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🧠 What is UPM?

UPM is a system that controls progression rate, guarantees fair advancement, and prevents extreme inequality across money, power, knowledge, and responsibility.


🧠 The Bigger Idea

The Unified Progression Model (UPM) is a structured framework that controls how people move through systems to ensure fairness, consistency, and transparency. It focuses on managing progression, not just outcomes.

Key Idea: UPM ensures fairness by controlling progression, not just setting limits.

🔑 Core Principles of UPM
Bounded Progression movement happens in controlled steps (e.g., max 10%).
Guaranteed Uplift promotion always brings you to at least the next tier minimum.
Defined Tiers roles grouped by responsibility, not title.
Competency-Based Advancement progression earned through proven ability.
Capped Disparity total gap between lowest and highest is limited.

🧩 The Three Pillars of UPM
Progression Control small, controlled increments prevent sudden inequality jumps.
Advancement Integrity promotion guarantees fair pay and positioning.
System Boundaries total spread is capped to prevent long-term drift.
📊 Example Progression Rules
  • Each tier increases by a consistent percentage (e.g., 10%).
  • Movement within a tier is gradual (e.g., 1%–10%).
  • Promotion guarantees entry at the minimum of the next tier.

Other organisations may choose 5%, 7%, or 12% — UPM only requires consistency.


📈 Example (Base £30,000)
Tier Position Salary
CTL 1 Worker £30,000
CTL 2 Team Leader £33,000
CTL 3 Section Leader £36,300
CTL 4 Area Manager £39,930
CTL 5 General Manager £43,923
CTL 6 Operations Manager £48,315
CTL 7 C‑Suite (entry) £53,147

Total increase: ~77%


🏢 C‑Suite Band
  • Entry: ~+77%
  • Upper range: ~+98%
  • Internal spread: ~21%
🔗 UPM Beyond Pay

🔐 1. Governance & Access Control

Tiered access, competency‑verified progression, no sudden permission jumps.

🎓 2. Learning & Development

Structured levels, incremental progress, capability unlocks.

🏛️ 3. CIC / Non‑Profit Governance

Transparent structure, defined rules, evidence of fairness.

❓ UPM Frequently Asked Questions

Still unsure how UPM works? These quick answers help clarify the most common questions.

What is the Unified Progression Model (UPM)?

UPM is Sprint Family Tech’s fairness framework. It controls how people progress through the organisation — across pay, responsibility, access, safeguarding, and governance — to ensure everything is fair, consistent, and transparent.


Is UPM a 7‑tier system?

No. UPM is a framework, not a fixed ladder. The 7‑tier example on this page is illustrative only. Organisations using UPM may have 3, 5, 7, or more tiers — as long as tiers reflect real responsibilities and progression rules are applied consistently.


Who decides the percentage increases?

Each organisation chooses its own progression percentage (e.g., 5%, 7%, 10%). UPM only requires that the percentage is consistent across all tiers to prevent inequality or manipulation.


Why does Sprint Family Tech use £28,184 as Tier 1?

Sprint Family Tech uses a competitive pay clause. Tier 1 is set at £13.55/hr — which is 10p above the Real Living Wage — based on a 40‑hour week for 52 weeks. This ensures ethical, socially responsible pay from day one.


Why does the founder start at Tier 1?

Because UPM forbids creating tiers to inflate salaries. Sprint Family Tech currently has only one worker and no organisational structure, so only Tier 1 exists. The founder must therefore start at Tier 1 and cannot progress until new tiers are justified by real organisational growth.


Can the founder earn more later?

Yes — but only when the organisation grows enough to justify new tiers. UPM requires progression to be based on organisational need, verified capability, and real responsibilities.


Does UPM only apply to pay?

No. UPM also governs access permissions, safeguarding responsibilities, compliance duties, learning pathways, and governance appointments. It is a complete fairness system, not just a pay model.


Why does UPM matter?

UPM prevents hidden inequality, negotiation bias, pay compression, and unfair promotions. It ensures everyone is treated consistently and that progression is earned through verified capability.