Job evaluations and role profiles

Job evaluation provides an analytical, systematic and consistent approach to defining relative job worth across the council. The job evaluation:

• evaluates the job and not the person doing it
• considers the demands of the job, not the volume of work or the number of people required to do it
• assumes that the job is being performed to an acceptable standard
• evaluates the job as it is now, not how it was done previously or may be done in the future
• is not based on the last evaluated grade, current pay or status

Jobs can only be evaluated if they are adequately described and understood. Jobs which have similar job titles may not necessarily result in the same assessment. The evaluation includes consideration of the organisation structure and operating context of the job.

Why job evaluations are important

A job evaluation:

• provides a systematic measure and model which compares characteristics that exist in all levels of work: know-how, problem-solving and accountability
• enables analytical comparison of dissimilar jobs and satisfies equality laws
• provides a job ranking so we can obtain an overall rating of job differences
• is flexible and allows for changes in working practices and environments
• recognises and assesses both job content and the wider context
• enables direct comparison to pay rates in other organisations via Korn Ferry levels
• is reputable. The method we use has been tried and tested and is the most widely used job evaluation method in the world
• is carried out by by trained evaluators
• determines a salary range for how much a job should pay, depending on its place in the organisation hierarchy

Korn Ferry job evaluation scheme

This scheme is designed by the Korn Ferry Group, who provide consultancy services to both public and private sectors across the world. Their job evaluation system is well known and used by a wide range of different organisations.

The scheme evaluates each job using three elements. Each element is scored on a matrix guide chart to provide a final point score. The three elements are:

• know-how - the knowledge, skills and experience required for fully acceptable job performance
• problem-solving -the level of analytical, evaluative and innovative thought required in the job, expressed as a percentage related to the know-how score
• accountability - the discretion given to the job holder either to direct resources of all kinds or to influence or determine the course of events, their answerability for the consequences of decisions and actions and any financial responsibility or impact

Role profiles and what to include

The role profile will reflect what the service requires the role to deliver. It will not be written to accommodate the individual skills an employee has or be a detailed list of everything that role will carry out.

What will be included in the role profile?

• job purpose - a concise summary of key duties, main challenges and responsibilities, and will include the key skills required to apply for the role
• functional accountabilities - the outcomes the role delivers and which goals they contribute to
• skills, knowledge and experience - the qualifications, amount, level and type of skills, knowledge and experience that are essential to perform the role, which are used help applicants and managers make the right recruitment choice
• dimensions - responsibility and impact on aspects such as budgets and staffing funding, for example, ‘range – this role will be solely responsible for a resource budget of around £5 million to £10 million, and a capital budget of £1 million to £5 million’

The focus for profiles is on end results and not activities. It should be what someone is accountable for, not how they do it. For example, accountable for safeguarding to ensure high levels of care.

Creating a new role profile and evaluation

​A job evaluation is a systematic way of determining the value and worth of a role to make sure roles are measured logically and fairly.

Follow the steps for completing an evaluation if you're making considerable changes to an existing job profile or if you wish to create a new job profile for recruitment.

1. Speak with your Finance Business Partner

Make sure you have made your Finance Business Partner aware that you are starting this process. The budget needs to be in place before you begin.

2. Speak with your People Business Partner

Discuss the new role with your People Business Partner. 

At this stage, it would be useful to have a proposed structure chart which shows where this new role will sit.

3. Request a job evaluation

Complete the form to complete a job evaluation (DOCX, 70KB). This form gives context to the job profile and helps with evaluation.

4. Complete the job profile template

There are two job profile templates. 

The job profile template for grades A-D (DOCX, 789KB) contains the leadership behaviours to be used for Executive Director, Director, Head of Service and their direct reports. 

The job profile template for grades E-J (DOCX, 789KB) contains organisational behaviours.

Help completing a job profile template

The job profile advice template (DOCX, 792KB) provides guidance on the format and content you need to include in each section of the template. 

Use the guide to writing job profile accountabilities. The guide explains how to write accountabilities as statements that describe different elements of the job, rather than as a long list of tasks or activities.

5. Send the documents for evaluation 

Email job.evaluation@essex.gov.uk with a copy of the:

• completed job profile template
• completed form to request a job evaluation
• up-to-date structure chart

You will be appointed a consultant who will initially review the information and provide feedback or assistance. 

When the profile is ready, an evaluation will be completed. 

6. Start the recruitment process

Once you have created or found the correct role profile for your needs, you can start the recruitment process.