Job Evaluation

There are a number of different job evaluation techniques, each with advantages and disadvantages but there are only two types of scheme, analytical and non analytical. The most common job evaluation techniques, within these headings are listed below.

Non analytical

Job ranking

This is a technique using job descriptions or job titles. Each job is considered as a whole and placed in a 'felt fair' rank order to produce a league table. It is considered the simplest method since there is no attempt to break down or analyse the whole job in any way. It is therefore easy to understand and implement, particularly with a small number of jobs.

Paired comparisons

This is also a relatively simple technique. Each job is compared as a whole with each other job in turn, and points (0, 1 or 2) awarded according to whether its overall importance is judged to be less than, equal to, or more than the other jobs. Points awarded for each job are then totalled and a rank order produced. This method has all the advantages of job ranking and is slightly more systematic. However, it is best limited to organisations with a maximum of 30 jobs in a particular job population and, like job ranking; it does not involve any analysis of jobs nor indicate the extent of difference between them.

Job classification

This is also a 'whole job' evaluation technique. In job classification the number of grades is decided first and detailed grade definitions produced. Representative (benchmark) jobs are evaluated to validate the definitions. Other non-benchmark jobs are then slotted in on the basis of the relevant grade definitions. This method may be used where groups of jobs can be clearly defined - for example, clerical and administrative employees. Again it is easy to understand and does allow for some consideration of skill content. There is, however, a temptation to grade jobs according to how they have been paid historically rather than according to their definitions, and aspects of individual jobs may straddle job definitions.

Analytical

Points rating

This is a commonly used job evaluation technique. It is an analytical method which breaks down each job into a number of factors; for example, skill, responsibility and effort, with the factors sometimes being further broken down into sub-factors, for example, education, decision making and dexterity. These sub-factors will be further divided into degrees or levels. Points are awarded for each factor according to a predetermined scale and the total points decide a job's place in the ranking order. The factors should reflect the varying degrees of importance attached to them. Care must be taken to ensure that the weightings do not result in a sex-biased scheme.

A points rating scheme has the following advantages:

• It provides a rationale why jobs are ranked differently
• It may be entered as a defence to an equal value claim when factors are selected and weighted to take no account of sex, and
• It will be seen generally as less subjective than non analytical techniques.

The limitations of points rating are that it is time consuming to introduce and can be complex and costly to undertake. In addition it can be seen to be inflexible in times of rapid change and can imply an arithmetical precision which is not justified.

'Tailor made' or 'off the peg'

A prime consideration in deciding which analytical job evaluation scheme to select lies in the choice of factors and weightings. The benefit of proprietary 'off the peg' schemes is that they normally have been well tried and tested and there is therefore a saving in time. In addition, many are linked to mechanisms for checking salary levels. The benefit of 'tailor made' schemes is that the factors and definitions more accurately reflect the range of jobs to be evaluated and are arrived at through consensus; consequently they are more likely to be acceptable to the workforce. Care, however, has to be taken in designing the scheme and in particular in avoiding discrimination when weighting the factors.

 

Job Evaluation Questionnaire

In addition we might request our workers view of their job and their analysis on the transformation to be made to the company, our employees might be capable of introducing ideas that the Human Resource Department haven’t thought about. If we provide them with a job evaluation questionnaire they can provide feed back that can be considered and constructive criticism can be stored on a database for future reference.  

See Appendix 1

Benefits of Appraisal

Perhaps the most significant benefit of appraisal is that, in the rush and bustle of daily working life, it offers a rare chance for a supervisor and subordinate to have "time out" for a one-on-one discussion of important work issues that might not otherwise be addressed.

Almost universally, where performance appraisal is conducted properly, both supervisors and subordinates have reported the experience as beneficial and positive.

Appraisal offers a valuable opportunity to focus on work activities and goals, to identify and correct existing problems, and to encourage better future performance. Thus the performance of the whole organization is enhanced.

