When it comes to skills, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. There are many nuances and every organisation is different.
This is why RoleMapper has been partnering with more and more customers to tackle the complexities of moving to a skills-based organisation. The reason for this support is down to the same frustration, surfacing skills is a huge challenge.
In response to this pain, RoleMapper has launched the RoleMapper Skills Innovation Partnership. The aim of the partnership is to help fast-track the shift to skills by co-creating and building innovative AI and technology solutions to support people strategy and process challenges.
Unlike generic platforms that rely on vast, pre-built skills databases with millions of data points, RoleMapper creates a customised skills taxonomy. It also leverages job data to ensure the skills framework is directly aligned with business needs, relevant roles, and strategic priorities
Additionally, RoleMapper's AI-powered skills inference solution surfaces skills and competencies from jobs, creates descriptors and proficiency levels, as well as validates and suggests enhancements to skills data based on industry insights.
The RoleMapper Innovation Partnership is not only an opportunity to build solutions tailored to your organisation, but also a chance to move the dial on HR tech innovation within your business.
Gender-neutral job evaluation and classification play a key role in preparing for the pay transparency measures contained in the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
The Directive, which will become law across EU member states next year, requires companies to be more transparent around pay as a means of ensuring equal pay for work of equal value.
Gender-neutral criteria is a phrase mentioned throughout the EU Directive, and these criteria need to be used when grouping jobs of equal work and value, when carrying out job evaluation, and to ensure debiased recruitment processes.
For example, the Directive requires that organisations have pay structures based on job evaluation and classification systems that use ‘objective, gender-neutral criteria’. Article 4 states:
“Employers must have pay structures in place ensuring that there are no gender-based pay differences between workers performing the same work or work of equal value that are not justified on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria.”
The Directive doesn’t explicitly define what this gender-neutral criteria should be, but it does refer to four categories of objective criteria:
In the past, criteria used within job evaluation methods have been accused of being gender-biased and discriminatory, and they certainly can be if not adjusted to correct this bias.
The issue is that these methods have often failed to address the gender pay gap as they have tended evaluate male and female dominated jobs differently. Until recently, female-dominated jobs were evaluated based on methods designed mainly for male-dominated jobs, which partly accounts for wage discrimination.
For example, job evaluation methods have focused on physical effort and valuing this more highly whilst overlooking mental and emotional effort.
Predominantly female jobs often involve different requirements from those of predominantly male jobs, whether in terms of qualifications, effort, responsibility or working conditions.
For example, a recent ILO (International Labour Office) guide to gender-neutral job evaluation explains a number of examples of physical pressures in female-dominated jobs that are often overlooked:
It is important to be vigilant when selecting the job evaluation method and ensure that its content is equally tailored to both female and male dominated jobs.
Key elements of gender-neutral job evaluation include:
Ensuring the criteria used within job evaluation are gender-neutral is one of the most important methods of achieving pay equality and can help to challenge market-based and gender-biased assumptions that are often built into pay structures.
A recent EPSU paper on gender-neutral job evaluation in the public sector suggests some examples where these principles have been put into practice:
“Good practice examples of agreements on gender-neutral job evaluation and classification exist in several European countries, and some unions have developed and implemented successful gender-neutral job evaluation using objective and analytical criteria. These are typically based on factors and subfactors (skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions) that address all aspects of the value of work carried out in different occupations.
Gender-neutral job evaluation is crucial in ensuring that factors used in job assessments are inclusive of all aspects of work carried out, including factors that address overlooked elements of work carried out predominantly by women. These include overlooked job factors such as acquired learning, emotional/empathy skills, working with people with complex problems, dealing with difficult customers, emotional demands, communication skills, multitasking, lifting or moving people who are frail, restrictive light repetitive movements, exposure to chemicals and corrosive cleaning products etc.”
What this recommendation demonstrates is that the categories of objective criteria discussed in the EPSU paper (skills, effort, responsibility, working conditions) are also a good starting point for ensuring criteria are gender-neutral.
If an organisation incorporates skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions as criteria into their job evaluation approach, then this should meet the requirements of the EU Directive in terms of both objective and gender-neutral criteria.
The EU Directive doesn’t stipulate a specific job evaluation method, but its associated working document does recommend more analytical approaches.
These more analytical methods enable the position of a job to be established in relation to another in a sector or organisation, regardless of gender.
