4th February 2013, 05:19 PM
All comedy aside, the IFA grades are a bit of a mixed system. On the one hand, defining them in terms of responsibility likens them to other sectors - PIFAs have no line-management responsibilities, AIFAs lead site teams, and MIFAs run the whole project. Then there's the kudos structure, where PIFAs create basic site records for no outside recognition, AIFAs get to whack out client reports, and MIFAs write weighty tomes and star at conferences. Sadly, the technical skills and experience of excavation don't really factor in!
Should a PIFA, when asked to talk to camera, get a pay rise? Should a MIFA filling out context sheets get demoted? It's a hierarchy designed to prop up the established order, admittedly with room for anyone to climb up if they can amass the necessary evidence of having worked "above grade", but it's still just a hierarchy. It would have been better if the IFA had kept to a simple "in or out" structure, rather than trying to replicate Council employment grades...
Should a PIFA, when asked to talk to camera, get a pay rise? Should a MIFA filling out context sheets get demoted? It's a hierarchy designed to prop up the established order, admittedly with room for anyone to climb up if they can amass the necessary evidence of having worked "above grade", but it's still just a hierarchy. It would have been better if the IFA had kept to a simple "in or out" structure, rather than trying to replicate Council employment grades...