During the course of the last five years, the IFSC has had a demonstrable track record of growth and success. It is interesting to reflect back over this period and to look at some of the key areas associated with remuneration and people.
What is evident within the IFSC is that companies have been intentionally promoting a policy of incentives for performance. This is reflected in the evidence of the Ernst &Young Remuneration Guide 2000 where 96 per cent of all companies surveyed offered additional incentives and 92 per cent of all job holders were paid some form of incentive, which reflected a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. The survey further indicated that the preferred form of incentive is a bonus payment.
Opportunities for top calibre chief executives
The average basic salary (excluding bonus and other benefits ) for chief executives in the IFSC is IEP102,047 compared to IEP81,550 in 1996 as illustrated in Table 1.
The average percentage of salary paid as a bonus to IFSC chief executives increased from 20 per cent to 43 per cent in the same period. This trend reflects the real value and growth that these chief executives can bring to their respective organisations. Currently at the higher end of the salary scale, there are opportunities for top calibre chief executives to earn basic salaries in excess of IEP200, 000 per annum plus attractive performance related bonuses and benefits.
Furthermore, as illustrated in Table 2, it is evident that positions such as corporate banking managers, financial accountants and fund administrators, have also been afforded the opportunity to participate in the growth and success of he IFSC.
In the year 2000 the average percentage increase in salaries ranged from 4 per cent-11 per cent. However it is important to note that salary increases did vary considerably from company to company and from job to job. It will be interesting to see what trends emerge from the publication of the Ernst & Young Remuneration Guide 2001.
The Ernst & Young Remuneration Guide has identified that the key concerns for IFSC employers over the last 5 years are as follows; see Table 3.
When we study these key concerns we see that while IFSC employers want to implement effective reward systems they also seek to control payroll costs. In addition the ability to identify and implement an effective attraction and retention scheme for high performance individuals with good skill sets within a competitive market is critical to achieving competitive advantage through people.
implement effective attraction and retention schemes
Ernst & Young has also identified that over the past five years there has been a strong ongoing demand for good calibre professionals in the IFSC in areas including; general management, corporate banking, treasury, business development, operations, finance, fund administration, underwriting, information technology and human resources.
Winning IFSC CEO’s going forward will need to ensure that they have an effective integrated human resources strategy in place so that their organisations have the talent, to do the right things, in the right way, at the right cost, with the right economic return. There is no doubt that a key factor for winning CEO’s in achieving competitive advantage in the war for talent is to implement effective attraction and retention schemes.
Since the establishment of the IFSC in 1988, we see clearly that it has been a success story. It has developed from a 27 acre to a 40 acre site and has attracted over 400 companies. Staff numbers have grown in the same period from 3,000 to 14,000 affording them excellent career opportunities.
Undoubtedly IFSC organisations, professionals and Ireland Inc. have all benefited greatly as a result of its growth and success to date. |