“Methods should be designed so that all positions or groups in an organisation can be assessed using the same job evaluation system, enabling comparisons across disciplines and professional boundaries.
The analytical job evaluation methods, being systematic and complex, have the potential of being less discriminatory than non-analytical methods and they are therefore considered to be most appropriate for job evaluation in a gender equality context. They can thus be used to establish one of the most important components of the equal pay principle, namely ‘work of equal value’.”
The more analytical job evaluation methods, such as the factor comparison or point factor methods, enable job content to be broken down into factors that enable jobs to be compared in a non-discriminatory manner.
As we’ve discussed above, the key is that the selected factors - the criteria for assessing the various dimensions and characteristics of jobs - are not discriminatory.
It’s possible that the EU may take a more prescriptive approach to job evaluation in future.
Article 4 states that: ‘Where appropriate, the Commission may update Union-wide guidelines related to gender-neutral job evaluation and classification systems, in consultation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).’
In advance of any further guidance, organisations need to determine an approach to job evaluation that:
Specifically regarding dimensions or levels for each of the criteria, the recommendation of the Directive is that organisations use or develop a job evaluation or job classification method which has dimensions or levels for each of the criteria that are used.
The steer from the EU in terms of pay transparency is that a structured job evaluation based on objective criteria is recommended. This more analytical method can be less discriminatory due to a more systematic and complex approach.
However many companies are not currently using structured job evaluation methodologies, with many using market pricing as the primary method of assessing the relative value of jobs within their organisation.
Given the requirement to show employees pay levels for jobs of the same value, valuing jobs based on market pricing alone is fraught with challenges.
Organisations with employees in the EU may need to assess whether their approach and adoption of job evaluation is sufficient, robust, and unbiased enough to enable compliance with the new Directive and to mitigate ongoing risk exposure.
More organisations are moving towards a new operating model for the workplace - one which values skills over job titles.
This skills-based approach offers the chance to move from a job-centric, experience-driven workforce strategy to one that is more dynamic and agile.
Deloitte research found that 77% of business and HR executives believe ‘flexibly moving skills to work’ is critical to navigating future disruptions.
There are a range of potential benefits from adopting a more skills-driven approach, from greater organisational agility to improved employee retention and productivity, as well as more diverse and inclusive recruitment strategies.
A skills-first approach supports speed and agility by redeploying the best talent to the most essential work.
Understanding the skills you have in the organisation helps you hire and move people to roles that will not only support business goals but provide on-the-job learning opportunities to develop people, and help you fill gaps in the future.
According to Deloitte, skills-based organisations are:
Just 14% of business executives surveyed by Deloitte strongly agreed that their organisation uses its employees’ skills and capabilities to their fullest potential.
A skills-based approach addresses this issue, allowing organisations to identify the talent and skills in their workforce, sometimes in unexpected places, which enables them to look at untapped talent.
This can have a beneficial effect on employee performance - making full use of their skills increases motivation and productivity; even more so when they can focus on activities that directly impact the business.
Ensuring that you have up-to-date and accurate data about the skills of your workforce is the optimal way to match people and opportunities and thereby improve the employee experience.
By focusing on skills, employees can be made to feel like unique, valued individuals, thriving in roles that allow them to put their skills into practice.
In the past, people may not have been considered for some roles purely because their previous experience and job titles may not have been a perfect match, even if they had the required skills.
A change of focus which values skills over experience can have a positive impact on diversity within an organisation and can reduce bias at every stage of the talent lifecycle beyond recruitment.
Employees who feel they have few opportunities for growth or progression can become bored and frustrated, and will naturally begin looking for a new challenge elsewhere.
These issues can be avoided if there are more opportunities for growth internally, and for employees to use their skills effectively.
Moreover, opportunities for development of skills and the opportunity to work on diverse projects can increase job satisfaction and loyalty. According to Deloitte, skills-based organisations are 98% more likely to have a reputation as a place to grow and develop, and 98% more likely to retain high performers.
With pay transparency legislation being introduced around the world, establishing clear, skills-based pay frameworks helps organisations put this transparency into practice more effectively.
When compensation is tied to specific skill levels, certifications, or proficiencies, employees can understand how pay levels are calculated, and increases are earned, reducing ambiguity.
Standardised pay for similar skills also reduces bias and discrimination, supporting fair and equitable compensation.
Using skills data as the basis of performance management allows organisations to create a fairer and more transparent system that can drive both individual and team performance.
