Ch. 5 Job-Based Structures and Job Evaluation - MGT 461

T/F: A job structure based upon job value orders jobs on the basis of the relative contribution of the skills, duties, and responsibilities of each job to the organization's goals.

True

_____ are more likely to conduct job evaluations of senior management jobs. * Compensation analysts * compensation managers * peers * junior incumbents

* compensation managers

Identify the factors that combine to form the basis for job evaluation.

- Job content - skills required - value to the organization - organizational culture - the external market

Identify the functions that job evaluation must perform.

- it should support organization strategy and work flow - It should be fair to employees - it should encourage behavior that supports organization objectives

Which of the following are true of the perspective of researchers who make pay decisions based on job evaluation? - they prefer to judge job evaluation according to technical standards - they stress the statistical importance of job evaluation - they believe that job evaluation allows the exchange of views - they view job evaluation as a method that helps pay differences among jobs get accepted

- they believe that job evaluation allows the exchange of views - they view job evaluation as a method that helps pay differences among jobs get accepted

Research shows that _____ factor(s) account(s) for 98 to 99 percent of the variance in job evaluation plans.

3

Evaluators reach a consensus on which jobs are the most and least valuable, followed by the next most and least valued, and so on, until all the jobs have been arranged in order.

Alternation ranking

A wide range of work can be grouped together in a single system

Classification

In the _____ method of job evaluation, a series of well-described classes covers the range of jobs in an organization, and a job description is compared to the class descriptions to decide which class is the best fit for that job.

Classification

Identify a possible drawback of wage-setting practices today

Complex procedures and creeping bureaucracy can cause users to lose sight of the objectives of job evaluation

Which of the following is the underlying assumption in the assessment of job content? Content has intrinsic value outside external market. Content has no artistic value. Stakeholders are the best judge for assessing the quality of content. Content can be determined with or without external market.

Content has intrinsic value outside external market

The business strategy of Orient Inc., a clothing company, involves providing customers with clothes at prices lower than those of their competitors. Which of the following would be an important compensable factor for this company?

Cost containment, customer relations

T/F: Tradition does not influence whether or not the compensable factors used to slot jobs into the pay structure are accepted.

False

T/F: Job content is the sole basis for pay.

False, it is also based on job value.

The final result of the job analysis-job description-job evaluation process is a _____.

Hierarchy of work

Which of the following statements is true of a job evaluation plan?

It is developed using benchmark jobs and then applied to nonbenchmark jobs

In the context of internal alignment, which of the following is the correct sequence?

Job description > Job evaluation > Job structure

_____ is the process of systematically determining the relative worth of jobs for the purpose of creating an organization's job structure.

Job evaluation

The sum total of all the facts, information, and skill needed to do the job competently, irrespective of the way in which they are acquired.

Know-how

Evaluators use a matrix to compare every possible coupling of jobs.

Paired comparison

The basis for comparisons is determined by compensable factors

Point

Which method of job evaluation has compensable factors whose degrees are numerically scaled and whose relative importance is weighed in the determination of job structure?

Point method

It is quick, simple, and easy to explain

Ranking

Why is a manual prepared after a job evaluation point plan is designed?

To permit users who were not involved in the plan's development to apply the plan as its developers intended

The last step in the point method of job evaluation is the _____.

application of the plan to nonbenchmark jobs

In the point method, the second step in designing a plan is to:

determine the compensable factors

In the point method of job evaluation, different factors weights indicated differences in _____.

importance attached to each factor by the employer

According to a WorldatWork survey, the primary method of job evaluation is _____.

market pricing

Even organizations that rely primarily on market pricing probably also use job evaluation because _____.

matching all jobs to market survey jobs directly is usually impossible

In the point method of job evaluation, defining, scaling, and weighing the compensable factors is based on _____.

the content of benchmark jobs

Identify a true statement about involvement in the design of an organization's internal structure. *Only managerial employees participate in the process * Non-managerial employees are allowed to be a part of the process only in an advisory capacity * Union representatives form the most integral part of the design team * Committees, task forces or teams that include representatives from key operating functions are often involved

* Committees, task forces or teams that include representatives from key operating functions are often involved

Identify some of the important decisions involved in job evaluation. - deciding on single versus multiple plans - collecting relevant information to describe jobs - determining work relationships within the organization - obtaining involvement of relevant stakeholders - establishing the purpose(s) - choosing among alternative methods - evaluating the usefulness of the results

- establishing the purpose(s) - deciding on single versus multiple plans - choosing among alternative methods - obtaining involvement of relevant stakeholders - evaluating the usefulness of the results

Why is it important to maintain some documentation to support the choice of compensable factors while developing a point plan?

- help gain acceptance by employees and managers - is easier to understand - withstand a variety of challenges to the pay structure

Identify the aspects of job content whose values depend on their relationship to market wages

- skills required - customer contacts

Identify the generic groups into which the compensable factors used in existing, standardized point plans that usually fall. - working conditions - work ethics - responsibility - contacts - skills required - effort required

- skills required - effort required - working conditions - responsibility

The statistical approach used to determine the weight for each factor and the factor scales that will reproduce, as closely as possible, the chosen criterion pay structure is often labeled ____ ____ to differentiate it from the committee a priori judgement approach.

Policy capturing

The measure of the inherent characteristics and complexity of the issues and challenges faced by the job.

Problem solving

Identify a true statement about the factor scales constructed in the point method of job evaluation * Most factor scales follow nominal scaling * Most factor scales follow interval scaling * Most factor scales define plus and minus degrees around a scale number * Most factor scales consist of four to eight degrees

* Most factor scales consist of four to eight degrees

While designing a point plan, arrange the steps that are conducted after job analysis in the order in which they occur.

- Determination of compensable factors - Scaling of compensable factors - Weighing of compensable factors according to importance - Selection of criterion pay structure - Communication of the plan and training users - Applying the plan to nonbenchmark jobs and developing online software support

Identify the characteristics of a benchmark job.

- Its content are well known and relatively stable over time - The job is common across a number of different employers. It is not unique to a particular employer - A reasonable proportion of the work force is employed in this job

Identify the true statements about the appeals or review procedures for handling cases of incorrect job evaluation or employee grievances about internal structure

- They usually require approval by higher levels of management of completion - They may be similar to formal grievance procedures

The measured effect that the job is designed to have on the organization's success

Accountability

Which of the following is NOT true of the usage of multiple plans versus single job evaluation plans? *employers rarely evaluate all jobs in the organization at one time * many employers design different evaluations plans for different types of work * typically, a related group of jobs is used for evaluation * a single universal plan is acceptable to employees if the work covered is highly diverse

* a single universal plan is acceptable to employees if the work covered is highly diverse

What is the challenge called small numbers that is faced while deciding the number of compensable factors to be used while designing a point plan?

The tendency to use a factor present in even a single job in the benchmark sample for the entire work domain

Characteristics in the work that the organization values, and those that help it pursue its strategy and achieve its objectives are called _____ _____.

Compensable Factors

A drawback of the ranking method of job evaluation is that evaluators using this method must _____.

know about every single job under study