Deck 8: Evaluating Jobs: the Point Method of Job Evaluation

Question 1

A living wage is the same as the minimum wage.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The following are hypothetical points provided to the following jobs: ∙ heavy-duty mechanic: 900
∙ human resource specialist: 900
∙ technician: 900
The organization sees these positions as having equal value from a base pay perspective; hence,there is no difference in pay.What term best describes the grouping of these jobs?

A) pay grade
B) range tightness
C) pay range
D) pay structure

Answer 2

A

Question 3

One possible solution to excessive pay scale overlaps is to ensure that the maximum pay in a lower scale is less than the midpoint of the next higher pay scale

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The final step in developing a job evaluation system using a point method requires that the job hierarchy scheme meet certain criteria,including validity and market fit.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a source of gender bias associated with developing a point method job evaluation process?

A) excessive range in the degree statements
B) excluding factors often associated with female dominated positions
C) biased job descriptions
D) separate job families

Question 6

In calibrating job evaluation results with the market,we select "key" organizational jobs for market comparisons.What are these "key" jobs called?

A) benchmark jobs
B) market comparators
C) market calibrators
D) compensable jobs

Question 7

Broad banding results in fewer jobs in a pay grade.

Question 8

Assume that options (a),(b),(c),and (d)below represent degree 1,2,3,and 4,respectively,for the formal education factor on your summary rating chart for the point method of job evaluation.Based on the degree definitions,which of the following degrees is arranged out of place on the chart?

A) degree 1: completion of high school
B) degree 2: one year of post-secondary education
C) degree 3: three year college diploma or university degree
D) degree 4: completion of grade 9

Question 9

The two methods for deriving factor weightings are statistical analysis and expert judgment.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT a job evaluation compensable factor required by pay equity legislation in Ontario?

A) skill
B) effort
C) working conditions
D) market comparability

Question 11

Four main categories of compensable factors are used widely in industry.Which of the following could be included in the skill category?

A) John is often exposed to chemicals.
B) Marie needs to solve a variety of problems at work.
C) Dwayne is held accountable for error rates.
D) Dolores often has to be able to lift 25 kg boxes.

Question 12

Which statement best describes the use of job evaluations and pay equity in Ontario?

A) Multiple plans can be used for a bargaining unit in unionized organizations.
B) A single plan is required for a bargaining unit in unionized organizations.
C) The job evaluation system must use between 8-12 compensable factors.
D) If the organization is not unionized,Ontario legislation requires the use of different plans for blue-collar and white-collar jobs.

Question 13

The primary drawback associated with using the point method of job evaluation is that it provides an illusion of a scientific process when in fact the method relies significantly on the judgment of evaluators in selecting appropriate weights

Question 14

Job evaluations help to establish internal equity.

Question 15

Reliability of the job evaluation system means that the system will produce the same results even if different evaluators are used.

Question 16

After several evaluators apply the job evaluation system to a heavy-duty mechanic job,you find significant discrepancies in the weights associated with each compensable factor.What is NOT likely to be a reason for the discrepancies?

A) factor definition being used by the evaluators
B) job information provided to the evaluators
C) evaluators using the wrong benchmarks
D) degree of definition provided to the evaluators

Question 17

A pay grade is the same as a pay range.

Question 18

What type of gender bias problem is exemplified by the belief that "any of the skills needed to work with young children should not be highly rated because care giving comes natural to women"?

A) ignoring factors found in female jobs
B) confusing job content with stereotypes
C) biased job descriptions
D) differential evaluation of factors

Question 19

Under pay equity legislation,organizations need to evaluate three out of the four main categories of compensable factors in evaluating jobs.

Question 20

You have been asked to provide rationale for clustering jobs into so-called pay grades.What is NOT likely to be included in your rationale?

A) Clustering of organization tends to reduce labour costs.
B) It facilitates the administrative process; one pay range can cover several jobs.
C) Slight changes in job content do not necessarily trigger a review.
D) It accounts for the fact job evaluations are to a large degree subjective in nature.

Question 21

What is a negative consequence of clustering jobs into pay grades?

A) Pay grades make it difficult to justify and explain pay rates to employees.
B) Pay grades create less stability for the pay system.
C) There may be pressure to reclassify borderline jobs or to promote people to get more money.
D) Similar jobs are grouped into the same grades.

Question 22

What is generally NOT considered an advantage of the point method of job evaluation?

A) It gives the relative value of jobs.
B) It helps to establish internal equity among jobs.
C) It helps to establish market rates for jobs.
D) It has a high degree of precision.

Question 23

The pay policy line is used to establish which pay structure component?

A) midpoint of the pay range
B) range spreads
C) overlaps between ranges
D) pay grade size

Question 24

After reviewing pay ranges for your organization,you realize a significant number of pay ranges do not overlap or do not connect.For example,the maximum of the pay range for pay grade number 2 is $50,000 and the minimum range for pay grade number 3 is $60,000.00.What is a potential root cause of this issue?

