October 23, 2008
Executive Insecurity: No Better Time for Employer Attention
– Mark Poerio, Paul Hastings
I recently co-authored this article – along with Ethan Lipsig, Steve Harris, and Eric Keller of my firm – in which we addressed the following seven questions:
1. What are your most critical workforce challenges – e.g., retention, relocation, growth, reduction, or restructuring?
2. Who do you need to retain and motivate?
3. Are there opportunities to better deploy under-utilized personnel? If not, when and how will you contemplate layoffs, exit incentives, furloughs, forced vacations, reduced hours, or other temporary or permanent work force reductions?
4. Is your company perceived as being at risk of being sold, taken over, or going bankrupt?
5. Do your incentive bonuses or stock-based awards need recalibration?
6. Do you want to better discourage employees from pursuing competitive employment or improper behavior (such as unduly aggressive financial statement accounting practices that ultimately may require a financial restatement)?
7. How will you effectively communicate the actions taken to advance your workforce goals?
Give it a read and let us know what you think.