It’s been almost one month since the FIFA 2026 World Cup wrapped up, with Spain lifting the trophy for the second time. One of the longest World Cup tournaments in recent history, I personally must admit that I miss it. The games served as an anchor to the day, bringing my family together from whatever activity they were doing whilst simultaneously providing endless topics of conversation.
One of the central messages of the World Cup this year was that “Football Unites the World”, underpinned by the broader message that football is for everyone. From Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal, to Vozinha, Hakimi and our own Chris Wood. Everyone belongs on the football field.
This does not suggest that Messi, Chris Wood and Vozinha make the same contribution. Rather, it recognises that each plays a different role in their team’s success. Organisations face the same challenge. How do we recognise different contributions while ensuring people understand where they fit and how they create value?
Just as football connects people through a shared game, effective, fair and robust remuneration practices connect people and organisations through a shared understanding of value, fairness and performance. A successful football team needs players in different positions working towards one (or ideally, several) goals. On the field and in the office, people perform best when everyone understands the rules and feels valued.
One way organisations can ensure that staff are valued and remunerated fairly for the work they do is through job evaluation. Job evaluation is a systematic process for establishing the relative size of a job by comparing jobs or job content based on common criteria. It provides a framework for understanding the relative contribution of different roles, while reinforcing an important message: every role has value, and everyone belongs on the team.
Strategic Pay Limited works with organisations of all sizes and sectors around New Zealand, supporting them to evaluate their roles. We work with the large giants (in football terms, think Argentina or Spain), alongside the medium sized organisations that put up surprising performances (maybe Switzerland, Norway or Morocco) as well as smaller, high performers (like Cabo Verde) who have just as much to offer the world game.
If you’re interested to know more about our Job Evaluation methodology or are still grieving the end of the FIFA World Cup, feel free to get in touch for a sympathetic ear. Most importantly, remember that the next World Cup is only 4 years away, the Euro’s are about 2 years away and the Champions League will start next month.