Issue: One of the oldest cancer outreach and support centers in North America wanted their first comprehensive compensation review of all staff to include the executive director. There was conjecture as to the individual’s thoughts and ideas, but no comprehensive review for issues like how long may I work? When will I be asked to retire? Who is the next generation of leadership?
The Institution was in the midst of a major fund-raising campaign and considering expansion to a second regional location (since completed). Cohesion of the management team was considered a top priority of the executive director. In addition, critical personnel nearing retirement age did not want to retire and were being encouraged to stay.
Our process: Mandates from the top do little to encourage loyalty and longevity. The Calfee Financial approach builds upon a foundation of planning issues for the individual employee. We conducted extensive interviews with each member of management. From these, we developed a number of creative and person-specific recommendations that responded to the needs of each individual employee to encourage morale and team identity. These included advanced education reimbursement, health subsidy programs, increases in salary to and beyond competitive levels, adoption of a ‘top-hat’ retirement plan, and identification and retention of the next generation of leadership.
Result: The compensation committee of the board was kept informed during the project. When presented with final findings and recommendations, the committee approved on behalf of the board all recommendations.