Imagine a workplace where everyone understands what different roles and titles entail. Where employees know exactly how to take the next step in their careers. And where salary structures are crystal clear. Does it feel like a distant dream? Then your company needs a job architecture. Here’s how it works!
What Is a Job Architecture?
Job architecture is a structured way of defining roles, responsibilities, skill requirements, career paths, and salary levels within an organisation. It creates clarity around how different roles relate to one another, how employees can develop, and how pay is determined. It typically includes the following components:
- job families
- job descriptions
- job evaluation
- title structure
- career paths
- salary ranges
There is a good chance you have heard the term mentioned in connection with the Pay Transparency Directive, the new EU rules on transparent and fair pay that are in the process of being implemented into Swedish law.
But job architecture is not only about meeting new regulatory requirements. It is also a way to create structure and consistency across the organisation. With a clear job architecture in place, it becomes easier to understand which roles exist, what they involve, which requirements apply, and how they connect to one another.
More specifically, job architecture can be described as a logical framework for the company’s various roles. It shows how roles are linked to tasks, responsibilities, skill requirements, development opportunities, and salary levels, thereby creating transparency and clarity for both employers and employees.
What does a Job Architecture Include?
A job architecture typically consists of six core components that together create structure, clarity, and stronger foundations for fair pay setting and internal career development. Here is a closer look at each of them:
- Job families – groups of roles that are similar in terms of function, responsibilities, and areas of expertise.
- Job descriptions – descriptions of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities associated with each role.
- Job evaluation – the grading and assessment of different roles based on factors such as knowledge, responsibility, and complexity.
- Title structure – a logical framework for the job titles used across the organisation, ideally based on job descriptions and job evaluation.
- Career paths – clear and structured routes for employee development and internal career progression within the organisation.
- Salary ranges – pay ranges for different roles and levels within the organisation, based on job evaluation and market data.
Read more: Pay Surveys – Eight Questions and Answers
Why Does My Company Need a Job Architecture?
A job architecture helps organisations create clearer roles, more equitable pay structures, and better conditions for career development. It can also strengthen recruitment, workforce planning, and pay transparency efforts.
More specifically, a job architecture can:
- clarify roles and responsibilities within the company
- streamline recruitment and onboarding processes
- facilitate fair, transparent, and competitive salary structures
- support salary discussions by equipping managers with clear justifications for pay
- decisions
- define career progression, reduce employee turnover, and enhance engagement and motivation
- enable a more strategic approach to workforce planning.
Most importantly, a structured job architecture makes it easier to comply with the upcoming Pay Transparency Directive. While the directive does not explicitly mandate companies to establish job architecture, organizations that implement it will be better positioned to meet the regulatory requirements. Structuring and documenting roles and responsibilities is a crucial step toward ensuring equal pay for equal work and communicating salary levels transparently.
How Do You Build a Job Architecture Step by Step?
You build a job architecture by defining roles, evaluating jobs, creating clear title structures, grouping roles into job families, outlining career paths, and linking them to salary ranges. Next, we will take a closer look at how to approach this process step by step.
1. Create (or Update) Job Descriptions
Start by reviewing your job descriptions. Are they comprehensive and up to date? A well-crafted job description should include the job title, key responsibilities, tasks, required skills and experience, and reporting lines. Additional details such as work environment requirements, expected working hours, and role-specific goals can also be useful.
Clearly defining roles ensures that both employees and managers share a common understanding of expectations, forming a solid foundation for salary structures and career development.
2. Conduct a Job Evaluation
The next step is to do a job evaluation – assessing each role based on four key criteria: knowledge and skills, responsibility, effort, and working conditions. This structured ranking process helps identify equivalent jobs and ensures an objective basis for salary decisions.
Job evaluation should be part of the annual salary review process, clarifying how different roles relate to one another and forming an integral part of job architecture.
Read more: Job Evaluation – How Does It Work?
3. Establish a Clear Job Title Structure
How are job titles determined at your company? Are they clear enough—or do they perhaps create more confusion than clarity? Start with the job evaluation and build a well-thought-out title structure that corresponds to the organization’s levels and their different requirements and responsibilities. With a crystal-clear structure, it becomes easier for employees to understand exactly how they contribute to the organization and what development opportunities exist.
Also, keep in mind that much can be gained by sticking to established and standardized titles rather than niche and creative ones. This will facilitate both recruitment and the process of benchmarking salaries, as it is easier to compare salary levels for equivalent titles at other companies.
4. Organize Roles into Job Families
Everything in order with job descriptions, job evaluation, and titles – check. Now it’s time to create job families. As the name suggests, this involves grouping roles into larger families, specifically based on similarities in job tasks, competency requirements, and areas of responsibility. For example, finance personnel can be grouped into the Finance job family, IT specialists and technicians into the IT and Technology job family, and production and logistics personnel into the Production and Logistics job family. In larger organizations, it is also common to work with sub-job families. For instance, the Finance job family could be divided into the three sub-job families of Accounting, Controlling, and Payroll.
So, what is the purpose of this? Well, creating job families makes it easier to manage career development and salary setting by clarifying the skills and experiences required in each area. By ensuring that all parts of the job architecture – job descriptions and titles, job evaluation, and job families – connect in a logical way, a clear thread is created that helps both employees and managers understand career paths and salary determination.
6. Define Career Paths
It’s actually self-evident – when employees have a clear vision ahead of them, their engagement and willingness to stay and grow with the company increases. The next step is therefore to establish clear career paths that are connected to job families and specific roles, making it as easy as possible for employees to see the development opportunities available.
For example, an employee might start as a junior in a job family, progress to a senior role, or even transition into a different job family to gain new skills and experience. Career paths should be realistic and reflect the skills and responsibilities associated with each level.
6. Align with Salary Ranges
With job descriptions, evaluations, job families, titles, and career paths in place, the next step is defining salary ranges – expected compensation for each role and level. The goal is to create a transparent and fair salary structure that helps employees understand how their pay is determined and what they can do to influence their salary progression.
When setting salary ranges, base them on market data, work tasks, and competency requirements for each role. Salary ranges should be clear, equitable, and provide room for growth within each level.
Did you know that under the upcoming Pay Transparency Directive, companies must provide salary range information to employees upon request? Even job seekers will have the right to know salary ranges – either in job postings or early in the hiring process.
7. Evaluate, Update, and Communicate!
A job architecture isn’t something you build once and forget – it requires continuous updates to remain effective. Here are some key actions to keep in mind:
- Ensure employees have access to clear and up-to-date information about job architecture, such as through an internal HR portal.
- Gather feedback from HR, managers, and employees on how job architecture is working and make adjustments as needed.
- Regularly review job descriptions, evaluations, and salary ranges to ensure relevance. Are there organizational changes or market shifts that require updates?
Forget the Spreadsheets – Streamline Your Work with Flex HRM!
Struggling to structure job architecture and salary mapping? Ditch the complex spreadsheets and limited overview! Flex HRM simplifies the process with automated workflows and all the data you need in one easy-to-use interface.
Do you have any questions about how Flex HRM would work for you and your team? Or are you curious to see the system in action right now? Feel free to contact us!