The Objectives of PRP

For many employees, an "official" appraisal interview may be the only time they get to have exclusive, uninterrupted access to their supervisor. Said one employee of a large organization after his first formal performance appraisal, "In twenty years of work, that's the first time anyone has ever bothered to sit down and tell me how I'm doing." Taken from

The value of this intense and purposeful interaction between a supervisors and subordinate should not be underestimated.

 Motivation and Satisfaction

Performance appraisal can have a profound effect on levels of employee motivation and satisfaction - for better as well as for worse. 

Performance appraisal provides employees with recognition for their work efforts. The power of social recognition as an incentive has been long noted. In fact, there is evidence that human beings will even prefer negative recognition in preference to no recognition at all.

If nothing else, the existence of an appraisal program indicates to an employee that the organization is genuinely interested in their individual performance and development. This alone can have a positive influence on the individual's sense of worth, commitment and belonging.

The strength and prevalence of this natural human desire for individual recognition should not be overlooked. Absenteeism and turnover rates in some organizations might be greatly reduced if more attention were paid to it. Regular performance appraisal, at least, is a good start.

 Training and Development 

Performance appraisal offers an excellent opportunity - perhaps the best that will ever occur - for a supervisor and subordinate to recognize and agree upon individual training and development needs.

During the discussion of an employee's work performance, the presence or absence of work skills can become very obvious - even to those who habitually reject the idea of training for them.

Performance appraisal can make the need for training more pressing and relevant by linking it clearly to performance outcomes and future career aspirations.

From the point of view of the organization as a whole, consolidated appraisal data can form a picture of the overall demand for training. This data may be analyzed by variables such as sex, department, etc. In this respect, performance appraisal can provide a regular and efficient training needs audit for the entire organization.

 Recruitment and Induction

Appraisal data can be used to monitor the success of the organization's recruitment and induction practices. Appraisal data can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of changes in recruitment strategies. By following the yearly data related to new hires (and given sufficient numbers on which to base the analysis) it is possible to assess whether the general quality of the workforce is improving, staying steady, or declining.

 Employee Evaluation

Though often understated or even denied, evaluation is a legitimate and major objective of performance appraisal.

However the need to evaluate is also an ongoing source of tension, since evaluative and developmental priorities appear to frequently clash. Yet at its most basic level, performance appraisal is the process of examining and evaluating the performance of an individual.

Though organizations have a clear right - some would say a duty - to conduct such evaluations of performance, many still recoil from the idea. To them, the explicit process of judgement can be dehumanizing and demoralizing and a source of anxiety and distress to employees.

It is been said by some that appraisal cannot serve the needs of evaluation and development at the same time; it must be one or the other.

But there may be an acceptable middle ground, where the need to evaluate employees objectively, and the need to encourage and develop them, can be balanced. 

Performance related pay (known as PRP) allows managers to reinforce control over employees. The single most important objective of PRP is to improve employee performance by:

• Specifying to all employees the objectives and targets of the business.
• Supporting a performance orientated culture by paying for results.
• Emphasising individual performance or teamwork through various schemes.
• Setting objectives and performance standards for employers to meet.
• Rewarding those whose performance is high.
• Motivating all staff.

If managers are able to achieve the above successfully, then they would be able to use PRP to work to their advantage. Not only will the extra pay concept, help motivate the workforce to work harder; it will also help them to become more aware of business objectives.

Advantages of Performance related pay

• Pays the right people the right amounts.
• Weeds out lazy workers.
• Defines the clear objectives of the business.
• Retains skills - Employees are attracted and retained as the company recognizes achievement through the pay system.
• Increased efficiency through improved company performance.
• Focuses efforts of employees where the business needs it.
• Improves individual/team performance.
• Provides a warning criteria, employers make clear performance criteria they require. Employees seek to achieve this criteria in order to be rewarded with higher pay

Disadvantages of performance related pay

If not carefully planned and managed PRP can cause as many problems as benefits:

• Conflicts between employees competing with each other.
• Additional pressures placed upon managers and supervisors.
• Performance being recognised and not effort.
• High costs of implementation.
• In times of recession, high fliers are not promoted or rewarded greatly - may result in the high quality staff leaving. 
• Workers are being controlled via reward system.
• Needs commitment from employees.
• Difficult to measure levels of performance.
• Has an effect on teamwork.
• Often PRP is used in the wrong areas where it is difficult to improve performance.
• The managers become the judges - too subjective.
• Unreasonable levels of criteria may be set.
• Translating appraisals into pay.
• Union and employee acceptance.

