Dive Brief:
- A recent piece in the Washington Post featured Paul Polman, CEO at Unilever, the large global consumer goods company that owns more than 400 brands.
- When Polman took over at Unilever in 2009, he made a major commitment to sustainability. In fact, he promised to cut Unilever’s environmental footprint in half by 2020, and to double the size of its business at the same time - a tough challenge.
- Polman also been outspoken about the excess of CEO pay, telling The Washington Post that he is “ashamed about the amount of money I earn,” and about his admiration for the millennial workforce's ideology.
Dive Insight:
The Polman interview with the Washington Post really drove home today's focus on compensation criticism among CEOs and other high-paid executives.
"People at our level shouldn't be motivated by salary. If you would pay me double, I'm not going to work twice as much, because I'm already probably maximizing my time available. And would it change the way I do things? Not really, because I try to do the right things for this company for the longer term," he told the Post.
Polman also said this, providing fodder for HR leaders when discussing executive compensation: "It is affecting the behavior of CEOs, where people think if they don't get a salary increase, or if they don't earn a lot of money, they are not being seen as good-performing CEOs. This peer pressure drives dysfunctional behavior. "
By contrast, Polman points out the differing desires of younger workers. "It's not just about making money, especially for the millennial generation," he said. "They want to make a difference in life, so they look for companies that have a strong purpose. This is a big challenge in many companies. Trust is low in business. Trust in CEOs is even lower."
