Tessa Grant· Head of Reward, Beacon Retail Group
Asked in New Member Welcome ·
I am the HR manager at a health charity in Nairobi with about 400 staff across five counties. Our board has asked for a job evaluation exercise because grades have drifted: we have programme officers on three different grades doing what looks like the same work.
I have never run one. We have a small budget for outside help but not for a full consultancy project, and I would rather understand the method myself than be handed a result.
Do I start with job descriptions, with choosing a scheme, or with the people who will sit on the panel? And how long should 110 distinct roles take?
3 helpful · 2 insightful · 2 agree · 4 replies · 77 views · 7 following
Accepted answer· by Hana Yilmaz
The order that has worked for me: agree with the board what the exercise is for and what it will not do, then pick a simple point-factor scheme with five or six factors, then choose 15 to 20 benchmark roles that cover every level and function. Evaluate those first with a panel of five or six people, including two from programmes. Only then slot the rest. A one-page questionnaire per benchmark role is enough to begin with. Allow three to four months. The Job Architecture & Careers space has people who have done this in NGOs.
Read in the conversation ↓
Director, Total Rewards, Ravenna Chemicals
Welcome. Start with the list of roles before anything else. 110 distinct roles in a 400-person organisation is a lot, and I would expect a third of those to be the same job with a different title. Getting to a clean list of 60 to 70 will shorten everything that follows.
Hana YilmazCBS
Reward Partner, Tidewater Utilities
Accepted answer
The order that has worked for me: agree with the board what the exercise is for and what it will not do, then pick a simple point-factor scheme with five or six factors, then choose 15 to 20 benchmark roles that cover every level and function. Evaluate those first with a panel of five or six people, including two from programmes. Only then slot the rest.
A one-page questionnaire per benchmark role is enough to begin with. Allow three to four months. The Job Architecture & Careers space has people who have done this in NGOs.
Mateo NakamuraCRP, GRS
Senior Compensation Analyst, Lumen Biosciences
One caution from a similar exercise in Uganda: say early, and in writing, that nobody's pay will be cut as a result. Otherwise the questionnaires come back inflated and the panel spends its time arguing with job holders.
Ximena WalshGRS, CBS
Director of Benefits, Halcyon Financial Group
Very helpful, thank you. The board has agreed a short purpose statement and the no-reduction commitment. I merged titles last week and we are down to 68 roles, which already feels more manageable.
