The aim of this workstream is to introduce a standardised approach to job descriptions, reducing significantly the number of job evaluations that are required.
Benefits to departments:
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Streamlined approach for developing job descriptions - reducing time spent by departmental HR teams and line managers developing JD’s
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Greater clarity, efficiency and consistency for managing the job evaluation process
Timescales:
Progress:
Over the last 12 weeks, the Reward team has engaged the University’s central HR teams and HR colleagues across all divisions to determine needs and priorities relating to this workstream and to identify existing projects which may impact this work. Recommendations arising from these conversations include:
- Improved communication, visibility and transparency across the University in relation to using generic job descriptions and when to submit a request for grading
- The creation of an internal SharePoint to give better visibility of roles that are graded across the University
- Expand the range of generic job descriptions available throughout the grade structure
It was also felt that multiple factors may be contributing to the underutilisation of existing generic job descriptions so it is unlikely that the development of new generic job descriptions in isolation would meet the overall project objectives. For this reason, the project will also look for ways to help support line managers with resources and guidance to encourage the adoption of standardised job descriptions.
Feedback has also been gathered from managers across the divisions via a short poll to understand views on existing generics, challenges with the process of writing job descriptions and suggestions for improvements.
An invitation to provide feedback or participate in the working group was also shared with the HR community at the HR Policy Briefing on 8 February 2024. Thank you to those who have since been in touch.
The working party includes representatives from Medical Sciences (Kaitlin Beazley, Heledd Gwilym, Melanie Axis-Butler, Oliver Kitchen), SAID Business School (Nicola Gibbons), MPLS (Karla Taylor, James Hamilton, Laura Christophers, Akiko Frellesvig), Humanities Shared Services (Sarah Wilcox-Jones, Clive Brown), GLAM (Abigail Hipkin, Cathy Hamer), UAS (Jasmine Doris). We welcome further interest in joining the working party sessions.
Next steps:
From the initial engagement sessions, we have a clear view of the perceived gaps in the generic job descriptions and are currently working to prioritise developing this range further to add to the available suite.
The working party group for this workstream met on 19 February bringing together HR contacts across the divisions to collectively problem solve, consider barriers and what we want to improve. A follow up session with the working party took place on Thursday 21 March to solicit reflections on proposed approach and potential workstream to address feedback that has been gathered to date. Work is currently underway to pilot developing a broader range of generic job descriptions starting initially with Finance, HR & IT.
If you would be interested in participating in future sessions or would like to suggest line managers who may be open to providing feedback then please contact Emma Hodgkinson-Last.
