Procedure for new role evaluations

Forms

Guidance

1. Introduction - Evaluation of new role

Divisional Directors, Faculty or School Managers, and other relevant managers will identify the need for a new role, or may need to review an existing vacant role. Managers are advised to contact their HR Business Partnering team for guidance on the process and timescales at the earliest opportunity as it can take longer than anticipated to write a job description. Before a role can be advertised or filled, the job description must be developed and submitted for evaluation.

2. Deciding whether job evaluation is required and approval

Whenever seeking to recruit to a new role or vacancy, the School/Division should consider the following questions to determine whether job evaluation is required:

The School/Division are advised to contact HR to seek guidance on whether job evaluation is required, and (if applicable) whether a suitable generic job description already exists. It is also important to consider all relevant approvals that are necessary for a new role and this should also be discussed with HR.

Where the role has either never been evaluated or has changed significantly since any earlier reward evaluation, and it cannot be batched with an existing evaluated role, a new role form/job description template (above) should be completed. For a role with a current role-holder please refer to the re-evaluation procedure.

3. Writing the Job Description

The new role form/job description template (above) and job description guidance (above) need to be used when writing the job description. Delays may arise where a role has been written without reference to the job description guidance.

When writing the job description, managers are required to consider the following:

For Professional and Administrative family roles it is essential that the new role form/job description template is completed in conjunction with the Professional and Administrative Grade Descriptors. The Grade Descriptors have been developed to assist managers in identifying the level/grade of role required, providing typical activities under the main job description template headings for grades D to M. Further information on how to use the Grade Descriptors in conjunction with the new role form/job description template can be found within the Job Description Guidance.

4. Submitting the job description to HR

The completed job description and completed cover sheet should be emailed to the relevant HR Business Partnering team.

When received, the HR Business Partnering team will ensure that the job description template has been completed appropriately, reviewing with the School/Division as necessary, and will consider whether the anticipated grade can be met, though this is not something that can be assured.

5. Submitting the job description to the Reward Team

The HR Business Partnering team will send the final job description to the Reward Team, who will send the job description to the next available UBJES panel.

The deadline for the HR Business Partnering team to submit a job description is seven working days before the panel is due to take place. If volumes are high the job description will go to the next available panel.

Where it has been deemed necessary by the HR Business Partnering team, a Role Expert from the School/Division may be invited to the panel, to help answer any contextual questions. The input of a Role Expert is particularly helpful where the work is of a specialist nature.

6. Panel meeting

The panel will meet and agree an outcome. Anomalies within the job description will result in it being sent back to the School/Division for more information.

7. Notification

On average, it takes 13 working days to reach an evaluation outcome, from when HR send the role to the Reward team in HR, to when the outcome for the role is notified.

A grade outcome notification will be sent to the recruiting manager and HR Business Partnering team.

The School/Division may then proceed to recruit, subject to having secured all relevant approvals.

If the grade for the role is different to the manager's anticipated grade, it is possible to revise the job description and re-submit to a further job evaluation panel. In order to assist with deciding whether it is appropriate to revise and re-submit the job description, Human Resources can provide additional information on the grade outcome.