For example, by identifying employees’ specific skills through reviews, development plans can be created that impact organisational goals and individual aspirations. Through the tracking of skills key to business goals, performance management can also link individual contributions to strategic objectives.
Skills-based assessments based upon standardised skills benchmarks can also help to ensure consistency of reviews across teams, and help to remove subjectivity and bias. Managers can then provide more specific and actionable feedback on skill gaps or strengths, rather than general comments about performance.
Skills data can make workforce planning more effective by focusing on employees' current and potential capabilities rather than job roles or titles.
Current employee skill data can be mapped against organisational needs, allowing businesses to pinpoint skills gaps in critical areas. This insight means that hiring, training, or reskilling efforts are targeted to address future requirements.
Skills data drives greater precision in workforce planning, as it can help identify competencies that are missing or under-represented, which in turn supports more inclusive hiring strategies.
There are challenges involved in switching towards a strategy based around skills, but there are also multiple benefits.
It can help organisations implement pay transparency policies, improve employees retention and performance, improve recruitment, and ultimately drive improved business performance.
As companies are making preparations for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, job descriptions will play a key role.
The directive doesn’t explicitly mention job descriptions, but they are the building blocks which allow organisations to operationalise many of its requirements.
For this reason, ensuring that you have standardisation and governance over your job descriptions is essential.
This is not always the case though, with RoleMapper data showing that 60% of job descriptions are out of date and fail to reflect the skills required to do the job.
Job descriptions hold the information that can enable you to compare jobs of the same or similar value, to define the criteria for progression, and more.
Job groupings form the first step in our new Roadmap to Prepare for EU Pay Transparency guide, as they provide the means to consolidate and compare jobs of equal value and to justify any differences in pay.
As job descriptions define the work and skills required to do the job, they form the foundations of any job architecture. Job descriptions are the data inputs that enable you to identify equality and similarity of work, skills and value and group jobs to enable comparison and analysis.
Under the directive, organisations must have pay structures in place based on job evaluation and classification systems that use ‘objective, gender-neutral criteria’.
What this means is that organisations need to have a robust, objective, and unbiased mechanism to value jobs. The EU Directive recommends using a job evaluation or job classification methodology that can systematically value roles based on objective criteria.
Job descriptions are generally the basis for any job evaluation and classification methodology. They provide the baseline information of the work, skills, and scope of the role to enable an assessment of the objective criteria and, ultimately, the value of the job.
Article 6 of the Directive states that employers ‘...shall make easily accessible to their workers the criteria that are used to determine workers’ pay progression.’
This means that employers need to be clear on why pay varies in the company, and they should be able to explain the criteria for pay progression and why current pay for one role differs from that of another.
There is often a lot of bias and subjectivity associated with pay decisions. By requiring visibility of progression criteria, the directive is aiming to eliminate bias from compensation decisions.
Job descriptions are where you determine the skills requirements to articulate differential pay progression criteria from one job to another and the criteria to feed into inclusive recruitment practices.
Job descriptions form the baseline content for job postings. It is the job description that determines how inclusive and bias-free your postings will be.
In practice, you will need to review and revise job titles to eliminate gendered titles. So, ‘salesperson’ should be used instead of ‘salesman,’ for example.
Job postings must also be examined for gender-coded languages which might make the job less attractive to either gender. Words like ‘decisive’, or ‘courage’ may send subtle links that companies are looking to attract male applicants.
Under the directive, Member States ‘...shall put in place measures to prohibit contractual terms that restrict workers from disclosing information about their pay.’
In practice, employees will know a lot more about their pay as a result of the directive. They will know how their own pay has been determined, and how that compares to other jobs.
Employees will also have a right to discuss their pay with their colleagues. Without clear job descriptions and an understanding of why there are differences in compensation between jobs, this could be the cause of tension and misunderstandings.
The job description is used to support pay inequality disputes. There have been several high-profile equality court cases where the job description has been used as a basis for debating inequality of pay, with retailer Next being one such case.
In addition to this, Article 19 states that the assessment of equal pay ‘...shall not be limited to workers who are employed at the same time as the worker concerned.’
This means it is important that historical information on the job is held, and an audit trail of changes is retained, as it may be necessary to use it for analysis and comparison purposes.
More and more organisations are looking to move towards a skills-based approach, one which enables them to identify, develop and use specific skills to improve performance.
This approach is seen as necessary to adapt and remain competitive in an evolving business landscape, as well as to adapt to the dynamic nature of work.
