Ed Cancels The Key Man Bonus

'On investigating with the payroll people,' continues the diary entry, 'I find that the secondary payments are outside the contractual compensation package for these individuals, and are paid as a kind of ex gratia bonus. I immediately tell the accounts people to stop these payments. Collectively that'll save double digit millions in annual costs in advance of the IPO.'

A month later, Ed has to face the consequences.

'At the general managers' meeting today, it transpires that they've had a number of resignations this month. So what? I think. Then they start wittering on that all their key men are going.'

'"What do you mean by key men?" I ask.'

The GMs look at eachother, then one says: "Ed in each department we identify key men who make a unique contribution to our business, and who we would make every effort to stop leaving and going to a competitor. The loss of any one of them would hurt the business. The loss of them all - which seems on the cards - would ruin the company."'

'A rather ghastly thought enters my head at that point', writes Ed.

'I ask the GMs: '"Do we pay these so-called key men anything extra over and above their contracted remuneration?"'

'"Yes", replies one of them, "they get an extra  bonus payment paid monthly."'

'"Let me see the list of those resigning", I say. My heart sinks. The individuals who have resigned are the ones whose bonus payments have been cancelled.'

"Let me sort this", I tell the GMs, "all of you see these guys who've resigned, and tell them that due to an accounting error their bonuses were not paid this month - but that will be put right before the end of the week."'

'Did you have anything to do with this, Ed?" asks one of the GMs nastily.'

'I shake my head. "As I said, I'll sort it", I told them, "now you go and speak to those guys PDQ".'

'Trouble is', writes Ed in his diary, 'they'll all know what I did. They only have to ask that blabbermouth at accounts and he'll tell them everything.'

'Still, it's only 207 days till the IPO and then I'm out of here and as rich as Croesus.'