Executive Salary Survey

In our annual poll, Alberta’s HR managers reveal what companies are paying their key people

Nov 1, 2009

Executive Salaries By Position

	Salary High	Industry	Salary Low	Industry	Median Salary
Chief Executive Officer	$1,240,000	Resource Industries	$92,500	Manufacturing & Distribution	$257,300
Chief Operating Officer	$588,400	Resource Industries	$77,100	Resource Industries	$139,800
Chief Financial/Accounting Officer	$392,200	Resource Industries	$71,600	High Tech	$143,600
Chief Sales/Marketing Executive	$304,800	Retail	$75,600	Manufacturing & Distribution	$113,900
Chief Information/Technology Officer	$259,200	High Tech	$87,800	Construction	$178,300
Chief Manufacturing Executive	$190,500	Manufacturing & Distribution	$68,200	Manufacturing & Distribution	$121,300
Chief Engineering Executive	$162,200	Construction	$90,300	Manufacturing & Distribution	$122,800
Chief Human Resources Executive	$246,600	Resource Industries	$67,100	Retail	$101,700
Division Head	$129,400	Construction	$60,100	Manufacturing & Distribution	$90,300

Salary By Number Of Employees

	1-49 Employees		50-499 Employees		500+ Employees
	Salary High	Median Salary	Salary High	Median Salary	Salary High	Median Salary
Chief Executive Officer	$286,000	$164,400	$559,300	$267,500	$1,240,000	$693,800
Chief Operating Officer	$147,700	$117,100	$342,600	$184,200	$779,500	$405,900
Chief Financial/Accounting Officer	$133,500	$103,800	$248,300	$183,000	$497,400	$319,900
Chief Sales/Marketing Executive	$177,200	$96,900	$316,400	$145,700	$285,700	$203,600
Chief Information/Technology Officer	$102,600	$81,300	$146,200	$127,900	$237,700	$181,600
Chief Manufacturing Executive	$93,700	$90,700	$127,400	$117,100	$181,500	$137,400
Chief Engineering Executive	$104,600	$100,800	$162,800	$134,300	$188,100	$156,300
Chief Human Resources Executive	$128,300	$89,400	$151,600	$109,400	$202,200	$109,400
Division Head	$103,900	$87,300	$122,400	$91,600	$154,600	$98,200

Median Salary By Position As Compared To

Companies’ Gross Annual Revenue

	Under $10 Million	$10 Million to $99 Million	$100 Million to $500 Million
Chief Executive Officer	$152,500	$268,200	$737,800
Chief Operating Officer	$117,300	$212,800	$387,000
Chief Financial/Accounting Officer	$105,200	$187,300	$322,700
Chief Sales/Marketing Executive	$111,600	$148,100	$232,600
Chief Manufacturing Executive	n/a	$114,100	$159,700
Chief Engineering Executive	$102,600	$126,300	$154,700
Chief Human Resources Executive	$81,800	$112,500	$146,000
Division Head	$77,100	$87,400	$97,200

General Company Information

Total number of full-time employees represented	46,723	Survey participants were asked for general information about their companies. Here is the breakdown from all companies that participated in the 2009 Alberta Executive Salary Survey.
Number of full-time employees	High: 28,200 Low: 29 Advertisement Median: 243
Companies with unionized employees	23.40%
Private companies	42.70%
Public companies	57.30%
Gross Annual Revenues (most recent year end)
Under $10 million	24.30%
$10 million to $99 million	30.90%
$100 million to $499 million	26.60%
$500 million +	18.20%

Average Salary Increases

	Last Year	Most Recent Fiscal Year	Next Fiscal Year (planned or estimated)	Salary Increases In 2009, a lesser number of executives received increases than did in 2008. Percentage increases were also lower. The highest wage increase reported for an executive was 17.8% in 2009 compared to 19% in 2005. For middle level managers, it was 13.5% and for entry level professionals, it was 9.4%.
Executive Officers	6.80%	6.30%	5%
Mid-level Managers	6.50%	4.30%	4.50%
Entry-level Professionals	6.70%	3.80%	4.10%

Salary Review

CEO Base Salary by Company Type			CEO Benefits			The majority (73.6%) of companies review salaries on an annual basis. The remainder (26.4%) review salaries on an ad hoc basis or relative to market conditions.
	Public	Private	Total Benefits		Industry
High	$1,240,000	$625,500	High	$42,800	Resource Industries
Low	$128,200	$94,800	Low	$7,600	Manufacturing & Dist.
Median	$641,800	$259,100	Median	$23,400

Annual Bonuses

Bonus High/
Bonus Low

Industry

Median

Eligibility for Promotion
When queried on the most important factor in determining an employee’s eligibility for promotion, companies surveyed cited the following:

51.9%	Personal performance
21.6%	Company performance
10.4%	Project performance
7.2%	Board or management’s discretion
6.1%	Specified amount at a specified time (e.g., annually or every two years)
2.8%	Performance of department/division

Chief Executive Officer

$6,000,000
$34,000

Telecommunications/
Media Retail

$418,700

Chief Operating Officer

$1,870,400
$16,800

Resource Industries
Manufacturing & Distribution

$289,200

Chief Financial/Accounting Officer

$1,030,000
$8,500

Resource Industries
High Tech

$163,200

Chief Sales/Marketing Executive

$174,900
$7,000

High Tech
Manufacturing & Distribution

$116,300

Chief Manufacturing Executive

$84,500
$10,900

Construction
Construction

$48,200

Chief Engineering Executive

$138,400
$12,500

Power/Utilities
Manufacturing & Distribution

$74,700

Chief Human Resources Executive

$55,700
$7,200

Construction
Retail

$37,100

Division Manager or Head

$75,000
$8,000

Resources
Retail

$42,600

Types Of Incentives Offered

	Annual Bonus	Sign-on Bonus	Profit Share	Stock Options	Incentives Annual bonuses remain the most popular form of incentive for employees, with 75.7% of executive officers receiving these as part of a company incentive plan. For middle managers and entry level professionals, 40.7% and 26.8% receive annual bonuses, respectively. The table to the left summarizes other popular forms of incentives, with the percentage of employees that are awarded each type.
Executive Officers	75.70%	36.40%	83.90%	27.30%
Mid-level Managers	40.70%	14.30%	43.60%	6.80%
Entry-level Professionals	26.80%	7.80%	17.70%	2.70%