Overview
There's no fixed rule, but most rubrics work best with 5–8 competencies per role. More than that creates assessment fatigue — for managers rating and for employees receiving feedback on a long list.
Why This Range Works
Each competency requires a rating and, ideally, a comment during every assessment. At 5–8: - Managers can give each competency genuine thought - The calibration conversation stays focused - Employees walk away with clear, actionable feedback on a manageable set of priorities
Beyond 10 competencies, ratings tend to compress toward the middle (managers run out of energy to differentiate), and employees tune out the lower-priority ones.
What Pushes Toward More
Senior roles with genuinely broad scope (a VP might reasonably have 9–10)
Hybrid roles that span multiple function areas
Early-stage companies still discovering what matters most and casting a wider net
What Pushes Toward Fewer
Early-career roles where the core expectations are tight and well-defined
Specialized IC roles where most of the work concentrates in 2–3 skill areas
New programs where you're still calibrating what to measure
The Cost of Over-Building
Every competency you add is a competency that: - Every manager must rate every cycle - Every employee must self-assess every cycle - You'll need to maintain, rename, or remove if the role evolves
Start lean. You can always add competencies as you learn what's missing. Removing competencies mid-program — especially after employees have been rated on them — is harder to do cleanly.
Recommendation: For your first rubric, aim for 6 competencies: 2–3 core (org-wide) and 3–4 domain-specific (role-specific). See Core vs. domain-specific competencies for how to think about the split.
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