A

Term Description
Area of impact One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the impact that the job has on the university by measuring the specific organizational entities where the impact will be felt. Breadth of impact; used in tandem with the nature of impact.

B

Term Description
Business expertise One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the knowledge and expertise about the university, rather than “technical expertise,” specific to the function of that job within the educational industry.

C

Term Description
Career progression The process of managing one's learning and work transitions in order to move toward a preferred future employment state. Career progression is often marked by higher level roles, but also includes a variety of lateral moves to achieve the desired employment state.
Classification A group of positions sufficiently similar in the description of duties and responsibilities.
Compensation A systematic approach to providing monetary value to employees in exchange for work performed. Compensation includes: base pay, overtime, merit, travel, retirement, leave time and benefits including dental, medical, etc.
Compensation/pay structure A structure of job grades and pay ranges established within an organization. May be expressed as job grades or job evaluation points.

D

Term Description
Diverse activities When looking at the tasks of a job, diverse activities have different sets of supporting concepts and principles. For example, accounting and information technology would be considered diverse activities. Recruiting and training would be considered similar activities. May be used in some context during grading.

E

Term Description
Equitable Fair and impartial.
External events Events produced outside the company include conferences, seminars, public relations events, trade marketing events, etc.

F

Term Description
Fast-changing environment Environment in which the market, products, services, customer needs, competition and governing laws and legislation, regularly change on at least an annual basis. For example, problem solving may be needed when the number of responsibilities/activities means that the constant operational pace adds an extra dimension of rapid change. Alternatively, many standards related to governance are currently under scrutiny. While many things are changing, it is not a regular occurrence and thus would not be considered a fast-changing area. Alternatively, May be used in some context during grading.
Feedback Positive or negative information provided in response to a question, scenario or situation.
Front-line supervisor A first- or second-level manager who oversees and is responsible for performance management and employment decisions for the work of other employees.
Functional knowledge One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the knowledge of functional work and activities by ranking work extending from “tasks” to “full theory and practice" in more than one discipline.

G

Term Description
Global Grading System (GGS) GGS is a job leveling tool for determining internal job levels based on an analysis of universally applicable factors proven to recognize differences in job size. It uses an organization's size, complexity and geographic breadth to assess the number of levels in its grading framework. It then evaluates jobs as part of a two-step process of banding and grading: Banding places jobs in the framework based on how they contribute to your organization, reflecting a dual career path; the grading step assesses jobs against standard factors.
Guru An acknowledged expert or thought leader in a key technical or knowledge area.

I

Term Description
Individual contributor The individual contributor is a non-management member of the business team that contributes to the goals and mission of the company.
Interpersonal skills One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the level and type of skills used to interact and communicate with others that are normally required in order to perform a role.

J

Term Description
Job code Identifier for a job description.
Job evaluation The process of defining a job hierarchy by assessing the relative scope of one job compared to another.
Job function The routine set of tasks or activities undertaken by a person in a position.
Job grading Assesses jobs against standard factors to determine relative size of the role.
Job leveling Job leveling is an analytical process that can determine the relative value of jobs in your organization.
Job posting The method of advertising for vacancies by posting a notice of the opening on job boards, university website, etc.

K

L

Term Description
Leadership Direction and guidance provided to others This involves the activity of leading a group of individuals to accomplish the goals of the organization. On the lower end of the spectrum this can mean informal leadership an individual contributor may have while on the higher end it may mean establishing vision, setting strategy, goals and objectives. This is also one of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading.

M

Term Description
Manager An employee who oversees and is responsible for leading certain functions/department/other employees or professionals and is responsible for the performance management.
Market comparison The method of defining similar or like pay structures for a particular job. Markets may be local or national (even international) in their scope and are made up of smaller, interacting markets for different qualifications, skills, and geographical locations.
Mentor Role that is expected to work closely with junior team members and serve as a support resource and guide. Mentors will not necessarily monitor regular daily work but will make themselves regularly available for advice and counsel. May be used in some context during grading.

N

Term Description
Nature of impact One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the way the job impacts the university by measuring the associated responsibility. Depth of impact; works in tandem with the area of impact.
Non-exempt employee An employee who is subject to the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act because of his or her assigned duties and salary.

O

P

Term Description
Performance Management The process of maintaining or improving employee job performance through the use of performance assessment tools, coaching and counseling as well as
providing continuous feedback.
Position Description The defined description of what an employee does in their designated role.
Practices Customary application of the body of knowledge within a discipline.
Principles The comprehensive and fundamental bases of a discipline that serve as a broad guide to understanding the objectives of the discipline.
Problem solving One of the seven Towers Watson factors used for grading, this measures the level of mental and analytical skills required to solve problems to perform a particular role.
Procedure A sequence of predetermined steps or rules that managers and employees must respect in the context of their work and in how they solve problems. Procedures are most typically formal and written but can also be informal and undocumented.
Professional leadership

Involves supervising a team of professionals. In addition to providing typical supervisory activities, the professional development of the team is also a requirement. Professional leadership includes setting objectives, coaching employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes.
Professionals Employees who work within a discipline with a formal body of knowledge that has its own set of principles and theories. Professionals typically gain their knowledge through formal training at a similar level to a university degree. To be considered a professional, the employee must be in a position where they can draw from the formal body of knowledge to solve problems, make recommendations and attain the objectives of the work.

Q

R

Term Description
Reclassification The process of changing a position in one class to a different class based on a change in the job duties.
Research In this context, research does not need to be formal or scientific research but rather is the act of exhaustively investigating an issue or problem, or examining, in-depth, information about a particular subject.
Resources Considered as people, finances, equipment, etc.

S

Term Description
Scientific area Includes chemical, biological, mathematical, medical, engineering-based and technology-based knowledge areas.
Subject Matter Expert (SME) A person who has detailed knowledge in a particular area or topic.
Supervision Includes overseeing and directing the activities of a group of employees. Supervision should include conducting performance reviews, providing input on salary increases, monitoring the quality of work in progress, providing input to hiring and firing decisions, etc.

T-U

Term Description
Teams A group of people working together to achieve a common objective. Can be a subset of an area or of a small sub-function. An example of teams within an area might be Accounts Receivable for a specific group.
Theories The underlying general assumptions and hypotheses related to a body of knowledge.

V-W

Job Evaluation and Grading Project

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