JOB EVALUATION
BY
SMART LEARNING WAY
CONTENTS
Job
Evaluation: What It Is
Introduction
Definitions
Objectives
of job evaluation
Process
of job evaluation
Advantages
of uses of job evaluation
Limitations
of job evaluation
Essentials
of successful job evaluation
Job evaluation methods
Conclusion
Bibliography
Job
Evaluation: What It Is
·
A transparent
system for comparing jobs
·
Used for
establishing relativities between jobs
·
A basis for
grading jobs in the new pay structure
·
Based on the
demands of jobs
·
Involves
analysing jobs under factor headings :
@ Knowledge and Skills;
@Responsibilities;
@Effort & Environment.
Introduction
Job evaluation is an orderly and systematic
technique of determining the relative worth of the various jobs within the
organization so as to develop an equitable wage and salary structure.
The two most common methods of job evaluation
that have been used are first, whole job ranking, where jobs are taken as a
whole and ranked against each other. The second method is one of awarding
points for various aspects of the job. In the points system various aspects or
parts of the job such as education and experience required to perform the job
are assessed and a points value awarded.
The
higher the educational requirements of the job the higher the points scored.
The most well known points scheme was introduced by Hay management consultants
in 1951. This scheme evaluates job responsibilities in the light of three major
factors - know how, problem solving and accountability
Job evaluation needs to be differentiated from
job analysis and performance appraisal. Job analysis is the process of
collecting information relating to a job in terms of duties, working
conditions, supervisions, etc. it provides the information for evaluating a
job. Therefore, job evaluation is something more than job analysis.
Definitions
According
to Scott, Clothier and Spriegel, "Job evaluation or job rating
is the operation of evaluating a particular job in relation to other jobs
either within or outside the organisation."
According
to the International Labour Office (I.L.O), “job evaluation is an attempt to
determine and compare the demands, which the normal performance of a particular
job makes on normal workers, without taking into account the individual
abilities or performance of the workers concerned”.
The
British Institute of Management has defined job evaluation as “the process of
analysis and assessment of jobs to ascertain reliably their relative worth
using the assessment as the basis for a balances wage structure”
Eugene
J.Benge- A method which helps to establish a justified rank order of jobs. it
is only one of the starting points for establishing the relative
differentiation of wage rates
Milkowhich
and Newman- A systematic procedure designed to aid in establishing pay
differentials among jobs within a single employer.
In
the words of Dale Yoder, "Job evaluation is a practice which
seeks to provide a degree of objectivity in measuring the comparative value of
jobs within an organisation and among similar organisations."
According
to Kimball and Kimball Jr., "Job evaluation represents an effort
to determine the relative value of every job in a plant and to determine what
the fair basic wage for such a job should be."
Job
evaluation begins with job analysis and ends up with the classification of jobs
according to their worth. A job cannot be evaluated unless and until it is
analyzed.
Job
evaluation also differs from performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is
the process of assessing the worth of a jobholder. Whereas job evaluation
involves assessment of the worth of a job.
The
purpose of job evaluation is to determine basic wage rates for different jobs
whereas the aim of performance appraisal is to determine incentives, and
rewards for superior performance.
Objectives
of job evaluation
The
objectives of job evaluation are as follows:
1)
to determine equitable wage differentials between different jobs in the
organisation ;
2)
to eliminate wage inequities;
3)
to develop a consistent wage policy;
4)
to establish a rational basis for incentive and bonus schemes;
5)
to provide a framework for periodic review and revisions of wage rates;
6)
to provide a basis for wage negotiations with trade unions.
7)to
minimise wage discrimination on the basis of age, sex, caste, region, religion,
etc.
8)
to enable management to gauge and control the payroll costs.
Process of job evaluation
1)
Gaining
Acceptance:
first
of all the cooperation and support of top management, employees and the trade
union should be obtained through communication and participation. For this
purpose conferences, letters and booklets can be used for explaining the aims
and benefits of job evaluation.
