Aligning Jobs That Fit Together
Job families are groupings of jobs related by common vocations/professions. Accordingly, they have many similarities. Jobs in a job family are similar in that they:
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Require similar knowledge, skills and abilities (competencies).
- Have a continuum of knowledge, skills and abilities that represent a career path from the lowest to the highest level job.
- Possess associated and related key behaviors.
- Have similar market competitive pay characteristics and conditions.
Why Job Families?
When determining the pay for a particular job, as it relates to all other jobs in an organization, there are differing ways to make that assessment. NU Values is a compensation philosophy that makes the organization of jobs into families a necessary step. In order to meet the University's compensation objectives-- “increased flexibility of program operation, enhanced growth and advancement opportunities, and improved competitiveness with the labor market” --it is necessary to have a way to organize jobs. Arranging jobs into job families is a widely used process, and it is the best solution for accomplishing the University's compensation objectives. For example, when labor market pay pressures affect an organization's ability to attract and retain talented workers, grouping jobs into families makes it easier to see and respond to those pressures.