We’re All Compensation Consultants Now, Dog
Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 by Frank RocheThese days, everyone is a compensation consultant. The cool thing is now that you don’t need any credentials or experience or background on employee motivation. You just need an opinion.
Check out this NYT opinion piece called “Common Sense on C.E.O. Pay.” Here’s a little gem about the calculation they make in the article:
Suppose there are 20 pay grades in a company, and the pay goes up by 25 percent for each grade. Most employees will be near the bottom, so the median salary is at about grade six. Do the sums, and the person in the top grade (that’s me) should get just about 20 times the median.
The article is written from the perspective of a fake CEO. Somehow the math is that it’s all about grades and levels. Forget the market. And forget comp consultants, too:
And for the future, I have two suggestions. First, get rid of compensation consultants — they just rationalize pay that’s too high. And second, change the compensation committee, so it doesn’t include any other bosses. We need to end reciprocal back-scratching.
Yeah, let’s get rid of the compensation consultants. We’re all compensation consultants now, dog.
rick
Feb 9th, 2009
Communications consulting here I come!!!!
Frank
Feb 9th, 2009
Rick, grab a pen. Sad to tell you that everyone has been a communications consultant since they invented papyrus.
lancehaun
Feb 9th, 2009
Frank,
Suppose I just pulled figures out of thin air and then tried to make a point with the made up figures.
Could I get a gig as a writer for the best known paper in the US?
I suppose that in a world full suppositions, anything is possible! How exciting!
Frank
Feb 9th, 2009
Lance, that is a beauty…really great stuff…you're right…journo writes that…wonder how they'd like reciprocation.
rick
Feb 9th, 2009
Frank,
Well played.
Nancy King
Feb 9th, 2009
There's the pay scale and then there's “What you will have to pay the very talented person you want with the special critical skills you said you have to have now.'
Frank
Feb 9th, 2009
Hi Nancy,
That's the rub, isn't it? I guess, as Lance said, it's okay for a journalist to be a comp designer…how about the other way around? No quals necessary. Everyone thinks they can do it…being a small business owner, I live and breath that situation daily as we grow…and we see it lots with our clients. I like your question very much…I'd like to hear how they'd answer that one.
Malcolm Chlan
Feb 10th, 2009
With the amount of people out of work right now I think we will be seeing a great deal of “experts” popping up in all industries.
Bubba
Feb 10th, 2009
As a practicing comp consultant and aspiring writer, I would love to explore the profundities and depth of thought in both the analysis and the prose. I can do math with the best of them and, I would offer, that there is quite a bit more to it than that! Like, you know, research and stuff…tax and accounting and all kinds of legalisms. Journalists are generally envious of anyone who makes more than they do (Insurance Agents, Car Salespeople., Customer Service Reps, Sanitary Workers, Police, Nurses) because they work so hard. Not to degrade anyone's occupation, mind you, but any journalist's views on executive pay should be suspected as being inherently biased.
Frank
Feb 11th, 2009
It's funny how it's okay that journos (I used to be one) think it's okay to play in other peoples' spaces. Comp work takes a lot of research, preparation, and responsibility. It's weird to see so many people trying to practice compensation without a license.
Frank
Feb 11th, 2009
Hi Malcom…you bet, everyone is an “expert” now.
Ani
Feb 17th, 2009
While the NY Times journalist is clearly not a compensation consultant, he did provide some rationale behind the point of view he presented. I was disappointed both by your post & the comment string. It also seemed that everyone commenting here is an HR/ Comp person who felt threatened particularly by the statement about getting rid of comp. consultants. Almost all the comments attacked journalism as a profession rather than providing a thoughtful rebuttal or a rationale for keeping comp consultant.
You guys are smarter than that!