Introduction

"Job leveling" is an effort undertaken to categorize and harmonize title levels across your organization.  A leveling guide provides a system outlining the criteria for hierarchical levels with a common, shared framework for titles.

When done properly, job leveling is a “consistent methodology and decision support for assigning job levels and titles that are based on enterprise-wide criteria, which eliminates guesswork and promotes trust and confidence in the organization’s job assignments and rewards practices.” (Deloitte)

This type of project is also sometimes called “title normalization” because the intent is to have a common framework for titles across your organization.

The Benefits of Leveling

• Provides clarity to your workforce about what is required at each job level.
• Makes levels & titles objective rather than what can appear to be arbitrary. It is literal and tangible and can be used as a performance guide.
• Helps create an equitable workplace by systemizing how titles are determined.
• Because level criteria are made available to everyone it fosters a transparent culture, eliminates confusion, and creates trust in the workplace.
• Minimizes distraction for employees wondering about fair distribution of work.
• Creates a common language for career pathways and performance expectations.
• Creates a consistent framework and set of criteria for managers to evaluate performance and discuss professional development with their direct reports.

When to Undertake a Leveling Project

When companies scale headcount quickly it causes many underlying issues if there is not a common framework used for leveling. If you create a leveling framework early, it avoids a significant effort to level the entire company when you are much larger. Common signs of a leveling problem include:

• Imbalances in titles across the organization (for example, too many directors, or directors with disparate levels of responsibility, span of control, and experience levels).
• Too many titles.
• Lack of clarity about professional development; Inconsistency in how staff progress in their careers.
• Managers unequipped to discuss career progression leading to frustration and confusion.

Leveling Template

You can use these resources to help guide your leveling efforts.