2)
Constituting
Job Evaluation Committee:
it is very difficult for a single person to
evaluate all jobs objectively. Therefore, a committee consisting of experienced
and respected representatives of a management and workers and outside experts
should be constituted. Participation of employees in job evaluation will reduce
their doubts and suspicion about the programme.
3) Selecting Jobs to be Evaluated:
due to constraints of time and money it may
not be possible to evaluate each and every job. Therefore, some key jobs may be
selected in each department. The key jobs are evaluated in detail and the other
jobs are compared with the keys jobs. The key jobs should be representative of
the type of work performed.
4)
Describing
the jobs:
a detailed written description of every job is
prepared to indicate the duties and responsibilities involved in it. The job
description is thoroughly checked to
ensure that there are no omissions and duplication in it. The acceptance of the
employee performing the job is also obtained to the job description.
5) Selecting the Method of Evaluation:
there are several methods available for
evaluating jobs. The method most appropriate to the job and the organization is
choosen. If possible more than one method may be used to increase the accuracy
of evaluations.
6) Weighing job factors:
a job
is compared with other jobs in terms of significant factors which may be as
follows:
·
Skill- mental and
manual
·
Experience
·
Efforts and
initiative
·
Working
conditions
·
Responsibilities
·
Supervision required
·
Weights are
assigned to each job factor and total weights for a job to indicate its
relative value.
·
Different jobs are arranged in a sequence in
terms of their relative worth to the company.
7)
Assigning
Money Values:
each
job is priced in terms of its worth. In other words, the sequences of jobs in
terms of their relative worth is related to a money scale.
8) Periodic Review:
a
periodic review and revision of job description will help to assuage the
feelings of employees who believe that their work was not properly evaluated.
moreover, it will enable management to update job description in the light of
technological and other changes. For example, automation of a job reduces
physical effort, but increases responsibility.
Advantages
of uses of job evaluation
1) Job evaluation is a logical and objective
technique of ranking jobs and thereby removing wage inequities. It is helpful
in developing an equitable, rational and constant wage and salary structure.
2) It helps to improve industrial relations by
reducing employee doubts and grievances arising out of wages. It increases
employee satisfaction on wage differentials.
3) It helps in fitting new jobs at their
appropriate places in the existing wage structure.
4) It provides a clear and objective basis for
wage negotiations and collective bargaining.
5) It simplifies wage administrations by
making wage rate more uniform.
6) It facilitates job redesign by
re-allocating the easy and difficult tasks equally among different jobs.
7) It reveals job which require less or more
skilled workers than those already performing these jobs. In this way job
evaluation facilitates better utilization of the workforce.
8) Due to increasing mechanization and
automation, performance depends in many cases more on the machine than on the
worker. In such cases, it is unrealistic to pay workers on the basis of their
output. Job evaluation is a realistic basis of wage fixation in these cases.
9) Job evaluation invariable involves detailed
analysis of a job. Data generated in job evaluation is very useful in
selection, placement and training of employees.
Limitations of job evaluation
1) Job evaluation is not fully objective and
scientific. There is considerable scope for subjective judgment and human
error. There is no standard list of factors to be considered and some job
factors cannot be measured accurately.
2) Job evaluation fails to consider several
factors which influence the value of a given job from worker’s point of view. Demand
and supply of a particular skill, security of service, career prospects, social
status, nature of supervision, etc. are such factors.
3) Job evaluation makes the wage and salary
structure inflexible by freezing wage differentials between jobs. It makes
little provisions for adjusting to prevailing wage rates and changing
conditions.
4) Job evaluation is not well suited to
determining the relative worth of managerial jobs. These jobs involve
considerable planning, decision making and supervision of others. These
executive skills cannot be measured in quantitative terms.
5) Some methods of job evaluation are
difficult to understand. Workers and trade unions often oppose job evaluation.
