JOB EVALUATION - the burning issue in Talent Management today. How to price talent competitively and have a scientific talent retention policy.

 

JOB EVAUATION OF MANAGERIAL  WORK :

analyzing to price competitively

 

Did you as CEO have a problem one fine Monday morning…!!!

 Your star performer in a pivotal position in your company comes to your office  to say  “ … I feel I am underpaid in comparison my contribution to the organization or in ratio to my market value…Could you plan to revise my compensation before I begin a search for a new job”

You are caught in a dilemma. Should you overlook it and lose your prime talent??? Or should you win back this member of the top team???(even if you run the risk of creating a chain of demands within the organization)

This is the burning issue in Talent Management today. How to price talent competitively and have a scientific talent retention policy. Talent is after all the cutting edge of your company’s competitive position in the market

The answer is Job evaluation; which  is a systematic method of determining a job’s relative worth within an organization. Here are five common methods and the characteristics of each:

1. Ranking Method

This method ranks jobs in order based on each job’s perceived value in relation to the others, .

• Does not consider market compensation rates.
• May work well for smaller companies. In a larger organization, it is more complex to use, but sometimes it can still work if jobs are grouped by job families—professional level, etc.

2. Classification/Grading Method

With this approach, generic job characteristics are grouped to reflect levels of skill/responsibility at a number of predetermined grade classifications, .
This is another straightforward method that is not too time-consuming.

• Individual jobs are compared to groups of job characteristics, then matched to specific grade classification.
• Can be a challenge because one size does not fit all, so jobs may be forcefit into a grade.
• The system is subject to grade inflation as jobs get pushed to the next higher level.

3. Point–Factor Method

This approach identifies job factors that add value and worth to a position. The job factors are separated into groups (i.e., skill, responsibility, effort) and assigned a numerical or weighted point value. The points for individual factors are added up to get a point value for the whole job.

• May not reflect market values of jobs.
• Generates a hierarchy but does not have an external component.

4. Factor Comparison Method

With this method, job factors are identified under primary groups (i.e., skill, effort, responsibilities, working conditions) typically up to five groups. Each factor is assigned a RUPEE value (as opposed to point value).

• This is a complex system used only by a few organizations.
• It is hard to communicate to employees.
• There is an inherent degree of subjectivity.

This method is widely used and is considered to be one of the reliable and systematic approach for job evaluation in mid and large size organizations. Most consulting firms adopt this method, where jobs are expressed in terms of key factors. Points are assigned to each factor after prioritizing each factor in order of importance. The points are summed up to determine the wage rate for the job. Jobs with similar point totals are placed in similar pay grades. The procedure involved may be explained thus:

1. Select key jobs. Identify the factors common to all the identified jobs such as skill, effort, responsibility, etc.

2. Divide each major factor into a number of sub factors. Each sub factor is defined and expressed clearly in the order of importance, preferably along a scale.

The most frequent factors employed in point systems are:

(i) Skill (key factor); Education and training required, Breadth/depth of experience required, Social skills required, Problem-solving skills, Degree of discretion/use of judgment, Creative thinking

(ii) Responsibility/Accountability: Breadth of responsibility, Specialized responsibility, Complexity of the work, Degree of freedom to act, Number and nature of subordinate staff, Extent of accountability for equipment/plant, Extent of accountability for product/materials;

(iii) Effort: Mental demands of a job, Physical demands of a job, Degree of potential stress

The educational requirements (sub factor) under the skill (key factor) may be expressed thus in the order of importance.

3. Find the maximum number of points assigned to each job (after adding up the point values of all sub-factors of such a job).

This would help in finding the relative worth of a job. For instance, the maximum points assigned to an officer's job in a bank come to 540. The manager's job, after adding up key factors + sub factors points, may be getting a point value of say 650 from the job evaluation committee. This job is now priced at a higher level.

4. Once the worth of a job in terms of total points is expressed, the points are converted into money values keeping in view the hourly/daily wage rates. A wage survey is usually undertaken to collect wage rates of certain key jobs in the organization.

