|
Ever
met a happy middle manager? Well, this writer hasn't. At one level,
that's strange. People in middle management purportedly carry out
the crucial task of serving as the link between the brains of a
company (read: senior management), and its hands and feet (read:
junior management). And as R. Sankar, the Country Head of hr consulting
firm Mercer points out, middle management offers the ideal launch
pad for senior management positions. So, what explains the unhappiness?
Numbers could provide a clue. According to a
BT-Omam Consultants survey of middle manager salaries across 100
companies in 17 sectors, the typical senior manager earns 172.2
per cent more than what the typical middle manager does. And, average
middle manager salaries, circa 2003, are just around 73 per cent
higher than what they were in 1997-98, a CAGR of less than 10 per
cent a year.
Then, there's the attitude of companies. "Most
companies are focused on retaining people at the senior level,"
says Ashok Sehgal, the Head of hr at Samsung India. Middle managers,
he adds, constitute a "replaceable set". Most middle managers
reciprocate this sentiment by just not caring about the big picture.
Kiriti Sen, the Vice President in charge of hr at Grasim's Textiles
division, discovered that when he introduced his managers to the
concept of variable pay. Senior managers embraced the idea of performance-linked-variable-pay
easily; middle-managers just didn't get it. "Psychologically,
middle managers just don't seem to be able to see the link (their
performance has) with the organisation's profitability." Adds
Azfar Hasib, the hr Manager at Churchill India, a subsidiary of
the UK insurance major, "The role of the middle manager has
been reduced to that of a facilitator-picking up broader specs from
the top and communicating them to junior management, with no perceptible
value addition."
LIFE BEYOND
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT |
|
For the
ambitious corporate executive the final frontier lies in making
it to the 'corner office'. However, the road from middle management
to senior leadership roles is a difficult one (and littered
with the ruined careers of several middle managers without
the requisite stamina). Here are some things that every one
hitting the road should pack.
Extra Luggage,
or, "Give me more responsibility": Volunteer
for the jobs no one else wants and do more than what is expected
of you. This should also help in increasing your visibility
internally and externally.
A Corporate Logo:
Wear this on your sleeve. Most people who land senior jobs
do so because, apart from everything else, they have proved
their commitment to the organisation (often, at a personal
cost).
A Pound of Understanding:
Remember this, companies like to reward employees who can
see the big picture. Start with the basics: try your hand
at understanding the company's vision, mission, and culture
before embarking on tougher issues such as its strategy.
A Few Relevant
Books: Always seek opportunities to learn. As anyone
can tell you, this will improve your employability.
Your Post-graduate
Diploma: Specialise and let the world know your niche.
A Companion-cum-guide:
Find a senior manager who can serve as a mentor and
guide you through the treacherous power corridor.
A Bottle of Dutch
Courage: Although, I'd personally recommend the real
thing, a dash of confidence. Most successful people are entrepreneurial
by nature, and willing to work hard.
A Pair of Binoculars:
Or any other device that helps you spot the Big O before
others do. Grab these opportunities, internal and external,
before others do and you are sure to be chief executive officer
some day.
By Atul Vohra, Partner,
Heidrick & Struggles
|
In effect, the family of middle managers is
constituted by star junior managers just passing through on their
way to senior management (some actually manage to bypass this level),
past-their-prime tree huggers who have probably come to terms with
the fact that not everyone can be a senior manager, and the eternal
hopefuls who are confident of making the elusive leap, whether in
their present companies or elsewhere.
Manish Kumar, a HR manager at ICICI Bank, belongs
to the first category. "The bank is growing and when I link
this to my individual competency, I have little doubt that I can
break into senior management in a short time." That's where,
he adds, the future lies, not in the tactical role he performs.
Expectedly, middle manager salaries have stagnated,
although the trend isn't visible across sectors, with fast-growth
ones such as telecom, it services, insurance, and private banking
actually bucking it. "These are nascent industries that are
growing rapidly," explains Atul Vohra, a Partner at search
firm Heidrick & Struggles, "and there are more opportunities
for middle managers to grow if they perform." Still, these
sectors, and a few others like auto and steel are, at best, exceptions.
Elsewhere, "pay and promotions (in the middle level) have stagnated
over the past three-to-four-years," says Shailesh Shah, the
CEO of hr consulting firm Watson Wyatt.
Flatter organisations and younger chief executives
(some people actually make senior management by their early 30s)
haven't helped the cause of middle managers. Today, as Purvi Sheth
of executive search firm Shilputsi puts it, middle management is
a heterogenous group, "which has had to accommodate all sorts
of people from those with six years' experience to those with 13."
And with the emergence of a new aggressive generation of junior
managers willing and able to understand a company's strategy, middle
managers find their very utility under threat.
If things continue in the same vein-and middle
management salaries continue to stagnate-companies could do worse
than do away with the level altogether. Middles, as must be evident
to anyone in today's fitness-conscious world, are horribly out of
fashion.
|
