Creating job levels is a structured process designed to bring clarity to roles, responsibilities, and career progression within an organization. It involves defining a framework that maps different roles and their expectations to specific hierarchical tiers.
The Process of Establishing Job Levels
Establishing a clear job leveling system helps employees understand their current position, what is expected at each stage, and how they can grow within the company. Based on best practices, the process typically involves several key steps:
- Work with a team: Building job levels is a collaborative effort. Involve relevant stakeholders such as HR professionals, department heads, and even employees who will be affected by the structure. This ensures buy-in and practicality.
- Establish levels based on the size of the organization: The complexity and number of job levels should reflect the company's scale. A smaller startup might need fewer, broader levels, while a large corporation might require more granular levels to distinguish roles and responsibilities accurately.
- Define roles, responsibilities, and expectations: This is a core component. For each job title or function, clearly outline the duties performed, the scope of responsibility (e.g., managing others, project ownership), and the expected outcomes. These definitions form the basis for differentiating one level from the next.
- Establish growth pathways: Job levels should connect to career progression. Define how an employee moves from one level to the next. This could involve acquiring new skills, taking on greater responsibilities, achieving specific performance milestones, or gaining more experience. Clearly mapping these pathways motivates employees and guides their development.
- Develop helpful metrics: To objectively assess performance and potential for growth within the job levels, define key metrics. These could be tied to performance goals, skill proficiency, leadership capabilities, or impact on the business. Metrics provide a data-driven way to evaluate alignment with level expectations and readiness for advancement.
- Get feedback: The job leveling framework should not be created in a vacuum. Gather feedback from employees, managers, and other stakeholders on the proposed structure, definitions, and pathways. This iterative process helps refine the levels to ensure they are fair, clear, and effective in practice.
- Carry out performance reviews: Regularly use performance reviews to assess employee performance against the defined roles, responsibilities, expectations, and metrics for their specific job level. Performance reviews are critical for discussing current level alignment, identifying areas for development, and evaluating readiness for advancement along the established growth pathways.
Implementing these steps systematically helps create a robust job leveling system that supports organizational structure, talent management, and employee career development.