The Importance of Job Leveling
Job leveling is the foundation for many core people programs, including career management, compensation design, learning & development, performance management, workforce planning, and succession planning.
In Kamsa, job leveling plays an even bigger role: it ensures the accuracy of your market data. Without structured leveling, market comparisons are apples-to-oranges — job titles alone don’t reveal whether employees are truly aligned to the same scope of work. By leveling jobs consistently, you create clarity inside your company and strengthen the accuracy of Kamsa’s global market dataset.
This means:
Your company gets more precise, “apples-to-apples” Compa-Ratios.
Kamsa’s market data becomes continuously stronger as more companies contribute leveled jobs.
Unlike traditional surveys that rely on inconsistent titles, Kamsa’s data is built on a structured framework of job families and levels.
Companies that clearly define and communicate career paths reduce attrition, build trust, and ensure employees are confident that both pay and growth opportunities are equitable.
Job Leveling as a Business Foundation
Conducting a job leveling exercise helps your company build a consistent framework for managing rewards and talent. By harmonizing titles and aligning them to actual roles and responsibilities, you create clarity across the organization and establish the foundation for accurate market pricing, fair pay comparisons, and equity analysis.
When career paths are clearly defined and communicated, companies reduce attrition, strengthen employee trust, and reinforce confidence that growth and pay decisions are equitable.
Why It Matters
Job leveling is not a one-time event. As your company scales, new job families emerge and roles evolve. Regular reviews keep career paths relevant, ensure compensation stays fair, and show employees that advancement opportunities are transparent and consistent.
Kamsa provides the structure, tools, and consultant partnership to make this process scalable — helping you confidently invest in your greatest asset: your people.
Job Leveling with Your Kamsa Consultant
During onboarding, your Kamsa Consultant will guide leadership through structured job leveling sessions. Together, you will:
Compare employee roles (scope, impact, and responsibilities) against Kamsa’s Job Level framework.
Align jobs to Job Families and Job Levels.
Create clear Business Titles that are used consistently across the company.
Establish career paths tailored to your business needs.
Some families (e.g., Software Engineers) may require many levels, while others (e.g., Administrative Assistants) only need a few. Once complete, Kamsa updates your Employee Data page with each employee’s Job Match and Job Level, ensuring compa-ratios reflect true market alignment.
As job leveling is finalized:
Each employee’s Job Match and Job Level are recorded in Employee Data.
Compa-ratios update for accurate, apples-to-apples market comparisons.
Leaders gain insights for:
Pay equity analysis.
Budgeting and workforce planning.
Performance reviews aligned to consistent expectations.
Career Paths in Kamsa
Career Paths in Kamsa is the workspace where job leveling happens. It has four main pages:
Level Descriptions
View the Job Levels Chart, which shows both management (E/M) and individual contributor (IC) tracks.
Compare how roles align across tracks (e.g., IC4 ≈ M3 in scope, but only M3 includes direct reports).
Access a TL;DR and detailed description for each level, including:
Typical years of experience (a recruiting guideline, not a leveling requirement).
Compensable factors such as responsibility, organizational impact, knowledge, leadership, work latitude, interactions, and experience.
👉 Tip: Focus on expectations of the level, not years of experience.
Job Families
Define career paths for each job family, current or future.
Use Business Titles to unify multiple Company Job Titles under one consistent role.
Example: “Front-End Engineer” and “Back-End Engineer” both align to the Business Title Software Engineer (IC3).
Add new job families as business needs grow.
View career paths in the Titles Across Org chart for company-wide visibility.
Planning
Identify Level Reviewers (leaders with direct reports).
Track leveling meetings and assign reviewers their scope of responsibility.
Each reviewer only sees the job families and employees within their org.
Level Reviewers
Conduct collaborative sessions where leaders review and confirm job matches and levels for their employees.
Create sessions by selecting a leader (and optionally their direct managers).
Break down sessions as needed to keep reviews focused.
FAQs
Q: How are employees classified into levels?
A: Leaders collaborate with HR and consultants using six criteria:
Work Experience – typical years required.
Knowledge – level of expertise needed.
Responsibility – organizational scope/accountability.
Work Latitude – independence, supervision, and span of control.
Organizational Impact – impact of responsibilities on company outcomes.
Interactions – nature and purpose of internal/external contacts.
Q: How were job levels established?
A: Based on best practices and external market survey data.
Q: Can employees use a different title on business cards or LinkedIn?
A: In some cases, yes—client-facing employees may use an adjusted title to enhance credibility, with manager approval.