear actions, timelines, and support.

Challenges, games, and discovery

Challenges are another effective way to discover skills that are not visible in routine tasks, especially in remote or hybrid teams where much of the work happens asynchronously and outside your direct view. When a new team leader is needed, for example, you can ask different team members — one at a time — to plan and conduct meetings, rotating this responsibility across the team over several weeks. This makes it easier to see who can engage others, keep the discussion on track, manage time, and create a positive atmosphere without constant support from you.

Almost any task a manager does can be delegated temporarily to test both skill and willingness. When someone leads a meeting, for example, they often become aware of their own words and tone of voice, focusing inward in a way that reveals a great deal; and when someone is asked to evaluate a colleague, they tend to become more careful and analytical than usual. The best outcome comes when the person gives good suggestions about how to improve the task without even being asked.

Creating games, challenges, or quizzes during meetings can make this exploration more natural and enjoyable, lowering the pressure that often comes with formal evaluations. You can organize a short "problem-solving challenge" where small groups propose solutions to a real company issue, or a quiz where each person shares a hidden skill or past experience that others might not know about.

Mentoring and continuous learning

Mentorship plays a key role in skills evaluation and career development. The mentor does not need to be the direct manager but should be someone who follows the collaborator's progress over time, and by staying close to the daily challenges, the mentor can notice difficulties early, provide guidance, and report relevant information to the People Manager.

The first step in this process should be a genuine evaluation of the collaborator: this can only work if the mentor truly believes the collaborator is a talent worth investing in — not simply because it is part of their job or an assigned task. As in any other field, when a mentor truly believes in someone, that person can achieve remarkable things.

For any talent, keeping curiosity alive and committing to continuous learning is essential. Collaborators who attend courses can be invited to present what they learned to the rest of the team — this reinforces new knowledge, builds confidence in public speaking, and creates internal learning moments, while also revealing something important: who engaged with the material out of genuine curiosity, and who simply completed it because it was required.

Regular check-ins from the People Manager keep the process aligned with both company needs and personal aspirations. A good practice is for the People Manager to keep track of every course collaborators want to take and what their managers suggest, and together they decide how to proceed: the company purchases the course and sets a realistic timeline for completion, usually within one month of purchase. The best outcome is a course that generates real improvements on the job — or, at minimum, honest feedback on why it did not meet expectations.

For any company, especially remote ones, understanding collaborators' motivations is fundamental. Talented people are often ambitious and curious, and they may get bored quickly if there are no new challenges, which means you should anticipate this and plan growth opportunities to retain and motivate your best people. Retention is not only about salary — it is about making people feel that their growth matters.

Individual Development Plans (IDPs)

After assessing skills and potential, the next step is to build a clear and structured career plan. You and the People Manager should align on the next steps for each collaborator, ensuring these steps reflect both the company's needs and the individual's aspirations. Growth does not always mean a change of role: it can equally involve acquiring new skills, taking on new projects, expanding responsibilities within the current position, or deepening expertise in a specific area.

For the plan to be effective, it needs to be specific, measurable, and time-bound. Vague goals such as "improve communication" are difficult to track and easy to deprioritize, which is why breaking an objective into concrete actions, with clear owners and deadlines, transforms an aspiration into an actionable process.

A practical tool to structure this process is the Individual Development Plan (IDP). An IDP typically includes: the skill to develop or improve, the specific objectives to reach, the actions required to achieve them, the people involved in supporting the process, a clear timeline, and the indicators that will be used to measure success.

Example: A development plan focused on improving oral communication in public settings might set the objective of making messages clearer, more structured, and more engaging for different audiences. The specific actions could include delivering 10–15 minute presentations in academic or professional contexts, requesting structured feedback after each session, and dedicating time to reviewing and improving based on that feedback. The timeline could span from February to April, with success measured by whether each presentation receives more favorable feedback than the previous one.

Real-life example: Alice's path

Alice has been working as a customer service agent for two years. From the very beginning, her manager noticed that she stood out among her peers: she was responsible, highly detail-oriented, deeply knowledgeable about the product, and genuinely eager to grow professionally. Beyond her technical abilities, Alice also demonstrated strong communication skills, natural empathy, and a remarkable understanding of what customers truly needed — qualities that are rare to find combined in a single individual.

When the company identified a vacancy on the product team, Alice's manager and the People Manager saw an opportunity they didn't want to miss. Rather than following the traditional hiring process, they decided to explore Alice's potential more thoroughly. Their first step was to hold a series of structured 1:1 meetings, designed to systematically assess her existing skills, motivations, and career aspirations. These conversations revealed not only her professional strengths but also her ambition and readiness to take on new challenges.

To go beyond theoretical assessment, the managers gave Alice a practical, real-world exercise: using actual customer feedback and emails she had handled, she was tasked with designing a new store layout that would be more intuitive, appealing, and customer-friendly. This exercise proved to be a turning point. Alice demonstrated a rare combination of technical thinking, creative vision, deep customer knowledge, and the ability to conduct product research — all skills that are essential for success in a product role.

Impressed by her performance, the team officially invited Alice to join the product department. She didn't step in as a manager right away; instead, she gradually took on increasing responsibilities, proving her capabilities at every stage. Her colleagues and leadership observed her ability to lead initiatives, collaborate cross-functionally, and make data-informed decisions. Over time, her contributions became undeniable, and she was promoted to Product Team Manager.

To ensure her continued growth in her new role, the company invested in her development by enrolling her in a curated set of courses covering leadership, product development, marketing strategy, and customer psychology. These learning opportunities helped her bridge any remaining gaps and gave her the frameworks and vocabulary needed to excel at a managerial level.

Alice's story is a powerful example of how a structured skills assessment, combined with practical exercises and targeted learning opportunities, can transform hidden potential into a concrete and thriving career path — benefiting both the employee and the organization as a whole.