Job Evaluation Framework (Hay Method)

The Job Evaluation Framework (Hay Method) is a ready-to-use, points-based approach for sizing the relative worth of roles inside an organisation. Rather than ranking jobs by title or gut feel, it scores each role against three core factors: Know-How, Problem Solving, and Accountability. Those scores, read against guide charts, produce a consistent points total that you can map to grades and pay structures. The framework walks from foundation and setup, through evaluating each of the three factors, to implementation and ongoing maintenance. Its value is internal consistency: two very different jobs can be compared on the same rational basis, which supports fair pay decisions and a defensible grading structure across the whole organisation.

Teams turn to the Hay Method when pay grades feel inconsistent, when new or reshaped roles need placing, or when they want a structured, widely understood basis for internal equity. Because it evaluates the demands of the role rather than the person in it, it separates job worth from individual performance, which keeps grading objective. The three-factor logic also travels well across functions, so a technical, a managerial, and a professional role can all be assessed on comparable terms. For organisations building or defending a pay structure, it provides a rigorous, auditable method and a common language that managers and employees can be taught to understand.

The framework is built around setup and three evaluation factors, followed by rollout. Foundation & Setup educates stakeholders on the three core factors, stands up an evaluation committee, obtains or develops the guide charts, defines scope, and collects role documentation. Evaluating Know-How rates depth and breadth of knowledge, managerial and planning breadth, and human relations skill, then validates across comparable roles. Evaluating Problem Solving assesses the thinking environment and thinking challenge and expresses the result as a percentage of Know-How. Evaluating Accountability weighs freedom to act, magnitude of impact, and whether impact is direct or contributory, then checks the profile shape. Implementation & Maintenance maps points to grades, communicates results, evaluates new and changed roles, re-evaluates benchmarks, trains fresh evaluators, and integrates data with HR systems.

Open the template above and start with the setup section, listing your committee, scope, and the roles you plan to evaluate. Work each role through Know-How, Problem Solving, and Accountability, recording your scores and validation notes as you go. When a role is complete, copy the finished evaluation into your grading records, or download it as a PDF or DOCX, or open it in Google Docs to circulate to the committee. No signup is needed, and you can reuse the template for every new or changed role.