New Delhi: India Inc is expected to dole out an average pay hike of 11.2 percent across job roles in 2013, lower than 12 percent increase witnessed this year, says Hay Group. Global management consultancy Hay Group said pay for performance is the new mantra.

Noting that salary increases are projected to be 11.2 percent next year, Hay Group said the "amount represents a slight reduction against an actual average salary increase of 12 percent across India Inc in 2012".

The job roles into four levels - Clerical & Operations, Supervisory & Junior Professionals, Middle Management & Seasoned Professionals, and Senior Management & Executives.

"Clerical and Operations Professionals are expected to beat the average of 11.2 percent across job levels, standing at 11.5 percent, while Middle Management Professionals can expect an increase of about 10.9 percent," it said.

The General Industry Compensation Report has pay insights on 418,414 jobs from 410 organizations spread across diverse sectors including Industrial Goods, FMCGs, Construction, Retail and Services.

However, compensation practices for CEOs and senior executives in middle to large organizations are not covered.

Hay Group India's Country Manager (Productized Services) Amer Haleem said creation of a pay-for-performance ethos is the number one priority amongst all respondents while putting a variable pay policy in place.

"The most commonly cited reason for modifying a company's existing variable pay plan was 'a change in business circumstances', pointing to the increasing trend of pay and rewards being treated as a business decision rather than only the domain of compensation experts," Haleem said.

Going by the report, median starting salaries for fresh graduates would be in the range of 18,500 to 25,000, with engineering roles featuring at the top of the scale.

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"Finance/Accounting and IT/ Telecommunication are amongst the other roles that are popular with the industry at present, while roles such as Administration/Support/Service and Health/Environment weigh in lower down the order," Hay Group said.

The study revealed over 80 percent of organizations, uses their own industry sectors or selected peer groups as reference markets while aligning their compensation levels.

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"A relative industry-wide comparison shows Oil and Gas, Chemicals, and FMCG leading the pack in terms of the highest CTC," Hay Group said.

Haleem added that sectors such as infrastructure, real estate and IT may not be rewarding their performers with similar incentives as last year although some sectors like health and life sciences and FMCG seem to fare better.