The Empty Promise of ‘Pay for Performance’

[marmar]

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:



The Empty Promise of ‘Pay for Performance’
October 1, 2011

Pundits and politicians love to righteously denounce the windfall rewards that go to corporate CEOs who ‘fail.’ But windfalls for CEOs who ‘perform,’ researchers suggest, ought to worry us far more.

By Sam Pizzigati


Leo Apotheker, the just-axed CEO at computer giant Hewlett-Packard, appears to have become the latest “poster child” for everything that’s gone haywire in America’s corporate executive suites.

Apotheker spent all of 11 months as HP’s top executive. Over the course of those 11 months, HP shares dropped over $40 billion in value. Not good. Last month the HP board gave Leo the ax. His exit package: nearly $25 million in bonus, stock, and assorted perks.

Also not good. Corporate America, critics are howling, is once again rewarding CEOs “for failure.” Corporate boards, the rant continues, have to start shaping up. They “need to choose,” one top CEO pay expert told Fortune last week, “clear performance measures and set concrete goals to align pay for performance.”

If corporations did this “pay for performance” aligning, the conventional wisdom holds, CEO compensation would cease to be an eyesore. “Pay for performance” would restore basic business common sense to corporate executive pay. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://toomuchonline.org/empty-promise-pay-for-performance/

[HughBeaumont]

1. The Legion of Legalized Larceny.

But hey, let's not spray sour grapes about losing at the economic game of life, right? Let's all blame the government (dog whistle for "Democrats", who the hell is anyone trying to bullshit here) and the lazy (insert racial slur here)s for all of our economic problems, right??

Those CEOs EARNED their pay, they work WAY harder than you ever will!

:sarcasm:

[Thav]

3. Damn right he earned it.

Do you know how HARD it is to run a company into the ground, bilk billions from the coffers, get a diamond-studded platinum parachute, and make it look like the collapse of the company is NOT your fault?

[SharonAnn]

2. It's also an empty promise for the lower levels. Compensation

is still being awarded based on all kinds of preferences, friendships, loyalties, etc.

Sometimes the best performing person in the group gets little recognition, at least as far as $$$.

Hasn't changed enough in the last 40 years.

[xchrom]

4. recommend