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What is job levelling and why is it important?

Job levelling, also referred to as job evaluation or job classification, is a structured process used by organisations to evaluate and categorise roles based on their responsibilities, required skills, and impact on the organisation. Job levelling can be used to provide clarity around career progression, to ensure equitable pay practices and to align roles with organisational goals. From an employee perspective, it helps to make clear what is expected of them in a particular role, and how their work and responsibilities fit into the broader company structure.

We explore the benefits of job levelling, the different methods that can be used, some of the key levelling frameworks (such as WTW and Radford Aon), and a high-level approach to implementing a job levelling framework.
Why is Job Levelling Important?

Job levelling is important for organisation for many reasons: 

  1. Fairness and transparency of pay – A robust job levelling framework helps ensure that employees are compensated fairly based on their role’s complexity and contribution. This in turn helps with compliance with pay equity and pay transparency legislation.
  2. Clear career paths – With a levelling framework in place, organisations can provide employees with visibility of career paths so they gain an understanding of the steps needed for advancement. Job levels can also help attract candidates to an organisation by offering clear career progression opportunities.
  3. Talent management - HR teams can better manage job descriptions, performance metrics, and training needs by referencing standardised levels. Job levelling also supports succession planning by providing insights into potential successors ready to move up a level.
  4. Organisational consistency - Job levelling creates uniformity in job titles, and helps employees and managers have a clear understanding of job expectations and  responsibilities at each level. It is also easier to understand how different roles relate to each other.
  5. Consistency across HR practices – Job levelling creates a common language to describe roles across an organisation. This can then streamline decision-making processes across recruitment, performance management and reward.
  6. Skills-based approach - Job leveling supports a skills-based approach by providing a structured framework to define roles and responsibilities based on required skills. 

Job Levelling Methods

There are several different job levelling methods used by organisations, which range from very structured processes based on quantitative data to more informal, less structured systems that utilise qualitative data.  Here are some of the most common:

In this method, positions are directly assigned to predetermined grades or salary levels based on a quick comparison with benchmark positions. Job descriptions are compared to established role profiles and then placed in the most appropriate grade or level.

This method is faster and less resource-intensive than other job levelling methods, making it particularly useful for smaller organisations or when evaluating new positions. However, it can be less precise and more subjective than other levelling methods, potentially raising concerns about accuracy and fairness.

Job classification is a more structured approach which involves systematically categorising positions into grades based on predefined criteria. In contrast to job slotting, it uses a more detailed analysis of job characteristics against established grade definitions.

This approach can produce greater consistency across similar roles, a clearer organisational structure, and standardised pay ranges.

The drawbacks are that implementation can be time-consuming, while the potential rigidity in level definition can make it a challenge to accommodate unique roles.  It’s also a system which requires regular reviews to maintain relevance.

Factor comparison is a quantitative job levelling method that evaluates jobs by comparing them against factors or criteria (such as skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions). It involves evaluating jobs on a factor-by-factor basis.

This is a more analytical and detailed job levelling approach which better supports pay equity and pay transparency. It’s also more effective for unique jobs because each role is considered individually.

The potential downsides are that factor comparison can be complex, time-consuming, and requires significant expertise to implement. It can also be expensive to maintain, and HR teams may face resistance due to its complexity.

The point factor method is essentially an evolution of the factor comparison method. It builds on factor comparison by assigning numerical points to factors. Each factor (such as skill, effort, responsibility) is broken down into levels, with specific points allocated to each level.

A questionnaire is developed so that points can be assigned for each factor for a job role. The points are then added up to produce a score. This score is then matched against the levelling structure to determine the job level. Each level has a predefined total score range so the jobs are automatically sorted into levels via their total score.   

This method allows organisations to adjust the relationship between points and pay more easily. The structured nature of this method provides greater objectivity and consistency in evaluations. It still requires significant time investment in developing and maintaining the point system and factor definitions.

This approach focuses on external data, using job descriptions to compare jobs to identical or similar positions in the external marketplace. Pay data is collected from published sources and the value of the position within the competitive market is determined.

This approach helps organisations to consider their positioning on compensation and is used by many companies to assess internal pay equity and the competitive value of individual positions.

Key Job Levelling Frameworks

Many job levelling frameworks have been developed – based on some of the methods outlined above - to help organisations with job levelling. Here are some of the key ones: 

Radford (Aon) Job Levelling Framework 

The Radford job levelling framework is a globally recognised system which categorises jobs into six levels: Entry (P1), Developing (P2), Career (P3), Advanced (P4), Expert (P5), and Principal (P6). These levels are applied across career tracks such as Professional, Support, Technical, and Managerial roles, allowing organisations to differentiate between individual contributors and managerial positions while maintaining internal equity and market alignment. 

Radford evaluates and levels jobs using key factors including: 

  1. Knowledge and Skills: The depth and breadth of practical and theoretical expertise required for the role 
  2. Problem-Solving: The ability to identify, analyse, and resolve challenges, reflecting the complexity of issues handled by the role 
  3. Impact: The role’s influence on business outcomes, including its effect on projects, strategies, and organisational objectives 
  4. Level of People Management: The extent of responsibility for managing teams or individuals 
  5. Financial Responsibility: Accountability for budgets, revenue generation, or cost control 

 the level of people management, financial responsibility, knowledge and skills required, and the role's impact on business outcomes. 

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) Global Grading System (GGS) 

The Willis Towers Watson (WTW) Global Grading System (GGS) is a robust job levelling framework operates on a scale of up to 25 grades. The framework uses a two-step process: banding and grading. Banding places jobs within a hierarchical structure based on their contribution to the organisation, while grading evaluates roles against seven key factors: 

  • Job Functional Knowledge: The expertise required for the role 
  • Business Expertise: Understanding of the organisation’s operations and industry 
  • Leadership: The degree of influence and decision-making authority 
  • Problem Solving: Complexity of issues the role addresses 
  • Nature of Impact: The scope and significance of the role’s contributions 
  • Area of Impact: The breadth of influence across the organisation or externally 
  • Interpersonal Skills: Communication and collaboration requirements 

Korn Ferry Hay Method 

The Korn Ferry Hay Method of job levelling is another widely used framework for evaluating and comparing job roles across organisations. It employs a point-factor methodology to assess jobs based on three core elements: 

  • Know-How: Measures the technical, planning, organising, and interpersonal skills required to perform the job competently 
  • Problem-Solving: Evaluates the complexity of challenges the role must address and the level of innovation or analysis required 
  • Accountability: Assesses the degree of responsibility for outcomes, including decision-making and influence on organisational results 

Each of these elements is scored using detailed charts, and the total score determines the job's level within an organisation's grading or levelling structure. The method also incorporates checks to ensure logical relationships between roles in hierarchical structures, such as comparing knowledge depth and management breadth between a role and its supervisor.

Further reading

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