Job evaluation: What are the job factors that work for today's management philosophy?
In my institute, we are now assigned to do a job evaluation and grading project. There are interesting and debatable issues that we raise in the framework of current management thought. Some of them are the following:
- Is a job description important?
- Can we evaluate jobs without a job description?
- What job factors can we use other than the universal ones?
- How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?
These are the questions that we have raised. Could you please forward your ideas or reference materials that will help us understand the issue and come to a point?
Regards,
Endris U.
From Ethiopia, Addis Abeba
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In my institute, we are now assigned to do a job evaluation and grading project. There are interesting and debatable issues that we raise in the framework of current management thought. Some of them are the following:
- Is a job description important?
- Can we evaluate jobs without a job description?
- What job factors can we use other than the universal ones?
- How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?
These are the questions that we have raised. Could you please forward your ideas or reference materials that will help us understand the issue and come to a point?
Regards,
Endris U.
From Ethiopia, Addis Abeba
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Is the job description (JD) important?
The JD is not only critical to the evaluation and grading process, it is a must-have for all organizations. While HR may take ownership in developing the JD, different stakeholders use the JD to achieve different objectives depending on the role they play in the organization. These are some examples:
Career Planner – must appreciate what jobs involve to aid the development and placement of people against individual aspirations and company needs;
Organization Planner – builds plans for developing the organization based on an understanding of the jobs that are and need to be done;
Job Evaluator – needs to weigh the difficulty and importance of a job in relation to other jobs in the organization without knowing what it consists of;
Line Manager – gets results through the work of subordinates and must know and seek to modify, where necessary, the end results to which their efforts are directed;
Chief Executive – leads and motivates all jobholders in the organization to achieve objectives, develop the organization to meet changing needs, and ensure its continued existence; and
Jobholder – cannot do his job properly unless he knows what is expected of him in it and is not likely to show much enthusiasm unless he can see what the point of it is.
Can we evaluate jobs without a JD?
No, we can't evaluate jobs without a JD. Whether your evaluation and grading project is conducted by an external consultant or an in-house JE panel, you must have the JD as the starting and primary source of information. You can only evaluate with documented and approved (consistent format and valid information) found in the JD. The final JD must be approved by the jobholder, immediate superior, and Head of the Company.
Designing the JD template and objectively writing the JD are critical to the success of your evaluation project. If your organization has decided on a factor point system, then your JD template must have fields designed to capture relevant factor-related data. For example, the Know-How factor should include academic/professional qualifications, minimum years of relevant experience, and the Human Relations Skill of the job (not the jobholder) reflected in the JD; and the Competency factor should capture the job-related competency factor and its level, etc.
The JD must be written in an objective and concise manner to enable the evaluator (usually not the jobholder or an external consultant) to form a sound judgment about the job and grade it according to its worth.
Your next two questions on "What job factors can we use other than the universal ones?" and "How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?" are interlinked. Organizations select job factors according to their beliefs/philosophy that these job factors are aligned and ultimately can achieve overall goals and objectives. Top management of the organization must express their beliefs to kick-start the process.
Sample questions to be answered include: Does the company value academic/professional qualifications? By how much? Can more years of relevant experience supersede less academic qualification? What's the worth of Leadership or being Innovative... the list is exhaustive.
Hope the above information is sufficient to start the thinking process. It is just the beginning. Let me know if you need more information.
Regards,
Autumn Jane
From Singapore, Singapore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
140The JD is not only critical to the evaluation and grading process, it is a must-have for all organizations. While HR may take ownership in developing the JD, different stakeholders use the JD to achieve different objectives depending on the role they play in the organization. These are some examples:
Career Planner – must appreciate what jobs involve to aid the development and placement of people against individual aspirations and company needs;
Organization Planner – builds plans for developing the organization based on an understanding of the jobs that are and need to be done;
Job Evaluator – needs to weigh the difficulty and importance of a job in relation to other jobs in the organization without knowing what it consists of;
Line Manager – gets results through the work of subordinates and must know and seek to modify, where necessary, the end results to which their efforts are directed;
Chief Executive – leads and motivates all jobholders in the organization to achieve objectives, develop the organization to meet changing needs, and ensure its continued existence; and
Jobholder – cannot do his job properly unless he knows what is expected of him in it and is not likely to show much enthusiasm unless he can see what the point of it is.
Can we evaluate jobs without a JD?
No, we can't evaluate jobs without a JD. Whether your evaluation and grading project is conducted by an external consultant or an in-house JE panel, you must have the JD as the starting and primary source of information. You can only evaluate with documented and approved (consistent format and valid information) found in the JD. The final JD must be approved by the jobholder, immediate superior, and Head of the Company.
Designing the JD template and objectively writing the JD are critical to the success of your evaluation project. If your organization has decided on a factor point system, then your JD template must have fields designed to capture relevant factor-related data. For example, the Know-How factor should include academic/professional qualifications, minimum years of relevant experience, and the Human Relations Skill of the job (not the jobholder) reflected in the JD; and the Competency factor should capture the job-related competency factor and its level, etc.
The JD must be written in an objective and concise manner to enable the evaluator (usually not the jobholder or an external consultant) to form a sound judgment about the job and grade it according to its worth.
Your next two questions on "What job factors can we use other than the universal ones?" and "How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?" are interlinked. Organizations select job factors according to their beliefs/philosophy that these job factors are aligned and ultimately can achieve overall goals and objectives. Top management of the organization must express their beliefs to kick-start the process.
Sample questions to be answered include: Does the company value academic/professional qualifications? By how much? Can more years of relevant experience supersede less academic qualification? What's the worth of Leadership or being Innovative... the list is exhaustive.
Hope the above information is sufficient to start the thinking process. It is just the beginning. Let me know if you need more information.
Regards,
Autumn Jane
From Singapore, Singapore
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Job Evaluation.ppt
Job Evaluation Methodology.doc