Colorado Coalition for the Homeless Builds a Fair Path to Internal Promotion With Vervoe

The challenge

Many case managers, the organization’s highest volume frontline role, were content where they were and showed little interest in moving into program management. The existing promotion process, posting the role, forming an interview committee, and running traditional interviews, made it hard to choose fairly or give every eligible employee a real chance to advance.

The approach

With no standard assessment for case manager progression, the team built one from scratch with Vervoe’s Behavioral Science Lead, drawing on interviews with current case management staff and input from internal supervisors, then piloted by former case managers before launch. Two assessments were built, for case manager levels two and three, with around 12 questions each, mostly short answer with some multiple choice, covering trauma, cultural competency, motivational interviewing, and harm reduction.

The results

Dozens of staff have advanced through the new progression path, with a new hire able to become eligible for case manager two within a year, a promotion that comes with a preset pay increase. Leadership describes the main impact as psychological relief, since staff now know a clear path to advance exists, and applicants report the process feels fair. AI-assisted scoring has also streamlined decisions, landing within a percentage or two of manual grading.