Overall Conclusions of Performance Related Pay

PRP should not be treated as a quick fix leading to a cheaper wage bill, in order for PRP to be implemented, certain requirements must exist:

• A comprehensive survey on employee attitudes and opinion needs to be carried out.
• The results should be used to improve morale.
• A consultation process should occur for views on PRP.
• Proceed with PRP if you have the commitment from everyone in the business.
• Consider implementing PRP on a trial basis in one section of the business prior to full implementation.
• Get thorough training for personnel assessors.
• Agreement with trade unions.
• The best examples of PRP are those which are simple to understand, fair and consistent.
• The objectives of the business need to translate into effective and meaningful performance criteria.
• If performance is to be rewarded it must be defined and rewarded from the outset.
• Job definitions need to be clear, with both individual employees and the employer aware of their roles.
• Pay out levels need to be set at levels where they produce the desired motivational impact.
• PRP schemes must offer differential levels on performance rating, so that high, medium and low performance levels are adequately rewarded.
• The new PRP scheme needs to be communicated to all the employees, with clear reasoning as to why the PRP schemes are being introduced, with appropriate training.
• PRP needs to be reinforced from time to time to keep its value. PRP like any other pay structure needs to be reviewed regularly to ensure its appropriateness to the needs of the business.

See Appendix 2

The need for rules and disciplinary procedures

• Rules are necessary because they set standards. A good disciplinary procedure helps workers keep the rules, and helps employers deal fairly with those who do not
• Rules will normally cover issues such as absence, timekeeping and holiday arrangements, health and safety, use of the organisation's equipment and facilities, misconduct, sub-standard performance, and discrimination, bullying and harassment
• Rules and procedures should be clear, and should preferably be put in writing. They should be known and understood by all workers
• All workers should have access to a copy of the rules and disciplinary procedures
•  Management should aim to secure the involvement of workers and any recognised trade union or other worker representatives when rules and disciplinary procedures are introduced or revised
•  Rules should be reviewed from time to time and revised if necessary
•  Management should ensure that those responsible for operating disciplinary rules understand them and receive appropriate training

How should rules be drawn up and communicated?

 To be fully effective rules and procedures should be accepted as reasonable by those covered by them and those who operate them. It is therefore good practice to develop rules in consultation with workers (and their representatives if appropriate) and those who will have responsibility for applying them. They should be written down to ensure that everyone understands what is required of them and should be non-discriminatory and applied irrespective of sex, marital status, racial group, sexual orientation, religion or belief, or disability and age. Rules should be well publicised and readily available - managers should take all reasonable steps to ensure that everyone knows and understands them
an explanation of the rules should be given to all new workers when they join, usually as part of their induction programme. Special attention should be paid to ensure that rules are understood by any workers with little experience of working life (for instance young people or those returning to work after a lengthy break), and by workers whose English or reading ability is limited
where a rule has fallen into disuse or has not been applied consistently, workers should always be told before there is any change in practice
any revisions to the rules should be communicated quickly to all workers, and employees should be issued with a revised written statement within one month of the change.

What should rules cover?

While the following is not a complete list, as different organisations will have different requirements, examples of the types of issues that rules might cover are:

Timekeeping

•  Are workers required to 'clock-in'
•  What rules apply to lateness?

Absence

•  Who authorises absence
•  Who approves holidays
•  Who should workers notify if they are going to be absent (or late), with    the reason for example, sickness, emergency leave for dependents and their likely time of arrival/return
•  When should such notification be made (for example, ideally as soon     as possible, and no later than 10 am/first hour of shift)
•  If the absence is because of sickness, when is a self-certificate acceptable and when should a doctor's certificate be produced?

