Stephen Hestor renders to the lynch mob

IronWolf

So Stephen Hestor has rejected his bonus on the back of the quite foul hate campaign started against him by the media, general public and labour Party. Can't blame him really, is being hated really worth £1m?

I bet he's already on the phone to headhunters though looking to bail to a company with performance related pay. Who knows what joker will replace him, would anyone in their right mind sign up to be CEO of RBS now, seeing how vicious the public have been towards Hestor for no good reason?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Agreed.

This has been an absolutely ridiculous situation.

Penalising a man who earned performance related pay, because the idiotic public don't understand how PRP works and think a "bonus" is some optional Xmas giveaway just for being nice, and the politicians are trying to distract from their own failings by giving in to populist clap-trap.

What a joke this country has become.

ChiefGrasscutter

No one is irreplaceable.
They could advertize and have no shortage of applicants. People would do the job for the "cachet" of having done it regardless of the rewards.

and here is someone else who thinks along these lines as well
http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/sir-stelios-easyjet-board-can-be-easily-replaced-if-pay-deal-leads-resignations

IronWolf

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

No one is irreplaceable.
They could advertize and have no shortage of applicants. People would do the job for the "cachet" of having done it regardless of the rewards.

and here is someone else who thinks along these lines as well
http://www.cityam.com/latest-news/sir-stelios-easyjet-board-can-be-easily-replaced-if-pay-deal-leads-resignations

You generally earn a lot more money working for a great company and doing not very much besides overseeing its success, than for working in a bad company, busting your gut turning it around.

Warren Buffett figured that out a long time ago.

Graham_Devon

I certainly hold some sympathy towards the argument that not giving him his bonus could seriously harm the bank (if he and the board decide to go).

BUT. What is the alternative? High up bankers hold the country and shareholders to ransom?

Everytime they get a bit of stick about their collosal renumeration packages, they threaten leaving and plunging the bank (and in this case, the country) back into a dire situation? How many threats of leaving have we had from bankers? It's wearing extremely thin.

The banks got themselves and us in such a mess because we were too light and, there is a strong argument, that the bonus culture fueled greed, hence our downfall and bailouts.

I certainly don't want a situation where bankers call all the shots again through more greed, holding the government to ransom everytime they decide to reward themselves with collosal figures. The game is up for that.

If he walks, he walks. But it doesn't say much for him IMO. It doesn't say we had the best person for the job. He knew the job. He knew the aims. He knew public opinion. He knew the public thought bankers were greedy. He knew he was taking over Fred Goodwin....a man who ticked every single one of the disgust boxes. People are going to great lengths to state what a genius this man is, then ignoring the fact he freely walked into this job, knowing full well it was going to be tough, he was in the spotlight, and banks and bankers were one of the most hated professions in this country, and that we owned 80% of it.

So it shouldn't really be a surprise that he finds himself in this position. The chairman forgoing his bonus didn't really help his plight.

It hardly leaves him in poverty. Infact it leaves him as one of the top earners in the country.

He has, however, been victim of a disgusting political warfare game that Labour are playing. With this whole episode, they talk more of David Cameron than they do the bonus. Every single shot fired has been aimed at the coalition, with Hester used as cannon fodder.

CLAPTON

maybe we could devise a job advert for the post

something like

CEO required to manage recovery of a failed bank
need some-one with banking experience and excellent proven managment skills
will probably already be a CEO of a major british company

salary : maybe a half or a quarter of what you are earning now
bonus : a bonus will be payable but subject to the opinion of the national newspapers and lots of politicians; the deal can be renegaded on at any time

you will enjoy the support of the government; unless of course it isn't politically convenient at the time

you will probably become a hate figure comparable to Fred


only excellent candidates will be considered
form an orderly queue

Fifer

The irony of this situation is that those shouting for the bonus to be withdrawn were those responsible for negotiating the bonus package in the first place (the last governnment), those who continued with the contract (members of the current government) and those who elected both (the public) cheered on by a press happy to see someone replace them in the vilification stakes.

The bonus scheme terms probably were indefensible, but that's the fault of the employer. If my employer signed me up to such a scheme, I'd be damned sure I'd demand what I was entitled to under my contract of employment.

Graham_Devon

CLAPTON wrote: »

maybe we could devise a job advert for the post

something like

CEO required to manage recovery of a failed bank
need some-one with banking experience and excellent proven managment skills
will probably already be a CEO of a major british company

salary : maybe a half or a quarter of what you are earning now
bonus : a bonus will be payable but subject to the opinion of the national newspapers and lots of politicians; the deal can be renegaded on at any time

you will enjoy the support of the government; unless of course it isn't politically convenient at the time

you will probably become a hate figure comparable to Fred


only excellent candidates will be considered
form an orderly queue

Hester was getting along just fine, until a £1m bonus hit the news.

He earns £1.2m a year. On top of that, he has the long term pay award, suggested to be to the value of £4.8m (on top of £1.2m a year). Another £1m on top is just unneccesary at this moment in time. The bubble these elite few live in needs to be popped. The "i'm worth it" entitlement seems to only have grown since the banking crisis. Only those who had a hand in causing the crisis can fix the crisis, therefore we must be paid even more.

He's paid well for the job he does.

He knew the score when he joined. He didn't have to join....and if he is quite such the genius everyone is now suggesting....howcome he wasn't earning more in the first place?!?!

If he carries out what he is paid near £4k a day to carry out, then fine, give him a bonus.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

He knew the score when he joined. He didn't have to join....and if he is quite such the genius everyone is now suggesting....howcome he wasn't earning more in the first place?!?!

Yes he did know the score. Part of the score was that he'd be receiving this bonus which due to media frothing he now feels he has to decline.

Not only that but his employers have been less than supportive.

I'd be looking for a new job - regardless of whether he's worth the money or not he could easily earn more money elsewhere.

Let's leave the bank to be run by politicians, newspaper editors and armchair economists - what could possibly go wrong?

CLAPTON

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Hester was getting along just fine, until a £1m bonus hit the news.

He earns £1.2m a year. On top of that, he has the long term pay award, suggested to be to the value of £4.8m (on top of £1.2m a year). Another £1m on top is just unneccesary at this moment in time. The bubble these elite few live in needs to be popped. The "i'm worth it" entitlement seems to only have grown since the banking crisis. Only those who had a hand in causing the crisis can fix the crisis, therefore we must be paid even more.

He's paid well for the job he does.

He knew the score when he joined. He didn't have to join....and if he is quite such the genius everyone is now suggesting....howcome he wasn't earning more in the first place?!?!

If he carries out what he is paid near £4k a day to carry out, then fine, give him a bonus.

I agree that executive pay is too high

I agree he was stupid to trust politicians and deserves to be caned for that

I suggest that good people in the private sector will be harder to recruit to the public sector (maybe a good thing)

Antonio Hoart-Osorio was paid £8 million joining 'bonus' Lloyds CEO) presumably supported by Dave and George and Vince and Nick

but that was a year ago

kabayiri

There will be some deal done behind the scenes I reckon. Politicians are good at that; saying one thing in public, and putting into practice something different.

It's a good idea actually. Mr Hester can still get rewarded for his efforts and skill, but in public he is seen to be doing the 'right thing'.

It's very difficult to get employees to accept pay restraint when they see headline cases of what they consider excess. We will need pay restraint I reckon, in all sectors, to rebalance the economy.