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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke, Herald Reporter

The Health Service Commission has embarked on a full job evaluation of all health professionals and workers in public service that seeks to assess the qualifications and importance of all posts within the sector, ensuring that employees are compensated fairly and equitably in line with their contributions.

The evaluation, which started at the end of July, is expected to be completed by mid-November this year.

The commission was established through the Health Service Amendment Act of 2022, transferring health staff from the ambit of the Public Services Commission and giving them their own commission that provides for health service administration and conditions of service of its members.

The evaluation is expected to have an impact on the morale and motivation of healthcare professionals by ensuring that their efforts are recognised and rewarded appropriately.

Acting general manager conditions of service and industrial relations in the HSC, Mr Lovemore Marufu, said job evaluation was a scientific process of evaluating the relative worth of different jobs in an organisation.

“By using this approach, organisations ensure that the job grading structure is aligned to duties and responsibilities. The exercise is fundamental in building a fair and equitable compensation system. Job evaluation is not salary increase, promotion, upgrading or cost of living adjustment. It’s about building a grading structure, establishing job hierarchy, determining pay relationships and developing policies and systems that speak to job responsibilities,” he said.

Mr Marufu said the job evaluation was important when coming up with a policy, which would detail the recruitment procedures as well as training policies.

Information derived from this would also have a bearing on the retention of employees as well as health and safety policies.

“The methodology being used to evaluate jobs in the public health sector is the Patterson grading system. The system categorises jobs based on the complexity of decision-making. The level and complexity of decisions are essential in grading of different jobs in an organisation. The jobs are categorised into 6 decision bands (A-F).

“In addition, jobs are further differentiated or sub-graded within the decision bands based on the complexity, accuracy or tolerance required in the job, pressure of work, supervision given, knowledge, skills and competencies among other factors required to perform role responsibilities,” said Mr Marufu.

The process is also expected to influence employee motivation and help in building a healthy nation and the achievement of important goals, including better health outcomes in all areas.

Zimbabwe’s public health sector has, over the past years, been hit by a high staff attrition rate which saw a huge number of qualified nurses, doctors, pharmacists and specialists leaving for better opportunities.

The situation was worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, which increased the global demand for healthcare workers.

The HSC, which transitioned from the Health Service Board, is mandated to facilitate an inclusive health delivery system through a competent and motivated workforce.

The commission is also expected to align developments in the public health sector with national priority areas defined in National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

HSC spokesperson, Ms Tryfine Dzvukutu, said the job evaluation exercise would ensure the transformation of the public health sector towards achieving national goals.

“The Health Service Commission noted the dynamic nature of jobs and the importance of ensuring that the compensation framework remains relevant to job changes. Health sector jobs evolve due to several factors, including disease burdens, policy changes, emerging diseases, and regulatory and technology changes. For health care professionals, this exercise offers several benefits, including fair compensation, clear career progression framework and job satisfaction,” she said.

Furthermore, she said benefits of the exercise extended beyond the public health sector, as it had a far-reaching spillover to the nation’s productivity.

Last week, the HSC held a workshop with partners to appraise them of the roll out of the evaluation.

HSC acting secretary, Mrs Nornah Zhou, said it was important to engage all stakeholders to ensure buy-in from everyone.

“This exercise marks a significant step towards our organisation’s commitment to fair and equitable compensation practices.

“The last job evaluation exercise was conducted in 2003 so a lot has changed since then. We now have to go through the process of placing people in the correct grades,” she said.

So far, the commission has held awareness training for institutional heads and heads of departments who are supposed to cascade the training to the lower level employees.

Provincial centres have also been established countrywide to ensure all health workers can access information.