 

5. Competitive Market Analysis Method

This approach looks at external data, . Job evaluation forms the basis for market pricing. You utilize job descriptions to compare jobs to like positions within the external marketplace. Pay data are collected from published sources and the value of the position within the competitive market is determined.

• Considers the organization’s compensation philosophy. (Where do we want to position ourselves vis-à-vis the market?)
• Examines internal value against market data.
• Requires an overlay to see how it fits with the internal hierarchy.

Market pricing is used by many organizations, , to determine:

• The competitive value of individual positions
• The company’s overall positioning in the marketplace
• The company’s pay positioning against its compensation philosophy
• Whether pay programs achieve basic objectives of compensation
• Internal equity

BENEFITS OF JOB EVALUATION:

 Job evaluation is a process of determining the relative worth of a job. It is a process which is helpful even for framing compensation plans by the personnel manager. Job evaluation as a process is advantageous to a company in many ways:

·         Reduction in inequalities in salary structure - It is found that people and their motivation is dependent upon how well they are being paid. Therefore the main objective of job evaluation is to have external and internal consistency in salary structure so that inequalities in salaries are reduced.

·         Specialization - Because of division of labour and thereby specialization, a large number of enterprises have got hundred jobs and many employees to perform them. Therefore, an attempt should be made to define a job and thereby fix salaries for it. This is possible only through job evaluation.

·         Helps in selection of employees - The job evaluation information can be helpful at the time of selection of candidates. The factors that are determined for job evaluation can be taken into account while selecting the employees.

·         Harmonious relationship between employees and manager - Through job evaluation, harmonious and congenial relations can be maintained between employees and management, so that all kinds of salaries controversies can be minimized.

·         Standardization - The process of determining the salary differentials for different jobs become standardized through job evaluation. This helps in bringing uniformity into salary structure.

·         Relevance of new jobs - Through job evaluation, one can understand the relative value of new jobs in a concern.

PROCESS OF JOB EVALUATION

The process of job evaluation involves the following steps:

·         Gaining acceptance: Before undertaking job evaluation, top management must explain the aims and uses of the programme to managers, emphasizing the benefits. Employees and unions may be consulted, depending on the legal and employee relations environment and company culture. To elaborate the program further, presentations could be made to explain the inputs, process and outputs/benefits of job evaluation.

·         Creating job evaluation committee: It is not possible for a single person to evaluate all the key jobs in an organization. Often a job evaluation committee consisting of experienced employees, union representatives and HR experts is created to set the ball rolling.

·         Finding the jobs to be evaluated: Every job need not be evaluated. This may be too taxing and costly. Certain key jobs in each department may be identified. While picking up the jobs, care must be taken to ensure that they represent the type of work performed in that department, at various levels.

·         Analysing and preparing job description: This requires the preparation of a job description and also an analysis of job specifications for successful performance. See job analysis.

·         Selecting the method of evaluation: The method of evaluating jobs must be identified, keeping the job factors as well as organisational demands in mind. Selecting a method also involves consideration of company culture, and the capacity of the compensation and benefits function or job evaluation committee.

THE WAY AHEAD:

Evaluating jobs: The relative worth of various jobs in an organisation may be determined by applying the job evaluation method. The method may consider the "whole job" by ranking a set of jobs, or by comparing each job to a general level description. Factor-based methods require consideration of the level of various compensable factors (criteria) such as level and breadth of responsibility, knowledge and skill required, complexity, impact, accountability, working conditions, etc. These factor comparisons can be one with or without numerical scoring. If there is numerical scoring, weights can be assigned to each such factor and scores are associated with different levels of each factor, so that a total score is determined for the job. All methods result in an assigned grade level.

 

  

all good wishes

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

www.synergmanager.net

  

BUILDING A WINNING WORKFORCE - how to make people self-motivated to do more with less.

