Considerable progress in job classification system review

Before the summer holidays, the project group made generic choices about, for example, the structure of the new job classification system and how to arrange the job and competency descriptions. Then drawing up the new job profiles started. That is being done in collaboration with line managers and employees of the various functional areas. The positions at HRM, communication, facilities unit, ICT, and secretarial and administrative support have almost been completed. A draft version of the new competencies manual is also ready. The other job descriptions are still being written. Several roles, such as temporary, non-job specific activities of limited size and frequency like temporary project leader, functional application manager and key user are being described.

All descriptions should be completed during the course of November 2018. The NWO Central Works Council will then examine these. Subsequently, the steering group of the project Review Job Classification System will approve the new positions including their grading. Eventually, all employees of NWO-D, NWO-I office and employees with an operational management position at the institutes will receive a job description from the new job classification system. We expect that for virtually all employees this will be a job position on the same scale as the current job position. In view of the further development of NWO-I, the new job classification system review will be introduced at the NWO-I office and the institutes no later than 1 January 2020.

Positions
All positions at NWO-D, the NWO-I office and the operational management positions at the institutes will receive new job descriptions. Later in the process, it will be decided whether the scientific and scientific support positions at the institutes and in the BUW (Administrative Unit for Research Groups at Universities) should be rewritten as well.

Why is this review necessary?
The job classification system of NWO and NWO-I dates from 2004. Since that time, many organisational changes have happened, which have resulted in changes to jobs and job descriptions. This has given rise to a diverse job classification system with about 300 types of job. NWO therefore believes that the time is ripe to review the job classification system and to reduce the number of job descriptions considerably. NWO is also updating the job classification system because of the changes NWO is going through. As a result, the core values (groundbreaking, committed, reliable, connecting) will be translated into competencies. These competencies must express the need to be able to work together with everybody in the organisation and to demonstrate leadership. The job descriptions produced will reflect the changed structure of the organisation.

Questions
The project group members are Charlotte Kuiper, Lieke van Emmerik, Sigrid Moerbeek, Léon Ouwerkerk, Odile Steijger, Mark Boneschanser, Marcel Mevissen, Onno Hutten, Remko Achten, Gerda Goedhart, Francien Petiet, Joost Weber and Jos Lensen. We appreciate that you might have questions about the project and what it will mean for you. You can always approach your own HRM adviser with your questions.

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, October 2018