Evaluating roles at Oxford Brookes

The HERA framework provides an evaluation methodology that ensures equal pay for work of equal value. 

It provides Oxford Brookes with a consistent framework that enables fair internal comparison, and the ranking of roles according to levels of responsibility in order to identify appropriate pay.

The framework contains 14 competencies, 50 questions and acknowledges a breadth of professions from Academic roles, Professional specialisms such as Finance, through to practical roles, for example Estates. 

It also acknowledges permanent role requirements and responsibility.  

Performance and progression are therefore recognised via other means including recognition awards, ACE and our promotions schemes.

A key objective of job evaluation is to ensure pay parity across the University, and that colleagues are fairly paid for the work completed. 

Job evaluation process and frameworks can also:

• Support managers to shape quality roles that meet the needs of their team and the wider University. 
• Ensure that the pay engages the right candidates to apply for a role.
• Enable effective succession planning and career progression. 
• Encourage retention as staff are being paid fairly and transparently.

It is therefore important that all of our roles are subject to the appropriate process.

The first step is to ensure that the role has a good quality job description that provides a concise overview of duties and responsibilities.  This may involve amending an existing description or developing a new one if the post is new to Oxford Brookes. 

Please refer to our job description writing webpage for a step by step guide on how to develop a description that will support both the evaluation process and a successful recruitment campaign. Your People Manager will also be able to support you with shaping a job description.

Once the job description is finalised, please refer to the job evaluation process guide for next steps. 

If however an individual’s current post has or will permanently and significantly change, the Grading Review process will instead be applied. 

Please complete the HERA request form and attach the relevant documentation. 

A member of the People Manager team will then review your request within 3 working days of receipt and contact you to confirm a  grade outcome via job matching or to provide next steps if a HERA evaluation is required. 

Job matching is the first step in the job evaluation process and acknowledges that roles across the University hold consistent responsibilities.

An experienced Role Analyst will review job descriptions and:

• Compare new and existing roles or amendments to duties. 
• Assess the correlation between duties and responsibilities.
• Make evidence based judgements as to similarity. 

If a sufficient level of similarity is evidenced, the grade of the existing role can be applied or ‘matched’. 

To ensure quality and parity, matching is subject to certain criteria:

• Matching does not apply to Grading Review requests or Senior/SS roles. 
• A grade match can only be established between two posts of the same grade. 
• Comparator roles must have had a recent HERA evaluation.

Amendments to job descriptions and role responsibilities may also result in a grade match where duties have not changed significantly. 

Once reviewed, managers will be notified whether a grade match can be applied or whether a HERA evaluation is required. 

If a grade match is not applicable, a Role Analyst will then evaluate the role using the HERA framework. 

All scoring and grade outcomes are based on evidence of duties and responsibilities. 

To ensure we fully understand role requirements and that roles can be robustly graded, a Role Analyst will review the job description and be in touch to gather further evidence.

To help managers to prepare for any additional questions, we advise reading the HERA competencies guidance, which provides a brief overview of the questions asked by the HERA framework. 

Once all of the necessary evidence has been gathered, the role will be evaluated and an outcome provided within 5 working days, following the evidence collection interview. 

Once a grade outcome has been confirmed, the role can progress to recruitment.  

Please note that roles must undergo the necessary job evaluation process prior to progressing to recruitment. 

There are times where a HERA panel review may be required to support a robust outcome and ensure parity. 

Managers may wish to request a HERA panel review, following receipt of a grade outcome.  This request will be reviewed by the Reward and Progression Partner and the role reviewed at the next panel meeting as appropriate. 

The HERA panel may also choose to review roles where there are complexities for example in relation to scoring. 

Please note that the HERA panel reviews the technical application of scoring, rather than submissions of new or further evidence of responsibility. 

The panel also completes quality checks on both matching and evaluation work to ensure the provision of robust outcomes that provide parity across the University. 

The outcome provided, although different from the indicative grading, ensures that we are remunerating staff across the business in a fair and consistent manner. 

If you have any queries about the outcome, please contact the People Manager who has evaluated the post. They will be able to provide you with further feedback.

A re-evaluation of the role is not applicable within the 12 month period following the evaluation outcome. 

This is to allow enough time for the role and any changes to responsibility to become fully embedded within the team. Managers will also need to demonstrate that there are significant changes to duties. 

The HERA score acknowledges a breadth of responsibility for each grade. The table below provides a breakdown of the boundaries for each grade.

If you have any queries about the job evaluation process or would like further support, please contact the People Manager for your area. 

The job evaluation process chart also provides an overview of each step.