 

 We can easily “guestimate” five common things that employees want, need, and expect from their employers need to be more productive, valuable, and promotable within the organization

INVOLVEMENT

Creating fully engaged employees, who have passion for driving excellence, also includes involvement. Most employees want to be involved in the planning of work that affects them. When employees are not involved it often contributes to misalignment, negativity, and low morale.

Involving employees doesn't mean getting their say on confidential business issues, but it does include soliciting their feedback on workplace issues, processes or procedural changes that will impact their work -- before they are implemented. When employees understand the "why" and are involved to some extent in the improvement process and implementation, you have a greater chance at creating sustainable change, a high level of trust, buy-in, and support.

THE RIGHT RESOURCES & RIGHT SUPPORT

When employees are provided with the proper tools and resources to do a quality job, it creates a great environment for holding everyone accountable for driving excellence. It also demonstrates that the organization is serious about creating a work environment where employees can thrive, be successful, and contribute to improving operational and financial results.

Basic  resources should include appropriate supplies and equipment, along with learning and development opportunities to enhance and grow employee competence, confidence, skill, and ability.

When was the last time you assessed where you stand (as a leader) in providing the basic tools and resources to ensure a job well done from your staff? If funding and budget cuts are barriers, use the wisdom of your team to surface resourceful ways to ensure they have what they need, while not causing a financial burden to the organization.

RECOGNITION

Even in organizations who profess that they do a good job in rewarding and recognizing staff members, there are still many employees starving for it. That's often because the level of recognition initiated often varies based on the departmental leader. I believe that there should be multiple channels of reward and recognition flowing throughout an organization; not only top-down recognition - which is manager-to-employees, but also lateral recognition - which is peer-to-peer.

When employees feel they are adequately recognized for a job well done, they become self-motivated to do more with less. And for the most part, a sincere "thank you" with a pat on the back from a manager or senior leader to a line employee can go a long way in creating and sustaining a culture of excellence.

What ever the workforce composition, employee engagement is strongly driven by the immediate manager and his or her ability to meet employees' emotional requirements. In this context, it is suggested that people are motivated more by intrinsic factors, such as personal recognition, rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors, such as compensation. The following ideas can be executed with very little cost  for everyone and anyone….

¨     Invite successful teams to present their project achievements  to top management.

¨     Start a staff appreciation program. Award points for positive traits. Points may be redeemed for small prizes or special privileges.

¨     Plan a surprise achievement celebration for a staff member or team.

¨     Pass on the praise. If you hear a positive remark about a person, repeat it to that person as soon as possible--perhaps via email. . Publish a "kudos" column in your newsletter. Ask staff to submit kudos for their peers.

¨     Call an employee to your office to thank them.

¨     Express interest in your staff members' professional development or personal accomplishments like Mohan participated in the Mumbai Marathon.

¨      Establish relationships between staff and upper management. One idea: send new employees out to lunch with the company president.

¨     Mail thank you notes to employees who work long hours  for a special project/crisis and start a program to curtail needless late working as well

¨     Allow employees to select their next assignments. If you can allow employees to choose their work, they will be more engaged and dedicated.

¨     Designate successful teams and employees as office consultants.

¨     Give employees an extra long lunch break on occasion or convert this into a surprise party or celebration of a company’s achievement

¨     establish a  real generous Award to recognize employees who consistently do their job well…. This should make the others jealous atleast !!!

TRUST

Trust isn’t something you can buy. Trust is something you earn. It’s based on a set of behaviors that can be learned, practiced, and mastered. It’s a commitment that fundamentally informs how people think about and interact with customers, suppliers, and coworkers. In time, it becomes an organization’s way of being. An interesting trend observed in most companies is that the employee perceptions drop after spending 6 months in the organization. It highlights the challenge in managing new hire expectations and the possible gap in employer brand promise and the actual experience. The  change is largely related to credibility of the commitments made by management, openness in communication with seniors and recognition of work.

