Process of job evaluation

Question

Evaluate the process of job evaluation and the main factors determining pay.

Answer 1

The Job Evaluation can be defined as a method of determining systematically a relative value of jobs in an organisation . There are two types of job evaluation available, analytical, where the job is broken down in detail or non-analytical, where the job is viewed as a whole.

The analytical job evaluation scheme will include a points rating and a factor comparison, where a non-analytical scheme will include job ranking and paired comparison. For a points rating, the company objectives are broken down into detail, each competency is rated with points, with the level required for that objective. Factor Comparison is similar to points rating, but is more based on assessments as opposed to points.

Job ranking, allows the HRM function to prioritise job roles in order of importance and level required for that role. Once the priority has been determined the organisation can publicise these roles and determine bonuses and level of pay required for the role. Paired Comparisons is a method of comparing different jobs around the organisation, to determine the level and skill required for that role and as a result will be able to determine the pay structure.

Once the above ways of job evaluation have been determined, the organisation needs to implement their job evaluation process. According to an article written by the CIPD on Job Evaluation, the first process step is to determine the evaluation panel, so the assessors who will be carrying out the final appraisal for the employee which will determine the pay reward. Once this has been completed, the relevant jobs that need assessing will need to be understood and analysed fully, this will include full job descriptions so that the assessing party will understand what job they are assessing an employee against.

The next stage of the process is to carry out a benchmarking exercise; the assessing team will use external and internal benchmarking to determine the level required by the employee to complete the job. This way the assessors will understand the different levels that could complete the job and what the industry standard is. The next stage is to actually carry out the evaluations; the assessment team will have engagement meetings with the employee in question, and go through a checklist to determine his performance on the job. Using all the information previously gained, with the investigation of the role and benchmarking.

Once this has been completed the final step of the process is to complete the appraisal form. This form will contain information on how the employee has performed in the role, and will have some behavioural competencies which each of the detailed statements fit in. So an example of behaviour competencies could be Operational, Leadership, Team working etc, there will be a list of questions to answer the competencies which will paint a picture of how the employee has been performing against the competencies.

The employee pay structure and bonus will be determined after completing the above process. A full description of the process can be found on an article written by the CIPD titled ‘Job Evaluation’.