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Methods of Job Evaluation - Compensation And Productivity
Human Resources Management - Compensation And Productivity
Methods of Job Evaluation - Compensation And Productivity
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There are four commonly adopted major methods of job evaluation, each with their own inherent strengths.
Methods of Job Evaluation
There are four commonly adopted major methods of job evaluation, each with their own inherent strengths. They are called ranking method, job classification method, factor comparison method and point method.
The appraisers examine the description of each job being evaluated ad arrange the job in order according to their value to the company. Thus all jobs are rank ordered and pairs of jobs could be compared. Prior to this, the organization would have to conduct job analysis and job description. It is the simplest of all methods and is inexpensive. A major hurdle in using this method is that it does not measure the differences between the jobs belonging to two ranks. Thus, the magnitude of the difference between the jobs ranked first and second, may not be the same as the magnitude of the difference between jobs ranked third and fourth.
This method involves defining a number of grades or classes to describe a collection of jobs. The team of appraiserscompares the job description with the class descriptions based on jobs at various difficulty levels. It is simple to understand and easy to use. But at times, the grade descriptions could be ambiguous and overlapping.
The appraisers make decisions on separate aspects or factors of the job as they evaluate jobs. The five universal job factors are
1. Mental requirements, which reflect traits such as intelligence, reasoning and imagination.
2. Skills pertaining to psychomotor coordination and interpretation of sensory impressions and the experience, education and training required to acquire them in requisite levels.
3. Physical requirements that involve sitting, standing, walking, lifting etc.
4. Responsibilities that cover areas such as handling raw materials, equipments, machinery, public relations, employees, money, records and supervision.
5. Working conditions, which reflect the environmental influences of noise, illumination, ventilation, hazards, annoyances and working hours.
Point method is an approach to job evaluation in which numerical values are assigned to specific job components and the sum of these values provides a quantitative assessment of a job’s relative worth. The Point method of job evaluation consists of first developing compensable factors on which each job must be evaluated. The collection of these key factors is called manual or yardsticks. Each of these key compensable factors has a scale value which defines the degree of presence of that factor. Each job is rated on these key factors and a value is assigned accordingly.
Employees might find it difficult to understand the intricacies of job evaluations. Hence the pay-scales fixed through job evaluations might be susceptible to suspicion from who might view them as tools of clever manipulation and over-exploitation. Supervisors should have complete knowledge of the evaluation system and be able to explain and convince the employees about the job evaluation plan. The most talented and competent employees tend to resent the wages fixed through job evaluation, as they expect their contribution must get extra reward. In a world of fast changing technology and rapid mobility of capital and labor, job evaluation carried out at great investment of time and cost might soon loose their relevance and might need complete revision. Practices like poaching talents from another organization and relaxed working conditions for some employees, might make a mockery out of job evaluations.
Obtaining a precise value of an employee’s contribution to the organization might be difficult, as work output occurs due to the interplay of large number of factors. Job evaluation helps to reach a reasonable degree of accuracy in achieving this valuation. Job evaluation would have greater chances to succeed when it does not disturb the existing promotion paths or the traditional pattern. It is not likely to succeed when the organization is not paying above market rate and if it results in too drastic pay revisions within existing structures. At times, the geographic isolation of an organization could also make it less comparable to other employers. Employees’ Unions could totally reject or even nullify the outcomes of job evaluation if the employer’s relationships with most of them are not cordial.
There are four commonly adopted major methods of job evaluation, each with their own inherent strengths. They are called ranking method, job classification method, factor comparison method and point method.
Ranking Method
The appraisers examine the description of each job being evaluated ad arrange the job in order according to their value to the company. Thus all jobs are rank ordered and pairs of jobs could be compared. Prior to this, the organization would have to conduct job analysis and job description. It is the simplest of all methods and is inexpensive. A major hurdle in using this method is that it does not measure the differences between the jobs belonging to two ranks. Thus, the magnitude of the difference between the jobs ranked first and second, may not be the same as the magnitude of the difference between jobs ranked third and fourth.
Classification Method (Job Grading Method)
This method involves defining a number of grades or classes to describe a collection of jobs. The team of appraiserscompares the job description with the class descriptions based on jobs at various difficulty levels. It is simple to understand and easy to use. But at times, the grade descriptions could be ambiguous and overlapping.
Factor Comparison Method
The appraisers make decisions on separate aspects or factors of the job as they evaluate jobs. The five universal job factors are
1. Mental requirements, which reflect traits such as intelligence, reasoning and imagination.
2. Skills pertaining to psychomotor coordination and interpretation of sensory impressions and the experience, education and training required to acquire them in requisite levels.
3. Physical requirements that involve sitting, standing, walking, lifting etc.
4. Responsibilities that cover areas such as handling raw materials, equipments, machinery, public relations, employees, money, records and supervision.
5. Working conditions, which reflect the environmental influences of noise, illumination, ventilation, hazards, annoyances and working hours.
Point method is an approach to job evaluation in which numerical values are assigned to specific job components and the sum of these values provides a quantitative assessment of a job’s relative worth. The Point method of job evaluation consists of first developing compensable factors on which each job must be evaluated. The collection of these key factors is called manual or yardsticks. Each of these key compensable factors has a scale value which defines the degree of presence of that factor. Each job is rated on these key factors and a value is assigned accordingly.
Jobs are divided into a specified
number of grades so that when rates are established they are not applied to
individual jobs but rather to groups of jobs that are rated about the same
number of points. In choosing point factors, the organizations decide on the
particular job components that they should value. The advantages of this method
are that a large number of specific factors are included. Off-the-shelf,
ready-made plans are also easily available for a price from HR services and
consultancy firms. If an organization prefers to save costs by developing a
complete plan internally, it would be a time consuming process and more difficult
to understand. There is also greater opportunity for people involved to
disagree on many grounds.
Causes of Resistance to Job Evaluation
Employees might find it difficult to understand the intricacies of job evaluations. Hence the pay-scales fixed through job evaluations might be susceptible to suspicion from who might view them as tools of clever manipulation and over-exploitation. Supervisors should have complete knowledge of the evaluation system and be able to explain and convince the employees about the job evaluation plan. The most talented and competent employees tend to resent the wages fixed through job evaluation, as they expect their contribution must get extra reward. In a world of fast changing technology and rapid mobility of capital and labor, job evaluation carried out at great investment of time and cost might soon loose their relevance and might need complete revision. Practices like poaching talents from another organization and relaxed working conditions for some employees, might make a mockery out of job evaluations.
Obtaining a precise value of an employee’s contribution to the organization might be difficult, as work output occurs due to the interplay of large number of factors. Job evaluation helps to reach a reasonable degree of accuracy in achieving this valuation. Job evaluation would have greater chances to succeed when it does not disturb the existing promotion paths or the traditional pattern. It is not likely to succeed when the organization is not paying above market rate and if it results in too drastic pay revisions within existing structures. At times, the geographic isolation of an organization could also make it less comparable to other employers. Employees’ Unions could totally reject or even nullify the outcomes of job evaluation if the employer’s relationships with most of them are not cordial.
Tags : Human Resources Management - Compensation And Productivity
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