Like neo from the matrix trilogy, your average junior manager may not be locked in a mortal combat with evil. But he's battling just the same, to make his way up the corporate ladder. Well, here's some good news for him. As companies cut through layers of bureaucratic flab, the junior guy is gaining importance in terms of the work he does and the money he makes. He's getting bigger raises, faster promotions, and more important assignments-things that not too long ago, would have gone the middle manager's way. Says R. Suryanarayan, Head of Data Services, Watson Wyatt: "Today, the presence of junior management in the organisation is a lot more purposeful, defined, and structured towards the vision that the organisation stands for."

The BT-Omam Junior Management Salary Survey 2003, which studied 100 companies across 17 sectors, bears that out. The average junior management compensation stands at Rs 4 lakh, which is a 15 per cent jump over the previous year. While BT-Omam projects a 1 percentage point slide in remuneration growth for 2004, two things need to be pointed out: One, the increase will be on a higher base and, two, the middle management salaries are stagnant.

So, why is the middle manager going out of fashion? Primarily because as companies empower and strive to get more bang out of their compensation buck, they are getting junior managers to do what historically the middle-level managers would have done. Agrees Varun Bhatia, VP, Global Human Resources (Shared Services), The Gillette Company: "As the lower levels get wired, the span of control widens, reducing the need for as many middle management employees." Adds Manjit Singh Lakhmana, VP & HR Head, Bank of America: "(Like others), banks are moving away from a geographic structure to a silo, or a matrix system, wherein junior managers are taking much more responsibilities than before."

In some industries such as BPO, hospitality, and it, the junior manager is simply riding the demand wave, with multinationals as the compensation benchmark. In yet others like consulting and auto, the surge in compensation is due to greater emphasis on performance delivery. Says G.S. Ramesh, VP (HR), Hyundai Motor India: "The top management is looking for change agents who are available within their own system, and so they are tapping the front-end with higher remuneration." Encouraged by the empowerment that's happening at the lower level, a new school of thought suggests that the top-end of the junior management and the bottom tier of the middle management will merge to form a new entity, making the organisation really flat. Matrix revolutions, anyone?

"Junior Managers Are Getting Empowered"

Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access Compensation across levels has been moving northwards during the last six months. I think this is due to the return of "feel good" factors and companies hiring far more than they were earlier. Junior level salaries are no exception. Salary levels have gone up at junior levels (work experience less than six years) according to our estimates by 15 to 20 per cent. As usual, FMCG sector has registered the maximum increase, followed by consumer durables, telecom, and media. I personally foresee salary levels moving up by 20 to 25 per cent next year, with some of the new sunrise industries perhaps registering far higher growth rates. There is an increasing amount of accountability at even junior levels because organisations are de-layering and becoming leaner and meaner. The middle management will continue to shrink, and this will increase the demand for high quality talent at junior levels, ensuring far better financial rewards at this level. Junior level management is getting empowered like never before and the variable pay and performance-linked bonuses are becoming the rule rather than the exception. Some of the sectors that have not registered growth such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and chemicals would see better times ahead. R&D should stage a comeback, just as retailing, entertainment, and education will grow more aggressively. For new entrants, language skills would be in great demand, as organisations endeavour to open new markets for their products. Attitude, presentation skills, enterprise, creativity, sincerity, and dedication are some other issues that will increasingly become important in the workplace.