Briefly explain the steps involved in the classification system for job evaluation.

Answers will vary. An organization that uses a classification system for job evaluation attempts to group sets of jobs together into classifications, often called grades. After classifying is done, each set of jobs is then ranked at a level of importance to the organization. Importance, in turn, may be defined in terms of relative difficulty, sophistication, or required skills and abilities necessary to perform that job. The third step is to determine how many categories or classifications to use for grouping jobs. The most common number of grades is anywhere from 8 to 10, although some organizations use the system with as few as 4 grades and some with as many as 18. Once the grades have been determined, the job evaluator must write definitions and descriptions of each job class. These definitions and descriptions serve as the standard around which the compensation system is built. Once the classes of jobs are defined and described, jobs that are being evaluated can be compared with the definitions and descriptions and placed into the appropriate classification.