Why This Blog?

PAY IS ALWAYS ON EVERYBODY’S MIND, except for the very rich maybe…

With 39 years of experience in this field, I am ready to contemplate on this a very emotionally sensitive human dimension of our lives.

Over these years I have seen that our base human instincts are manifested when we think about pay. What, how, why and when we are paid affects us to our very core.

I have seen all types of reactions when it comes to pay. Dissatisfaction is the prime emotional reaction. And when anything happens to the sanctity of our pay system we suffer extreme reactions, psychological, emotional, financial, social and physiological. Pay is our most basic security need. Somehow we derive our self worth through what we get paid. This in spite of the  exhortations of the religious and spiritual leaders that there is much to our lives than our mere material and economic condition – that is the satisfaction of our worldly needs. This message has and is soundly broadcasted by many self-help philosophers throughout modern times. But in spite of all such admonitions we remain permanently fixated on our pay status.

Let me first tell you when I talk about  ”pay” I mean all forms of compensation – cash, bonus, risk benefits, savings and retirement programs, perks, stock and what not. This lexicon of pay systems seem to go on and on in modern organizational realities the world over.

But we still remain dissatisfied. Our cups are always have empty. But why?

In more recent days especially in the US much debate has ensued in the public domain as to the excesses in what senior executives get paid compared to the rest of us. 

Concepts of pay disparity, comparable worth, equal pay, minimum pay, legal regulation of pay have resulted in lively debates over the many years I have worked as a pay professional.

Pay, therefore, has many structural facets, psychological, philosophical, financial, sociological, legal, governmental, emotional, mathematical, anthropological in addition to the most obvious, the economical.

It, therefore is a very complex intellectual endeavor. Yet those who profess to be professionals in the field exist blissfully ignorant about the deep thought processes involved in creating optimum programs for their entities to meet this fundamental purpose of organizational existence. (See essay, “Is This a Profession”)

Thus, this contemplative blog. I plan to discuss fundamental concepts, theories, practices, ideas, thoughts, debates and paradigm shifts.

Why am I ready to do this, one may ask? 

 Well, I have encountered every possible situation in this discipline across the entire world. 

 The years are behind me.

And now with the many excesses in Executive Compensation being discussed in the public domain and so much being said about this most emotional business topic, I truly can share concrete advise to those seeking it, with the utmost objectivity. 

As one of my bosses talking about me has said there is both good and bad news about this guy. On one hand he is very knowledgeable in this field and that is good. But on the other hand, the bad news is one cannot fool him.

And thus, through this blog I hope to answer questions, discuss issues, solve dilemmas, speak the truth and help with the governance of this most delicate and emotional aspect of business life. After all, do we not all work for a living – earning money in the process?

There is a lot to say, covering both practice and theory. This I can do because I have worked in the field of HR and Compensation for 11 companies globally and have consulted to about 60 companies and along the way I have taught this subject at major universities and public seminars.

 I have much to say in a straight forward manner…

Thus, let the flow start…..