CEOs will continue to deal with questions of income equity because many rank-and-file American workers remain financially insecure and don’t perceive a lot of help from a slow-growing economy. The strictures of the Affordable Care Act—which are forcing CEOs to shove more workers below the 30-hour-a-week threshold that requires the offer of health-insurance coverage—put even more pressure on individuals to make each hour worked as lucrative for them as possible.
Activist pressure on CEOs in retailing and restaurants is especially acute on this issue. Wal-Mart continues to be targeted, for example, even though CEO Doug McMillon recently said that the company now plans to abandon the minimum wage for the less than 1% of its 1.3 million U.S. employees who are still compensated at that level.
And fast-food leaders including McDonald’s and Burger King remain targets for labor agitators, and some of their own employees, who want the chains and the industry to offer a “living wage” starting at as much as $15 an hour, even to their entry-level employees.
Buffalo Wild Wings CEO Sally Smith believes that wage pressures are one of the most significant challenges for her industry, besides the complications posed by complying with the ACA. “We need to have a discussion on the minimum wage and wages in the restaurant industry,” she told CEO Briefing. “And it’s important that it be an informed discussion.”
The fast-casual leader strives in an industry where “margins are pretty slim, with the average company earning about 4% after taxes,” Smith noted. “That has to go into building additional restaurants that provide more employment, refurbishing others, and having some capital to put back into the business. So as wages increase, and there are additional pressures on food costs these days, restaurants actually have to look for more ways to automate” to ease labor costs, she says.
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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.
