IPE Job Evaluation:
A Guide for Benchmark Jobholders & Their Managers
During October 2014 presentations were made to professional services staff on the work undertaken to date by
the General Staff Remuneration Working Group and the intention to develop a proposal for a new general staff
pay structure, which will be informed by data from internal job relativities and external pay comparisons.
The purpose of this communication is to enlist your assistance with this project, as set out below.
Background
In 2007, Massey agreed with the combined unions to identify and commence the implementation of a new job
evaluation methodology. Until now, the University has used a Canadian scheme, the Aiken Plan, as the basis
for determining the relative size and therefore grade of general staff positions. That Plan has served its
purpose well, but as usage of that system has declined in New Zealand, maintaining a basis for comparison of
the remuneration levels in the wider community has become more difficult.
In 2009 an alternative job evaluation system – “International Position Evaluation (IPE)” – was chosen. The
implementation of this new system initially involved a representative sample of 73 general staff positions being
evaluated under IPE with a view to those positions being used as reference points for other positions to be
placed around them. However, that number of evaluated positions is insufficient to provide the quantity of data
that the General Staff Remuneration Working Group ideally needs to progress a proposal for a new pay scale.
In 2013 a further 129 positions were evaluated, once again those positions were used as a reference point for
other positions to be placed around them. It was intended that those positions would be sufficient to provide the
data needed to the General Staff Remuneration Working Group to progress a proposal for a new pay scale.
However, to ensure that we have reliable data and all positions are represented in the process further positions
now need to be evaluated.
To the Jobholder:
Your position has been chosen as one of the benchmark roles. A benchmark position is a position that tends to
remain consistent across the University, allowing it to become a basis for evaluation and comparison. Several
characteristics define a benchmark position. The first is that it is a position with a clear definition that is also
generally consistent between work areas across the University. Even if the job title varies slightly, it has enough
common elements with other types of positions that it is a fair basis for comparison. In addition, the job is a
common position, which makes data on it readily available because many people across the University and
industries occupy similar positions.
Your position was chosen, either because it is unique within the University; or, if you share a common position
with others, you were randomly selected as being representative of that group. Positions have been identified
to ensure appropriate representation by campus, gender, College/division, etc.
We would welcome your participation in this important phase of the project which involves the provision of
information about your position so that a panel representing Massey staff have good information and can
complete a job evaluation of the position you currently hold. The process is not about your performance and is
entirely focussed on assessing the position that you occupy and identifying its value relative to other general
staff positions at Massey.
If there are others in your work unit who occupy identical positions to your own then you are welcome to include
those people in the completion of the questionnaire and, if that is the case, to insert all relevant employee
numbers in Part A.
We have enlisted a number of staff to be data gatherers. Their role it is to assist in the collation of information
about your position, we hope to have all completed questionnaires returned by 15 December 2014. One of the
data gatherers will shortly approach you to ask you for information about your job.
You can provide information to the job evaluation committee as follows:
1.
You will be sent an electronic job analysis questionnaire, Please complete this as soon as possible.
The data gatherer will be able to provide you with any assistance you require in completing the
questionnaire. If you prefer, the data gatherer can provide you with a hard copy of the questionnaire.
Once you have completed the questionnaire, , please provide it to your manager for comment, with a
copy to your data gatherer. Your manager will share their comments with you before they send it on to
your data gatherer. It is important that we get an agreed understanding about the job from both you
and your manager. In the unlikely situation where you and your manager disagree about the nature of
your job, you should bring this to the attention of the data gatherer.
3.
The data gatherer will review the completed questionnaire and check if there are any aspects that may
need to be clarified.
4.
As well as completing a questionnaire, the data gatherer may interview you about your job to gain the
information needed. This may be in circumstances where agreement cannot be met, or if further
clarification about the process is needed. The data gatherer may also interview your manager and any
notes from interviews that are to be used in the evaluation will be shared with you before they are sent
on for consideration by the job evaluation committee.
5.
In addition to the completed job questionnaire, you will need to supply a updated version of your Job
Description, and a organisation chart showing how your job sits within the work unit to which you
belong.
Please note that the purpose of this evaluation is to facilitate analysis of job and pay relativities for use by the
General Staff Remuneration Working Group in developing a proposal for a new pay structure. Therefore, the
outcomes of this preliminary evaluation will not have an immediate impact on you or your position but when a a
new pay scale is developed around the IPE evaluation system, you will be advised of the outcome of the
evaluation and have an opportunity to comment.
Many thanks. We appreciate your contribution to this important project!
To the Manager:
Jobholders completing job evaluation questionnaires will forward them, either in hard copy or electronically, to
you for review and comment. A list of your staff who have been approached to complete a questionnaire is
enclosed. It is recommended that in situations where the job holder occupies a job identical to others (i.e. a
team of four administrators undertaking substantially the same work) that all job holders are involved in the
evaluation process.
It is important to receive your perspective on your staff member’s summary of their position. This is to ensure
that every dimension of the position is fully and accurately reported, rather than the selective ‘front of mind’
activities. You should remember that it is the position as it is required to be performed that is being evaluated,
not the incumbent’s performance in the job. There may also be broader issues in the way a particular position
relates to the wider team and its responsibilities that you may have a better understanding of.
For this reason we ask you, as the jobholder’s manager, to review the questionnaire, job description and
organisation chart and add your comments. Please make sure you share your comments with your staff
member before the questionnaire is sent on to your data gatherer. We expect to get an agreed understanding
about the job from both you and your staff member.
Some jobholders may be interviewed as well as filling out a questionnaire. In those circumstances, the data
gatherer will ask to see you as well. The data gatherer will make notes of both interviews, and will share them
with both you and the staff member.
Many thanks. We appreciate your contribution also to this important project!
Peter Nilsen
HR/Rem Advisor
People & Organisational Development
26 November 2014