Everyone from President Obama to think tanks to union leaders to feminist icons is advancing this cluster of issues, and business chiefs now must count on dealing with its implications on a more proactive basis than before. And somewhere, CEOs and entrepreneurs may find ways to leverage these concerns to their advantage.
Each issue represents slightly different constituencies, but there are huge overlaps among the interests behind them. Here’s a brief look at the issues:
“Equal pay” for women: Obama has been hitting this concern hard. He began mentioning it in his State of the Union address and has continued with the refrain that American women “still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns”—even though the White House staff itself illustrates this disparity. Business chiefs and conservative pundits have been noting the long list of factors that qualify this difference, including the desire of many women to leave the workforce to raise families.
CEO-to-worker pay disparities: The idea that top executives are compensated in an unjustly disproportional way compared with rank-and-file workers of their companies keeps popping up. Most recently, Democratic legislators in California proposed a law that would raise state taxes on publicly traded companies that pay their top-earning employee 100 times as much or more as the company’s average workers.
“Living-wage” agitation: Even more current than a revisiting of the previous two issues is the effort to force companies to pay “living wages” to their low-wage workers—or get states or the U.S. government to intervene to that end, at least raising the minimum wage. The left has latched on to the frustration of the legions of American “underemployed” by arguing that greedy CEOs, business owners and their companies are to blame for stagnant personal income in this country, not the failed economic policies of the federal government.
CEOs need to focus on generating both short-term profitability and long-term growth. As long as compensation for everyone is fair, competitive and can be justified, these issues should not get in a CEO’s way.
Additional reading:
CEOs slashing jobs get big raises
California’s bid to tax companies who don’t share the wealth
Bill proposes higher taxes on CEOs with high wage disparity
For Women in Tech, Pay Gap Is Unusually Small
In Equal-Pay Debate, Disparity Is in the Details
The ’77 Cents on the Dollar’ Myth About Women’s Pay
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
