Can Corporate Officers Sell Stock?The latest pressure from proxy advisory firms and shareholder activists emphasizes mandatory holding periods even after equity pay is vested, with some calling for the forced holding of stock into retirement. January 8, 2012
Effective Shareholder CommunicationsThis interview with Blair Jones provides advice on effective shareholder communications, including what it should focus on, depth and timing. October 1, 2011 WorldAtWork
Long-Term Performance PlansCompanies are facing increasing pressure from shareholders and regulatory mandates to consider compensation vehicles that reward long-term performance. The success of these programs requires identifying the right metrics and establishing suitable goals. This article, written by Seymour Burchman and Blair Jones, provides four approaches to goal setting for performance-based pay programs. July 1, 2008 Workspan
Compensation Committee Best Practices for Today’s EnvironmentActions driven by a set of shared principles, coupled with open lines of communication, will serve a board well - ensuring it can proactively and effectively address problems and take action with conviction, appropriately balancing and responding to internal and external pressures. July 1, 2008 Agenda
Comparing Apples to ApplesThe media and activist groups often point to company peer groups as a contributor to excessive executive pay. Shareholders deserve a compelling rationale as to why specific companies are considered peers and for what purpose, e.g., pay comparison, performance comparator, or models for program design? April 1, 2007 Workspan
A New Way to Judge the NumbersComparing the compensation and financial picture of three actual companies illustrates how three "tests" can help companies get a handle on the reasonableness of CEO pay. The tests check for correlation between pay and performance, value sharing, and peer alignment. The analyses provide a compelling story about the aspects of design that contribute to an appropriate alignment of pay and performance. April 1, 2007 Directors & Boards
Getting Post-M&A Executive Compensation RightThe success of a merger or acquisition transaction rests in large part on the strength and accuracy of the pre-M&A legwork. September 1, 2006 Directors & Boards
Executive Compensation as a Support for a Growth StrategyCompensation can be critical to building and sustaining motivation and commitment, as well as ensuring the required talent is available and focusing in the right direction. Compensation can help a company attract the right talent to the key roles responsible for driving top-line growth. July 1, 2006 WorldAtWork
Follow With CautionPerformance-based compensation for a company's directors can threaten board objectivity and create possible conflicts of interest. Yet with the right measures and goals, a company can avoid sub-optimization and directors aligned with shareholder interests. The best solution may lie in significant equity ownership tied to board tenure. May 1, 2006 Forbes
Should Do, Can Do, Will Do: Setting Incentive Goals That Yield ResultsWithout appropriate goals and measures, business results could be neutral. This article focuses on the identification of appropriate performance measures for all organizational levels and setting mutually supportive goals that reinforce key strategies and lead to improved shareholder value. Read the entire article (PDF) written by Seymour Burchman and Blair Jones. June 1, 2005 WorldAtWork
Don’t Follow the LeaderThe pressure is on to abandon once-popular equity vehicles, particularly stock options, which have taken the heat as a prime instigator of executive pay excess. The right LTI design for a given company should be based on a careful consideration of the needs and characteristics of the company, its shareholders and its employees. April 1, 2005 WorldAtWork
Director PayEstablishing principles to address specific pay program amounts and components will help the Board to ensure that decisions regarding director pay are made thoughtfully, holistically, and accurately. March 1, 2005 Directors & Boards
Choosing & Using the Right MeasuresMany companies are now adopting or considering long-term incentive plans where value realized by participants is contingent on achievement of specific performance goals, which are often not based on stock-price. While these types of plans provide opportunities to focus management on results that will drive shareholder value, they don't come without significant risk of unintended consequences. March 1, 2004 WorldAtWork