HERA (Higher Education Role Analysis)
All universities and colleges are now required by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to undertake job evaluation. This requirement stemmed from a major concern that the HE sector is not effectively ensuring its obligation to provide equal pay for work of equal value.
Below we have set out frequently asked questions to explain what the HERA system of job evaluation at UEL is and how it is being implemented.
- What agreement was reached by HEIs regarding reforming pay structures?
- What is job evaluation?
- What is HERA?
- How does HERA work?
- How do I get hold of key HERA documents?
What agreement was reached by HEIs regarding reforming pay structures?
The 2003 national ‘Framework Agreement' was agreed by higher education institutions (represented by the Universities & Colleges Employers’ Association) and the trade union representatives, including UCU, UNITE, GMB & UNISON. All parties recognised the need to modernise pay arrangements to:
- Improve recruitment and retention of staff
- Ensure equal pay for work of equal value
- Tackle problems of low pay
- Recognise and reward individual contribution
- Develop career progression.
What is job evaluation?
Job evaluation is a systematic process used for defining the relative size and worth of roles within an organisation. It measures each element of a job, including skills, experience, responsibilities and working conditions and then provides a total score. This provides the basis for designing an equitable grade structure, grading jobs within the structure and managing internal relativities.
What is HERA?
In common with over 80 per cent of HEIs we use Higher Education Role Analysis (HERA) as our job evaluation scheme. HERA is a competency-based scheme designed by the HE sector. It has the ability to assess the value of roles in a fair and consistent manner and has been extensively tested since 1997. In addition, HERA software has been endorsed by the Equal Opportunities Commission as an equitable way of producing a job description. In addition HERA can be used to support other employee-based activities such as, recruitment and selection, staff development and review and also career progression.
How does HERA work?
HERA uses 14 elements, which form the basis of a questionnaire. This questionnaire is an interview tool, used by trained role analysts to gather evidence about an individual's role. Evidence obtained is then rated against set criteria and fed into the HERA computer software. This software produces a role profile and a total points score.
How do I get hold of key HERA documents?
The following documents are available.
- Download guidance documents for role holders.
- Download guidance documents for Managers.
- Download role profile template
- Download the HERA questionnaire
Contact
The key HERA contact at UEL is Rosalynd Milroy at R.Milroy@uel.ac.uk
