Compensation and Dealing with Veruca Salt
Actor Gene Wilder’s recent passing, along with a recent client call, reminded me Veruca Salt’s “I Want It Now!”. The song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the real one, not that lame version starring Johnny Depp.) As reminder, Veruca wants not only the goose’s golden egg, she also wants the goose itself. Mr. Wonka declines and chaos ensues. This seems to be an increasingly popular story in our tight job market.
I can’t blame the employee, or prospective hire. They are rightfully selfish and focused on their own desires. It is their role to ask for as much as they can get. It is everyone else’s job to provide context and maintain their compensation philosophy and integrity.
The first line of defense is talent acquisition. These people serve as a combination of producer and sales person. Like most movie producers, they will tell the candidate that the job will be one of the best ever. They may shower the “start” with compliments and explain how to best manage the process to get the job. For tougher roles they may sell the culture and total rewards package. They seldom undersell the potential of either. Like sales people, we can only expect recruiters to think about the long-term of their hires if we are willing to link long-term results to demonstrable accountability. Much like a happy grandparent, we cannot expect them to stop spoiling people.
Next in line are the HR Business Partners. They serve as the first bridge between the needs of an internal leader and the desires of the employee. Their customers are often important and busy internal managers who are short-staffed and being held to critical deliverables. They may only serve as a speed bump for the demanding star. Think of them like the aunt or nanny. They know the rules but may be unenthusiastic about strictly enforcing them.
This is where things get sticky. The compensation department must be prescient if they are to succeed in avoiding Veruca Salt situations. The rules of engagement must be clearly defined and communicated prior to this type of hire coming through the door. Pay ranges must be clear and defensible. Allowable exceptions must be equally clear. By the time this type of employee makes it to the “what does compensation have to say about this” question, it is too late to make new rules. We don’t know much about Veruca Salt’s mom, but we do know her dad was an enabler. Perhaps if mom had been there Veruca would have made it to the end of the movie.
The decision wielding executive is the wild card. Will they follow the pay programs they approved and paid for, or will they make Veruca happy and give what she wants? This where a thorough understanding of the hows and whys of pay become so important. This is why compensation professional get paid the medium (I was going to big, but who am I kidding) bucks! When the final decision-maker truly understands your total rewards approach and long-term strategy they are unlikely to approve the hire of many “Veruca Salts”. They will understand the long-term impact of a bad short-term decision and find another path. Occasionally they will knowingly make the hire with a tacit understanding that the individual will be held on a short leash in the future. If we do our jobs very, very well, this is likely the best we can hope for when a star says they want it all and they want it now.
To paraphrase the Oompa Loompas:
Oompa Loompa doompadee doo
I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompadah dee
If you are wise you will listen to me
Who do you blame when your employee’s a brat
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese cat?
Blaming the person's a lion of shame
You know exactly who's to blame:
Executives and the Compensation Team!
Oompa Loompa doompadee dah
If your staff is not spoiled then your pay will go far
You will work in happiness too
Like the Oompa Loompa doompadee do
Dan Walter is a CECP and CEP and works as Managing Consultant for FutureSense. He is passionately committed to aligning pay with company strategy and culture. Dan is also a leading expert on equity compensation issues and has written several industry resources including the one-of-a-kind Performance-Based Equity Compensation. He has co-authored ”Everything You Do In Compensation is Communication”, , “Equity Alternatives” and other books. Connect with Dan on LinkedIn. Or, follow him on Twitter at @DanFutureSense.
Posted by DanFutureSense on 06/13/2019 at 08:42 AM in Base Salaries, Compensation Communication, Compensation Philosophy, Incentives/Bonuses, Small Company Compensation, Stock/Equity Compensation, Total Rewards | Permalink | Comments (0)