Job Evaluation in The Bin
I will never forget the day I got the call. I had been “selected” to serve for one year on the Job Evaluation Panel. In the opinion of the HR Director, one of the most important, prestigious, exciting experiences of corporate life – although he didn’t actually use the last of those three descriptions.
The “panel” was shrouded in such secrecy that it made MI5 look like Max Clifford. All of the documents, “evidence” and tomes that arrived before the meeting were marked – strictly confidential, for addressees only. The biggest batch, so thick you could use it to access your loft at home, came with a supporting note saying – “not to be sent by e-mail”!!!
After one reading I could see why no-one outside the panel should be allowed to read the documentation – it was so excruciatingly, mind-numbingly boring that it would have instantly driven them to suicide. However, for me it had one great side effect. Having been instructed to “file at home,” I did so, next to my bed. Forget relaxing music or get-to-sleep tapes, this stuff worked every time. I have never slept so well.
The day of my first panel meeting arrived, I left for the off-site meeting armed with my two trees worth of paper, and entered probably the single worst day of my working life, ever. It started with my being welcomed to the panel, and that it may take awhile for me to “know the ropes.” I wish there had been a few ropes around, I could have made it out through the roof.
Eight hours of total, utter, absolute boredom, garbage and irrelevance, only punctuated by my calculations that each meeting was costing the company over £5,000 in lost time and salaries.
I resigned from the panel the very next day.
Aside from the procedural issues, which many organisations still adopt, and which are usually farcical in the extreme, there is a serious underlying issue in job evaluation, job descriptions and this ongoing focus on roles and not people.
A few years ago, these systems were introduced for various reasons:
• Jobs and titles could be clearly defined, and broken down
• Organisations were easily broken down into clear departments
• Structure and stability were the order of the day
Naked Leaders know that job descriptions, and related activities, have no role, requirement or relevance:
• Roles are changing every day – flexibility is king
• Organisational structures are now unclear
• People are more important than jobs
• Speed is crucial
And so, what should organisations do to save time, trees, hassle, money and focus on the important?
1. Replace job descriptions with people descriptions – in effect structured CVs
2. Ensure people are encouraged to learn new skills and to work across any area of an organisation
3. Reward people through 360 degree appraisals and self-determined salary increases, in which teams decide how much they should receive individually.
What I am proposing may sound extreme – it is not. What is extreme is the way so many age-old, tired and pointless procedures and rules have survived for so long. One thing is for sure, the longer they survive, the shorter their companies will.
A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don't know where I am".
The woman below replied "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.
You must be an engineer" said the balloonist.
"I am" replied the woman, "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I still have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."
The woman below responded "You must be in management"
"I am," replied the balloonist "but how did you know?"
"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are, due to a large quantity of hot air.
You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."
