Twelve into seven ?

I've been ruminating over the BBC's assertion that it has eight or nine layers of management, and intends to get them down to seven,between the most junior staff and the DG.

There are in fact twelve pay grades - those below, and two grades of "senior management" sitting on top.  SM1 is the highest, and SM2 below.  The old difference, as expressed by charmless colleagues in the 80s, was that SM2 got you a car, and SM1 got you a car AND petrol.

All the grades are used, but different divisions use them in different ways.  In domestic news, grade 8/9 is one band, but World Service keep them separate.  English Regions have created a 5/7 band, which means new broadcast journalists start on lower salaries than they do in network news, but subject to performance, get a guaranteed progression.

Despite the diagram showing "maximums", there is no restriction on how high a salary can go within a grade; this allows some presenters and producers to remain "on staff", but with take-home pay off these scales.  The problem with making all these bands wider is that, at present, to move forward, there's an agreement with the unions about "salary progression", which works in pretty much the same way as the old annual increments. There's a deal by which you should progress to an agreed median within four years in post - and it should be done evenly, unless there are problems with the way you work.  It's called "growth in job", and it means most salaries quietly move forward even when there is a pay freeze.

Readers of job adverts in Ariel will also notice that, as a result of the BBC's pledge to reduce "senior management" by 25%, there is a raft of redundancies and farewell tributes - alongside an increasing number of "new posts" graded at Band 11, including the position role of Head of Talent and Leadership. Not a senior management role ?