Job evaluation and why it is so important

Ever wondered how members of an organisation undertake job evaluation, and for what purpose this exercise is done? Job evaluation is a systematic process which enables an organisation to find out the importance of the various jobs in the company, and assess their worth to the company's profitability.

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Personnel performance appraisal is a fundamental process in a company. The main aim of the estimation is to identify the essential characteristics of employees. These actions will help the manager to build communication with them. Establishing a connection helps the team to work much better, which leads to positive functional results.

What is job estimation?

Evaluation of work associated with almost all stages of management of the company. Such as:

1. Staff planning. The company checks whether it needs employees;
2. Recruitment. You can determine how effectively the company gets to attract new employees;
3. Staff training. The assessment reviews the quality of the training programs, as well as the need of the staff for this training;
4. Formation of personnel reserve. Rating the quality of work and the behaviour of employees;
5. Analysis of the team. Estimation of results and indications, with the help of which the working ethics of employees in the company is assessed;
6. Staff development. Their opportunities evaluate employees;
7. The system of material incentives. Rating helps improve motivation for company employees

Evaluation is extremely important for the employees themselves because it helps them to move up career ladder, learn, achieve something new, etc.

Objectives of job evaluation

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Any assessment has some purpose. In this case, it is:

• To determine the potential of existing employees to transfer someone to a higher position without spending resources on finding new ones and their training;
• Assess whether the employee is profitable for the company. Does his/her work justify the funds spent on him/her;
• Defining employee roles. Is he/she a team player or a person who can prove himself/herself as a leader

Criteria for evaluation

Typically, the process is divided into:

• Competency assessment. This estimates the knowledge and skills of the employee, the ability to put them into practice, as well as his/her behaviour and personal qualities. The main idea is to find out whether the employee can prove himself to be worthy of the position the company offers him.
• Performance evaluation. This is based on a comparison of the employee's skills with the planned indicators for a particular work period and position. In this case, the worker must have specific tasks that he/she performs. This will be an indicator of the result.

It is also worth determining which criteria is paramount and which standards are secondary. The company must decide what is essential for it: a sense of duty, dedication, and maybe even loyalty. Basic requirements for the criteria:

1. Reachability;
2. Transparency: what kind of results are expected from the employee;
3. Objectivity: the development of standards is carried out for a specific position, and not for a person;
4. Dynamism: the ability to develop following the current changes in the company;
5. The motivation of an employee to achieve results;
6. Compliance with the content of the work;
7. Understanding and coherence with the most important results of the work

Methods of job evaluation

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To determine the quality of the employee, you need to use a particular technique. Two main methods are common: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative methods

In this method, the specialist views the numbers and concludes:

1. The method of banal evaluation. This method is the easiest one. Its essence lies in the fact that for the performance of any task that the leadership has set in front of the staff, a person receives points. Accordingly, the more - the better.
2. Method of free banal evaluation. Different experts rate different company employees. In the end, they collect estimates and summarise them for each employee — the outcome as in the method of banal evaluation.
3. Rank method. Those who find themselves in the lowest positions are usually dismissed or trained. Those who are in higher position get a promotion.

Qualitative methods

It is also a very effective method, but it takes more time and resources than quantitative methods. It invloves:

• The matrix method: a comparison of the qualities of a particular person with the ideal model of an employee for a specific position;
• Assessment of task performance : The easiest method when evaluating the work of the employee in general;
• The method of a system of arbitrary characteristics: The personnel or the manager identifies the most significant achievements and the most severe disruptions in the work. Then they make conclusions based on their comparison;
• The “360 degrees” method: An assessment of an employee by colleagues, managers, subordinates, clients and themselves;
• A group discussion: a conversation between an employee and a manager or experts about the results of his/her work and prospects

Combined methods

These are most effective approaches to evaluation, since they use both qualitative and quantitative aspects:

• Sum of estimates method. Each employee characteristic is evaluated on a specific scale, obtaining a certain average which is compared with the ideal criteria for a particular position;
• Grouping system. All employees are divided into several groups - from those who do not work satisfactorily to those whose work is almost flawless

Approaches to personnel evaluation

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There are two groups of assessment methods. One concerns the competence of the staff and the other - performance. Therefore, the ways of evaluating these two major groups will be different, but interrelated.

Methods of personnel competency assessment

It is the methods of personnel competency assessment that give the most sensible idea of ​​the professional qualities of employees. The primary goal of these methods is to increase the efficiency of the company's employees. After that, resources are saved from employees who do their work poorly or do not do it at all. As a result, a person can be fired. If the company management identifies some employee as the best, or even several employees, then they occupy higher positions.

