Job Evaluation

Job evaluation aims to assess the relative value of roles in a consistent and equitable manner. The aim is to evaluate jobs fairly and ensure equal pay for work of equal value. The system used in the University is Higher Education Role Analysis (HERA), which has been recognised by the Equal Opportunities Commission as non-discriminatory job evaluation scheme. HERA is a tool used to analyse roles found in Higher Education institutions. It was developed by a consortium of higher education institutions to cover the vast range of jobs which can be found within the higher education sector. The scheme has been rigorously tested at a national level to ensure that it is fit for purpose. This system was introduced as part of the framework exercise in 2006 and specifically developed for higher education. The HERA score determines the grade banding that a role falls into on the University of Stirling pay and grading structure.

Analysis of the duties and responsibilities of the role will be carried out by a trained HERA role analyst from HR&OD. The HR Operations Team are responsible for co-ordinating and maintaining a database of evaluated roles within the University.

Job evaluation is carried out to meet organisational needs, the need to evaluate a role will be triggered for one of the following reasons:

  • A need for new work and therefore a new role
  • A significant permanent change to the duties and responsibilities of an existing role
  • Organisational change / restructure

View a case study of the improvements we have made with this process.

Grading Process

Generic role profiles for Academic and Research roles have been evaluated and graded and can be found below: