The Public Service Commission is currently undertaking a service-wide job evaluation in order to ascertain the worth of the jobs in the Public Service. The exercise began in September 2022 and is expected to be completed by end of the first quarter in 2023.
The job evaluation exercise is in response to observations of misalignment of jobs – the grades, the descriptions, the mandates, salaries, among other things were seen not to be in alignment. Evaluating jobs in order to properly profile, reward and weight them is in line with the Commission’s strategic goals as it pursues NDS1 and Vision 2030 national imperatives.
In its 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, the Commission made a commitment to adopt Public Service Reform best practices to address challenges and identified 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 exercise was conducted 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. The challenges faced include the following:
- Redundant jobs
- Lack of career progression in some jobs
- Duplication of duties and responsibilities among different jobs
- Mismatch between grade, qualifications and salary
The job evaluation aims 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 exercise:
- It helps in removing disparities in wage 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 job grades
- The data collected for job evaluation also helps in the recruitment of the right personnel for the job
- Since job evaluation aims to reward 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. The process of job analysis involves gathering information about the duties of a job, the conditions of work, and some basic qualifications and experience. Tools used for job analysis include interviews, observation, conference of experts, questionnaires, among others. The Public Service Commission is making use of the questionnaire. 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 wide-spread coverage across the country.
The service-wide PSC job evaluation is being done 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 Public Service Commission 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.