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A Badge certifies an employee’s Readiness for a specific Responsibility. Badges come in five levels, each tied to a Readiness percentage. Together they form the Badge Ladder, the progression every employee follows for every Responsibility they hold.

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The five badges

The Readiness scale runs from 0% to 150% in three zones: Developing (0% to 50%, inclusive), Competent (above 50%, up to and including 100%), and Expert (above 100%).
Every employee starts here for every Responsibility they’re assigned, before any inspection. Nothing is issued. It’s the default state.
A Coach has inspected the employee and confirmed they can perform the Responsibility, but not yet independently.
A Coach has confirmed the employee performs the Responsibility consistently without supervision. This is the standard expected of everyone who holds the Responsibility.
A Proficient badge holder who has been trained and certified by an Architect. Coaches can issue Apprentice and Proficient badges to others on the same Responsibility.
The subject matter expert for a Responsibility. An Architect creates and maintains the institutional knowledge, Quizzes, and Inspection Protocol, trains and certifies new Coaches, and can inspect directly. An administrator issues the Architect badge. It isn’t earned through inspection.

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How you earn a badge

1

Novice

You’re assigned the Responsibility through your Position and Role.
2

Study

Learn from the institutional knowledge (short videos and articles) and self-assess with the Quizzes.
3

Apprentice

After an inspection, your Coach confirms you can perform but still need supervision.
4

Proficient

After further preparation and another inspection, your Coach confirms you can work independently.
5

Coach or Architect (optional)

Coach: trained and certified by an Architect. Architect: issued by an administrator.
Most people stop at Proficient. Coach and Architect are for people who train and certify others.
Badges are per Responsibility, not per person. The same person can be an Architect for one Responsibility, Proficient for another, and Novice for the rest.

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Badge standing

Every badge has a standing that tells you whether it’s still valid.

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Obsolete badges and grace periods

When an Architect updates an Inspection Protocol, badges for that Responsibility may become Obsolete overnight. Your badge still counts toward Readiness while you work through the outstanding checkpoints.
  • You get an email when your badge becomes Obsolete, a reminder as the expiration date approaches, and a confirmation when it’s restored.
  • Outstanding checkpoints appear in your Your Stuff view.
  • Complete them before the grace period ends and the badge returns to In Good Standing overnight. You don’t need a new inspection from scratch.
  • If the grace period ends first, the badge expires and your Readiness for that Responsibility drops to 0%. You’ll need a full inspection to recertify.

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Other ways a badge ends

  • Responsibility retired: all its badges expire overnight.
  • Checklist introduced: badges that were Given or Upgraded without an inspection are invalidated overnight, because a formal standard now exists. You’ll get an email. Your Coach can schedule an inspection.
  • Removed by an administrator: the administrator records a reason, visible in your badge history. Readiness drops immediately.
Losing a senior badge never cancels a junior one. If a Coach badge expires, your Proficient badge stays.

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Common questions

Performing the work yourself (Proficient, 100%) is different from teaching others (Coach, 125%) or defining how it’s done across the organization (Architect, 150%). The scale rewards people who grow the organization’s capability.
Yes. If your Coach determines at the first inspection that you can work without supervision, Proficient can be your first badge.
You do. When you feel prepared, contact your Certified Coach for the Responsibility to schedule one.
Talk to your exIQtive administrator. It takes deep subject matter expertise and a commitment to maintain the videos, articles, Quizzes, and Inspection Protocol for the Responsibility.
Last modified on October 14, 2026