Human Capital: Page 139

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    More Questions from Finance Recruiters

    Whatever the season, executive recruiters don’t hesitate to throw hardball questions — and not only about finance. One recruiter likes to compare a candidate’s self-opinion with the assessment on the Street; another prefers to probe just what the candidate really wants from a new position. At you...

    By Lisa Yoon • March 1, 2006
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    Benefit System Collapse Possible: GAO

    Since productivity growth won’t support the rising cost of health-care and other benefits, the entire “employer-sponsored system of benefits in its current form may be unsustainable,” according to a panel of 17 experts questioned by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.Indeed, the panel agre...

    By David Katz • Feb. 27, 2006
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    Taxing Problem in Long-term Compensation

    When the Financial Accounting Standards Board tackled options expensing by introducing FAS 123R, accounting concerns were on the top of the agenda for many companies. But tax implications play a part, too.CFOs and other executives who determine a company’s pay structure may, in fact, find themsel...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 24, 2006
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    CFOs on the Move

    • Charles E. Golden, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., will retire from that position and from the board of directors, effective April 30. Golden joined Lilly in 1996 after 26 years at General Motors, where his roles...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 24, 2006
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    Hire Power

    Online job postings may be old hat, but as the market for qualified finance staffers tightens, companies are using the Web in new ways. The goal now is to not just streamline what has long been an arduous manual recruiting process, but to actively court people with the right skills — even if they...

    By Karen M. Kroll • Feb. 24, 2006
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    Diverse Directors in Short Supply

    At the 200 largest companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500, 16 percent of directors are women and 15 percent are minorities. The overall supply of qualified business executives is still low, however, according to a new report by executive recruiting firm Spencer Stuart.To increase the numbers ...

    By Dave Cook • Feb. 23, 2006
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    The Retirement Age

    It’s no secret that the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — the baby boomers — have been driving cultural trends since their infancy, from rock ‘n’ roll to Rogaine to real estate. But the next boomer trend will likely have the biggest impact on Corporate America yet: retirement.With...

    By Melissa Hennessy • Feb. 22, 2006
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    Finders Keepers

    It’s not about the money. Companies that experience high rates of employee turnover will likely find that it’s not salary issues that cause workers to walk out the door.Instead, employees are looking for benefits, training, and flexibility. “The average employee wants to make a difference,” says ...

    By Laura DeMars • Feb. 22, 2006
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    Forgotten, but Not Gone

    Consider it another nail in the coffin of defined-benefit (DB) plans. In November, Congress drafted legislation that could require companies to fully fund their plans. Then, in December, the Financial Accounting Standards Board announced that it will consider tougher pension-accounting rules.The ...

    By Laura DeMars • Feb. 21, 2006
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    Health-Benefit Inflation Slows Again

    The rise in the price employers expect to pay to provide health-care benefits to U.S. workers decelerated for the fourth year in a row, according to a new Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey.Employers expect a median 8 percent bump in such expenses this year, down from the 10 percent boost they foresaw...

    By Stephen Taub • Feb. 17, 2006
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    CFOs on the Move

    • The merger of the New York Stock Exchange and Archipelago leaves room for one fewer chief financial officer. Amy Butte, a former division finance chief at Credit Suisse Group, is resigning as the Big Board’s CFO, effective May 31. Nelson Chai, CFO of Chicago-based Archipelago, will assume the t...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 17, 2006
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    Do You Have Any Questions for Us?

    “Do you have any questions for us?”It’s usually the last question in a interview, and for many job seekers, one of the toughest — but it’s also rich with opportunity. Good questions will not only seek information but also reveal the candidate’s insight and intelligence, depth of research into the...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 16, 2006
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    Women in Finance: Hear Them Roar

    The vast majority of executive women in finance are satisfied with their careers and would recommend finance to women starting out today, but nearly half say they’ve been personally affected by the “glass ceiling.”Those are some of the major findings of a newly released study by executive search ...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 16, 2006
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    Tell Me a Story about Executive Pay

    By proposing a new compensation analysis section that would sit atop the pay tables in financial reports and proxies, the Securities and Exchange Commission could force companies to provide a much more detailed discussion of how they pay their top earners, experts say.Among the SEC’s recently pro...

