PAY STRUCTURES
New IRS case study of job families at Nationwide
Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, has replaced its creaking job-evaluated grading structure with a collection of 11 job families which set out the scope for career progression and skill acquisition. A recent report in Pay and Benefits Bulletin, published by Industrial Relations Services, looks at the thinking behind the move.
What you'll find in the IRS report:
Spread over five pages, the IRS report examines the following issues:
why the scheme was introduced
how each position within the job family structure was assigned a target salary
the change management process
benefits of the scheme to date
the employees' reaction
lessons learnt.
Case-study details
Title: Nationwide families , Pay and Benefits Bulletin 495, May 2000.
Availability: contact Industrial Relations Services, tel: 020 7354 5858.
The IRS web site is one click away . . . www.irseclipse.co.uk
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IPD research
Job families are still very much a minority practice, but take-up looks set to grow, according to a recent survey undertaken by the Institute of Personnel and Development. Among the 193 companies surveyed, only 16% currently operate job families, although one in five respondents plan to introduce such a structure within the next two years.
Why do organisations introduce job families?
| Objectives | Per cent of respondents |
| Map out career paths | 28% |
| Achieve more flexibility | 24% |
| Identify market groups | 22% |
| Provide for rewards to be based on personal contribution and progress | 21% |
Source: Institute of Personnel and Development.
Title: Study of broadbanded and job family pay structures , IPD survey report 11.
Availability: contact the Institute of Personnel and Development, tel: 020 8263 3828
web: The IPD's web site is just one click away . . . www.ipd.co.uk
What exactly is a job family?
A group or cluster of jobs with common characteristics. Although the level of responsibility, skill or competence required to undertake the work may differ, the essential nature of the activities carried out and basic skills used are, nonetheless, similar. There are two main forms of job family: functional — cover specific work groups within an area, such as marketing, finance or personnel generic — cover similar types of work across functional boundaries — for example, professional staff, administrators, managers or team leaders.
What about a job family pay structure?
A pay structure which contains separate pay structures for each of the job families which may be graded in terms of levels of skill or competence. Each level may have its own finite pay range, as in a conventional graded pay structure.