Staff Position Evaluation and Compensation (SPEC)

Goals

The SPEC program was developed with one critical goal in mind - to develop a salary structure that would:

• Be fair, equitable, and free of gender, ethnic and racial bias
• Provide a framework for career growth and reward excellence
• Reflect the world of work as it existed at Penn State at that time and recognize the essential value of our jobs
• Ensure that the University would be able to attract and retain first- rate individuals in the job markets and fields where we compete for employees

In addition, its development met other important University objectives: high involvement from staff members themselves; the use of appropriate, high level technology in the program's design and administration; and the implementation of a single, consistent salary management program based on job content for all staff employees.

Elements of the Program

At the creation of the Program, nearly 6,500 position information questionnaires were completed by University staff. This information was analyzed and used to establish a hierarchy of 2,000 unique jobs within the University.

These jobs were clustered into 22 different salary grades which were assigned to numbers 11 through 32. Each grade contains a variety of job types. Although jobs may differ, the value of the work is very similar.

Penn State wanted to ensure that its salaries were competitive in the external marketplace. Published surveys of salary practices in institutions of higher learning and other organizations which we compete for employees were used to accomplish this. This information helped us establish salary ranges for each grade that would allow us to attract and motivate the best employees.

The salary range for a grade is defined by the minimum and maximum salaries the University will pay for jobs within the grade. Each range has a midpoint range - the middle salary within the grade. The salary range represents the pay opportunity for each individual based on the grade of the job.

In the SPEC Program, midpoints for the 22 grades are separated by approximately an eight percent difference.

The University's structure, therefore, consists of 22 grade-based pay ranges which overlap.

This overlap signifies the importance of job value, and employee value as determined by performance, in setting pay.

It is the University's philosophy to strive to maintain salary ranges which are average or slightly above average in relevant labor markets. Financial realities play a role, however, and the ability to meet this goal is subject to the University's ability to pay.

Job Evaluation Factors

Penn State intends its salary practices to be fair and equitable within the University community and competitive in the larger marketplace. To accomplish this, the SPEC Program evaluates jobs on the basis of both internal and external criteria. Within the University, jobs are evaluated based on ten factors. These factors which are shown below, allow us to determine and compare the values of jobs to the University.

• Knowledge: the skills, education, and training required for the job
• Experience: the job-related work background needed to be hired into the job
• Dexterity Skills: the mental, visual, and physical coordination demands of the job
• Judgment and Problem Solving: the mental challenges and the difficulty of the tasks to be completed
• Direction Received: the guidance available and level of access to authoritative advice
• Internal Organizational Contacts: communication with other University employees
• Client/Business Contacts: communication with those the University does business with and serves
• Breadth of Responsibility: the areas in which the job has formal and ongoing accountability
• Organizational Impact: the job's effect on the University educational, research, and public service missions
• Supervision of Others: responsibility for the selection, supervision, and management of others

Resources

• Staff Job Specifications
• Human Resources Representatives List

Forms

• Position Information Questionnaire (PDF)

Procedures

• Understanding the Job Review Process (PowerPoint)
• Job Review Roles (PowerPoint)
• PIQ Factors (PowerPoint)
• Appeals (PowerPoint)