I have several employer clients right now who are revising and writing new job descriptions to ensure they accurately reflect the work employees are doing.

Then, once the job descriptions are finalized my team and I do the market pricing.

I keep having the same conversation with each employer client.

What is your definition of a “manager”?

Option 1 – A manager (people manager, supervisory role) is a job that has at least 6 direct reports to be considered a manager.

· If the job has the minimum number of direct reports than a people manager (supervisory) match in the salary survey is used to market price the job.

· The employer puts the word “manager” at the front of the job title.

· But often small companies do not meet the minimum of 6 direct reports.

Option 2 – A manager (individual contributor or IC) is a job that has no direct reports (or has less than the minimum described in Option 1 above) and they manage a process or program. Who they work with isn’t a direct report, but they may need to influence and manage a team indirectly to get work completed.

· The IC “manager” job is market priced with an IC match from the salary survey.

· The employer puts the word “manager” at the end of the job title.

Here is another way to think about this distinction.

· Batman has a sidekick named Robin. That one person, Robin, isn’t enough to make Batman a people manager. He is mostly acting as an IC with some help from Robin. And even if you count Batgirl and Catwoman, I still think that Batman was primarily an IC.

· Attila the Hun was the leader of the Barbarian Hordes. It is easy to say Attila and his direct reports were spending much of their time on strategy and supervising others.

So, where do you draw the line? Who is a people manager versus an IC manager in your organization?

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