Retention and turnover are constant sources of concern for HR leaders. And for good reason: getting employees to stay and grow with your organization is good for culture and business. Workers have been clear about what gets them to stay with their employer: they want opportunities for growth and advancement.
HR pros are increasingly turning to job leveling as a strategic way to improve retention. So let’s talk about job leveling: what it is, its impact, and how to implement it at your company.
What is job leveling?
Job leveling, also known as job classification or job grading, is a system used to organize, define, and rank roles within an organization. The process involves assessing several factors for each position throughout the company, including:
- Job responsibilities
- Requisite job skills
- Organizational impact
- Decision-making power
Following the assessment, positions are then graded and placed on ranked levels. This allows HR teams to better understand their staffing needs, create clearer paths for internal career mobility, and determine appropriate compensation for each role.
The benefits of job leveling
Job leveling builds the foundation for critical processes like learning and development (L&D), talent acquisition and retention, and succession planning. When you have a clearer understanding of each role within your business, you can:
- Align learning & development programs to career growth: Understanding which skills are critical within various roles allows you to design more impactful training and education experiences.
- Strengthen hiring and boost engagement: Job leveling establishes clear links between specific roles, which helps bring clarity to the hiring process and shows current employees how they can grow. When employees have a clear path to advancement, they’re more likely to be engaged and, ultimately, stick with the company for longer.
- Improve succession planning: When you understand the complexity, skills requirements, and training needs of a role, you can spot high-potential talent early, build better talent pipelines, and prepare candidates to step in when a key role opens up.
Job leveling vs. career pathing
Job leveling and career pathing may seem similar, but these strategies have key differences.
Job leveling organizes roles within a structured framework where they’re ranked by scope and responsibility. Career pathing builds on that framework by showing employees exactly what skills and milestones they need to advance between those ranks.
In other words, job leveling is the map, and career pathing is the guide that helps employees navigate it.
The role descriptions created through job leveling should make it easier to pinpoint the training and education that employees need to move from one job to the next. So while these strategies may be different, they work hand-in-hand to support employee growth.
Job leveling vs. succession planning
Succession planning is how companies prepare to fill important roles when someone leaves. This can be anticipatory, as in the event of a planned exit such as a retirement, or precautionary to avoid an unexpected and potentially costly departure.
Job leveling gives you a clear view of the skills and experience needed for each role, including ones that require a succession plan. With that foundation in place, you’re able to identify and prepare the right people to step into them when the time comes.
Job leveling examples
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula for job leveling across industries. Your approach depends on your industry, company size, and internal hierarchy system.
Nursing job hierarchies are often based on particular formal training levels and certifications, so we’ll use that as our example.
How to implement job leveling
Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Align with long-term goals: Make sure your job leveling strategy supports your long-term growth goals, and prioritize roles accordingly. Start with the roles that matter most, then expand gradually.
- Involve the right people: Gather feedback from stakeholders who work closely with the roles being defined. Their insights are critical, and bringing them into the process helps to build buy-in.
- Build a repeatable framework: Create a flexible template that can be used across teams and departments. Include fields that matter most to your business, like key skills, compensation, and credentials.
- Get the word out: Job leveling doesn’t stop at documentation. Make sure that both managers and individual contributors are aware of the changes, and know what they mean for their individual development.
Getting started with job leveling
Giving your employees opportunities to grow is one of the most effective ways to cultivate a more engaged and stable workforce—a crucial strategy to address turnover and retention. Job leveling can help you align employee growth to your broader organizational goals so that your people and your business thrive in tandem.
Looking for more talent development resources? Download this skill-building guide to learn how to build effective upskilling programs that support your retention goals.