1. Assessment centre. A modern method of personnel assessment which allows obtaining reliable information about the personal and business qualities of an employee and how well the company's personnel comply with its goals, policies and structure. The assessment by this method includes three stages:

• Preparatory, during which the assessment objectives and the development of a competency model are determined;
• Development of a procedure including an assessment centre scenario, modelling and adaptation of exercises, determination of a set of evaluation methods, training of experts and observers;
• The assessment centre procedure, which includes business games, cases, group discussions, individual interviews and tests

As a result of the events, a general assessment of the participant is carried out - an integration session and a report. The stage ends with providing feedback to the participants.

2. Testing. To evaluate candidates, organisations use professional and psychological tests. Psychological tests help to identify the personal characteristics of the employee, and professional - his/her skills and knowledge necessary for the successful performance of official duties.

3. Interviewing. This method is based on questions and answers. The procedure can be carried out in a free form (unstructured interview). In this case, it determines an emotional reaction to the questions. A structured interview involves the preparation of items in advance and following the developed scheme.

4. The method of expert evaluation of staff. It involves experts assessing personnel, hence analysing the characteristics of employees. Then they make conclusions based on their own experience and knowledge. An expert can be the head of the organisation.

5. Business games. This is personnel assessment using business simulation. The business game method allows you to simulate the actions of an employee in a particular, preferably tricky situation in order to assess his/her behaviour, stress resistance, the ability to make decisions quickly and correctly, and interaction with colleagues and clients.

Performance evaluation methods: KPI evaluation

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KPI means Key Performance Indicators. This is a rating system of the personnel that allows you to determine the effectiveness of employees in the company in terms of their ability to achieve strategic and tactical targets. The KPI system refers to the approaches based on the assessment of labour on the actual achievements of the employee. This technique involves the development of a table which includes two components. The first column contains the criteria put forward by the company for the employee, which assesses personal and working qualities, and the second - the competence that the organisation expects from the employee.

Basically, they choose no more than five to seven key indicators to evaluate the results of an employee’s competence for a specific period and record them in the table of his/her activities. Competencies are equal to the qualitative results of the work (actual results of work). Each criterion rates from 0 to 1 point, but all together they should be 1 point. Accordingly, the manager decides for himself which criterion is more important and which is less.

Three performance levels initially set for all indicators:

• Base - the starting point from which the result calculates. The worst value;
• Norma - a level that must necessarily be achieved taking into account all circumstances;
• The goal - the degree to which you want to strive, a kind of ideal indicator

At the end of the control period, all KPIs are evaluated.

Results of estimation

Rating results usually presented in tabular form. The format for providing results may be different:

• Quantitative - a comparison of the estimates that the employee received for each criterion;
• Qualitative - a full description of the employee’s qualities
• Individual - information about what types of activities and at what level an employee can carry out the activities
• Group - relationships within the organisation or its units, the distribution of social roles

Importance of job evaluation

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Why is proper performance assessment so important? The main thing in the review, as already mentioned, is to find out whether a particular employee is worth the resources that the company spends on him/her. Similarly, the employee ponders whether his efforts and work are worth how his company rewards it.

Sure, people need to know what the organisation expects from them. They should see how the results of their work will be measured. Besides, they must be sure that if they put forth their real capabilities, this will lead to satisfactory results. Finally, they must be sure that if they work as expected of them, they will receive a reward that represents an absolute value for them.

The job that workers must do must be rewarded. Evaluation criteria should be transparent and achievable. Employees should see a perspective in front of them, and the goal should be clear. If these conditions are not met, then staff productivity will be very low.

So, how do you motivate staff? If you ask people what satisfies them from their work, the most popular answers will be: achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, promotion and growth. If the same people are asked the question: “What dissatisfies you in your work?”, then the following answers will be the most popular: the internal policy of the company and the administration, the boss and relations with him, working conditions and salary.

It is for this reason that such factors as the internal policy of the company and the administration, the authorities and the relationship with him, working conditions, salary, relationships with colleagues, subordinates, etc., are signs that characterize the company in general. The deterioration of any of these aspects will instantly lead to dissatisfaction and a sharp drop in productivity.

We hope that our article was informative for you and you have found answers to all the questions you had. We hope now you understand what job evaluation is and why it is needed.

READ ALSO: Effective Employee Relations Strategy

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