Verticalization
Completion of the Technical Specifications Summary is the responsibility of the coordinator of the particular Job- profiling project. Two routes can be followed, viz.:
- The coordinator can complete the Technical Specifications Summary of his or her own accord, working from compiled as part of the particular profiling process; or
- In the absence of a Job Description, the coordinator calls the particular Job Profiling Committee together and directly completes the Technical Specifications Summary on the computer. The pages of the Summary are projected, one at a time, to ensure that the entire process takes place in full view of all committee members. Each question on each page is considered and completed on the basis of motivation and consensus.
HOW TO APPROACH THE PROCESS OF VERTICALIZATION
The Summary comprises TEN groups of questions or categories to be completed. At least half of these (5 of the 10 categories), of which the completion of only one category, viz., Nature and complexity of job or role, is compulsory.
The aim of any JPI committee should nevertheless be to complete as many of these categories as possible. However, if there is uncertainty about the appropriate response in a particular case, rather leave that part vacant and proceed with the next category. It must, however, be emphasized that an appropriate response must be selected in the case of the Nature and complexity of job or role category. Furthermore, make sure to respond to at least FIVE of the TEN categories.
Linguistic requirements:
The job in our example is that of Senior Editor: Art and Entertainment of a daily newspaper. |
If more than one type of driver’s licence is required, the coordinator could simply select the last one listed here. For example, if both a licence fora motorbike and a motor vehicle were required, ticking only the latter of the two would suffice. Page 2.2 Formal schooling, training and education required Formal schooling required Select only the highest Grade required, viz. Grade 12 in this case. In-service training required. This part refers only to additional exposure within the particular workplace. A trained engineer is for example in a particular case required to be additionally exposed for some period to the corporate culture of a particular engineering firm and to get with the firm’s particular ways of doing things before he can be trusted to operate according to their requirements and unique standards. The formal qualifications part and how to complete those two sections are fairly obvious. |
Page 3.1 Nature of the Job: Here ONE of Skilled, Semi-skilled or Unskilled should be ticked, depending on which one of these applies in the particular case. |
Page 3.2 Nature and complexity of job or role:One descriptor must be selected in this category. Note a descriptor is selected its definition is displayed in the window just below the set of descriptors. This makes it easier for committee members to consider the descriptors one at a time in deciding which one fits the particular job best. The descriptors and their definitions are nevertheless repeated below for your convenience. |
THE JOB COMPLEXITY DESCRIPTORS
1. Manual Routine
Exclusively manual routine activities, requiring very little, if any, simple reasoning, comprising straightforward, low level activities, entirely on the basis of direct, clear-cut instructions of an elementary nature.
2. Simple Routine
Low level activities, mainly of a manual nature, requiring little, if any, uncomplicated reasoning, almost entirely on the basis of direct, clear-cut instructions of an elementary nature with a limited range of choices and options.
3. Mainly Routine
Relatively low levels of work, mainly routine, requiring some uncomplicated reasoning, such as the ability to execute simple calculations and / or to oversee the execution of simple, set instructions by others, mostly with obvious choices from a limited range of possibilities, with possible responsibility for simple outputs by a few others.
4. Simple Decision-making
Highly routine, sometimes requiring the ability to choose the most desirable option from a limited range of possibilities and to instruct followers to act accordingly, or to direct own activities according to a small variety of possible options and choices, possibly including basic reading skills in the language of the workplace or in one or more official languages.
5. Elementary Decision-making
Making elementary decisions that require uncomplicated reasoning in order to find the most appropriate option from a fairly comprehensive list of elementary choices. Elementary insight, basic reading skills and the ability to reason within a fairly comprehensive list of elementary possibilities could be a requirement.
6. Simple Overseeing
The ability of overseeing enters the picture but at a fairly straightforward, uncomplicated level, excluding real supervision. A level of formal education (for example, Grade 12) and / or (additional) non-formal training could be a requirement, for example certification in first-aid, basic computer skills, training in the operation of less complicated machines and / or equipment or experience in a particular area, for example in compiling and controlling a fairly simple budget etc. The job may require simple overseeing of certain aspects of the work of certain classes of co-workers (not subordinates), but without the extended requirement of supervision. Deviations from set standards are instead reported to someone higher-up with the power to act of his / her accord to ensure rectification, if deemed necessary.
7. Basic Overseeing
Relatively advanced overseeing is required. Certification, for example a blasting certificate, a one-year diploma in a particular field etc., could be a requirement to enable the job holder to perform certain basic tasks or to operate certain kinds of machines, systems, equipment or processes. The job may then require the duty to see to it that a number of co-workers (not subordinates) execute certain of their duties, tasks or activities correctly, but without the power of full-fletched supervision. If anything, the job holder reports any deviations to a supervisor who would take action if necessary. For example, the secretary of a senior officer who oversees fairly straightforward annual budgeting in the division for stationary and controls the actual utilization of the budget in the division etc.