A focus on skills can allow organisations to use the talents of its employees more effectively, placing them where they are most needed.
It helps to ensure that training programmes can be directed where they are most needed, as well as being able to identify and address gaps in organisational capabilities.
It’s an approach which has been shown to bring benefits to organisations. Deloitte research suggests that organisations adopting a skills-based approach are 63% more likely to achieve results.
Skills-based strategies also contribute to the ability to place talent more effectively, to anticipate and adapt to change, and to be more inclusive.
The approach also contributes to finding and retaining talent, as it’s popular with employees, with 73% believing skills-based practices would improve their experience at work, while 66% would be attracted to organisations that value skills over experience.
While the benefits of adopting this skills-based approach are clear to many organisations, there remain several challenges that make it more difficult to put this into practice.
These challenges involve data, resources, and the need for a unified approach to skills.
Putting a skills approach into practice requires data. If decisions are to be made around pay, promotions, or placements, then the data this is based upon needs to be reliable.
Organisations also need a single source of skills data so that decisions can be made across the organisation.
In practice, while some organisations have made progress in this area, skills data is often
siloed across departments and systems, making it difficult to achieve a unified view
An effective skills-based approach also requires a common definition of skills which are relevant to the organisation. These can vary between teams, as well as between organisations.
To be able to make effective decisions, it’s important that the language around skills is consistent and understandable. This information can then be used to inform decisions around recruitment and workforce planning.
Skills taxonomies are often large data-sets of skills ‘tags’. In practice, more granular skills proficiency definitions are required for specific use-cases.
The challenge for organisations is that building up more detailed skills data requires significant effort and resources.
While off the shelf skills frameworks offer the attraction of a shortcut to implementing a skills approach, there can be issues with implementation.
Some frameworks can be too generic, and don’t always fit in with the terms used in the organisation. This means greater effort customising language and skills descriptions,
To build out the skills data across an organisation, to the level of detail and granularity that is required for key use cases requires a significant investment in terms of resources, effort and cost.
Once organisations have completed some work collating skills data, there is further complexity in the process of consolidating this data across the business.
Practically speaking, this is about sharing different data sources, managing input and reviewing the process of approval around the business.
Once a skills framework has been agreed and completed, there remains the challenge of constant monitoring and updating. Organisations need to keep up with changing skills, changing needs in the business and this requires continuous updates.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive is due to enter law in the 27 EU member states from June 2026.
This may seem like plenty of time for organisations to prepare, but with the bill having potentially far-reaching operational implications, it’s important to get your house in order as soon as possible.
Our new guide, A Roadmap to Prepare for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, looks at the implications of the directive for businesses, and sets out the practical measures needed to prepare.
The European Parliament and Council adopted the EU Pay Transparency Directive in 2023, and all EU countries are required to adopt it into their national laws by 7th June 2026.
As a result, organisations with employees working in any EU member states will have to comply with the legislation, whether or not they are based in Europe.
Our guide sets out these practical steps in greater detail, but here’s a summary of the roadmap for preparation.
Under the directive, employees have a right to request information about pay levels for groups of workers who perform what is deemed to be the same work, similar work, or work of equal value as them.
The implication of this is that organisations need to have a robust framework and mechanism for grouping and analysing jobs.
It is not just about grouping jobs into a job architecture or family structure. The Directive makes provisions for employees to ask to see pay levels beyond a traditional job framework.
Organisations need to be able to look at job groupings in three ways:
Essentially, organisations must have a way to consolidate and compare jobs of equal value and be able to justify any differences in pay that may exist.
Organisations need a mechanism to value jobs which is objective and unbiased. The Directive recommends using a job evaluation methodology that can systematically value roles based on objective criteria.
Job evaluation (also known as job classification or job levelling) is a process used by companies to evaluate and categorise roles within the company based on a range of factors. These include the role’s level of responsibility, the skills and knowledge required, and complexity of tasks.
There are a number of job evaluation methods to consider, but the steer from the EU is that a structured job evaluation based on objective criteria is recommended. A more analytical method can be less discriminatory due to their systematic and complex approach.
The implication of the Directive is that pay structures should be linked to the groups of jobs of equal work and equal value.
Full compliance with the EU Directive could potentially mean a major change for many organisations that they may not be fully aware of yet.
We would recommend that organisations review current methods for creating pay ranges and their implications as they relate to the EU Directive.
