Career Banding

Job families are major groupings of jobs that represent general fields of work where career paths are identified and career planning is emphasized. OSHR has established 10 job families:

Each role has its own unique pay band, and three position competency levels: Contributing, Journey and Advanced. Position competencies represent a set of knowledge, skills and abilities required of the position based on business needs as determined by the manager. Position competencies required in a role are outlined in a competency profile developed by the Office of State Human Resources with the assistance of the career banding transition teams. The competency profiles are reviewed and validated through statewide focus groups with final approval by the State Personnel Commission.

Position competencies play an important role in many Human Resources functions:

For recruitment and selection, decisions are based on the specified levels of competencies needed for each position, and how well a potential employee meets the position’s requirements;

• For recruitment and selection, decisions are based on the specified levels of competencies needed for each position, and how well a potential employee meets the position’s requirements;
• In performance management, a department manager/supervisor looks at how well the employee applies the competencies required for the position to achieve the established goals and objectives for the position.
• Once an employee’s competencies are assessed against the position competencies, training and career development plans can be established for the employee. Training and development programs can be modified and expanded to enhance needed competencies.
• In workforce planning, competencies drive planning strategies as departments review their business needs and the skill sets (competencies) required to meet those needs to assure organizational success in the future.
• When making compensation decisions, the career banding system allows managers to pay for those skills which are most valuable to the organization and which meet their business needs.

Each manager, in conjunction with OHR, determines the overall level of competency required for the position based on the organization’s business needs and standards. Each role has three position competency levels:

• Contributing competencies required in a position include knowledge, skills and abilities minimally necessary to perform a job from entry to journey.
• Journey competencies required in a position represent a fully-applied body of knowledge, skills and abilities.
• Advanced competencies required in a position include the highest or broadest scope of knowledge, skills and abilities.

A sound competency assessment process ensures that employees have and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and abilities required to meet stated business needs and that contribute to the success of the organization. Managers are responsible for determining the employee’s demonstrated competency level for each of the competencies required in the position

Each position requires a particular set of knowledge, skills and abilities (i.e. position competencies), based on the department’s needs for the position. And just as positions have competency levels, so too do employees. Each employee brings to the position their own expertise, knowledge and skills, and each employee will be assessed to determine how well and to what extent the employee demonstrates the position’s required competencies.

There are three levels at which an employee’s competency can be rated:

• DEVELOPING: This rating is typically for a newer employee or an employee that has taken on new duties or role within the organization. Developing may also be reflective of a seasoned employee who might have some improvement opportunities. With this rating, the employee has not fully demonstrated the competencies necessary to perform the job at the level necessary to meet business needs.
• APPLIED: This is the middle rating and reflects that the employee is performing at the level necessary to meet business needs. You can think of an 80% benchmark at this level – if an employee can independently manage 80% of their responsibilities, they are most likely at the applied level on a given competency.
• BROADLY DEMONSTRATED: This rating should be reserved for high-functioning employees that consistently demonstrate competencies that result in work often being above the level necessary to meet business needs. These are the employees who are able to use their knowledge, skill, and abilities to handle the most complex, unusual, or novel situations.

Employee Competency Assessments (ECAs) are completed at the following times:

• As a baseline at the time of a position reclassification or update to duties
• Annually, with the performance review
• Any other time the manager deems appropriate based on business need

All ECAs are now entered in Carolina Talent. (Instructions for launching an ECA can be found in the Performance Resources for Managers section of Carolina Talent.)

Sample of Completed ECA

1. Only active, permanent full-time, part-time, and time-limited SHRA employees are eligible for adjustments under this system. Please note limitations described in bullets numbered 2 through 4 below.
2. Employees who have an active disciplinary action are not eligible to receive career banding salary increases.
3. Employees with an overall “Not Meeting Expectations” performance rating are not eligible to receive career banding salary increases. Employees with an overall performance rating of “Meeting Expectations” or better are eligible to receive career banding salary increases. Employees must have the most recent required probationary or annual performance review completed with at least the required rating in order to be eligible for a salary increase.
4. Employees must have the last required Employee Competency Assessment completed in order to be eligible for a salary increase.
5. Employees on unpaid Leave of Absence are not eligible for career banding salary adjustments.
6. Promotional, new hire and reclassification balances from actions that occurred prior to career banding shall not be recognized after the employee is transferred into a career banded role.
7. The career banding salary adjustment request will not be reviewed by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) until all required supporting documentation is completed and submitted to OHR.
8. Career banding salary adjustments are effective on a current basis; they are not retroactive (except for actions to adjust salaries to minimum with implementation by OSHR of Band Minimum Adjustments). The earliest possible effective date of any career banding salary adjustment is the Monday of or following the receipt of all required approvals.
9. Career banding salary adjustments shall not be communicated to employees until after the actions have received all necessary approvals.
10. Salary adjustments are not mandatory with the exception of salaries below the overall band minimum for the role, and in certain situations where a salary is over the band maximum (i.e., demotions or reassignments).
11. Salaries paid as a result of a recruitment shall not exceed the maximum amount published for recruitment purposes in a vacancy announcement (i.e., the published hiring range that was established, budgeted and approved by the hiring manager).
12. Promotional and re-employment priority: Until career banding is implemented for all job families, employees in career banded roles will be assigned a pay grade equivalency only for promotional and re-employment priority purposes as stated in the State Personnel Manual. The pay grade equivalency is not a determining factor in establishing salaries for employees in career banded positions.
13. Employees in career banded positions are eligible for shift premiums and overtime premiums as allowed through the pay policies in the State Personnel Manual and/or University’s SHRA policies.
14. Career banding adjustments may be recommended for temporary position changes or temporary promotions. Existing HR policies must be followed to support and process requests for all dual, acting, temporary and secondary appointments.
15. Salaries may not meet or exceed the next highest competency level market rate except in the case of a temporary increase for additional duties or as may be allowed in cases of across-the-board actions such as legislative increases. Salaries may not exceed the maximum of the pay band for the role except in the case of a true acting appointment or as may be allowed in cases of across-the-board actions such as legislative increases.
16. In no case may a salary adjustment or offer salary create a pay inequity (i.e., a salary outside the parameters of the career banding pay factors) within the work unit.

• Salary-increase requests must be documented on the SHRA Salary Adjustment form (aka “Rainbow Form”), which can be found in the HR Toolkit > Forms section > Career Banding Forms toggle > SHRA Salary Adjustment Form (aka “Rainbow Form”).
• Position Description Template
• Position Description Form Instructions
• Jobs Functions List