8. Basic Supervising
The element of supervising, but of a fairly straightforward and less complicated nature, now comes into play. The incumbent takes full responsibility for the output of a relatively small number of subordinates in a specific field of relatively basic specialization, for example, he or she runs a small team or pool of typists, lower level clerks or other routine workers, lower level carpenters, electricians etc.
9. Advanced Supervising
Supervising of a more complicated and extended nature. The incumbent takes full responsibility for the decisions and output of a fairly extensive number of subordinates in specialized field. Subordinates are often on more than one level of seniority, for example, (a) senior technicians, (b) technicians and (c) junior technicians etc. The incumbents’ responsibilities often go beyond the supervision of a single team, but an extended unit, section or division and / or more than one team instead. More than one field of specialization may be involved.
10. Basic Managerial
Lower middle management levels of responsibility and certain kinds of specialists who are mainly through their subordinates within their units or sections responsible for the application and internal execution of company policy i.e., (a) company culture and values including internal rules and regulations; (b) laws, bylaws, statutory stipulations, for example, applicable labour legislation etc.
11. Managerial
Managers at middle management levels in control of subdivisions or medium-sized divisions with specialized skills at relatively advanced levels of operation in their particular fields. Could at its higher end also include higher level senior departmental heads and specialists with executive powers.
12. Senior Managerial / Specialists
Executives who are leaders at senior and top levels of management, for example executive directors in control of larger divisions in the organization and specialists with extended executive powers in advanced (often post-graduate) fields of specialization.
13. Executive Managerial
Executives in top management positions responsible for the output of various divisions and departments in larger companies.
14. Senior Executives / Specialists
Senior executives responsible for the formulation of company policy, such as deputies and vice presidents who form part of top management and are members of the Management Committee under chairmanship of the top executive of the company.
15. Company CEO
Executives at the top / specialists / MD’s of large concerns. Executives / leaders at the very top / specialists at the top.
16. CEO of a Large Corporate
16.1 Executives at the very top of fairly large international concerns / pioneers responsible for state-of-the-art developments with global consequences.
16.2 Visionary leaders within the top echelons of international conglomerates and other large private and public
concerns; executives such as top military leaders of internationally recognized armies; top specialists and inventors of new, universally recognized technologies.
16.3 Universally acknowledged creative / transformational / leaders in specialization and advancement in their disciplines or fields / big picture contributors to mans’ knowledge of his universe who are spearheading highly advanced forms of development.
Page 3.3 Control requirements In all those cases where registration is required by law, such a requirement should be indicated on page 3 above. For example, medical doctors, engineers, attorneys and lawyers, optometrists, blasters, psychologists etc. are under statutory obligation to register before they are allowed to performed their duties. |
Page 4 Characteristics of the job (a) The job reports to: The descriptions used (Team Leader, Supervisor, Manager etc. are general terms. The same jobs or roles in your environment may carry other titles, for example Crew Captain, Section Head, Departmental Head, Divisional Head etc. The particular title is not what is important here; what is important, however, is the level of the job in the particular corporate structure that the job that is verticalized reports to. To determine level in this sense, it is important to compare the particular company’s organizational structures with the structure on this page. Note that the top level in the above structure is that of MD. In your case the top position might be called something else, for example President or Director-General or CEO etc. That than constitutes comparable Level One for the concern in question. In the same way find comparable Level 2 (in this case Deputy MD). Do the same with all the other levels until you have in fact translated the particular body’s structure level-by-level to the above structure. If the body in question turns out to have the same number of levels, there is no problem to find its equivalent on the above structure and to then simply select the equivalent level as the level to which the job reports. However, if the structure in question has fewer levels, it becomes more difficult. For example, the particular concern may only have three levels for the part covered by five levels in the above structure, viz., Supervisor, Superintendent, Manager, Department Head and Director. In such a case, decide which two of the five levels do in fact not form part of the structure of the particular concern. The important question in such a case is: if the particular structure only has Supervisor, Manager and Director levels (regardless of the titles used), is its Supervisor rather more of a Superintendent in terms of the systems structure of does it still rather equal the Supervisor level etc.? In many cases the answer might be a very clear-cut one, but sometimes it can get much more involved to determine the really equal levels especially when the structure in question becomes a much more flat one, comprising only three or four levels. If it becomes clear that the problem could not be solved in such a relatively easy way, then rather leave this area vacant. (b) This job is that of a: The same principles as in the case of (a) apply to this sub-section and how it should be approached. If in doubt, also rather leave This job is that of a vacant. from the external environment, such as mineworkers etc. However, one of the criteria, viz., Strain, does not specifically refer to physical conditions, but to the mental element of stress that is often caused by some jobs, for example, that of CEOs, Directors and Managers etc. who are exposed to pressure and under mental and emotional factors and conditions at play in the work environment. |
