Job Evaluation Methodology

What is job evaluation?

Job evaluation is a practical technique designed to compare one job with another. This allows the University to rank each job for complexity, importance and purpose. It works across all departments and faculties at the University. Job evaluation is comparative, judgmental, logical, and job centric.  The process does not measure performance of the job holder.

Fundamentally, job evaluation is a way to:

• Establish the appropriate rank of jobs (or job families) and the relative distance between them.
• Provide a systematic measurement of job size relative to other posts.

We can use the outcome of job evaluation to:

• Support equitable and market‑aligned pay decisions.
• Increase individual role accountability and support career progression.
• Link role expectations and performance to the University’s strategic objectives.

We can use the grade outcome of job evaluation to decide the broad parameters of pay. However, the specific level of salary paid for an individual role is decided by the local line management team.

The Korn Ferry method

The Korn Ferry system is a well-established Job Evaluation method. It’s used across the Higher Education Sector, including other Russell Group Universities. The Korn Ferry method measures the size of a job in 'job units' - i.e. the score for the job. The score is matched against the University’s pay spine to determine the job grade.

The Korn Ferry method scores each job using three factors, common to all jobs:

• KNOW-HOW – the knowledge, skill and experience required to undertake the role. (Depth and Breadth of Know-How / Planning and Organising / Communication and Influencing.)
• PROBLEM SOLVING - The level of complexity of thinking required of the role holder. (Thinking environment and thinking challenge.)
• ACCOUNTABILITY - The impact of the job and the limitations placed upon the role holder to take independent action. (Freedom to Act and Area and Nature of impact.)

Each of these three categories is scored and then added together to produce a total job score. This score is mapped to the appropriate range on the University’s pay spine.

When the job has been scored, this gives a sense of how big the job is. It also tells us what sort of job it is. For example, is the job mainly problem solving or is it more about accountability- or a balance of both. And if it seems to be out of balance, this will be reviewed in the job evaluation.

Quality controls

Korn Ferry provides thorough training and regularly audits our processes and practices. They are the intellectual owners of the method.

The Korn Ferry job method has in-built checks aimed at maintaining integrity and consistency. In addition, the Job Evaluation Panel applies validity checks to all jobs submitted to the panel.

If the panel cannot agree, then they will refer the role back to the line manager and HR  Business Partner. The panel will provide them with feedback and suggest job role amendments.

Summary

• All jobs are graded by a single evaluation process. This results in a fair and transparent process for employees.
• Panel members are taken from across the University, including Trade Unions.
• All panel members have Korn Ferry training and practical experience of the scheme. This means they can make robust and consistent judgements about grading.
• Job evaluation focuses on ranking jobs in terms of their size.

Disclaimer

While every effort is taken to ensure that the advice provided here and by HR colleagues (including the Job Evaluation Panel) is accurate and up to date, it does not guarantee that you could successfully defend an equal pay claim. Only the courts or tribunals can give authoritative interpretations of the law.

If you have a query, please email us at reward-team@bristol.ac.uk