Independent Job Evaluation, CHILDREN 1ST

CHILDREN 1ST is the working name for the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC) and is a registered charity.
1968: new legislation made local authority social work departments responsible for investigating child abuse. The charity changed its name to reflect in 1995.
With an income of about £10m, and operating over 40 services in 23 local authority areas, CHILDREN 1ST employs some 300 staff and has a team of over 1000 volunteers, spread across the whole of Scotland.

What did our client need?

Our client’s pay and grading structure, loosely tied to local authority pay scales, was not suited to the next stage of its development.
They required a new grading scheme, based on Job Evaluation, that was:
Effective and efficient; transparent; equal value compliant; fair, equitable and robust; developed through staff consultation; able to cover all roles.
Our client also wanted a linked, cost effective and accurate benchmarking system.

How did we help?

We:

Recommended the best Job Evaluation scheme option and argued our choice. The Steering Group accepted.
Drafted new forms and guidance notes for employees and line managers to record comprehensive role analysis information.
Trained Job Evaluation panel members in the new method. They evaluated all roles. The findings were reviewed by line managers and the Chief Executive.
Agreed benchmark jobs and external comparator organisations. Our client used existing contacts with other organisations in the same sector.
Collected external data for a sample of about 20 jobs. We used this to recommend salary ranges, and the optimum method of market matching.
Presented options with cost implications to the Steering Group. The Board agreed the final recommendation; our client communicated the outcome to employees.

(click on the picture for a larger view)

What challenges did we face?

Ensuring consistent evaluations among panel members.
Validating evaluation results against the organisation structure; resolving apparent anomalies.
Understanding client view of performance related pay.
Setting a fair level of comparison with the external market, retaining an incremental pay progression system.
Developing a simple system, allowing efficient, clear communication.

What benefits did our client gain?

Our client now has an equal pay compliant scheme that is well accepted in the public sector, where many of its job comparators are found.
This enables a simple link with market rates for the future; minimum time, effort at future salary reviews.
Our client’s fully trained evaluation team and systems can cope with future changes and new roles, as the organisation develops.
Employees have a clearer understanding of how grades and salary are assessed, related to internal relativities and the external market.

Contact

Ways HR