Tyson Foods Introduces Incentive Pay

An eight-foot sculpted ice rooster, a high-tech video presentation and the announcement of CEO Wayne Britt’s new incentive pay plan marked Tyson Foods Inc.’s 37th annual shareholders meeting Jan. 14 in Fay-etteville.

Attempts by the California Public Employees Retirement System to block the company’s annual induction of board members and to end Tyson Foods’ dual-class stock structure failed by wide margins. Although the vote made headlines, CalPERS’ defeat was expected since the company’s class B stock, almost all of which is owned by the Tyson family, gets 10 votes per share.

CalPERS owns 1.8 million class A shares, which are entitled to one vote each and are valued at about $1.8 million.

Analysts say the real news was a new incentive pay plan that Britt and Chairman John Tyson believe will keep the poultry company ahead of its competitors. The strategy is to ensure Tyson’s business units stay focused on the company’s objectives by paying according to performance.

Britt said he will use a “balanced score card measurement system” that emphasizes a return on investment capital. It will monitor six concurrent company objectives designed to drive up stock value for shareholders.

“The score card will keep up with our financial performance, measure earnings and return on investments, sales growth, customer satisfaction, efficient use of capital, building of the Tyson brand name and our emphasis on our people,” Britt said.