Rational or symbolic? A field study of the impact of group discussion on job evaluation ratings

Many organizations use job evaluation committees, but most published research has been based on ratings from individual evaluators. In this study, the effect of group discussion on job evaluation scores was examined. A comparison was made between job evaluation scores based on group discussion and scores from individual evaluators; field data involving a diverse sample of 344 jobs were used. Group discussion had a minimal, highly predictable, and mostly symbolic effect on scores. This finding validates prior experimental studies and points to the opportunity for expediting decision making in job evaluation committees.