Page 5: Adverse Environmental Characteristics of the Job. This page does not contribute in any way to determining the Job Complexity Grade (JCG); it is entirely responsible for determining the Job Intricacy Grade (JIG), viz., the extent to which job performance is adversely influenced by environmental factors such as noise, ventilation, exposure, temperature etc. This part should only be completed for those jobs where exposure to physical environmental dangers and other conditions add intricacy to job performance. This applies to jobs such as those of astronauts, soldiers, especially during military action, people who work in relative isolation. |
Page 6: Description Page 6 lists 14 complexity level descriptors ranging from the lowest (at the top) to the highest level of complexity (at the bottom of the display). Note that in the case of the job in our example the system has now cancelled all the complexity level descriptors that have been satisfied by the information entered through pages 1 to 4 above. Grading and NQF report: The next step now is to print the Grading and NQF report below. |
The Grading and NQF report provide the following information:
(a) The Sebenza Job Complexity Grade (JCG), which it then translates to equivalents on Peromnes, Paterson, Task, Equate and Hay;
(b) It additionally provides the Job Intricacy Grade on the basis of the information (entered on Page 5 above), that relates to the extent to which environmental and emotional factors and conditions contribute to difficulty in job performance;
(c) Two separate sets of NQF levels are provided, the first based on the required qualifications and the second on the real complexity of the job in terms of the outcome of the process of verticalization. Often the qualifications required suggest less complexity in than the level constituted by the activities of the job, for example the job of a Regional Manager of a supermarket chain. The qualifications requirement for the latter is Grade 12, which equals anNQF level 4. However, in terms of complexity of activities, Sebenza allocated an NQF level 7 to the job. The discrepancy between the two NQF levels indicates, among other things, that extensive experience in the field is of much greater importance then formal qualifications.
The difference in the two NQF levels may sometimes sound an invaluable warning to employers, for example, in cases where the NQF based on qualifications is higher than the one based on real job complexity, it may be a warning against the practice to set too high a qualification for certain jobs. It might then amount to an unfair labour practice, for it my artificially exclude certain classes of workers with lower qualifications who otherwise are competent to perform the activities of that job adequately.
The allocated Sebenza Job Grades
(a) The Job Complexity Grade (JCG): *) Some anomalies where detected in your scores. Please check all your ratings carefully before proceeding. **) Some scores may still be too high. Do you want to save them anyway? Please click on YES to save these scores, or click on NO to check your scores again. Sebenza allocated a JCG of 16 (equal to Peromnes 4, Paterson D4, Task 18, Equate 14) to this job of Senior Editor: Art and Entertainment. If the particular grade seems quite acceptable to the Job Grading Committee, this is indeed the end of the story.
However, if the general feeling is that the grade is too low, two options are left to the committee:
(1) The committee may decide to revert back to Page 6 (Description) on the Technical Specifications Summary form and to select the second available option in the list instead. If on clicking OK at the bottom of Page 6 this selection is accepted by the Sebenza without any query, the higher great is most possibly justified. However, Seneza may query the selection of the second descriptor by displaying the following warning:
This message implies that Sebenza is not prepared to allocate a higher JCG to the job or role simply of its own accord on the information entered on Pages 1 to 4. It therefore sends the committee back to the drawing board to check its input. The committee may either decide to adapt its input in certain respects, if it can justify such changes. Or the committee may decide to persevere with its original input by refraining from making any alterations to their input. In such a case they will simply click through the pages back to Page 6 to click OK again. That may produce one of two outcomes: (a) Sebenza may also persevere from by repeating the above message. That would suggest that the system does not see its way clear to allocate a higher JCG on the basis of the information entered. All attempts to get it to change its mind will then be unsuccessful; or (b) the system could still be reluctant to allocate a higher grade and then decide to play it safe, so to speak, by displaying the following message**): *) Some anomalies where detected in your scores. Please check all your ratings carefully before proceeding. **) Some scores may still be too high. Do you want to save them anyway? Please click on YES to save these scores, or click on NO to check your scores again. |
Clicking on YES In the case of the present example produced a Sebenza JCG of 18 (Peromnes 3, Paterson E3, Task 21 and Equate 15), which the committee felt was now too high. They were now left with two final options: (a) To take one step back to finally allocate Sebenza 17 (Peromnes 4, Paterson E1, Task 19 and Equate 14) to the job; or (b) To do fine-tuning. |