Overhauling how you price your jobs could potentially be a daunting task, so the first step we recommend is creating job groupings aligned to equal work and equal value, mapping pay data onto this and seeing the extent of your risk, in terms of pay equity.
Under the directive, organisations need to be able to share with employees the criteria they use to define pay levels and make pay decisions, specifically how job value is determined and the pay structure methodology. This essentially means a higher level of pay transparency.
Pay transparency has been shown to have many advantages, including staff retention and brand reputation.
Organisations need to consider the level of transparency they want, think about the core principles around pay, and how they communicate this to staff.
Employers need to be clear about why pay varies in the company. They need to be able to explain the criteria for pay progression as well as why current pay for one role differs from that of another.
To comply with the EU Directive, organisations need to have clear mechanisms in place to:
Organisations need to ensure that job titles and job postings are inclusive and gender neutral and that their recruitment processes are inclusive and not open to bias.
This has several implications:
While job descriptions aren’t mentioned specifically in the Directive, they form the foundational building blocks to operationalize many of the requirements.
For this reason, ensuring you have standardisation and governance over your job descriptions is essential.
To ensure that you can prepare for the directive, and be able to carry out on-going management, you need to have a robust approach to standardising, creating, and governing your job descriptions.
Every organisation within the EU will need to have a deep understanding of the pay equity situation of their job groupings.
First of all, this requires grouping jobs based on equal work and equal value, according to objective criteria.
Until you know which jobs are of equal value, and therefore in the same group, it will be challenging to run the reporting. For any organisation who does not have a consolidated view of the value of their work, it is highly recommended that you review your job evaluation so that you have enough time to analyse the pay for each group ahead of June 2026.
The EU Pay TransparencyDirective is far more rigorous than any pay transparency legislation seen so far, with far-reaching operational implications across both compensation and talent management processes.
It’s about more than just displaying pay bands on job postings, the Directive requires companies to consider their compensation and talent management practices.
For any organisation with employees in the EU, there is now, more than ever, an urgency to get your house in order across key talent and compensation processes.
Job levelling is a systematic process that HR teams use to define and compare job roles within an organisation. It’s often referred to as job evaluation or job classification.
This process is used by organisations to evaluate and categorise roles within the company based on factors such as level of responsibility, skills and knowledge, impact on the business, and the complexity of tasks.
It creates a structured framework for companies to standardise how roles are evaluated and aligned with the organisation.
From an employee perspective, it helps to make clear what is expected of them in a particular role, and how their work and responsibilities fit into the broader company structure.
In this article, we’ll look at job levelling, and why it matters.
Job levelling offers several key benefits:
A number of different factors are considered in job levelling, such as skills, responsibilities, experience, knowledge, and the impact of the role on the organisation.
There are several different methods used by organisations, which range from very structured processes based on quantitative data to more, informal, less structured systems that utilise qualitative data.
Here are some of the most common.
Ranking, or job slotting
In this method, positions are directly assigned to predetermined grades or salary levels based on a quick comparison with benchmark positions. Job descriptions are compared to established role profiles and then placed in the most appropriate grade.
This method is faster and less resource-intensive than other job evaluation methods, making it particularly useful for smaller organisations or when evaluating new positions. However, it can be less precise and more subjective than other evaluation methods, potentially raising concerns about accuracy and fairness.
Job classification
Job classification is a more structured approach which involves systematically categorising positions into grades based on predefined criteria. In contrast to job slotting, it uses a more detailed analysis of job characteristics against established grade definitions.
This approach can produce greater consistency across similar roles, the development of a clear organisational structure, and standardised pay ranges.
From a pay equity perspective, this more systematic approach is easier to explain and justify. The drawbacks are that implementation can be time-consuming, while the potential rigidity in grade definition can make it a challenge to accommodate unique roles.
It’s also a system which requires regular reviews to maintain relevance.
Factor comparison method
Factor comparison is a quantitative job evaluation method that evaluates jobs by comparing them against factors or criteria (such as skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions). It involves evaluating jobs on a factor-by-factor basis.
This is a more analytical and detailed job comparison approach which better supports pay equity and pay transparency. It’s also more effective for unique jobs because each role is considered individually.
The potential downsides are that factor comparison can be complex, time-consuming, and requires significant expertise to implement. It can also be expensive to maintain, and HR teams may face resistance due to its complexity.