Health and Safety

• Are there special requirements regarding personal appearance, for example, protective clothing, hygiene or the wearing of jewellery? Employers should be aware that any such requirement must be solely on the basis of health or safety, and should not discriminate between genders or on the basis of race, disability, sexual orientation or religion or belief. Employers should also be aware that 'dress codes', unless justifiable, may arguably contravene the right of freedom of expression granted by the Human Rights Act 1998.
• Is smoking prohibited within the organisation?
• Are there any special hazards/machinery/chemicals etc
• Is there a policy to cover alcohol, drug or other substance abuse?

Use of organisation facilities

• Are private telephone calls permitted?
• Is private use of email and the internet permitted
• Are workers allowed to be on company premises outside working hours
• Is any of the organisation's equipment available for personal use?

Discrimination, bullying and harassment

• Is there an equal opportunities policy in the organisation
• Is it clear that any abuse or harassment relating to race, sex, disability, sexual orientation or religion or belief will be treated as a disciplinary offence?
• Is there a separate procedure for bullying and harassment incidents
• Are rules about clothing or uniform disproportionately disadvantageous to a racial group or gender and are any such rules justifiable on non-racial or non-gender grounds.
• Are there rules that require higher written or spoken language standards than are needed for the safe and effective performance of the job?
• Is there any requirement about mobility of employment which cannot be justified on operational grounds and is disadvantageous to one sex or to anyone with a disability?

Gross misconduct

• Do the rules clearly state what types of conduct might be considered as 'gross misconduct'?
  
  Writing down the rules helps both managers and workers to be clearly aware of what is expected of them. The rules should be made clear to new workers, and ideally they should be given their own copy. In a small organisation it may be sufficient for rules to be displayed in a prominent place. In large organisations it is good practice to include a section on rules in the organisation's handbook, and to discuss them during the induction programme. Rules are more readily accepted and adhered to if people understand the reasons for them, for instance, if a worker is required to wear protective clothing it is sensible to explain that this is because of corrosive liquids, or staining materials. A uniform may be more acceptable because of the need for customers or public to identify workers in the organisation. Unless there are valid reasons why different sets of rules apply to different groups of workers - perhaps for health and safety reasons - rules should apply to all workers at all levels in the organisation.

What should a disciplinary report include?

When drawing up and applying disciplinary procedures employers should have regard to the requirements of natural justice. This means workers should be informed in advance of any disciplinary hearing of the allegations that are being made against them together with the supporting evidence and be given the opportunity of challenging the allegations and evidence before decisions are reached. Workers should also be given the right of appeal against any decisions taken.

Consequently good disciplinary procedures should:

• Be in writing
• Specify to whom they apply (if there are different rules for different groups)
• Be non-discriminatory
• Provide for matters to be dealt with without undue delay
•  Provide for proceedings, witness statements and records to be kept confidential (to the parties concerned)
•  Indicate the disciplinary actions which may be taken
  specify the levels of management which have the authority to take the  various forms of disciplinary action
•  Provide for workers to be informed of the complaints against them and where possible all relevant evidence before any hearing
•  Provide workers with an opportunity to state their case before decisions are reached
•  Provide workers with the right to be accompanied
• Ensure that, except for gross misconduct, no worker is dismissed for a first breach of discipline
•  Ensure that disciplinary action is not taken until the case has been carefully investigated
•  Ensure that workers are given an explanation for any penalty imposed
•  Provide a right of appeal - normally to a more senior manager - and specify the procedure to be followed.

See Appendix 2.5

An Exit Interview

The exit interview is a discussion held with a departing member of staff. This is usually done for workers that voluntarily quit instead of those that are fired or laid off.

Exit interviews offer a brief opportunity to find out information that otherwise might be harder or not possible to obtain.

