We all wish we were better at communicating. We create presentations (decks) and plan summaries (SPDs). We carefully choose our words and have our colleagues review things before sending them. Our efforts need to be understood by people with wide ranges of experiences, education and levels of interest. But what if our best efforts were...
We have all been to the gym or have seen this guy walking down the street (here’s an example). He’s the guy with those big arms, broad chest, and a narrow waist looking like a cartoon superhero. The guy is impressive in a t-shirt but carried around by skinny chicken legs. It’s obvious he puts...
I have a brother with 20:15 vision. For those of you normal humans, this means he can see things clearly in the distance that the rest of us see as only a blur (if at all). I have a sister with, to be kind, worse vision. Like many people, her vision imperceptivity worsened over decades....
When it comes to compensation, it’s easy to get caught up in strategy and communication. We know that missing a chance at impacting the big picture is missing a chance at being successful. But, pay is also about the smallest of details. These include the language in plan documents, the timing of processing or reporting...
The most common question asked about equity compensation is only two words: “How much?” For private companies, it is frustratingly hard to answer. The crux of every equity compensation conversation is how much to give. The answer leads to the best equity instrument to use, features of the plan, expected exit strategy, or time to...
Pay for performance continues to rise. However, the failure of pay for performance is rising almost as fast. As the discussion about best practices continues, I thought I would provide a few thoughts about an approach that may work for your employees. Usually the drive for pay for performance comes from the top of the...
Equity compensation continues to be a confusing topic for compensation professionals and with good reason. Equity compensation is not just variable compensation. It’s variable, variable, variable, variable compensation. There’s the variable of stock price. There are variable numbers of shares, units, options or rights. There are variable types of awards, variable vesting timing, variable (for...
My first real lesson in negotiations was simple: “In a perfect compromise no one walks away completely happy.” Compromise, like sales compensation, requires both sides to give up something in order to get what they really want. When done correctly, there is balance to the final resolution. Sales compensation is both the easiest and hardest...
World at Work defines Total Rewards as: “All of the tools available to the employer that may be used to attract, motivate and retain employees. Total rewards include everything the employee perceives to be of value resulting from the employment relationship.” We have invented more tools with corresponding rules, regulations and variations. And our employees...
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) is one the most powerful voices in how companies and their investors view executive compensation. In the never-ending quest to properly evaluate, value and measure the impact of equity compensation, ISS has once again changed its policies. Elizabeth Ising and Ronald Mueller of Gibson Dunn have summarized the proposed changes in...