Point factor method
The point factor method is essentially an evolution of the factor comparison method. It builds on factor comparison by assigning numerical points to factors. Each factor (such as skill, effort, responsibility) is broken down into levels, with specific points allocated to each level.
A questionnaire is developed so that points can be assigned for each factor for a job role. The points are then added up to produce a score. This score is then matched against the levelling structure to determine the job level. Each level has a predefined total score range so the jobs are automatically sorted into levels via their total score.
This method allows organisations to adjust the relationship between points and pay more easily. The structured nature of this method provides greater objectivity and consistency in evaluations. It still requires significant time investment in developing and maintaining the point system and factor definitions.
Competitive market analysis
This approach focuses on external data, using job descriptions to compare jobs to identical or similar positions in the external marketplace. Pay data is collected from published sources and the value of the position within the competitive market is determined.
This approach helps organisations to consider their positioning on compensation and is used by many companies to assess internal pay equity and the competitive value of individual positions.
Job evaluation is seen as a critical tool in moving towards pay equity and in turn enabling pay transparency, as it provides the basis for evaluating different jobs to determine whether fair compensation is being paid
With the EU Pay Transparency Directive due to come into force in June 2026, job levelling will become key for many companies affected by the legislation.
Job evaluation provides a systematic, objective framework to assess the relative worth of different jobs within an organisation.
The more structured approaches outlined here should help to ensure that any pay differences are based on legitimate job-related factors rather than bias or discrimination.
Though this will involve some time and effort, it will help organisations comply with equal pay legislation and promote workplace fairness.
In summary
By standardising roles, job levelling carries a number of benefits, enabling companies to promote equity, improve talent management, and support employee growth.
With pay transparency legislation being introduced around the world, and more specifically the EU Pay Transparency Directive, job levelling will play a key role in assessment of equal pay.
The importance of digital transformation in HR has never been clearer. As the role of HR becomes more strategic and aligned with business objectives, it has had to adopt technology and the new ways of working that accompany it.
This is because technology has the potential to automate and streamline key HR tasks, freeing up time for teams to focus on more strategic work.
HR digital transformation is a strategic shift that drives efficiency, supports agility, and ultimately positions companies for long-term success in a competitive world.
Broadly speaking, digital transformation refers to the need for businesses to adapt to changing customer behaviour and expectations. This behavioural change has been brought about by technology - the internet, smartphones, social media, and the habits they have brought with them.
The common theme behind digital transformation is the need to adapt existing technology, structures, and ways of working to meet changing customer and employee needs.
The need for businesses to adapt to changing circumstances is not a new concept in itself, but the vast changes brought about by the internet and the technology used to access it have provided new challenges for organisations.
From a HR perspective, the purpose of digital transformation is to improve the employee experience, enhance HR efficiency and effectiveness, and use data-driven insights to support strategic decision-making.
HR digital transformation is about reshaping how human resources function to enhance employee experiences, drive efficiency, and leverage data for smarter decision-making.
Adapting to the modern workforce
With remote and hybrid work now common in most organisations, distributed teams across different countries and time zones, and changing employee expectations, HR must evolve to support a more flexible and dynamic workforce.
Digital tools enable better communication, collaboration, and real-time feedback, regardless of location.
Increasing efficiency and productivity
With HR staff spending as much as 57% of their time on administrative tasks, automation reduces time spent on repetitive tasks like payroll, scheduling, and paperwork, freeing up time to focus on strategic initiatives.
Cloud-based HR platforms can integrate various HR functions (recruitment, onboarding, performance management) into one centralised system, making it easier to manage tasks and track employee progress.
Improving the employee experience
Digital HR systems can be used to empower employees to access and manage their own information. For example, employee self-service portals can provide personalised information, access to HR resources and communication channels.
Personalised learning and development platforms can enable employees to explore career growth opportunities and skill-building resources, fostering continuous learning.
By simplifying processes and putting employees in control, digital transformation helps create a more responsive, supportive, and connected workplace.
The need for data transformation
HR data around jobs is often disorganised and unaligned, and can be lacking key information.
49% of companies say their job descriptions may not be accurate, while 32% are lacking consistency in their job titles. This can be an issue when attempting to hire candidates with a specific skill set or reward employees based on their performance within the demands of their role.
Disorganised job data can also lead to inconsistencies in salary ranges across roles, business areas and regions. This carries the risk of pay equity claims, and makes compliance with pay transparency laws a challenge.