The following are some thoughts on the exit interview:

1. Interviews can be conducted orally or written.
2. Think carefully about the information you would like to get before the interview. This greatly increases the odds of a successful interview.
3. Save the hardest questions for the latter part of the interview.
4. First of all the important thing is to break the ice so the employee feels at ease.
5. Be prepared for some surprise. Expect the unexpected.
6. Carefully choose the interviewer. Look for somebody that listens well and is unbiased. It serves no purpose for the interviewer to get into an argument with the departing employee.
7. Throughout the interview stay focused on the employee.
8. Look for unrestricted questions that allow for plenty of expression.
9. Try to find out if there were things the departing employee would suggest improving conditions, manufacture or morale.
10. Try to get a good feel for how they viewed their compensation and benefits package.
11. Leave room at the end of the interview for general comments.
12. Take notes of the high points. Get the general idea – it is not essential to get exact quotes. It is more important to listen than write.
13. Make use of the information gathered.

The exit interview provides us with a good mechanism to take a hard look at how your company is perceived. Since the employee is leaving, they will often be more open and frank in their discussions about the company.

Benefits of exit interviews   

The benefits of an exit interview are not necessarily visible short-term however the long term affects are very beneficial for a company. We are able to investigate why the employee is not happy with the position or role within the organisation. This will give us insight into future training and development of company policies. The current staff will also feel motivated that the company care enough to invest time and effort into discovering peoples opinions. If a job has a rather large turnover then the company know that there is a problem within the organisation and can do everything within their power to resolve it. Plus it shows that there is little need to invest vast amounts of budget cash into training staff in that area if after a little while the position is vacant again.

See Appendix 3

Redundancy selection

When deciding on a redundancy procedure the employer should reflect and consider the options open to themselves that will mostly benefit the company instead of reaching a quick decision. The management of any large organisation will most importantly consult the workforce and the trade unions to see what there opinion on the situation is. The Trade Unions and Labour Relations Act 1992 states that there is a responsibility for the manager to consult the workforce as a group rather than on an individual basis this is where there are more than 20 and less than 99 employees being made redundant. The discussion for these numbers of redundancies will need to be started 30 days before the first planned redundancy. The selection criteria for deciding on redundancy is far and few between but should give a company an incentive to work towards.

Section criteria

There are a number of ways to select a person for redundancy and these are just a few of them.

1. LIFO – Last In First out – this is just simply the process of making redundant the last person to join the workforce before considering the long term employees. This is to save on things such as training and development.
2. Attendance records – this is looking at attendance records for the current workforce and seeing who poses a threat if any and whose absence is recurring or un-explained.
3. Close to retirement age – this is looking at the possibility of making redundant someone who is close to retirement age rather than making redundant new blood as such that will possibly be with the company for a long while.
4. Voluntary Redundancy – this is looking at staffs who voluntarily agree to redundancy for whatever reason mainly being personal to them.
5. Competence levels – this looks at staff performance and whether or not the under performers should be considered for redundancy or whether the company should re-invest money on their training and development.

A skills audit can be extremely helpful in deciding on redundancy. It is a process for measuring and recording the skills of an individual or group.  A skills audit is undertaken to help an organization understand the skills they require for each role and the actual skills each employee has.  The outcome is a training needs analysis that identifies the areas in which development is needed.  Skills audits are helpful all round because they can help with redundancy and also point out strengths and weaknesses of staff that are staying within the company.

See Appendix 4

Bibliography

• Personnel and Human Resource Management - Gerald Cole

• Human aspects of Management – Derek Biddle & Robin Evenden

• Human Resource Management – A contemporary perspective – Ian Beardwell & Len Holden

Appendices

Appendix 1 – Job Evaluation Questionnaire

Appendix 2 – Performance Related Pay – Financial Motivation

Appendix 2.5 – Grievance & Disciplinary Procedures

Appendix 3 – Exit interview typical questions

Appendix 4 – Redundancy selection criteria

Contents Page  

• Job Evaluation
• Benefits of Appraisal
• Performance Related Pay
• Rules and disciplinary procedures
• An Exit Interview
• Redundancy Selection Criteria
• Appendices 1 – 4
• Bibliography