According to the HR Dictionary, in simple terms, job evaluation is the method of relative valuation of jobs to determine the appropriate value or worth of a job and preparing an appropriate pay structure in the organization. It is a concept in HR that encompasses a wide variety of activities in order to achieve the ultimate goal of HR in an organization which is to produce an organization that achieves competitive advantage in front of competitors in a certain industry. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) job evaluation may be defined as an attempt to determine and compare the demands which the normal performance of a particular job makes on normal workers without taking account of the individual abilities or performance of the workers concerned.

A good Job Evaluation system should be flexible and contribute to organisational effectiveness, competitive advantage and shareholder value.

According to our recent survey over 85% of organisations in the SME category in Zimbabwe have some form of job evaluation system or another in place. In view of this finding one is tempted to ask what it is that makes organisations see some value in carrying out a job evaluation exercise? Some of the key benefits associated with job evaluation can be summarised as follows:

Firstly, the concept of job evaluation is perceived as crucial in helping employees to take responsibility for their work in their respective work situations. Because job evaluation helps with the clarification of employees’ roles and responsibilities experience shows that employees are likely to demonstrate ownership of their job requirements and be motivated to find solutions to work problems

Furthermore, job evaluation in a workplace creates an environment which enables the organisation to reward hard workers or rather which is talent and hard work based. This has a positive impact as hard working employees know that their outstanding performance leads to rewards and recognition.

Thirdly, by engaging in job evaluation, an organization has an edge in that it will have clarified and specified roles and duties of an employee so that when they get to work they know where exactly to focus on instead of wasting time working on unclear roles and duties which can be costly on the part of the organization. This clarification of roles and duties is also in line with the psychological principle of the magical number seven which states that for effectiveness to be achieved in any tasks, they should be clear so that an individual can focus on the desired key result areas.

Fourthly, job evaluation aids in providing a basis for the establishment or abolition of certain posts in an organization as well as a basis for standardizing remuneration systems. This implies that after a successful process of job evaluation in an organization, the results can better determine the worth of a job and the need as well as be in a position to determine what amount of work is done by employees and at what level in the organization. The results of the Job Evaluation enable the organisation to implement a standardised remuneration structure. It has also been established that Job Evaluation help to develop a comprehensive understanding of the organisation structure with regard to levels of authority and accountability, lines of communication spans of control and key areas of responsibility in an organisation.

Finally, it also goes without saying that job evaluation provides critical input in the following HR processes; Recruitment and Selection, Training needs analysis, Performance Management, Career Development and Manpower Planning. All high performing organisations throughout the world are known to have in place robust Job Evaluation systems which help to determine the relative importance of jobs in a systematic, consistent and objective way.

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778 or visit our website at www.proservehr.com