Data transformation can ensure that job data is digitised and centralised can streamline many aspects of business HR admin and improve hiring speed, employee progression and job evaluation.
Data-driven decision making
Digital transformation, and data transformation enables HR teams to collect and analyse vast amounts of employee data.
This enables organisations to make informed decisions regarding talent acquisition, retention, skills analysis, and workforce planning.
Improved recruitment and retention
Tech can streamline and improve the process of creating job descriptions and job adverts, creating greater efficiencies, while also improving the quality of job descriptions. This enables companies to attract a more diverse pool of candidates through well-honed job adverts.
HR digital tools can also streamline the hiring process by using AI to screen applications, match candidates, and even conduct initial interviews. This speeds up recruitment and helps identify the best talent.
Employee development and upskilling
AI technology has a huge role to play in HR generally, and training is one area where it has already proved to be effective. For example, AI co-pilots have been used to coach sales and customer service teams in real time to improve their performance.
With job architecture in place, AI can also identify skills gaps compared to the requirements of roles, enabling HR to target training more effectively, recommending relevant training courses, and ensuring that employees receive targeted development opportunities.
Cost reduction
HR tech from tools such as payroll software to expense management reduces the need for manual processes and saves staff time and admin costs.
Likewise, the automation of the creation and management of job descriptions leads to efficiency savings and reduces time to hire, as well as enabling the creation of more accurate and appealing job adverts which better match the role.
Improved diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
Data transformation also provides a platform through which companies can assess issues around pay equity, making comparisons between the compensation and rewards for similar roles and ensuring equal pay for equal work.
With the EU Pay Transparency Directive on the way, and other pay transparency legislation already introduced around the world, digital transformation is becoming essential. This is because technology enables the creation of automated, flexible, future-proofed job architectures that help govern job creation and pay bandings.
Fostering a digital-ready culture
According to Gartner, 55% of HR leaders believe that their current technology solutions do not cover current and future business needs.
The reason is that HR functions are using technology to automate traditional tasks to free up capacity for higher-value strategic activities, rather than thinking about how tech can positively change the HR function and contribute to business goals.
Digital transformation in HR should ideally encourage a broader shift toward a digital mindset throughout the organisation. It should promote innovation, adaptability, and prepare the organisation for future changes.
In summary: future-proofing through digital transformation
As industries evolve and workforce dynamics shift, HR Digital Transformation provides organisations with the tools, technologies which are needed to remain competitive.
HR digital transformation is as much about organisational change as the adoption of technology. This means cultivating a company culture which encourages experimentation and is adaptable to change.
With a growing trend towards pay transparency, and the introduction of transparency legislation around the world, it’s natural that many organisations will have concerns about the potential drawbacks.
However, it’s important for companies to embrace pay transparency and the benefits it can bring. In this article, we’ll outline the numerous benefits of pay transparency for employers and employees alike.
Equal pay legislation has been in place for decades across Europe and North America, but the issue of gender pay inequality persists. In the US for example, women earned an average of 82% of men’s earnings, according to Pew stats.
Pay transparency aims to help address gender pay gaps by removing the secrecy that has traditionally existed around pay and rewards. If organisations are transparent about pay, it makes it easier to identify and challenge gender pay gaps.
Secrecy around pay has become the norm over the years, and some employers may be concerned that a more open approach will lead to jealousy and resentment amongst employees.
For some employers, there will be concerns that their wage bills will increase, with employees more likely to ask for increased pay when they can compare their pay with that of other employees.
There is also a lot of work involved in implementing pay transparency, as explained by Joel Gascoigne, CEO and Co-founder at social media tech company Buffer:
“Salary transparency, along with other types of transparency, does inherently create extra work for us. The work in adhering to salary transparency, including our formula and the communication required to guide people through how it works, is not insignificant.”
While these are understandable concerns, the benefits of transparency outweigh the potential drawbacks. Indeed, some studies have shown that pay secrecy negatively impacts performance.
Pay transparency has been shown to reduce pay gaps for the simple reason that, without secrecy around pay, employers are compelled to scrutinise their pay practices and structures to identify and address inequality.
In addition, when current or potential new employees know how their pay compares with others, they’re more likely to bring up these inequalities and put pressure on employers.
One example of pay transparency comes from Buffer, which introduced this as a policy a decade ago. As part of its transparency policy, the company doesn’t have salary negotiations, and publishes its salary and gender pay gap data annually.
