Association of Colleges

Job evaluation for FE colleges

The Association of Colleges (AoC), with representatives of member colleges and in conjunction with the nationally recognised trades unions, has developed a national job evaluation scheme for the sector.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide a fair, equitable, consistent, transparent, acceptable and affordable basis for determining the relative size of all jobs in further education establishments. A key aim will be to help ensure that equal pay is provided for work of equal value.

Gauge™ is a software tool developed in association with Pilat HR Solutions to fully computerise the implementation and application of the scheme.

Fast, flexible, effective and paperless, job evaluation is an attainable goal with Gauge™ – a powerful, yet easy to use, tool that fully computerises the AoC’s national job evaluation scheme.

Accurate evaluations in about an hour

Every single aspect of Gauge™ has been tailored, allowing the system to reflect the FE sector’s culture, processes and terminology.  At the heart of Gauge™ is a set of evaluation factors, developed on behalf of the AoC by Michael Armstrong Associates (MAA), to reflect the FE sector’s priorities and values. These factors are;

• Expertise
• Thinking Skills
• Planning and Development
• Autonomy
• Communication and Interpersonal Skills
• Responsibility for Learners
• Responsibility for Staff
• Responsibility for Relationships with Others
• Responsibility for Resources
• Physical Demands
• Mental Demands

Underpinning each factor are questions that allow each job to be accurately ‘scored’.

Gauge™ is operated interactively, with question and answer options being presented on screen. Using the answers provided, the system progresses incremental evaluation of the job, presents the most logical next question and adds the appropriate phrase to a “Job Overview”.

The system is highly efficient and no questions are asked which are superfluous or inappropriate to the job under review. Typically, only 80 questions from a library of many hundreds are posed during the evaluation of any one job.

In around an hour, and without prior preparation, the full evaluation can be completed, the results validated, and a two-page narrative of the job demands produced.

For a software demo disc or further information please don’t hesitate to contact consultancy@aoc.co.uk