    By Helen Shaw • Feb. 16, 2006
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    Hidden Talents

    There’s no going back. Having succeeded at helping human resources streamline and automate transactional HR functions such as payroll and benefits enrollment, CFOs are looking to do more. They are hard at work bringing their analytic and quantitative skills to higher-level processes like recruiti...

    By Laura DeMars • Feb. 15, 2006
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    What’s Wrong with Finance Training

    Like most companies, General Mills Inc. didn’t always devote the resources to employee training that it should have. “There was always some training, but it was haphazard, not consistent or actionable,” says Lisa Kline, director of finance and supply chain at the $11.2 billion food company. “Peop...

    By Randy Myers • Feb. 15, 2006
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    Putting a Premium on Health

    When a Wal-Mart memo describing the retailer’s plans to hire and retain healthier workers was leaked to the press last year, it touched off a firestorm. But in truth, many companies are coming to regard a fitter workforce as one way to control health-care benefit costs.Feeling the pinch of double...

    By Melissa Hennessy • Feb. 15, 2006
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    Benefits in 2020

    Employee benefits have been a lose-lose situation for years.Even as companies have asked workers to absorb a higher percentage of health-care costs; cut benefits for retirees; and shifted away from richer defined-benefit (DB) plans in favor of more-predictable 401(k)s, CFOs have still had to face...

    By David Katz • Feb. 15, 2006
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    Absence-Minded

    It’s no secret that employees call in sick when they feel fine, but just how often they fib might surprise you. A 2005 survey by CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, Ill.-based provider of information services, found that personal illness accounts for just 35 percent of unscheduled absences.That doesn’t mean ...

    By Karen M. Kroll • Feb. 15, 2006
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    Delta Deal Could Scrap Pilots’ Pensions

    Delta Air Lines has offered its pilots a $300 million pay package in exchange for the right to terminate its pension plan, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Under the proposal, the $300 million payment would be in the form of an interest-bearing note.Of...

    By Stephen Taub • Feb. 10, 2006
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    Fannie Interim CFO Earned Nearly $9 Million

    Robert Levin, who spent most of 2005 as interim chief financial officer of Fannie Mae, earned nearly $9 million for the year.Levin, who in November was appointed Fannie’s first chief business officer when the company named Bob Blakely as CFO, received a salary of $750,000 and a bonus of slightly ...

    By Stephen Taub • Feb. 10, 2006
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    CFOs on the Move

    • Frederick G. Silny, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Guess Inc., will be leaving the apparel retailer May 9 to pursue other opportunities. Carlos Alberini will assume the top finance responsibilities until Guess finds a permanent CFO. • SLM Corp., better known as Sallie Mae,...

    By Lisa Yoon • Feb. 10, 2006
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    The Little Things

    Every year finance departments put themselves through the wringer, racing to meet an endless parade of deadlines. The crunch has intensified recently as finance teams labor to comply with new regulatory requirements even as they try to keep up with routine tasks such as quarterly and annual Secur...

    By Kate O'Sullivan • Feb. 10, 2006
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    Flabby or Fit?

    Ever since two consultants from A.T. Kearney Inc. launched the first finance benchmarking studies in the 1980s, CFOs have been avid consumers of comparative data. Now there are more numbers to feed their appetite. Last year, the American Productivity and Quality Center, long known for its quality...

    By Don Durfee • Feb. 10, 2006
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    Will Washington Really Act?

    Still stinging from its failure to overhaul Social Security, the Bush Administration is setting its sights on pension reform for 2006. And while it’s far from certain what Congress will serve up for approval, it’s clear there will be plenty of action.To date, both the House of Representatives and...

    By Russ Banham • Feb. 9, 2006