As a result, the gender pay gap at Buffer has gradually reduced over the last few years, and was down to 0.4% in 2022.
For potential candidates, looking for new roles can be a frustrating process, made more so by the lack of visibility over potential salaries. This can deter potential candidates.
Conversely, transparency over salaries can make job adverts more attractive to potential candidates, more so in competitive industries.
A recent Gartner survey revealed the importance of pay transparency for recruitment. 64% of candidates surveyed said they are more likely to apply for roles that include compensation in the description, while 44% decided not to apply for jobs because salary information was not included.
Transparency helps to build a culture of honesty and openness, which is a healthy thing, improving trust in management. Buffer CEO Joel Gascoigne sees pay transparency and the trust it creates within an organisation as the foundation of great teamwork.
When employees understand how pay decisions are made, they are more likely to feel they are being treated fairly and equitably.
Pay transparency is increasingly becoming a legal requirement for organisations, with pay transparency legislation active around the world.
In general, pay transparency laws in the US centre around requirements for publishing salaries or salary ranges in job adverts.
For example, California requires all employers with 15 or more employees to include the pay scale for a position in any job posting. They must also maintain records of a job title and wage rate history for each employee for the duration of employment plus three years.
Some European countries, France and Sweden included, already have more stringent laws in place, while the EU Pay Transparency directive will become law by 2026 across the EU.
Trust in fairness around remuneration, and satisfaction with pay leads to higher employee engagement, and a more motivated workforce. HBR research suggests that pay transparency can lead to productivity benefits.
Transparent pay policies can also reduce turnover, as employees are less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere if they feel their compensation is fair.
A survey by PayScale on staff retention found that pay transparency produced a 30% increase in employee satisfaction and a 29% decrease in staff turnover rates.
A positive brand reputation impacts the company in a number of ways, from improved sales and customer loyalty, to being more attractive to potential candidates.
Companies that practice pay transparency are often viewed as more progressive and ethical, enhancing their reputation in the talent market. They also avoid the damage to brand reputation that can be caused by pay equity claims.
Pay transparency can lead to a better alignment of performance with rewards. When employees understand how their compensation is determined, and they have a clear idea of what they need to do to reach the next level, they have more motivation.
Transparency can also remove favouritism and discrimination, as pay must be based on measurable performance, qualifications, and experience.
While the introduction of more transparent policies around pay involves some effort, the benefits of pay transparency are numerous. Most importantly, these policies help to ensure that workers are paid fairly, while it positively affects the ability to attract and retain the best employees.
In today’s dynamic business environment, organisations face the challenge of managing ever-evolving job roles. The skills required for these roles are also constantly changing
By implementing job families, organisations can streamline talent development, simplify reward structures, enhance career progression, and foster a more strategic approach to workforce planning.
A job family framework not only simplifies the creation of clear career pathways for employees but also helps to identify skill gaps and facilitate learning programmes.
Job families provide an organisation with a simplified framework for managing pay and reward. The number of distinct reward structures will be reduced, making it easier to manage pay processes and communicate pay information. If a job evaluation process is in place, a job family structure makes it possible to evaluate the high-level roles within each family rather than evaluating each job in each location/team.
A job family structure can often facilitate better communication and transparency around pay. When you have a job family structure with standardised role profiles and job titles, you’re able to establish your grading and pay bandings at this higher level.
If roles are aligned to a job family structure, and each profile has a grade or level and a pay banding, it makes it much easier to look across your organisation and spot any pay equity issues.
Many organisations are looking at moving to a skills-based approach. To do this you need to have a clear understanding of the work being done on the ground and the skills needed to deliver this work.
Having a job family framework in place makes mapping out potential career paths for employees easier. Mapping job titles and skills into a job family framework makes it much easier to look laterally and develop cross-functional career paths.
Job families based on common skills and/or capabilities help facilitate the development of learning content. A key advantage is that Capability Academies can be aligned to job families, provided these have been categorised based on common skills and capabilities.
A job family framework helps simplify many compliance and reporting requirements, whether that is for equal pay, gender pay gap analysis or other compliance and legislative reporting requirements.
Aligning your jobs into job families is an enabler of better workforce planning and increased workforce agility. It provides you with the framework to consolidate all your skills and work in a structured format, that then allows you to identify commonalities of skills and work and increase your workforce agility.
To learn more, download our latest guide: Five Steps to Building Job Families
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