If you were on the compensation committee of a public company board how would you set the CEO's pay?There is so much written about fat cat CEOs and their unfair pay packages that this is a question worth pondering (if you care). The really hard part about it is judging what is a) fair, b) necessary to get the talent you want and c) the market.One tool compensation committees use is the "peer group". This is the list of companies which are "like" your company. They are supposed to be [...]

In addition to running my own board meetings, I am active on two public board compensation committees (one of which I chair) and I've come to realize that what goes on in these meetings is often not well understood - and needs demystifying.The Compensation Committee - I'll call it the CC from here on - is responsible for all aspects of compensation in the company, and in particular for executive compensation. This means putting the programs and guidelines in place for general employee compensation, and determining and reviewing specific executive [...]