Job and Competency Analysis

Today, all too often, modern multipurpose Job and Competency Analysis Tools and Systems are bypassed for quick and painless semi-automatic online Position Description and Specification Templates.  While apparently time saving and often with face validity a false sense of reliability and validity is in the long run the only result of such shortcuts.

To be truly Professional and legally compliant in Job and Competency Analysis a good comprehensive multi-purpose study approach is required which covers and links Critical and Observable Work Activities with Behavioral Based and Operationally Defined Performance Standards and Essential Employment Requirements.

This high level of validity and reliability in Job and Competency Analysis cannot be synthetically achieved via online Job and Competency Description Repository sites, public or private.

A New OMF Job and Competency Analysis System Free Community Edition** has been released with Multi-Purpose system support that includes Critical And Essential Domain/Competency Linking,Competency Profile Development and Behavioral Based Performance Standards.

The Free Community Edition Release of the OMF Job and Competency Analysis System is available to all Internal Practitioners in Human Resources, Compensation, Labor Research and related fields in both the Private and Public Sectors.

The OMF Job and Competency Analysis System is relatively new  Job And Competency Analysis Approach that uses Acrobat Java Based Technology.

Aging Salary Survey Data

Aging Salary Survey Data is a required process for any Compensation Professional dealing with more than one Salary Survey Source for a Benchmark Job.  Normally, at least three (3) Salary Surveys from different Survey Publishers is a minimum requirement.  All Salary Surveys have some sampling error - which is normally in the 8 to 12 percent range with a 10% level of confidence (as subject for a later Blog Post).

The process of Aging Salary Survey Data is important to insure that comparisons of internal Salary Structures and Rates are compared with external Market Data at the same point in time.  Leading or lagging some or all of External data will cause distortions in any Direct or Total Compensation Market Analysis.

The Salary Survey Aging Rate is the average annual percentage rate at which salaries are expected to move across given time span. The time span will vary for each Salary Survey Source based upon the effective date of the survey and  the Age-Survey-Data-To date set.

Modern Salary Survey Processing and Analysis Software with store Aging Rates within a Job Level Table or Job Family Table.  The average annual percentage movement of salaries is what is expressed as Aging Rates in the Job Level and Job Family Tables.

The Age Survey Data process calculates Time Correction (Aging) Factors for survey source(s) attached to Survey Job Profile(s) within a range of survey data effective dates.

Salary Structure Modeling

Tools to model,  build and maintain Salary Structures are very important to Compensation Professionals.  Accuracy and maintenance of such structures are critical to Compensation Planning, Analysis and Administration.  

Compensation structure software tools should be capable of modeling and building -

• Linear and curvilinear salary structures based on open parameters
• Linear and curvilinear salary structures based on salary survey data
• Structures with grades/bands that progressively vary in spread
• Structures with varying numbers of grades/bands.
• Two and three dimensional charts depicting modeled salary structures.
• Loading modeled structures into the Salary/Grade Band Tables.

If a regression model had previously been selected, then the last equation produced should be available for review and resuse.

Salary Structure Modeling and Maintenance software helps to insure accurate Salary Structures when initially built and throughout maintenance overtime when salary structure are modified due to salary budget adjustments or other needed restructuring activities such as adding Grades, Bands or Band Zones.

Typical Human Capital Management Systems are able to store Salary Grade Tables, however most lack advance capabilities in Salary Structure Modeling and Building.  Specialized software such as CompBuilder provide such capabilities.

Some Compensation Professionals will build and attempt to maintain Salary Structures using a spreadheet such as Excel. Home grown Salary Structure Tools can often work well, however extreme care is needed to insure that structures built are accurate and precisely maintained over time - which is difficult without software specifically designed for such regimens.

Geographic Salary Differentials

Geographic Salary Differential Studies have long been used by Compensation Professionals and others to gauge, estimate and establish policies for adjustments to Salary Grade Structures between different Geographic Locations.

Comparison of actual salary rates and structures between different locations is the main driver in such studies, however some estimate such differences for certain Benchmark Jobs.  This process of estimation often misses the mark in terms of reliability and accuracy.

Reliable Geographic Salary Differential Reports examine not only differences based on salary levels but also Occupation Groupings with the ability to drill down to the Job Family Level.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics, ICT/Clayton Wallis and a few other organizations provide such specificity in these Geographic Compensation Comparison Reports.

Over time Salary Structures that have Differentials built-in for Region/Area Differences in Salary and Wages need to be reexamined periodically as Labor Markets change.  Labor Markets between Regions,  Metropolitan Areas and other locations can and do contract and expand both in terms of employment robustness, occupational opportunities and competitiveness in terms of  Total Compensation.