keith kefgen
CEO Pay in Hospitality 2024
AETHOS | September 3, 2024
With the pandemic largely in the rearview mirror, the last twelve months have been about interest rates, less transactions, and wild presidential election cycles worldwide. The hotel industry will be impacted in significant ways as these issues unfold. On the other hand, operational fundamentals have been strong, contributing to CEO pay marching upward. Average CEO pay in the industry rose to USD $9.8M, from the previous year’s $9.5M. Most of this increase came in the form of short-term incentive pay, making the correlation between stronger operating fundamentals and CEO pay. Interestingly, “other compensation” also increased indicat...
Ideas to Overcome the Current US Employment Conundrum
Keith Kefgen | October 21, 2021
By Keith Kefgen Today’s employment environment is like nothing we have experienced before. The last pandemic happened in 1918, with a very different labour and economic atmosphere. There are no easy answers to a vast number of questions and nuanced circumstances. The travel industry has been particularly hard hit, as so many people were furloughed last year without any real answer about when they would return. As an “academy industry,” a large portion of these furloughed people were in line-level and entry-level management positions – the most vulnerable faction of the American economy. Our experience in the hospitality job mark...
Corporate Governance Study: Lodging Boards 2020
Keith Kefgen | December 9, 2020
By: Keith Kefgen, New York | Terry Donovan, New York The hotel/travel industry has been particularly hard hit by COVID. Many of the industry’s venerable brands have had to do the unthinkable, furlough or layoff significant percentages of their workforce. Many executives and even board directors have taken pay cuts during this health crisis. We wonder how this pandemic will impact corporate governance and the tough decisions facing public hotel/travel companies. We have been studying governance practices in the industry for nearly two decades and we have seen huge strides in the quality of board practices. Our study this year examined ...
Hotel CEO Pay For Performance Study 2020
Keith Kefgen | September 28, 2020
By Keith Kefgen, Terry Donovan What a difference 6 months makes. 2020 began with hotel companies coming off one of the strongest years in history and feeling optimistic the good times would continue. Since then, the industry has had widespread closures, massive layoffs, and CEO’s taking significant pay cuts while grappling with a global pandemic. While we will explore the ramifications of this crisis in this article’s conclusion, much of this study is focused on 2019 compensation data. What we have found over the twenty-plus years of studying CEO pay, that boards are still challenged with linking CEO pay to company performance. In f...
Do Not Let Covid Infect Your Brand
Keith Kefgen | July 1, 2020
By Keith Kefgen The first thing that came to mind when Marriott International furloughed two-thirds of its corporate and property staff was – Is this going to severely impact the Marriott brand and the relationship with their most important asset: PEOPLE. Many blue-chip companies in hospitality, gaming and travel followed suit. These same companies have spent untold millions over the past decade building both a customer and an employment brand. Would their reputation be severely impacted in ninety days? I sought the expertise of my friend Anshuma Lal, founder of branding agency Human Made NY, to weigh in on the issue. Here is what she ha...
The Myth of ‘Crisis Leadership’
Keith Kefgen | May 27, 2020
By: Keith Kefgen Google the phrase “crisis leadership,” and you get over half a billion (yes, with a “b”) entries. It is one of the hot topics on social media now, with new entries appearing daily. Everyone in the business world is talking about it, and they all seem to characterize it the same way: that crisis leadership reflects a highly specialized skill set or psychometric profile that is significantly different than “everyday” leadership. The spirit or intent of these articles is certainly commendable. Indeed, leadership development remains as much an art as a science, and so data-driven guidance is critically important...
Is Your Business Hard-Wired for Panic or Innovation?
James Houran, Ph.D., Dallas | April 2, 2020
By: James Houran, Ph.D., Dallas | Keith Kefgen, New York The COVID-19 pandemic has now become the most disruptive event in our lifetime. Understandably, virtually all organizations are bogged down in “immediate” decision-making. It is all tactical right now, because there is no place to run and no place to hide; there is no safe haven. But once the immediate circumstances settle, will your organization be hard-wired for panic or innovation? This pandemic offers two critical lessons for leadership thinking. First, psychologists have often emphasized mindfulness to a purpose. Living in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally as an app...
To Lead in Times of Crisis, One Must Be Equal Parts Realist, Pragmatist and Optimist
Keith Kefgen | April 1, 2020
By: Keith Kefgen As an evaluator of leadership capability, I have been asked what it takes to lead in a time of crisis, such as COVID-19. My answer has been simple, “you must be equal parts realist, pragmatist and optimist. This mixture of archetypes is essential in dealing with the fast moving and unknown outcomes of a crisis. Realist. a person who accepts a situation as it is and is prepared to deal with it accordingly. To face a situation that is as complex as COVID, fact finding is critical. Like a complex puzzle, getting started in the known areas is a good start (start in the corners). Ask for help in areas that are unknown a...
