The frameworks
Every assessment on shyfts.work is anchored to published frameworks: SFIA 9 for professional skills, the RISE 2.0 Compass for human-AI ways of working, RECALL for certified micro learnings, and SAPERE for graduate candidate assessment.
RISE 2.0 Compass - 12 competencies
Knowledge Application
How do we apply what is known to produce a robust outcome?
- Design — Frames the problem clearly; defines success criteria; identifies constraints and trade-offs; creates artefacts that guide human and AI delivery.
- Orchestrate — Breaks work into flows; delegates appropriately to AI or humans; monitors dependencies; integrates outputs into one coherent deliverable.
- Review — Checks outputs against requirements; identifies defects or missing context; gives specific feedback; decides whether work is ready, needs revision, or should be escalated.
Sensemaking & Decision
What is happening, what matters, and what should we decide?
- Reason — States assumptions; compares explanations; uses evidence appropriately; explains why a conclusion follows from the available information.
- Evaluate — Defines evaluation criteria; compares options; tests evidence quality; weighs benefits, risks, feasibility, ethics, and second-order effects.
- Judge — Makes clear decisions; explains trade-offs; applies ethical and organisational context; recognises when uncertainty is acceptable or too high.
Transactional Execution
How do we execute repeatable work reliably and improve it over time?
- Translate — Follows process; completes tasks to standard; records progress; identifies exceptions; escalates when the work no longer fits the known procedure.
- Automate — Identifies repeatable tasks; defines workflow rules; creates or configures automation; tests outputs; builds exception paths and human checkpoints.
- Monitor — Tracks performance; identifies bottlenecks; improves templates or workflows; reduces rework; validates that changes improve quality and reliability.
Exploration & Creativity
What could be possible, and how might we turn it into something worth testing?
- Explore — Asks generative questions; searches beyond the obvious; compares unfamiliar ideas; uses AI to expand perspectives; keeps multiple possibilities open before narrowing.
- Originate — Creates original concepts; reframes constraints; brings a distinctive point of view; combines ideas in useful ways; explains why an idea matters.
- Plan — Prioritises ideas; defines experiments; sets milestones; identifies assumptions; creates a lightweight roadmap that remains adaptable as evidence emerges.
SFIA 9 — 147 skills
Strategy and architecture
31 skills
- Strategy and planning
- Financial and value management
- Security and privacy
- Governance, risk and compliance
- Advice and guidance
Development and implementation
41 skills
- Systems development
- Data and analytics
- User centred design
- Content management
- Computational science
Delivery and operation
31 skills
- Technology management
- Service management
- Security services
- Data and records operations
Relationships and engagement
15 skills
- Stakeholder management
- Sales and bid management
- Marketing
Change and transformation
16 skills
- Change implementation
- Change analysis
- Change planning
People and skills
13 skills
- People management
- Skills management
RECALL — certified micro learnings
RECALL is the certified micro learning layer of shyfts.work. It gives mentees short, regular guided practice that rebuilds core skills and first-principles thinking, so people keep the reasoning that AI would otherwise do for them. Mentors assign RECALL trainings from the catalogue their organisation has approved, and link each one back to case studies, feedback and development goals.
Certified by RISE
Learning providers submit programmes for RISE certification. Only certified micro learnings reach the employer catalogue.
Assigned in context
Mentors choose from the approved catalogue and assign trainings alongside the case study a mentee is working on.
Tracked to evidence
Completion, mentor feedback and reflection are recorded on the mentee's development path, not in a separate LMS.
SAPERE — graduate assessment, 7 dimensions
SAPERE assesses graduate candidates for agency, discernment and adaptability. Candidates work a real case rather than answering screening questions, so thinking is visible rather than generated. Each dimension is marked 1-5 by a human reviewer, with AI use disclosed and verified alongside the score.
Pillars: Agency · Discernment · Adaptability
Problem framing
AgencyHow clearly does the graduate define the real problem, its scope and what success looks like?
Level 5: Sharp, defensible framing with explicit scope, constraints and success measures.
Inquiry and questioning
AgencyDoes the graduate ask the questions that would change the answer, and identify missing information?
Level 5: Targets the decisive unknowns and states how each answer would change the approach.
Evidence and AI verification
DiscernmentIs evidence sourced, checked and attributed, and is AI-assisted work disclosed, verified and owned?
Level 5: Every material claim is sourced and checked; AI use is disclosed, verified and owned.
Options and trade-offs
DiscernmentAre genuine alternatives generated and weighed against stated criteria?
Level 5: Real alternatives weighed against explicit criteria, with the rejected paths explained.
Socratic response
AdaptabilityUnder challenge, does the graduate reason further rather than capitulate or dig in?
Level 5: Absorbs the challenge, tests it, and updates or defends the position with new reasoning.
Applied solution
AgencyIs the proposed action specific, feasible and fit for the role context?
Level 5: Specific, sequenced and feasible within the stated constraints.
Reflection
AdaptabilityDoes the graduate say what remains uncertain, what they would test, and how their thinking changed?
Level 5: Honest uncertainty, a named test for it, and a clear account of how the thinking changed.