When leaders work diligently to keep the lines of communication open, involve employees in the planning of work that impacts them, provide employees with proper tools and resources, and consistently recognize exemplary job performance - all of these elements contribute to creating a high level of trust on both sides of the fence. In a good company , trust  should manifests itself in every relationship. Managers believe that employees want to be productive, encouraging them to participate in the business. Employees act like owners. They’re enthusiastic and passionate about their work and the company’s mission. In a high-trust environment, people cooperate and collaborate, leading to positive workplace interactions, higher profits, and greater productivity.

CONCLUDING - 

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION A MOVING

 TARGET 

Few employees feel that they get enough communication or information on company updates from their boss. Open communication is key to creating and sustaining a culture of excellence, as well as, increasing employee engagement and trust, customer loyalty, and ultimately improving bottom-line results.

Open communication can be in the form of: one-on-one updates with staff members; daily briefings with the entire team; company newsletters and intranet updates; or through regularly scheduled team or departmental meetings. Open communication does not mean sharing confidential company information, but it should include keeping your staff abreast of inter-company changes, financial results, customer feedback (good or bad), and aware of new products and services that will soon be launched.

with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

www.synergymanager.net

The definition of employee engagement is the emotional commitment they have towards the company NOW MEASURE IT!

 

12  METRICS THAT ARE PROVEN

 TO HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT

 ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:

 

 

The definition of employee engagement  is the emotional commitment they have towards the company, the company’s values and their mission, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being. According to a report from a leading HR global consultancy, 85% of employees do not have passion for their work and never contribute their full potential. Their report also found that only around 20% of senior management is passionate about what they do, which is an even bigger problem. Employee engagement gimmicks like free lunch  on Fridays can only take you so far when it comes to engagement. Don’t make employee engagement a rocket science or a high budget venture! get down to the basics they are easy and low budget. Here are the 12 metrics that are proven to have the biggest impact on employee engagement:

 

 

1.    •Personal Growth

•How much autonomy employees have, if they’re improving their skills to get better at their job, and if they believe in the bigger purpose of the company. Meaningful work provides an opportunity for people  to keep  knowledge fresh by using it constantly

 

2.    Career Path and Clear Vision

Is this a dead end job? with the daily grind going on till retirement or till I find a new job?..." This question should never be in the mind of the member ...it kills all motivation

 

3.    •Pride & Sense of Belonging

How much pride employees have for their work, and if they’d be willing to recommend the company to friends and family. A good question to ask your people is “...Does your work give you time to really develop deep regenerative relationships with people inside and outside of your organization”...because meaningful work creates time and space for you to develop emotionally.

 

 

4.    •Recognition & Reward

•Are employees being recognized for their hard work? This covers both the quality and the frequency of recognition that employees receive and give each other.

 

5.    •Feedback on Performance

•Both the quality and the frequency of feedback that employees receive and give each other.

 

6.    •Team Climate

•How well colleagues know each other, how often they communicate as well as the quality of the interactions that they have.

 

7.    •Relationships with Managers

•How well employees know the managers in the company, how often they communicate with their manager and the quality of the interactions that they have.

 

8.    •Home-Life Balance 

•How happy employees are both at work and at home.Do they have unduly elongated hours of work (mostly avoidable)

 

9.    Work Challenge:

Does the work give people a stimulus and fell they are adding to their stock of competency ... and their market value of their services will thereby rise

 

10. •Career Satisfaction

•How satisfied employees are with things like compensation, benefits, and their overall work environment.

 

11. •Company Alignment

How well employees know the values and mission of the company, and if they align themselves with those values. Do your people  think that the work they do has a positive impact on the business?...because meaningful work enables you to make a clear link in your mind between the tasks you perform and the broader goals of the business.

 

 

12. Company's Growth Plans

No one likes to bet on a lame horse! And a company limping because its in a industry recession or the industry is in a sunset phase cannot really attract talent forget engage it

 

with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

www.synergymanager.net

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - is your company working in the right direction?

