The corporate world has been talking about the growing importance of HR for the business and the organisation. However, the big question is whether HR is also getting remunerated accordingly.
According to the India Salary Report 2022 by Michael Page, an HR head with 15+ years of experience working in a large listed company can expect a base salary of anything between Rs 1-2 Cr., the average being Rs 1.5 Cr.
The annual base salary of a CHRO or HR head of a small and mid-sized company can range between Rs 70 lakh to Rs 1.1 Cr.
Compare this to the annual base salary of a CFO or a finance director of a large 10,000 crore+ company, the average figure is Rs 4 Cr, and the maximum can go up to Rs 8 Cr.
The CFO or the finance director of a 1000 – 10,000 crore company can expect an average annual base salary of Rs 4 crore, almost half of what an CFO of a large 10,000 crore+ company can expect.
The annual base salary of a CFO in a 200 – 1000 crore company is less than the CHRO of a large company. The former can expect an average annual base salary of Rs 1.2 Cr with a minimum package of Rs 50 lakh.
The average annual base salary of a CIO across sectors and organisation sizes is around Rs 1.2 Cr, which is slightly less than the CHRO of a large company but more than that of an HR head of a small and mid-sized company.
It seems that HR heads’ salary is no less than their counterparts in other functions except that of the CFO.
Sales and marketing professionals from amongst the top 20 B schools, with 15-22 years of experience in an FMCG company may expect an annual average base salary of Rs 1.2 Cr. In consumer durables, the figure is Rs 1.15 Cr, and in pharma it’s even lower – Rs 90 lakh.
Other HR profiles
As projected by the Report, in a small or medium-sized company, an HR head with an experience of five to 10 years may earn a minimum base salary of Rs 35 lakhs per annum. Those with 10 to 15 years of experience may earn Rs 73 lakh per annum, while an HR head with over 15 years of experience may earn a base salary of at least Rs 70 lakh and at most Rs 1.10 crore.
Human resource generalists or business partners in large and medium-sized companies—with experience of five to 10 years — may command a minimum base salary of 20 lakhs and a maximum of 47 lakhs a year. Those with 10 to 15 years of experience can expect to earn a minimum of 42 lakhs and a maximum of 74 lakhs a year. Those with over 15 years of experience may earn a minimum base salary of about Rs 55 lakhs and a maximum of Rs 80 lakhs.
In the area of talent acquisition, an HR leader with five to ten years of experience can expect to earn a minimum of Rs 25 lakhs per annum and a maximum of Rs 45 lakhs per annum. Those with 10 to 15 years of experience will earn a minimum of Rs 42 lakhs per annum and a maximum of Rs 65 lakh per annum as base salary. The senior leaders with over 15 years of experience will get a minimum base salary of about 50 lakh per annum and maximum base salary of Rs 1.10 crore.
In HR consulting, the minimum base salary for those with five to 10 years of experience would be about Rs 37 lakhs, and may go up to a maximum of Rs 53 lakhs. For those with up to 15 years of experience, the minimum and maximum base salary would hover around Rs 53 lakhs and Rs 73 lakhs, respectively. For seniors with over 15 years of experience, a minimum base salary of Rs 70 lakhs and maximum of Rs 1 crore may be expected.
2 Comments
Thanks for the details, really informative. Can someone working as HR director in a small company (50 employees or so) make 25 lacs per annum?
Any person getting double times than the total years of experience in the similar or leadership roles are above average of the Industry benchmark payscale. It may also varied “industry to industry”and “demand and supply” of availability of talents of the region.