Am I Paid Too Much? Er, Well....

Union leaders grumbling about executive compensation? No surprise there.

Now, however, a growing number of C.E.O.'s themselves start to express second thoughts about how much C.E.O.'s are paid. Maybe its time to listen.

More than 40 percent of the executives who participated in the latest Executive Quiz of customers of the executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International said they were "absolutely concerned" or "somewhat concerned" by how much their C.E.O.'s made in light of increasing calls for fair pay.

At the same time, less than half of the respondents said they thought their C.E.O.'s pay directly reflected their company's performance.

To varying degrees, 82 percent of those surveyed agreed that shareholders should have a "say on pay" for their company's executives.

Russell Miller, managing director of Korn/Ferry's Executive Compensation Advisors, said the survey results reflect the uneven progress being made in tying executive pay closer to performance.

"The business community continues to focus on aligning pay and performance," Miller said, "and companies are having mixed success against this objective."

by Mark Stein