 

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS A C-SUITE ISSUE

Over the past few years, there's been much written about employee engagement . What it is, what it isn't, is it important and (assuming it is) how do you get it? However the notion of employee engagement is simple. Individual contribution of employees (including managers and leaders) in the workplace is very much influenced by the strength of their respective emotional connection to their employer. The stronger and more positive that connection, the more likely it is that the employee will give their best effort - in fact, go the proverbial "extra mile" - for the sake of their organization. While the vast majority of recent experiences  supports this idea, capitalizing on it requires a very disciplined strategy of measurement and response, as well as a long-term commitment of resources and talent. More significantly, it may also require some organizational soul-searching.

 

At its core, employee engagement is based upon the basic concept of reciprocity. The employer works to create a work environment that is so emotionally satisfying and rewarding for employees, that it literally invites them to become similarly invested (engaged) in its long-term success. Like the any sport like cricket or football, it is conceptually simple to grasp, but not necessarily easy to execute well. One of the challenges is that emotional connections can be difficult to measure and are prone to shift (in some cases quickly) in response to changes in the work environment. More confounding is that these relations are typically forged one employee at a time, yet are influenced by multiple variables (reporting manager relationships, organizational mission and values, workload, peer relationships, etc.). Add to this the cost/resource challenges created by the recession  or business cycles facing the industry employee engagement  as a business improvement initiative  can quickly become a "nice to do" for better times.

WHY EMOTIONAL ENGAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT?

¨     In times of economic doom and gloom, employees lose confidence and become fearful about the organization's future. If there have been staff redundancies within an organisation or targets aren't being met, there can be a downward spiral effect on employee productivity which can further eat into organization performance. However, when employees are emotionally and psychologically engaged with an organisation, it will perform more effectively. This has a flow on effect as employees become even more engaged. People take stronger ownership when they're involved in the organization's improved performance and future development. They also become more enthusiastic and supportive about what's happening in their work environment. They Bring a consistently higher level of commitment, creativity and energy to their jobs

¨     In creating a culture of service, performance, and operational excellence, employee engagement is the key that unlocks the door to customer loyalty. Unfortunately, the leadership skills needed to create an environment that fosters employee engagement, motivation, and trust are often elusive in many organizations.  In an environment of high engagement people can rightfully say… "I feel as though I make a difference. My job allows me latitude to make decisions and implement them in order to get the job done. At the end of the day I can look back and see what I have been able to accomplish with a great feeling of satisfaction."

 

CUSTOMIZE YOUR INITIATIVES TO YOUR UNIQUE CONTEXT

Please note that every organization is different. There is a crying  need to fine tune their engagement initiatives. employees in different demographic groups feel differently about what's important to be emotionally engaged with their employer. Three key differences are … career stage; employee gender and tenure of employment within an organization need special attention and appropriate action.

Career starters are more engaged emotionally through:

·         professional support by their immediate manager

·         organization communication about its direction

·         organization values and behaviors that they support

·         organization commitment to improving operating systems

·         organization commitment to high performance

·         6.     organization focus on team performance

·         Employees with more established careers are more engaged emotionally through:

·         ·        trust and respect for their immediate manager

·         ·        high performance standards for the organization

·         ·        understanding how organization strategies are met

·         ·        fair HR policies and procedures

·         ·        their organization reducing risk and acting responsibly

·         New starters are more engaged emotionally through:

·         ·        the relationship with their immediate manager

·         ·        effective communication in the organization

·         ·        organizational performance

·         ·        a customer service culture within the organization

·         ·        the organization reducing risk

·         Longer serving employees are more engaged emotionally through:

·         ·        the organization's long term strategies and aims

·         ·        HR policies and practices

·         ·        plans and projects for organizational  long term success

This is not an exhaustive list or a one lasting solution ….  EMPLOYEE ENGAGMENT is a moving target. Creativity & innovation ( a buzz word) today is needed also in employee engagement… Remember what Peter Senge mentions  in The Learning Organisation”… what is the best today will be common-place tomorrow…”

 

GIVE ME YOUR FEEDBACK… we could have a compendium of best practices of Indian companies… To know how they  invent & reinvent ways to delight their employees.

 

with best compliments

Dr Wilfred Monteiro

www.synergymanager.net