A job evaluation is a systematic way of determining the value/worth of a job in relation to other jobs in an organization. It tries to make a systematic comparison between jobs to assess their relative worth for the purpose of establishing a rational pay structure.
Job evaluation needs to be differentiated from job analysis. Job analysis is a systematic way of gathering information about a job. Every job evaluation method requires at least some basic job analysis in order to provide factual information about the jobs concerned. Thus, job evaluation begins with job analysis and ends at that point where the worth of a job is ascertained for achieving pay equity between jobs and different roles.
Process
The process of job evaluation involves the following steps:
- Gaining acceptance: Before undertaking job evaluation, top management must explain the aims and uses of the programme to the employees and unions. To elaborate the program further,presentations could be made. Letters, booklets could be used to classify all relevant aspects of the job evaluation programme.
- Creating job evaluation committee: It is not possible for a single person to evaluate all the key jobs in an organization. Usually a job evaluation committee consisting of experienced employees, union representatives and HR experts is created to set the ball rolling.
- Finding the jobs to be evaluated: Every job need not be evaluated. This may be too taxing and costly. Certain key jobs in each department may be identified. While picking up the jobs, care must be taken to ensure that they represent the type of work performed in that department.
- Analysing and preparing job description: This requires the preparation of a job description and also an analysis of job needs for successful performance .
- Selecting the method of evaluation: The most important method of evaluating the jobs must be identified now, keeping the job factors as well as organisational demands in mind.
- Classifying jobs: The relative worth of various jobs in an organisation may be found out after arranging jobs in order of importance using criteria such as skill requirements, experience needed, under which conditions job is performed, type of responsibilities to be shouldered, degree of supervision needed, the amount of stress caused by the job, etc. Weights can be assigned to each such factor. When we finally add all the weights, the worth of a job is determined. The points may then be converted into monetary values.
Installing the programme
Once the evaluation process is over and a plan of action is ready, management must explain it to employees and put it into operation.
Reviewing periodically
In the light of changes in environmental conditions (technology, products, services, etc.) jobs need to be examined closely. For example, the traditional clerical functions have undergone a rapid change in sectors like banking, insurance and railways, after computerisation. New job descriptions need to be written and the skill needs of new jobs need to be duly incorporated in the evaluation process. Otherwise, employees may feel that all the relevant job factors - based on which their pay has been determined - have not been evaluated properly.
For job evaluation to be practicable it is necessary:
- that jobs can be easily identified
- that there are sufficient differences between different jobs; and
- that agreements know the relative importance or worth of different jobs can be negotiated between the enterprise and its employees and/or their representatives
