Moderator: Thomas Wajnert, senior advisor, Irving Place Capital; lead director, Reynolds American; director, UDR Panel: Keith Meyer, vice chairman, managing partner, global Board Consulting Practice, Heidrick & Struggles; Joyce Roché, director, AT&T, Macy’s, Tupperware Brands; Peter Lupo, managing director, Pearl Meyer & Partners
“What has changed between 2006, 2008 and 2010, in terms of recruitment, what’s the market like?” Thomas Wajnert asked, setting the stage. Keith Meyer spoke of a recent practice of “forward planning” in the boardroom, one in which the search for a new director is begun two or even three years before the actual appointment.
Compensation, of course, is a determinate factor in director and CEO appointments, an already difficult process. Peter Lupo described how, though director pay has shown little change, the structural components of payment have been significantly altered. “There is a shift away from options to restricted shares or deferred shares—not to suggest that everyone is going to whole shares, but there’s a shift going in that direction,” Lupo said. It is important to be able to back up compensation decision, said Joyce Roche: “If you can’t feel comfortable that you can justify where you ended up, then you shouldn’t go there.”
Matthew Connolly is a senior at Boston University