Job Evaluation

Quality of Job Evaluations

by

It is all in the job evaluation method.

Job well done - concept , boss showing thumb up to one of his employee in the office
Eviled/Shutterstock

In the HR industry we call Job Analysis (JA) the foundation of any HR Department. In a similar sense, then, Job Evaluation (JE) would be considered the foundation to the compensation system.

This video clip outlines the four most common methods of JE’s.

Click here to watch the video “Four Methods of Job Evaluation”

What is the purpose of job evaluation? According to the HR Council of Canada, “Job evaluation is the systematic process for assessing the relative worth of jobs within an organization.” And even more importantly it is “a comprehensive analysis of each position’s tasks, responsibilities, knowledge, and skill requirements is used to assess the value to the employer of the job’s content and provide an internal ranking of the jobs.”

Worth and value are the true purpose of doing a JE; it helps determine wages/salary, an important aspect of the compensation system. It is hard to imagine how an organization could survive long term without some kind of JE system in place. Unfortunately, though, many of them shy away from conducting a JE for many various reasons. New HR practitioners should become knowledgeable on how to conduct JEs in any organization to ensure their value and worth.

 Discussion Questions

  1. Compare and contrast the benefits and negatives of the four methods of job evaluation. Consider why you would choose one method over the other. Be prepared to defend your answer.
    Quantitative
    – Point Rating
    – Factor Comparison
    Non-Quantitative
    – Ranking or Job Comparison
    – Grading or Job Classification
  2. If you were the HR Director of a compensation department which JE system would you recommend to ensure your company is in compliance with pay equity legislation.

Pay Equity is Back

by

Pay equity goes largely ignored.

Gender Pay Gap, 3d Illustration
Festa/Shutterstock

Pushed out of the forefront, it seems that businesses today can no longer pay males and females differently. It’s unreasonable that there is still a systemic problem in our society over equal pay for work of equal value, but the research says it’s true: women in Canada get paid 74.5 cents for every one dollar a male makes. The research also shows that our traditional reasons to justify this gap (that women have less education and work part time) does not hold water anymore.

According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail on global pay equity gaps, Canada is in the top ten of the world. This is not a good list to be top on; out of 34 countries, Canada rates seven in the world for highest percentage of wage discrepancy between the genders.

Click here to read the article.

Canada has to do better and proactively change our compensation practices. On a positive note, some provinces are aware that pay equity gaps are a problem that need to be addressed. On March 8, 2017, all parties voted unanimously to support to resolve the pay equity gap in Newfoundland and Labrador. Women in Newfoundland and Labrador earn an average of 66 cents to the male dollar of earnings.

Click here to read the article.

All organizations have to ensure they are meeting any pay equity legislation in their jurisdiction. Pay equity is closely tied to an organization’s design of their compensation system. Organizations have to ask themselves, would the design of our compensation system stand up to a pay equity due diligence test? If the organization has not completed a comprehensive job evaluation process it would be a very hard argument to defend.

Discussion Questions

  1. Please address each subsection of this question. Why is conducting job evaluations so important to
    • HR in general?
    • An organization’s compensation system?
    • Pay equity laws?
  1. What are some of the differences when conducting a general job evaluation as compared to a pay equity evaluation?

Why Job Evaluation Matters

by
Workplace Gender Equality in a Business or Career
kentoh/Shutterstock

True confessions: As a female HR practitioner, I should not be surprised by the fact that women continue to be underpaid and undervalued in today’s workforce, but I am. Wage parity between male and female workers has been problematic for far too long. Unfortunately, this problem of wage inequity continues to be an issue in workplaces across the globe. As noted in a recent article providing an international perspective, the wage gap difference between male and female workers does not seem to be resolving itself any time soon.

Click here to read the article.

Q: What is the answer to this seemingly never-ending problem?

A: Job Evaluation.

Very simply, job evaluation offers any employer a tool, a methodology and a path to creating job equity using gender-neutral point systems that measure the value of work within any organization. While many employers in Ontario may balk at the implementation costs related to these systems, at the end of a job evaluation review, the employer can rely on a process that counter-acts systemic gender-based wage discrimination.

True job evaluation systems allow for the neutral review, measurement, assessment, examination and evaluation of work performed regardless of who is doing the work. Job evaluation should eliminate (or at least reduce) the need for a female worker to put herself through the rigors of demanding to be paid equally for work that her male counterparts are performing. If the system works, it will work for everyone, male and female alike.

The push for this change for wage parity started decades ago.

It’s time to make it happen.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In your opinion, why are employers resistant to implementing job evaluation systems voluntarily?
  2. What are the benefits to an employer of maintaining wage inequality between male and female workers?
  3. If you had to fight for a wage increase based on gender inequality – what steps would you take to make it happen?