A) Ranges are too narrow and/or there are not enough pay grades.
B) An equal approach method was used to establish pay grades.
C) An equal percentage method was used to establish pay grades.
D) Poor benchmark jobs were used to establish pay grades.

Question 25

Which of the following is an inevitable outcome of broad banding?

A) There are increased labour costs,as everyone is paid more for specific jobs.
B) It decreases the level of flexibility within the pay grades.
C) It tends to lead to "skinny" pay grades.
D) Jobs with significantly different scores end up in the same "band."

Question 26

The textbook identifies four possible pitfalls associated with the point method of job evaluation.Which category of pitfalls would include a situation whereby the factor is poorly defined,creating a situation in which the evaluator is not clear what the factor is designed to pick up?

A) hierarchical grounding
B) factor overlaps
C) gender bias
D) inconsistent construct

Question 27

Which statement best reflects the relationship between the minimum wage and a living wage?

A) They are the same.
B) A living wage tends to be higher than the minimum wage.
C) The minimum wage tends to be higher than a living wage.
D) A living wage is two times the minimum wage.

Question 28

After plotting a regression (market line),you determine that the slope is very steep.What possible conclusion can you make from observing the slope of the regression line?

A) The correlation coefficient is approaching -1 (negative one).
B) There is too much spread in job evaluation points between low-value and high-value jobs.
C) There is not sufficient spread in job evaluation points between low-value and high-value jobs.
D) Lower-value jobs appear to be compensated above market rates.

Question 29

What does the market line determine?

A) whether the firm should lead,lag,or match the market
B) the relationship of job evaluation results to market pay rates
C) the relationship of job evaluation results to a firm's pay grades
D) a pay rate based on a market survey

Question 30

Under the point method scheme of job evaluation,what is the main characteristic that distinguishes one job from another thereby making a job more valuable to an organization?

A) market comparators
B) regression analysis
C) base pay structure
D) point scores of the jobs

Question 31

What does the correlation coefficient of the market pay line tell you?

A) "goodness of fit" between the job evaluation points and market pay
B) pay equity adjustments to be made
C) degree of freedom in market rates
D) accuracy of the market data

Question 32

Which term refers to the actual minimum and maximum pay rate,in dollar terms,for all the jobs that fall in a particular pay grade?

A) pay range
B) broad banding
C) market anchor
D) step progression

Question 33

Which statement best explains how to establish pay grade sizes using the equal interval approach?

A) Look for natural breaks between clusters of jobs when setting up the grades.
B) Increase the grade widths for higher-value jobs but not necessarily by an equal percentage.
C) Reduce the number of pay grades by creating large bands.
D) Make the point spreads equal for all pay grades.

Question 34

What does a -1 (negative one)correlation coefficient mean?

A) There is a positive relationship between job evaluation points score and pay levels.
B) There is an inverse relationship between job evaluation points score and pay levels.
C) Your regression equation has a very steep upwards slope.
D) There is very little relationship between job evaluation points score and pay levels.

Question 35

Which of the following is NOT a component of the point method of job evaluation?

A) compensable factors
B) total points
C) factor degrees
D) competencies

Question 36

Which practice is a threat to the integrity of the job evaluation system?

A) wider pay grades as the system goes up
B) equal dollar differences between the range midpoint and the range minimum,and between the range midpoint and the range maximum
C) wider range spreads for higher pay grades
D) excessive overlaps between pay ranges

Question 37

Which compensable factor would you include under the main category of "working conditions"?

A) requirements associated with being exposed to health hazards
B) requirements associated with educational levels
C) requirements associated being responsible for the safety of coworkers
D) requirements associated with having to produce certain levels of output

Question 38

Which approach for deriving factor weights tends to be seen as being rather complex and difficult to understand?

A) the "a priori" method
B) the statistical analysis method
C) the testing and functional method
D) the benchmark scallion method

Question 39

In exploring solutions to job evaluation problems,what is NOT one of the main steps?

A) Check that benchmark jobs are equivalent to market comparator jobs.
B) Determine if the wrong factors have been included in the job evaluation system.
C) Adjust the point totals of the outlier jobs to improve the correlation coefficient.
D) Examine whether jobs have been badly evaluated.

Question 40

Two thousand points are distributed between compensable factors,based on the following: education 750 points,time pressure 350 points,customer contact 500 points,and communication skills 400 points.Which step in developing a job evaluation system using the point method recognizes these variations in importance?

A) defining the factors
B) weighting the factors
C) scaling the factors
D) testing the system

Question 41

Identify and briefly describe the main steps in developing a job evaluation system using the point method.

Question 42

What criteria are used to determine movement through the pay range?

Question 43

Briefly describe the main pitfalls in designing a point method system of job evaluation.

Question 44

What are the key considerations in establishing pay grades and pay ranges?

Question 45

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the point method of job evaluation.