APPENDIX A
Analytical job evaluation A job evaluation technique in which whole jobs are broken down into a number of defined elements or factors such as responsibility, decisions and the knowledge and skill required. These are assumed to be present in all the jobs to be evaluated.
Analytical matching Jobs are analysed into a number of factors and matched either to grade profiles or benchmark jobs which have been set out under the same factor headings.
Benchmark job A typical job that represents the different occupations and levels of work in an organization and is used as a point of reference with which other jobs can be compared and evaluated.
Comparable worth Work of equal value.
Factor A criterion for judging the value of a job in one particular element or characteristic of the work involved, for example, skill, responsibility, complexity. It is assumed that this element is present in all the jobs to be evaluated. It is also assumed that the elements will be present in jobs to different degrees that can be measured on a points scale or by reference to grade or level definitions.
Factor comparison scheme The original factor comparison method compared jobs factor by factor using a scale of money values to provide a direct indication of the rate for the job. It was developed in the United States but is not used in the UK. A revised version is used in the United States which resembles a conventional point-factor scheme except that there are no level definitions. Jobs are simply placed on a scale for each factor.
Factor plan A definition of the group of factors that are used in a point-factor job evaluation scheme. The individual factors will be divided into defined levels and the total points that can be allocated to a factor are assigned and distributed between each level. The allocation of points may be weighted in accordance with judgements about the relative importance of each factor.
Graduated factor comparison Jobs are compared with one another factor by factor with a graduated scale. The scale may have only three value levels – for example lower, equal, higher – and no factor scores are used.
Job analysis The process of collecting, analysing and setting out information about the content of jobs in order to provide the basis for a job description.
Job classification (job grading) A non-analytical method of job evaluation that allocates jobs into grades by comparing the whole job with a scale in the form of a hierarchy of grade definitions.
Job description A definition of the main tasks that are involved in carrying out the job. For job evaluation purposes it is usual to include an analysis of the job in terms of the criteria used in a factor plan.
Job evaluation A systematic process for establishing the relative worth of jobs within an organization.
Job evaluation scheme A structured approach to job evaluation that specifies systematic procedures for analysing jobs and criteria for assessing the size of individual jobs and for comparing jobs with one another.
Job matching The comparison of one job with another job or other jobs to determine internal relativities. Job matching can be done analytically (ie by reference to the common factors or elements assumed to be present in all jobs) or non-analytically (ie for whole jobs without reference to their factors or elements).
Job size In point-factor or factor comparison job evaluation schemes, the value of the job as indicated by its points score.
Job slotting Placing a job in a grade or band by reference to grade definitions which have not been analysed into factors, sometimes called non-analytical matching.
Levelling A method of job evaluation which focuses on defining the levels of work in an organization and fitting jobs into those levels. It can simply be an alternative term for job classification.
Market pricing The process of analysing market rates to establish external relativities and provide a guide to the development of a competitive pay structure, ie one in which levels of pay enable the organization to attract and retain the talented people it needs. Extreme market pricing involves relying entirely on market rate data to establish internal relativities.
Non-analytical job evaluation scheme Whole jobs that have not been analysed by reference to their elements or factors are compared in order to place.
Point-factor rating Jobs are scored by reference to a set of factors in a factor plan in order to determine their relative size.
Weighting The process in a point-factor scheme of varying the points available for each of the factors according to assumptions about their relative importance (explicit weighting) or by allocating more levels to some factors than others (implicit weighting).