Carrying out job evaluations

The process of job evaluation is a means of determining the relative worth of jobs within an organisation. Armed with the best information it can gather on remuneration practices, the salary committee (or consultant or other trained individual) begins the process by writing job descriptions for every job in the organisation. The descriptions must be:

Written in a standard format to enable valid comparisons to be made between jobs
Complete and take account of all major tasks and responsibilities
Suitable in style and content for use in all departments of the organisation
Checked, discussed and agreed with the jobholder and the jobholder's manager.

Grading and banding

The salary committee uses the information put together during the job evaluation stage to assign pay rates to jobs. Each job is graded: assigned to a scale reflecting minimum and maximum levels of pay for that job. Employees with greater experience, skill, market worth, or seniority will command higher pay rates. Then, jobs which fall into the same rate of pay category are banded together, giving the organisation the opportunity to see which types of jobs command similar salary levels and adjust any perceived discrepancies.

Types of Job Evaluation

There are two types of job evaluation, analytical schemes and non-analytical, where jobs are viewed as a whole. Analytical schemes offer greater objectivity and are more commonly used by organisations than non-analytical schemes.

Why carry out Job Evaluation?

It can help to determine pay and grading structures, ensure a fair and equal pay system is in place, compare rates against the external market and also help to decide on benefits provision, for example, the assignment of bonus schemes.