After Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer's announcement of leaving, the company announced it will award execute officers with shares to avoid them leaving too. A filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed Microsoft's plans that should help the company in continuity of key leaders during the transition to a new CEO.
The company also hopes to preserve their competitive position by enhancing retention of key executives with critical skills of strategic importance . Awards will also be given to employees that show sustained exceptional performance and who have provided significant value to Microsoft over a period of years. The SEC filing reveals that awards can be as high as 150 percent of the annual target compensation.
Ballmer will leave the company within 12 months and has stated he leaves the company because he believes that Microsoft needs a CEO that can stay for a long term. In a letter to Microsoft employees Ballmer wrote, "My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most." He went on to write, "We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction".
Microsoft is currently not in its best days, the Surface tablet and Windows 8 weren't the big successes Microsoft hoped for and Steve Ballmer leaving was another blow for the company. It wasn't a blow to Ballmer personally, soon after he left it became clear that he gains a whopping $1 billion by just leaving.
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