Syzygy Consulting Group

yzygy Consulting Group provides expertise in human resources management, practices and programs. We specialize in total compensation design and development, including executive and Board pay, incentive pay, stock compensation, high technology pay, sales commission plans and custom market surveys.

Coming Attractions
Dodd-Frank Act - Compensation Items

The financial reform bill, titled the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” will impact all public companies beginning in 2011. Informally known as the Dodd-Frank Act, certain items contained in the Act require companies to describe, defend and seek shareholder votes on specific compensation-related areas. The compensation items are to be regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The following are initial highlights of the compensation-related areas. More details, including effective dates, will appear as the SEC issues final rules. (Continued...)

Emerging Compensation Trends

2011 Pre-IPO and Private Company Total Compensation Survey

NOW AVAILABLE
Most Comprehensive Survey of Cash, Stock and Benefits Practices at the Lowest Price

Syzygy’s pre-IPO total compensation survey, conducted annually since 1999, is recognized nationally as the premier source of private company pay and benefits data. The completed survey compiles 2011 pay practice data on 58,800 employees at 201 private companies.

New features of the survey include:

An additional 15 percent benchmark jobs bringing the total jobs surveyed to 44
Enhanced stock-based compensation reporting detail
An industry cut of green/clean technology companies

Key findings and highlights include:

CEO and CFO compensation was generally flat. Median CEO total cash compensation decreased 1 percent from the prior year while median CFO total cash compensation increased 1 percent.
CEO stock holdings increased by 4 percent. Continued dilution from new investments and lower compensatory grants had a downward impact on executive ownership.
A CEO-founder generally receives 41 percent less cash compensation than a non-founder CEO, which is offset by compensatory stock holdings that are nearly twice that of their non-founder counterpart.
401(k) matches, employee paid-time off, severance benefits and paid holidays were relatively unchanged, but some companies increased the amount they contribute to 401(k) plans.
Employees of private companies continue to shoulder more of the increase in employer sponsored health care costs as evidenced by a median increase in the amount employees contribute to cover premiums.
While the typical vesting period for stock option grants did not change significantly (4 years for over 90 percent of the companies), companies with shorter/more frequent vesting schedules moved from monthly or quarterly vesting schedules to an annual vesting schedule.
Restricted stock grants are being pushed further down the management organization rather than being confined to the executive ranks. These grants are mainly used for retention and performance purposes.
Typical base pay increases remained flat from last year at 3 percent, still well below where they were before the economic downturn, reflecting continued relatively low inflation.
Stock compensation for independent Board members decreased from last year, but cash compensation increased, reflecting a continued demand for high-caliber individuals.

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syz•y•gy (siz´i jē), n., pl. -gies. 1. Astron. a. The nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies (as the sun, moon and earth during a solar or lunar eclipse) in a gravitational system. b. The alignment of three or more points in space. 2. Any two related things, either alike or opposite. [< LL syzygia < Gk syzygíā union, pair, equiv. to sýzyg(os): yoked together (sy- sy- +zyg-, root of zeugnýnai to yoke,+-os adj. suffix) + -ia -y³]

Syzygy Consulting Group LLC