Qualtrics Career Growth & Development

What makes promotion criteria feel fair and clear — and what evidence supports it?

At a global company of our scale, how you get promoted matters as much as the promotion itself. We use the SCARF model to make the process transparent and respectful. Promotion criteria feels fair when it’s clear, stable and grounded in three non-negotiable pillars: business need (aligned with strategic workforce plans), role scope (higher responsibility and impact), and employee readiness (demonstrated results and leadership aligned with our values). This clarity removes “black boxes” and builds certainty.

We empower employees to own their growth using the 70/20/10 development model: 70 percent experiential learning, 20 percent relational mentorship and 10 percent formal training, turning promotions into an active journey via individual development plans.

Fairness also depends on strong manager-employee relationships. We invest heavily in enabling managers to have honest, trust-based conversations about current performance and gap closure needed for promotion.

Our promotion process is treated like a core product, refined regularly using quantitative and qualitative data. The true evidence lies in clear conversations: When employees clearly understand where they stand, it reduces anxiety and fosters accountability and long-term growth.

Which program most improved your capability in your role — and what changed after?

Early in my tenure as a director at Microsoft, I attended a week-long immersive HR leadership program through the National Training Laboratories Institute for Applied Behavioral Science that proved nothing short of transformational. Unlike typical training, the program had no fixed agenda; instead, eight to 14 participants engaged in deep, real-time interactions, pushing me far outside my comfort zone and reshaping how I lead. The experience focused on rarely practiced but crucial skills: self-awareness (understanding my impact on others), authenticity in relationships (beyond corporate politeness), and deep listening and feedback (creating a cycle of continuous learning).  

Before this program, I led primarily through strategy and objectives. Afterward, I shifted to leading through genuine connection, developing emotional intelligence to read group dynamics and adapt in the moment. I stopped fitting a “director persona” and started leading authentically.  

The program also deepened my approach to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging by focusing on human interaction, not just policy, and helped me build stronger trust through vulnerability with my global team. Even decades later, these lessons persist: Leadership isn’t about knowing all answers but guiding the group with awareness and empathy toward collective solutions.

What manager or mentor behavior consistently accelerates growth?

Managers who truly accelerate growth don’t just manage tasks — they manage meaning through deep clarity and authentic connection.  

Deep clarity means removing ambiguity, which the brain views as a threat that distracts from work. Effective managers identify specific skill gaps rather than giving vague feedback and co-create robust, experiential development plans with targeted stretch projects. They move beyond mentoring to sponsoring, using their influence to secure high-visibility roles for employees and shifting from “talking to you” to “talking about you” in leadership discussions, which accelerates growth.  

Deep connection involves maintaining an honest, frequent feedback cadence focused on the “messy middle” of projects. Great managers normalize discussing “misses” alongside “wins,” creating psychological safety that fosters discovery and learning. They prioritize insight-based coaching by asking questions that prompt employees to find their own breakthroughs, making the learning stick. They also facilitate skip-level meetings and cross-functional exposure, increasing visibility and a sense of belonging across the organization.  

Together, this blend of clarity and connection creates a culture of mutual accountability where employees feel both challenged and supported, transforming their entire professional trajectory.

Give us a snapshot of what you do to stay on top of your engineering knowledge and skills.

To stay updated with engineering knowledge and skills, I prioritize newsletters, books and white papers. I subscribe to various newsletters about IT topics, including system design and emerging technologies like AI, as well as product management/design. Books are my choice for deep dives into specific areas or technologies, providing more comprehensive understanding than short articles. Occasionally, I explore white papers to investigate successful or pioneering systems. When faced with complex content, AI serves as a tool for clarification and deeper understanding. I dedicate at least 20 minutes daily to reading newsletters to ensure I stay engaged with the subscribed content.

What does the learning culture look like at your company or on your engineering team?

Our company fosters a robust learning culture supported by several knowledge-sharing initiatives. 

Subject Matter Expert Programs: Employees can develop expertise in specific domains like security, cloud and DevOps, contributing to the maintenance of high-quality standards in these areas. 

System Review Meetings: Team members meet together to read and discuss white papers. 

Language Committees: Dedicated groups define companywide standards for frequently used languages at Qualtrics and provide assistance with debugging issues. 

API First Group: This team conducts API reviews to ensure consistent companywide standards, offering other Qualtrics engineers the opportunity to learn best practices in API design. 

Tech Talks: Held monthly, these sessions feature speakers from within the company and from partner organizations. 

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Reviews: By analyzing recent outages, we aim to learn from these events and make systemic improvements. 

Design Office Hours: A meeting where recent designs are reviewed, providing an opportunity to seek feedback and learn from the solutions chosen by others.

Additionally, our company provides two valuable benefits that enhance our learning culture. A book and subscription budget allows employees to expense educational books and subscriptions, aiding in their professional development. The Qualtrics Engineer Development Program encourages engineers to dedicate up to 10 percent of their time each quarter to personal growth activities and fostering career advancement.