- Aflac Takes the Plunge Into "Say on Pay"
Supplemental health insurance provider Aflac will allow its shareholders an advisory vote on its corporate pay practices starting in 2009. [more]
- BPM Software Increases Employee Satisfaction
One sure way to boost employee satisfaction is to improve your budgeting and planning processes. [more]
- How Presenteeism Impacts the Bottom Line
Medical plan sponsors who obsess over medical and pharmacy claims may be missing an even bigger threat to medical cost containment in the form of employee presenteeism — reduced productivity on the job due to illness or underlying acute or chronic medical conditions. [more]
- Lean 401(k) Plans Replacing Traditional High-Cost Vehicles
Stung by charges that exorbitant undisclosed expenses are taking a huge bite out of workers' 401(k) returns — and wary of possible outcomes from imminent Congressional hearings, Department of Labor guidelines and pending lawsuits — employers are investigating alternative plain-vanilla plans. [more]
- A Guide to the 2007 Proxy Season
Executive compensation and majority voting in director elections will be front and center among this year's proxy season issues. [more]
- CFOs' Investor-Relations Role Grows
Investor relations (IR) has traditionally occupied a position at the perimeter of CFOs' responsibilities as a discrete function, staffed outside of finance, that requires the finance chief's attention from time to time. [more]
- Albuquerque Named Best US City for Business and Careers
Buoyed by the lowest business costs in the country (24 percent beneath the national average), climbing incomes and a highly educated population, Albuquerque claimed the top spot in Forbes magazine's annual list of the 10 best places for business and careers. [more]
- Options Expensing Alert: Evaluate the Quality of Disclosures
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has responded to FAS 123R's requirement to report stock option grants as expenses by developing an Options Expensing Alert. [more]
- 2007's Promising Positions in Accounting and Finance
"Those who combine functional expertise with strong strategic decision-making, communication and technology skills are in the greatest demand and often can command higher compensation," says Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of the accounting and finance staffing services firm Robert Half International. [more]
- Talent War Heats Up
Call it an economic recovery or a gradual dumbing down of the workforce, but companies are experiencing increasing competition for talent. [more]
- Wellness Programs Key to Halting Productivity Slide
The bad news: We're older, we weigh more and we're less active, so we're contracting chronic diseases at an alarming rate and triggering a serious decline in global corporate profits and productivity. [more]
- 401(k) or Health Care? Take Your Pick
Employees have been staying away in droves from defined-contribution plans, forcing businesses to adopt strategies such as automatic enrollment to overcome a perceived worker inertia. [more]
- Director Paychecks Swell
Corporate director pay climbed an average of 12 percent in 2006, according to the "Board Practices/Board Pay 2007" study by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). [more]
- Informal Networking Reaps Huge Returns
Knowledge sharing has long swirled beneath the surface in corporate life, but now many companies are organizing or beefing up informal networks to capitalize on the innovations and cost savings generated by these communities of practice. [more]
- Can You Keep a (Trade) Secret?
Intellectual property accounts for an ever-growing slice of companies' total assets. [more]
- Bush Speaks Out on Executive Pay
President Bush scolded corporate America for the high salaries paid to its chiefs in an updated State of the Economy speech at Federal Hall. [more]
- More CFOs Burn Out and Move Out
Stock option backdating scandal, increased responsibility to enforce Sarbanes-Oxley, and genuine burn out are three reasons to blame for high CFO turnover in 2006. [more]
- Capital-Preservation Funds on the Way Out as Default Investments for 401(k) Plans
Employers that now use money-market and stable-value funds as the default investment vehicle for workers automatically enrolled in their 401(k) plans might have to move to more aggressive instruments if regulations proposed by the Department of Labor take effect in February, as expected. [more]
- Free Ride for Nacchio on Legal Fees
Former QWest CEO Joseph Nacchio won't have to spend his own money to defend himself in his upcoming trial for insider trading. [more]
- Treasury Fraud at NBC?
Two instances of fraud involving treasurers came to light last week -- one at GE's NBC Universal unit, and one in the sleepy Michigan county of Alcona. [more]
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