Traditionally, organisational hierarchy is depicted as a pyramid, but the real picture, in most cases, is like a Chinese peasant hat, observes Brian Dive in ‘The Accountable Leader’ (www.vivagroupindia.com). The top is a sharp point, with strategic responsibilities vested with a very few people, while many more people are at the brim of the hat, at work level 1, he explains.
“Normally, the percentage of employees at level 1 would be above 80 per cent. In highly labour-intensive operations, such as tea estates, call centres and retail outlets, the number of people at the front line is likely to be well in excess of 90 per cent of the total number of employees.”
Dive reasons, therefore, that comparing the percentage of managers employed in different organisations may not be a good way of determining best practice. “Ideal proportions vary in relation to the nature of the business. It is also why some international companies totally misinterpret the performance of their operations in the developing world.”
The author bemoans the complexity at the first work level, often outweighing even the complexity of the actual work in question! Having too many grades or categorisations of work level 1, and extreme granularity at this level are not helpful, he adds. His suggestion is that, in the current century, work at level 1 should be divided into a maximum of three categories, viz. unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled; a fourth category could be the supervisor.
Each industry can define what is meant by the different categories, Dive advises. “Indeed, some might argue that they do not have unskilled or semi-skilled work, only skilled work. This is really immaterial, since these terms are relative, not absolute, and therefore can actually be applied in any situation where skilled work is required.”
Useful read.
