Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I heard this woman on the Today programme last week and read it in the observer radio review - botn times I was gobsmacked. It makes you wonder about her relationships with her own staff. Here is an extract from the Observer "On Tuesday, it wasn't the presenters talking over interviewees that made us cross, but a discussion about executive pay packets. Heather McGregor, from executive search firm Taylor Bennett, when asked why an employee shouldn't sit on a company pay board, said: "John, you have young children, you would not give young children a say in how much money you allocate yourself every year for clothes or for haircuts. We do not operate workers' co-operatives. If they all want to work in a workers' co-operative, everyone can move to Cuba." Wow. Just: wow." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Why are you surprised? Many companies have executives who think they are above everybody else and also think their employees should be grateful for a job paying a pittance while they enjoy all the privileges of high pay, pensions and bonuses. This is not news for many workers, they already experience it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 It wasn't so much the views that surprised me it was that she apparently saw nothing wrong in them and had no qualms about expressing them on national radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Don't you think that those executives who consider they deserve all their high pay etc. are also going to be the ones who will say so in public and expect others to agree with them? Even the MPs don't think their expenses should be limited and they discuss it freely amongst themselves, but we only hear about it when it is leaked! They don't want us to know because it could affect their careers, but many executives don't have such fears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Executive positions qualify people for Board seats. On the Pay Board, you have to have a complete business and fiscal education and a complete knowledge of the company's economic situation worldwide. If you want an executive position go out, work hard and if possible get a college degree and then spend up to twenty years gaining experience. Why should an inexperienced and unqualified person be invited to run a company? Celebrities and I hate that word, are sometimes invited because their name can add something that will be beneficial to the company, but other than that you need management skill. Any member of any work force can sit on a Board, all he or she has to do is start a successful company, of course that takes major effort, it's not a giveaway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 . Any member of any work force can sit on a Board, all he or she has to do is start a successful company, of course that takes major effort, it's not a giveaway. Unless Daddy is already on the board. Alternatively going to the right school and not being a prole helps of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 You certainly have a few chips on your shoulders Nick :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 You certainly have a few chips on your shoulders Nick :| I'm afraid some people bring out the worst in me, Asperity. Going back to the original quotation - when I first heard it, I remembered what the prosecution barrister in the Lady Chatterley trial (1960) said, for which he was ridiculed for being out of touch. He asked whetehr it was teh sort of book ".....you would wish your wife or servants to read". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I wouldn't want my servants reading mucky filth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I wouldn't want my servants reading mucky filth! Servants who can read - whatever next - dogs talking - cats doing calculus - where will it end , women getting the vote - that's where! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 News for you Nick - women have had the vote for decades, 93 years ago in 1918 to be precise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 News for you Nick - women have had the vote for decades, 93 years ago in 1918 to be precise. For pity's sake it was a joke . (As I am sure you aware the right, for certain women over 30, was not the same as men- they would have to wait another decade for that) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Nick.... I run my own business. Have done for more than a decade. During that time I have employed countless people who have been reasonably well paid and been given all the benefits that I never recieved when I was in their position (Which I was... been there done the job worn the tee-shirt) If you for one minute think that I would ask any employee to decide how much I should be paid and what benefits I should recieve then you really are living in cloud Communist-land my friend.... I started the business and put my house, savings and whatever else I had on the line.... the people who work for me take the job based on the package they are offered; nothing more, nothing less. They work 37.5 hours a week (or so they tell me) If they get offered better terms and conditions or pay elsewhere they are free to leave and take it. I don't have that freedom; everything I have is tied up in the business to some degree or other. I don't earn massive 6 figure salaries, but every so often I can take advantage of a good trading spree and take a bonus from the company..... If I was to be offered a job offering better all round pay than I get working for myself and decide to close the business to take up that offer.... I would be OK Jack, but people working for me would lose their jobs.... Is that a better way forward in your world? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 I was the son of an orphan, went to Beamont High School, worked hard and ended up with a degree. Started my own engineering business, worked harder and became Chairman of the Board thirty years later. That's how it's done Nick and it's open to anyone. Sorry sucess rubs you the wrong way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I was the son of an orphan, went to Beamont High School, worked hard and ended up with a degree. Started my own engineering business, worked harder and became Chairman of the Board thirty years later. That's how it's done Nick and it's open to anyone. Sorry sucess rubs you the wrong way. You should set that first bit to music - make a good blues song - loses it a bit at the end though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 You should set that first bit to music - make a good blues song - loses it a bit at the end though. Don't think you have quite got the hang of this forum yet Nick, hopefully "I'm not going to teach my grandmother to suck eggs", if you intend a reply to be witty try adding a 'winking' smiley, Works doesn't it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Don't think you have quite got the hang of this forum yet Nick, hopefully "I'm not going to teach my grandmother to suck eggs", if you intend a reply to be witty try adding a 'winking' smiley, Works doesn't it. What makes you think I'm joking - I think there's a real future for Stallard and the Delta 12. (is that too many?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I think I sound more like Frank Sinatra. http://www.freesmileys.org/smile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Top Execs ratchet up their pay cos, like politicians, they can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Tessla Posted November 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 I think I sound more like Frank Sinatra. http://www.freesmileys.org/smile Frank Sinatra - nicknames included "The Chairman of the board" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Mac Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 This might prove interesting to some folk. I looked at the Taylor Bennett website and they have a "meet the team" section. The company breakdown looks like this: - Total employeees = 20 Directors = 7 Consultants = 6 Resaerchers = 6 Financial controller = 1 Growth during 2010 = not stated Export sales = not stated By comparison the company I work for has the following breakdown: - Total employees = 107 Directors = 2 Managers = 3 Production operatives = 102 Growth during 2010 = 31% Export sales = 85% Seems to me as though one of the above companies has too many chiefs and not enough indians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 It depends on what those directors do Rex.... Directors can acquire that title by injecting capital into the business which helps to provide jobs for the employees...... Our company has a director who is 100% "on the tools" so is 100% productive... think you are jumping on the lefty bandwagon definition of a Director to be honest!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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