Growth in job

In 1998, the BBC half-heartedly tried to reform its pay scales, and get rid of annual increments - which had been in place since the times of George Orwell.

The new deal was meant to introduce performance-related pay, and also included guff about multi-skilling. It provoked a strike. The unions had said, if there's still a floor and a roof of a grade, how do you really improve your salary ? The BBC blustered and finally said "If staff are below the fully competent rate for their job designation, then such postholders may be entitled to a 'growth in the job' payment". Eventually, the unions and the BBC reached a deal at ACAS that after three years in a new job, you should be on 110% of the floor of the grade (not your starting salary) and after six years, you should have risen to 115% of the floor.

John Myers has noticed this in his review of BBC local radio operating costs, but has misunderstood what's going on. "I discovered management are powerless to control salary increases to any member of their NUJ staff due to national agreements, even if they believe these increases are non-deserving. No-one within a publicly funded organisation in 2012 should expect an automatic increase in salary without management approval."

This is wrong; all salary increases need management approval. But if you fail to give someone money towards the growth-in-job target of 115% of floor, you have to demonstrate the guts to talk the the member of staff in question and explain to them where they are not competent, before the annual salary letters get posted.  There is, I'm afraid, a preponderance of HR thinking in local radio that new joiners should start on the bottom of their grades - indeed entry level to regional journalists was reduced to band 5 in recent years, with agreed progress to band 7 after two year's of satisfactory work.  If managers try to start everyone, whatever their training, background and skills on the bottom of a grade, then fail to assess their performance, two things happen. HR eventually come in and remind the errant managers of the deal. And other staff think, wrongly, there's a "disappointment bonus".