Job Family Allocation is a factor-based analytical scheme. It has been devised to achieve a structured approach to designing pay and grading that complies with Equal Value requirements.
However, for the purpose of allocating scores to profiles, the factors referred to as job working circumstances (JWC's) have been excluded. This is because the scores for these factors (Emotional Demands, Physical Demands and Working Conditions) will vary from post to post depending on specific duties.
The factors used are the 13 factors of the NJC Job Evaluation scheme, jointly agreed between the national employers and recognised trade unions:
- Knowledge
- Mental Skills
- Interpersonal and Communication Skills
- Physical Skills
- Initiative and Independence
- Physical Demands
- Mental Demands
- Emotional Demands
- Responsibility for People
- Responsibility for Supervision/Direction/Co-ordination of Employees
- Responsibility for Financial Resources
- Responsibility for Physical Resources
- Working Conditions
Job Families group together jobs whose essential nature and purpose are similar across the whole of the Council. Each Job Family is made up of a series of Role Profiles, which are generic descriptions of different levels of work within each Family.
The Role Profiles are evaluated using the NJC Scheme factors we have listed above. Individual jobs are analysed and allocated to a Role Profile by means of an objective factor-based Allocation Toolkit.
In combination, the evaluation of the Role Profiles through the NJC Scheme and the factor-based job allocation process satisfy the job evaluation study requirements of Equality legislation.
Wolverhampton's Job Families
Job families group together jobs whose essential nature and purpose are similar. Altogether, the council has eight different Job Families:
Business and Partnership Support (BPS)
Roles that deliver services to support council / school business and partners, strategy, corporate compliance, planning, performance and policy. Roles and types of work likely to be covered include:
- marketing and communications
- ICT
- procurement
- commissioning
- project and programme management
- safety
- health and wellbeing
- strategic planning
- regeneration strategy
- partnership development
- council
- provider and partner performance and quality management
- inter-organisation direction and liaison
- human resources
- finance
- legal
- governance
- democratic services and scrutiny
- policy
Clerical and Administration (CA)
Roles that deliver council / school clerical and administrative support. Roles likely to be covered include:
- administration
- secretarial and personal assistants
- transactions and invoices
- data recording and processing and clerical
Customer Engagement (CE)
Roles that provide assistance, instruction and information to groups and individuals using council services and facilities. Roles likely to be covered include:
- receptionists
- library assistants
- events management performing arts
- community work
- leisure facilities work
- customer service
- contact centre work information
- advice and guidance
Learning and People Development (LPD)
Roles that develop people to build their personal capability in skills and knowledge. Teaching Assistants are a sub-group of Learning and People development. Roles likely to be covered include:
- teaching assistants
- tutors, NVQ assessment and verification
- nursery nursing
- teaching
- training
- instructors
- sports and recreation
- classroom technicians
- learning support workers
- workforce development and adult education
Operations (OP)
Roles that deliver on going service activities requiring specialised and vocational expertise. Roles likely to be covered include:
- all types of direct maintenance
- cleaning
- craft work
- labouring
- gardening
- catering
- driving
- waste management and collection
- recycling
- caretaking
- security
- driving
- skilled
- unskilled and semiskilled operatives
- car park attendants
- bar staff and street scene
Personal and Social Wellbeing (PSW)
Roles that support and assist the well-being of individuals and groups to assure their protection, security and development. Roles likely to be covered include:
- youth offending
- residential care
- day service
- night caring
- social work
- home care
- work with vulnerable people
- welfare rights, escorting and residual housing functions
Regulation (REG)
Roles that include monitoring and enforcing prescribed regulatory areas. Roles likely to be covered include:
- parking enforcement
- environmental health
- trading standards
- licensing
- building control
- development control
- housing standards
- benefits
- anti-fraud and registrars
Technical (TE)
Roles that provide services of a technical or specialist operational nature to internal and external customers. Roles likely to be covered include:
- engineers
- technicians
- project officers
- construction project managers
- technical assistants
- architects
- quantity surveyors
- planners
- lab analysts
- economic and social regeneration
Role Profiles
Within each job family, work is carried out at different levels of responsibility. These different levels are described by role profiles.
The role profiles set out the generic purpose of each level of work, the types of activities performed and the types of knowledge, skills and experience a post holder needs. Role profiles are not as detailed as the Job description and they are written to cover many roles.
Role profiles aren't strictly hierarchical in the sense of a management structure, but the roles increase in 'size' in terms of their responsibilities as you move up from one level to another in each job family.
Job Allocations Toolkit
The Job Allocation Toolkit (see the Downloads section) that has been developed by Ways HR and used to allocate individual jobs to role profiles. All Allocating Managers have received suitable allocation training in order to fully understand and apply this Job Allocation Toolkit. If you have any questions regarding this toolkit you will need to speak to your Allocating Manager.