Reward Design
Reward Manifesto: Achieving Clarity and Focus in Turbulent Times
Recent years have seen increasing demands placed on companies from investors, customers, and employees. Along with the rise of concepts like Corporate Purpose and Stakeholder Value, the Covid pandemic has compounded the pressure on companies to ‘do the right thing’. The risk of reputational damage from doing or saying the wrong thing will only increase over the coming years as cost-of-living pressures dominate headlines, and as huge environmental challenges hit living standards, company profits, and government budgets.
Reputational risk at corporate level is now firmly on the Reward professional’s agenda. Even where reward might not be the direct source of the reputational risk, it may often become an easy target of attention when other things are perceived to be wrong. PARC has adopted the term ‘Reward Manifesto‘ to create focus on those reward related topics where an organisation is most exposed to reputational risk.
PARC has identified what we consider to be the critical topic areas where a company needs to develop a considered position – outlining where it stands, and, as appropriate, what it will and will not tolerate. This concept of a ‘Manifesto’ (from the Latin word for ‘clarity’) has been developed in conjunction with expert advice from a wide and representative set of those engaged in all aspects of Reward Strategy. This includes experienced Board and RemCo Chair Alan Giles, leading economic commentator Duncan Weldon, and PARC member Neil Morrison of Severn Trent, who will each bring their insight to the meeting.
In creating our Reward Manifesto we’ve also spoken to Company Chairs and other senior leaders of companies in our membership, plus leading advisers and economists.
At this event, we will discuss the specific reward related topics on which we believe Boards must now develop a sharp sensitivity in order to form decisions that are within the boundaries of stakeholder acceptability.
Speakers
Alan Giles OBE
Chairman of The Remuneration Consultants Group and Non-Executive Director of Murray Income Trust plc
Alan is Chairman of The Remuneration Consultants Group and a Non-Executive Director of Murray Income Trust plc. He is an Associate Fellow of Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and an Honorary Visiting Professor at Bayes Business School, City, University of London.
Alan has extensive remuneration experience, having chaired the Remuneration Committee at Foxtons plc from 2019 until 2023, and Rentokil Initial plc from 2012 until 2017. Other non-executive roles include The Competition & Markets Authority, Wilson Bowden plc, Somerfield plc and Fat Face, where he was Chairman from 2006 until 2013. Earlier in his career held senior executive roles at Waterstones, WH Smith Group and Boots. He formed HMV Group as Chief Executive in 1998 and led the Group through its London Stock Exchange IPO in 2002, before moving to a portfolio career in 2006.
He was awarded an OBE for services to business and the UK economy in 2018.
Neil Morrison FCIPD
Director of HR, Severn Trent
Neil is the Director of HR for FTSE100 water company, Severn Trent where he is responsible for the HR function as well as the internal and external communications and marketing teams Prior to joining Severn Trent his career has taken him across multiple industries and sectors, including media, retail, and utilities as well as the public sector. Throughout this time there has been a common thread, helping organisations, and their people, to successfully navigate change. From his early career supporting the delivery of one of the first private finance partnerships in the NHS, through the introduction of pioneering e-commerce in retail and responding to the changing retail landscape. He was one of the leads in the global merger between Penguin and Random House, the largest merger in publishing history and helped successfully navigate the rise of digital publishing and media. Neil sits on the Board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and has previously served on the board of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. He was one of the inaugural members of the REC’s Good Recruitment Campaign as well as contributing to and supporting government policies and initiatives.
Duncan Weldon
Economics Correspondent, The Economist
Duncan is the Britain economics correspondent for The Economist. His previous journalistic roles include the economics correspondent for BBC Newsnight and columnist for Prospect Magazine. An economist by background Duncan began his career at the Bank of England and also worked in asset management and public policy. His book on British economic history titled Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through was published in 2021.
