GOLDEN COFFIN salaries
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'Golden coffins' and executive compensation: How to be an employee champion and corporate hero
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Dan McKeever
<abbr class="published">June 20, 2008</abbr>
¦
Executive benefits have generated plenty of buzz in the past year, particularly as employers struggle to contain benefit costs in a weak economy. Dan McKeever of Employee Benefit News
recently interviewed Bruce R. Ellig, an adviser to corporate boards, an independent consultant and the author of The Complete Guide to Executive Compensation. An expert on HR and compensation, he served as a corporate vice president of the drug manufacturer Pfizer from 1985 until his retirement from the company in 1996.
EBN: You've said executive death benefits, or "golden coffin" packages, are drawing a lot of attention because they are not pay-for-performance. Does the current economic downturn contribute to that attention? Does it cast those lavish benefits in a more unflattering light for Joe Employee?
BE: To the extent that there's a growing spread between how executives are paid vis-à-vis how other employees are being treated, it obviously brings attention to executive pay. In the old days, when employees had good-paying jobs and relatively good security as far as continuing those jobs, there really was very little attention to what executives were getting. But when executives start getting, for example, additional pay as an incentive for terminating employees, needless to say, this does not [sit] very well with the workforce.
EBN: You've written that an organization's workforce is a critical source of its competitive advantage. What effect does the disclosure of golden coffins and similar compensation have on the workforce?
BE: I think it's devastating! When I was on boards, one of the first things I would ask is for the board to sort through the priorities of the stakeholders. Who are they, and what do they want? To me, No. 1 is employees. The employees are the organization.
People who say customers are No. 1 are not right because the customers have the interface with the workforce, and if the workforce is ticked off about the company, it comes across. If you [treat employees] right, shareholders will profit. But if you take a short-term view and simply say, "We're out to make the buck," you go directly against the workforce. You go directly against the customer, and you ain't gonna last long.
EBN: What should HR professionals or benefit managers know about executive compensation?
BE: They should be very knowledgeable. The one area that the HR people are missing the boat on is they are not sufficiently knowledgeable on executive compensation. Now here's a real shocker: What area in HR do the top executives have the most interest in? Executive compensation! So if you can talk knowledgeably about executive comp, the SEC rules, 409A requirements and what is coming down on FASB, you're going to have people listening to you. I think every HR person who has any interest in going to the corner suite in the HR function really should be a walking fount of knowledge on executive compensation.
EBN: Why might an HR professional lack that expertise?
BE: In the top 100, 250
Fortune [companies]—the top HR people are very knowledgeable. But if you drift down farther, I think in many cases individuals are so caught up in the transactional aspects of HR that they say, "I don't have time to do all that." Well, you've got to find time.
The second thing is that it's not the most interesting, stimulating area. But you have to know it.
EBN: It's probably critically important to the company, too, if executives are receiving such generous payouts.
BE: It is! If you talk about having a seat at the table, yes, you've got to be a business partner, but everybody that has a seat at the table is a business partner. The question is, what's your area or specialty that you bring to that table? The HR head should be a business partner and an employee champion. Part of that employee champion is [saying] to the CEO privately, "This may not go over well with our people when they see that you are going to get a death benefit of $50 million, and we are in the midst of doing some downsizing. Maybe we ought to talk about that a little bit."
Now, that requires a little chutzpah. But I've got news for you, if you're going to go into the top HR job, you better have it!
EBN: Will the new SEC proxy disclosure rules, which force companies to more clearly disclose executive compensation, help HR professionals who are interested in displaying that chutzpah?
BE: Absolutely. When you get to the management discussion and analysis section of the rules, there is a golden opportunity for the HR function to get in there and help draft it. SEC does not want attorneys writing it. The attorneys are great, but they're very difficult to understand. So get it back [into] common language. be specific, be direct, and people [will] say, "Yes, okay, I understand how we're getting there."
</label> 更新日期:<q>2009/02/08 03:30</q> 劉屏／華盛頓七日電 
