Step 2. Carry out pair comparisons

Why?

A systematic comparison ensures fairness across all jobs.

How?

  • Gather the job profiles developed in Tool 2 to start your job evaluation and classification.
  • Use ‘Tool 4 – Supporting Excel (small and medium-sized organisations)’ to guide your comparisons.
  • List all your job roles and compare one pair at a time, by:
    • deciding which job role is more demanding overall;
    • awarding 1 point to the more demanding job and 0 points to the less demanding job role;
    • recording the justification for that decision for transparency.
  • Continue until all pairs are evaluated.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Excluding job roles held by only one person – every job role matters.
  • Using vague justifications such as ‘that job seems harder’.
  • Assuming job titles reflect actual duties – titles can be misleading.
  • Failing to write down the factor or evidence behind each decision.

Downloads

Tool 4: Supporting excel (small and medium-sized organisations)