1

Org-Level Technical Impact

Technical decisions and contributions that improve the productivity or quality of the engineering org as a whole.

Exceeds

Technical decisions are felt across the entire engineering org. Work fundamentally shifts how engineers approach a problem class.

Meets

Drives technical improvements across multiple teams. Proposals are adopted and improve shared velocity.

Below

Impact is primarily within a single team. Not yet operating at the cross-org scope expected at the staff level.

Example review phrases

  • "Designed the internal developer platform that reduced service provisioning time from 3 days to 45 minutes—every team benefited."
  • "The testing framework they introduced cut flaky test incidents by 70% org-wide."
  • "Contributions have been excellent within their team but haven't yet generated the cross-org leverage we expect at the staff level."
2

Technical Strategy & Vision

Ability to define where the technical architecture should go, not just where it is today.

Exceeds

Produces technical roadmaps that leadership adopts. Anticipates architectural debt before it limits the product.

Meets

Contributes meaningfully to technical planning cycles. Identifies architectural risks with clear mitigation paths.

Below

Thinking is tactical rather than strategic. Does not yet produce the multi-year technical vision expected at this level.

Example review phrases

  • "The 2-year architecture north star they produced became the engineering org's guiding document for roadmap planning."
  • "Called out the API versioning debt 18 months before it became a blocker—and proposed the migration path that we're now executing."
3

Multiplying Other Engineers

Leverage through mentorship, unblocking, and making other engineers more effective.

Exceeds

Each interaction with this engineer measurably improves the engineers around them. Their reviews, docs, and code patterns are replicated across the org.

Meets

Actively mentors senior and mid-level engineers. Code review feedback is adopted and referenced.

Below

Works well individually but does not yet generate meaningful leverage through other engineers.

Example review phrases

  • "Three engineers promoted to senior this cycle—all cited their mentorship and pairing sessions as a primary factor."
  • "The architectural patterns they introduced are now standard in 12 of the 14 services built since Q1."
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Where do these examples come from in real reviews?

Most managers write performance reviews from memory—limited to what they personally observed. Confirm surfaces behavioral evidence from across the organization: who relied on this person, what they drove, how their impact extended beyond their direct manager's line of sight. Reviews written with Confirm's data are more accurate, more defensible, and faster to write.

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