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We have also taken the opportunity to use this extended period to include Argyll College UHI, a recent signatory to the National Recognition and Procedures Agreement, in the current scope of work. Our thanks go to the college staff in working to get the required documentation for around 30 roles to us this month.
We now have 22 colleges taking part in the project with around 2,460 roles being taken through the first and second scoring process. We can confirm that 94% of the roles have been through the final scoring process (both first and second scored) and six out of the 22 colleges have been fully completed.
Prior to presenting the outcomes from the evaluation process to college HR departments, as part of the verification process, the last step will be for the project team to conduct a final quality assurance check on the final scores on the completed colleges. This work will commence shortly.
Discussions continue between the support staff and management sides around the development of pay and grading options. There will be a separate, more detailed update on this area shortly, with indicative timescales for completing this stage of the project.
We thought it would be useful to provide a brief update on the Job Evaluation project ahead of the Summer holiday period.
As reported in our previous update at the end of April 2021, the plan was for all first and second scoring to be concluded by early July 2021. However, following some further updates on the overall list of roles requiring to be evaluated and with this, the delay in receiving the completed Role Outline Questionnaires, along with several Role Analysts having left the project in recent months, we have had to revisit these timescales.
It is our utmost priority to ensure that all first and second scoring is not only completed but follows the agreed process, so that everyone can have confidence in the final outcomes. We are now estimating, taking into account significant holiday period over the Summer, that we will require up to six months (end December 2021) to conclude this stage of the project.
This latest development does not however mean that project activity is not progressing at pace. We can confirm that 76% of the roles across the 21 colleges have been through the final scoring process (both first and second scored) and that work around pay and grading continues, with weekly dialogue taking place between both the support staff and management sides which will continue over the next few months and start to form the development and costing of revised pay and grade options.
A further update will be provided as college staff return in the new Academic Year.
Once again, our continued thanks go to the college staff in working to get the required documentation to us and to the Role Analysts who remain with us on the project.
If you have any questions, you can contact your college HR department, Job Evaluation Project Team or UNISON, GMB, Unite.
We would firstly like to thank all the college support staff for bearing with us through what is a significant but also lengthy Job Evaluation project. Activity continues as planned and we hope you will find this update useful.
Data cleansing and gathering further clarity from staff within the sector has continued throughout, to ensure robust information is being used for the process, and we would like to thank college staff in working to get responses to queries back to us so quickly.
Following a final review at the beginning of the year with college HR departments on the definite list of roles to be evaluated, the project team identified a significant increase in the estimated number of roles which are required to be evaluated across the 21 colleges. We now have around 2,430 roles being taken through the first and second scoring process.
This latest development means that we are now anticipating early July 2021 for completion of the final scoring process. The project is moving at pace though and over 58% of the roles have been through the final scoring process (both first and second scored) with two colleges fully complete and further six colleges are already nearly 90% complete.
Work around pay and grading is also progressing at pace and is being taken forward alongside the evaluation process. The Pay Modelling Software being used for this area of work is supplied by Zellis (previously NorthgateArinso). Work is beginning now on this and we hope to be able to report further progress in late summer. The Appeals Stage though is estimated to conclude in 2022.
We have two key working groups (Job Evaluation Working Group and Pay Working Group) as part of the project which are responsible for directing and supporting the various areas of work. These groups, which have members from both the support staff and management sides, continue to hold meaningful dialogue on key activity around every 6 weeks.
Once again, our continued thanks go to the Role Analysts for their hard work and for remaining with us throughout the project.
If you have any questions, you can contact your college HR department, Job Evaluation Project Team or UNISON, GMB, Unite.
First scoring is rapidly approaching conclusion, with five colleges having been fully evaluated with a further 11 colleges being 90%+ complete. The first scoring process is now projected to be completed by November 2020.
As previously reported, the timescale for outputs were revised in line with a later start in live evaluation. In light of this and to ensure that the project continued to be delivered on time and on budget, whilst ensuring the integrity of the Job Evaluation Scheme, the project team has recently revisited the second stage scoring process and recommended an amendment, as outlined in the agreed Role Analysis Protocol. This amendment reflected that during the second scoring process, only one Role Analyst will proceed to single score each individual role before joint scoring with a member from the first scoring panel (either a management or staff side), to produce a final agreed score.
This recommendation was agreed by the Job Evaluation Working Group and ratified by the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) Side Table (Support) during October 2020. The amended version of the Role Analysis Protocol is available to view on the NJNC website. Second scoring has now commenced and is projected to be complete by April 2021.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Role Analysts for their continued perseverance and dedication to continue the work on the project, especially during the difficult times we have being faced with. This is very much recognised and appreciated by the project team.
We are now over 5 months into live evaluation of the roles and have started on nearly every college in scope. We are nearly finished the first scoring of 5 colleges and pace is really starting to increase as the analysts become more experienced and we continue to work to refine the guidance around the scheme. At present we have 21 analysts working on the project with a good balance between staff side and management side nominations on the panels which are working well together.
Our partners in the project at ECC, who provide the scheme we are using, have provided some positive feedback on the work of the analysts and will continue to assist us in ensuring the scheme is applied consistently and correctly.
The timescale for output has however required revision due to the later start of the live evaluation (January 2020 instead of November 2019) and the anticipated pace of work has been slower with outputs now scheduled for quarter 1 2021. Over the coming weeks we will be in touch with colleges who have analysts released to discuss any extensions required.
We would also like to thank staff in colleges for working to get responses to queries back to us quickly, particularly at this time when there are many competing priorities.