THE Public Service Commission (PSC) is conducting a service-wide job evaluation to ascertain the worth of the jobs in the Public Service.
The exercise began in September this year and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
The move is in response to observations of misalignment of jobs — the grades, the descriptions, the mandates and salaries, among other things.
Evaluating jobs in order to properly profile, reward and weight them is in line with the commission’s strategic goals, as it pursues the National Development Strategy 1 and Vision 2030 imperatives.
In its 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, the commission made a commitment to adopt Public Service reform best practices to address challenges and gaps in the civil service.
Job evaluation was identified as one of the tools which the commission could use in the transformation programme. The last service-wide job evaluation was carried out in 2003. A significant amount of technological, socio-political and economic changes has taken place since then.
The changes in the operating environment have given rise to a number of challenges in the workplace, which include the following:
Redundant jobs
Lack of career progression in some jobs
Duplication of duties and responsibilities among different jobs
Mismatch in the grade, qualifications and salary
The job evaluation is aimed at addressing the above challenges. It also provides a basis for establishing the correct level and value of each job or position within the Public Service.
Below are some of the benefits of conducting a job evaluation:
It helps in removing disparities in salary structures, leading to proper placement of workers in their jobs
It provides greater uniformity in salary grades, thus simplifying salary administration
Helps in reviewing job rates in light of technological changes with which job contents change
Results in new and updated job descriptions and grades
The data collected for job evaluation also helps in the recruitment of the right personnel for the
job
Since job evaluation is aimed at rewarding employees’ suitability, it will help to build employee morale and bring job satisfaction
Job evaluation involves three successive phases: job profiling/analysis, job writing and job grading.
How are the jobs being analysed?
Job analysis is also known as role analysis. It is a process that identifies the content of a job in terms of the activities that make up a job.
It includes attributes or requirements necessary to perform those activities.
It also involves gathering information about the duties of a job, the conditions of work and some
basic qualifications, as well as experience.
Tools used for job analysis include interviews, observation, conference of experts and questionnaires.
In line with technological advances and efforts to digitalise the Public Service, an online questionnaire is being used.
Job evaluation teams are also physically visiting areas with no internet connectivity to ensure widespread coverage across the country.
The job evaluation is being conducted by a consultancy firm, which is working with trained members from the civil service.
A total of 146 civil servants were trained for the job evaluation — 42 of them from the PSC Secretariat, and 104 from line ministries.
The exercise is covering all line ministries and ongoing in all provinces.
Respondents to the questionnaire are a sampling of job holders. Job holders are content experts in their own right.
This is part of a series of articles by the PSC aimed at engaging with and updating the public on matters of public interest that fall within its mandate. For comments, enquiries and questions, please write to: [email protected] Call: +263 242 700881-3 or 793926. WhatsApp +263 788 584 848. For more on the PSC and its programmes, visit www.psc.gov.zw or follow on Facebook Zimbabwe Public Service Commission or Twitter @Public Service Commission Zimbabwe or LinkedIn Public Service Commission Zimbabwe. – Sunday Mail
