I had a very refreshing conversation recently with a client, new into the role, who was talking about looking at their organisational shape as a fundamental part of their organisational redesign. All too often, organisation redesign is done focusing on the now, using existing job grading and identifying what cost can be cut out as opposed to thinking about the future: what type of organisation do we want to be and what skills will we need to fulfil this ambition? The desired shape, i.e. what skills do we need and at what level, is a critical part of this conversation.
Whilst job evaluation is typically used to define the differential between roles so that they can be placed into levels, most frameworks are used in isolation and can often become overly complex, promoting hierarchy and status, providing little understanding of what value roles at each level bring. Many organisations continue to live with undefined levels where employees are unable to articulate what makes one level different to another. Using such broken frameworks, that often have been ‘adapted’ to accommodate certain roles over time, can often muddy the water when you are truly trying to reshape and redesign your structures.
When we developed Evaluate, our job evaluation tool, over 10 years ago, we based it on work level theory, clarifying levels by acknowledging the true value a role brings to the organisation. We question what value and impact a role has – does it add value for the present, the medium-term or the future? These type of questions are key when you are reshaping your organisation – how can you be sure you have the right roles at the right levels when you have if you don’t understand what value a role adds and what it is there to deliver?
This level of insight can support you in defining what shape is appropriate for your future ambitions as an organisation. Visually identifying your shape can really help you clarify if you have the right skills in the right levels. For example, if you are a triangle (with a pyramid hierarchy, many roles at the bottom, fewer at the top) providing operational delivery as many retailers do, or if you are more of a diamond, with knowledge experts in the middle layers of your organisation as seen in many professional services organisations. Having the right job evaluation framework to support this is key, so if your job evaluation framework is no longer fit for purpose and you are on a journey to reshape your organisation give us a call on +44 (0)20 3457 0894 or email me directly at justine.woolf@innecto.com.
