Swiss supervisory boards in comparison
As the Korn Ferry Hay Group points out in a recent comparison, there are differences in chairmen's salaries. Significant salary differences also exist between male and female councils. Background and other interesting points from the Korn Ferry study also show country-specific variations.
The risks for companies have not become smaller, but significantly larger in recent years.
Male supervisory board members earn a quarter more than their female colleagues. Of which there are still hardly any more on the supervisory board than in 2011: While almost 90 percent of supervisory board members were male five years ago, this figure is still eight out of ten today. This is the result of a recent study of the compensation and composition of European supervisory boards by the HR, talent and organization consultancy Korn Ferry Hay Group.
Switzerland at the top in salaries
Switzerland tops the compensation table for supervisory board chairmen with around €950,000, followed by the UK (€460,000), Italy (€238,000), France (€250,000), Sweden (€197,000) and Germany (€188,000). At the bottom of the table are Austria (€30,000) and Norway (€63,000). On average, the head of a supervisory board in Europe receives around €250,000, while a simple supervisory board receives €69,000. In the case of the latter, Germany is above average. Those who supervise a company here receive an average of €90,000 in compensation. This is an increase of 50 percent over the past five years.
Hubertus Graf Douglas, Managing Director of Korn Ferry Germany, says: "The speed at which business conditions are changing today presents companies with unprecedented challenges.
At the same time, complexity is increasing due to networking, digitization and globalization. The risk of wrong decisions increases exponentially. A situation that is particularly challenging for today's supervisory boards. However, it must be stated that the composition and selection of candidates for German supervisory boards still cannot compete with the professionalism of the Swiss or Anglo-Saxons.
There, intensive attention is paid to competencies and profile, and the selection procedures are tough. It should not be ignored that the powers of the heads of the supervisory board or board of directors are also much broader."
Partial risk responsibility
And so, one hundred percent of German supervisory bodies cover audits, 97 percent cover the nomination of top personnel in companies, and 70 percent take responsibility for the compensation model for top managers. But only 17 percent of respondents also have a functional corporate risk committee in place. In Italy, this is part of the daily business of 83 percent of supervisory boards, while in Switzerland it is still the case for 30 percent and in the UK for 29 percent.
William Eggers says: "This result surprised me personally. After all, the risks for companies have not become smaller, but much larger in recent years. That's why I think it's obligatory for 'risk' to be firmly anchored in every supervisory board."