They fear that it will do away with collective bargaining for settlement of
wage rates.
6) Job evaluation is a time-consuming and
expensive process. As job contents change revaluation of jobs become necessary.
Moreover, jobs standardization essential for proper evaluation maybe difficult
under changing conditions.
Essentials of successful job evaluation
The following methods may be adopted to make
the job evaluation programme successful:
1) The support of top management must be won
for job evaluation programme.
2) Operating managers should convince about
the need for and programme of job evaluation. They should be given training in
fixing and revising the wages on the basis of job evaluation.
3) All the employees should be provided with
complete information about the objectives, programme and techniques of job
evaluation.
4) Clear and accurate job descriptions should
be prepared and jobs should be standardized before starting the evaluation
process.
5) All groups and grades of jobs should be
covered in the programme. Similar jobs should be grouped together for this
purpose.
6) The techniques used should be simple to
understand for employees.
7) The acceptance and support of the trade
unions should be obtained.
8) The factors selected for evaluation should
be measurable, and should represent the job content. This factors should be
clearly defined.
9) The job evaluation programme should not
involve unreasonably high costs of installation and administration.
10) In the evaluation process, the knowledge,
judgment and experience of human resource department, line managers and outside
experts should be posted together.
11) The focus should be on rating the job not
the job holder.
12) Job evaluation should be undertaken as an
adjunct to collective bargaining.
13) Job evaluation should not adversely affect
the terms and conditions of existing employees.
Job evaluation methods
Job ranking :
raters examine job description and arrange
jobs according to value of the company.
Job classification:
classes or grades are defined to describe a
group of jobs.
Point method:
numerical values are assigned to specific job
components; some values provide quantitative assessment of jobs worth.
Conclusion
Job evaluation is the process by which the
organization develops a job structure. The job structure is the hierarchy of
jobs within the organization, ordered according to their value and importance
to the organization.
Job evaluation involves comparing jobs to each other or to
a standard, and then ranking them by the standard of organizational importance.
Over 50% of the jobs in the U.S., as well as
an increasing number of other countries, have their wages influenced by job
evaluation. However, the popularity of job evaluation has declined in recent
years. Changes in organizations away from rigid bureaucratic structures, have
found job evaluation not a useful tool.
The first decision to be made in developing a
job evaluation plan, is to decide on the factors that account for the
importance of the jobs to the organization, called compensable factors.
Second,
a decision must be made as to what jobs will be placed into the job evaluation
plan all jobs in the organization or some sub-set of jobs leading to whether
there will be one or a number of plans in the organization.
Third, a decision needs to be made as to the
type of job evaluation plan that will provide the organization with the best
results. Here the organization has a number of choices.
Job evaluation plans are categorized as being
either non-quantitative or quantitative. Non-quantitative plans, ranking or
classification,
(1) rate the job as a whole,
(2) clearly rely on the judgments
of the evaluator, and
(3) are generally simpler and more flexible.
These non-quantitative plans are used mainly
in small organizations and governmental units. Quantitative plans, factor
comparison and point factor, evaluate the job by the use of factors. These are
more difficult to set up, provide a basis for determining their accuracy, and
are more popular in industry.
Job evaluation has a basic dilemma. On one
hand, it is a technical function that requires training and expertise to
perform. On the other hand, the usefulness of job evaluation depends on the
acceptance by management and employees of the job structure that results from
the process.
The best way to obtain acceptance is to allow
managers and employees a role in the decision making that creates the job
structure. Too often, job evaluation is seen by managers and employees as some
mysterious, incomprehensible process that has a considerable impact on their
wages.
Bibliography
1.)
Human resource
management
by- Jogendra Mehta.
2.)
Essentials of
H.R.M. and I.R.
by-
P.S. Narayan, P.C.K. Rao
3.)
Human resource
and personnal management
by
K. Asvathappa
4.)
Human resource
management by- C.B. Gupta Sultan Chand and sons
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