Job evaluation: What are the job factors that work for today's mgt philosophy?
In my institute we are now assigned to do a job evaluation and grading project. There are interesting and debatatle issues that we raise in the framework of current management thought. Some of them are the following:
Is job description important?
Can we evaluate jobs without job description?
What job factors can we use other than the universal one?
How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?
These are the questions that we raised. So 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
In my institute we are now assigned to do a job evaluation and grading project. There are interesting and debatatle issues that we raise in the framework of current management thought. Some of them are the following:
Is job description important?
Can we evaluate jobs without job description?
What job factors can we use other than the universal one?
How could the job factors reflect today's management philosophy?
These are the questions that we raised. So 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
Is job description (JD) important?
JD is not only critical to the evaluation and grading process, it is a must have for all organization. While HR may take ownership in developing JD, different stakeholders use 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 in order to aid the development and placement of people against individual aspirations and company needs;
Organization Planner – builds plans for developing the organization on an understanding of the jobs that are and need to be done;
Job Evaluator – need to weight 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 so must know and seek to modify where necessary the end results to which their efforts are directed;
Chief Executive – lead and motivate all the jobholders in the organization to achieve objectives, and to develop the organization to meeting 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 who is not likely to show much enthusiasm unless he can see what the point of it is.
Can we evaluate jobs without JD?
No, we can't evaluate jobs without JD. Whether your evaluation & grading project is conducted by an external consultant or in-house JE panel, you must have the JD to be used as the starting and primarily 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 jobholder, immediate superior and Head of 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. Example 1, Know-How factor - The academic/professional qualification, minimum years of relevant experience and the Human Relations Skill of the job (not jobholder) must be reflected in the JD; Example 2, Competency factor - the job-related competecny factor and its level must be captured; etc...and the list goes on.
The JD must be written in an objective and concise manner so as to enable the evaluator (which usually is not the jobholder or an external consultant) to form sound judgment about the job and grade it according to its worth.
Your next 2 questions on "What job factors can we use other than the universal one?" and"How could the job factors reflect today's managemet philosphy?" is interlinked. Organization select job factors accordingly to their believe/philosphy that these job factors is aligned and utimately can achieve overall goals & objectives. Top management of the organization must express their beliefs to kick-start the process.
Sample questions to be answered - Does the company value academic/professional qualifications? By how much? Can more years of relevant experience supercede less acadmic qualification? What's the worth for 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
137JD is not only critical to the evaluation and grading process, it is a must have for all organization. While HR may take ownership in developing JD, different stakeholders use 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 in order to aid the development and placement of people against individual aspirations and company needs;
Organization Planner – builds plans for developing the organization on an understanding of the jobs that are and need to be done;
Job Evaluator – need to weight 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 so must know and seek to modify where necessary the end results to which their efforts are directed;
Chief Executive – lead and motivate all the jobholders in the organization to achieve objectives, and to develop the organization to meeting 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 who is not likely to show much enthusiasm unless he can see what the point of it is.
Can we evaluate jobs without JD?
No, we can't evaluate jobs without JD. Whether your evaluation & grading project is conducted by an external consultant or in-house JE panel, you must have the JD to be used as the starting and primarily 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 jobholder, immediate superior and Head of 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. Example 1, Know-How factor - The academic/professional qualification, minimum years of relevant experience and the Human Relations Skill of the job (not jobholder) must be reflected in the JD; Example 2, Competency factor - the job-related competecny factor and its level must be captured; etc...and the list goes on.
The JD must be written in an objective and concise manner so as to enable the evaluator (which usually is not the jobholder or an external consultant) to form sound judgment about the job and grade it according to its worth.
Your next 2 questions on "What job factors can we use other than the universal one?" and"How could the job factors reflect today's managemet philosphy?" is interlinked. Organization select job factors accordingly to their believe/philosphy that these job factors is aligned and utimately can achieve overall goals & objectives. Top management of the organization must express their beliefs to kick-start the process.
Sample questions to be answered - Does the company value academic/professional qualifications? By how much? Can more years of relevant experience supercede less acadmic qualification? What's the worth for 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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