How Does the Tier System Work?

How Does the Tier System Work?

Kibin's workflow operates on a tier system.

When a user uploads a document, there is a 10-minute window before the document hits the queue. This buffer gives the user a chance to make revisions to the document to be edited, the supplemental document, or their notes to the editor.

Tier 1 is the top tier and receives notifications and access to new documents in the queue once the 10-minute window has ended. 

The time it takes a document to “drop” to the next tier depends on the turnaround: 5 minutes for 3-hour docs, 8 minutes for 6-hour docs, 10 minutes for 12-hour docs, and 15 minutes for all clocks longer than 24 hours.

That means if a 3-hour document comes through and remains in the queue unclaimed for five minutes, tier 2 then has access to it. Tier 3 would then have access five minutes after tier 2, tier 4 would have access 5 minutes after tier 3, etc. The tier system works the same way for all turnaround times using the drop times listed above. 

So yes, while tier 1 editors get first dibs on new documents, if there's too much work, or they're not paying attention or working, the documents quickly open up to editors in lower tiers.

Why We Use a Tier System

At Kibin, we have to strike a balance between keeping our editors busy and having enough of a workforce to cover documents 24/7. We have found the tier system to be instrumental in this endeavor.

Tier 1 editors are editors who have been with us for quite some time and put a lot of dedication and hard work into Kibin. Way back in the day, we started adding new editors in a free-for-all fashion to meet demand, but the editors who had been with us for a while began to see dramatic decreases in their workflow. We developed the tier system to keep our old editors busy while also giving new editors a chance to prove their salt.

The tier system also gives freelancers the thing they desire the most: freedom to make your own hours. And, it's good for Kibin because it provides a second, third, etc. line of defense to ensure all papers are getting edited and returned on time.

Obviously, as we grow, tier 1 will become "saturated" and, by default, more and more documents will hit tier 2 because the number of editors in tier 1 simply don't have capacity for everything that's coming through.

As we get busier and busier, and the work flows seamlessly from one tier to the next, we may generate more tiers.

Can You Be Promoted Up a Tier?

Yes, you can be promoted from a lower tier to a higher tier. While tier assignments and promotions used to be made at the discretion of a Kibin admin, this was a subjective system that became harder to manage with a larger team. Now we use a series of benchmarks that you can track on your stats page and a script that runs weekly to place you in the highest tier you qualify for:

As you hit certain milestones in terms of words edited and months at Kibin, you’ll be eligible for higher tiers. Quality matters, though -- you must maintain your feedback rating and likes percentage to stay in your tier. You can calculate your likes percentage by dividing your total number of favorites by the total number of documents you’ve edited -- then multiply by 100.

Maintaining your position also requires that you edit a minimum number of docs per month based on our average workload. Doc minimums are subject to change depending on the workflow. If you need to drop off the radar for a month or so, though, it’s no biggie: you can work your way back to your old tier by snagging some work and hitting those minimums. 

Do Editors in Lower Tiers Ever Get Papers?

Absolutely yes. It's actually not uncommon for editors in lower tiers to achieve higher Leaderboard rankings than editors in higher tiers. It all depends on how diligent you are with stalking the queue and snatching up papers.

One more thing: it's a good idea to work late nights, early mornings, and Sundays if you can. It seems a lot of our workload comes in during these off hours, and you'll definitely have an even better chance of snagging more papers at those times. More papers = higher word count = climbing tiers in no time!