Job Evaluation (Human Resource
Management)
Job evaluation is the
process to assess the relative value of a job in an organisation by comparing
it with other jobs within the organisation and with job market outside. It
attempts to make a methodical comparison between jobs to assess their relative
worth for the purpose of establishing a rational pay structure. Job evaluation
is different from job analysis. Job analysis is a systematic way to accumulate
information about a job. Every job evaluation method requires some basic job
analysis in order to provide accurate information about the jobs concerned.
Therefore, job evaluation begins with job analysis and ends at that point where
the value of a job is determined for achieving pay equity between jobs. Basically,
Job evaluation is the application of a process to identify, analyse and measure
each job against established criteria and weigh the relative value of jobs in a
uniform and consistent manner. It is not used to obtain a salary increase for
the incumbent.
Major objectives of
job evaluation is to establish logical & accurate relationship of each job
to other jobs within organisation, to regulate the wage rate for each job in
relation to other job in the organisation, to select employees accurately and
train, promote or transfer them impartially, to encourage employee goodwill,
strengthen morale and provide an incentive and to provide management with a
basis for proper control.
Jobs are evaluated
when a new post is established, prior to recruitment and when an existing
position has changed 10-15%
Figure:
A typical job evaluation programme 
Methods of job evaluation:
There are many methods
by which job evaluation is done.
- Ranking
/ Grading Method: Under ranking method, jobs are organized in descending order
of importance with the help of job description and job specification. The
ranking of job is done by a committee of experts called raters. The
ranking is done at departmental level, for every department the job is
ranked in order of importance. The main benefits of this method are that
it is simple, easily understood by all concerned and easy to operate,
inexpensive and can be used conveniently in small establishments. The
limitations include the degree of differences in the jobs. Sometimes it is
based on the rater's general knowledge of the jobs. It is inappropriate
for big company with a complex organisational structure.
- Factor
Comparison / Weight-in-Money Method: In this type of procedure, the jobs
are ranked in the following way: Common key elements of different jobs are
selected. These selected key elements are weighted and ranked. A monetary
value is assigned to each element of all jobs. Then these monetary values
of individual jobs are weighted. Then total value of each job is
available. The major benefits if this methods are that it is more accurate
and systematic as compared to simple ranking method. Different jobs also
can be rated on the basis of common factors. The drawbacks of this method
comprise that it is complicated, not easily explainable and expensive.
Application of weightage and monetary values may involve bias of rankers.
It is difficult to install hence not used extensively.
- .
Point Rating Method: In this method, each job is appraised separately,
considering each of the job factors such as skill, effort, responsibility
and working conditions and combining them into a single point score for
each job. Main advantages are that it is analytical in its approach, it
gives a quantitative value for each job. Basis and guidelines of valuation
are standardized and codified in a user manual. Disadvantages include,
manual used for rating the jobs needs periodical revision and update. It
is difficult for application and unintelligible for workers.
Figure:
Summary of job evaluation method 
Computer-assisted job evaluation
Computers can be used
to assist directly with the job evaluation process.
There are many types
of schemes:
There are two types of
computer-assisted systems. First, there are job analysis-based schemes such as
that offered by Link Consultants in which the job analysis data is either
entered direct into the computer or transferred to it from a paper
questionnaire. The computer software applies predetermined rules based on an
algorithm that reflects the organization's evaluation standards to convert the
data into scores for each factor and produce a total score. The algorithm
replicates panel judgements both on job factor levels and overall job score.
Secondly, there are
interactive schemes using software such as that supplied by Pilat UK (Gauge) in
which the job holder and his or her manager sit in front of a PC and are
presented with a series of logically interrelated questions forming a question
tree. The answers to these questions lead to a score for each of the built-in
factors in turn and a total score.
There are numerous
benefits of computer-assisted job evaluation. Computer-assisted job evaluation
systems can provide for greater consistency. The same input information will
always give the same output result because the judgemental framework on which
the scheme is based (the algorithm), can be applied consistently to the input
data. It offers extensive database capabilities for sorting, analysing and
reporting on the input information and system outputs. This method speeds up
the job evaluation process once the initial design is complete.
Process of job evaluation
The process of job
evaluation involves following steps:
Securing acceptance
from employees after explaining the purpose and use of job evaluation
programme.
Creating job evaluation
committee consisting of experienced employees, union representatives and HR
experts.
Deciding the job to be
evaluated, which may represent the type of work performed in the organisation.
Analysing and
preparing job description.
Selecting method of
evaluation, according to the job factors and organisational demand.
Classifying the jobs
on the basis of weightage and monetary values.
Installing the
programme in the whole organisation after explaining it to employees.
Conducting periodical
review in the light of changes in environment from time to time.
Figure:
Job evaluation process 
To summarize, Job
evaluation is associated with a process of establishing worth of different
jobs. Job evaluation offers a basis for ranking or grading different jobs and
developing a pay structure for them. It is the process of explaining the
duties, authority relationships, skills, condition of work and other relevant
information related to jobs. It provides valuable data and information to
develop job description and specification documents. Job evaluation is a
significant task of human resource manager which is done in order to determine
the value or worth of each job within the organization.
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