Symantec 2015 Annual Report Download - page 45

eral Counsel regularly attend the Compensation Committee’s meetings to provide their perspectives on competi-
tion in the industry, the needs of the business, information regarding Symantec’s performance, and other advice
specific to their areas of expertise. In addition, at the Compensation Committee’s direction, Mercer works with
our Chief Human Resources Officer and other members of management to obtain information necessary for
Mercer to make their own recommendations as to various matters as well as to evaluate management’s recom-
mendations.
FACTORS WE CONSIDER IN DETERMINING OUR COMPENSATION PROGRAMS
We apply a number of compensation policies and analytic tools in implementing our compensation princi-
ples. These policies and tools guide the Compensation Committee in determining the mix and value of the com-
pensation components for our named executive officers, consistent with our compensation philosophy. They
include:
Focus on Pay-for-Performance: Our executive compensation program is designed to reward executives
for results. As described below, the pay mix for our named executive officers emphasizes variable pay in the
form of short-term cash and long-term equity awards. For cash awards, short-term results are measured by annual
non-GAAP operating income, annual non-GAAP revenue and, for all our named executive officers other than our
CEO, individual performance. A significant portion of equity grants for our named executive officers are directly
performance based, with base-level grants set by performance versus non-GAAP EPS targets, modified over an
extended term by the achievement of the total stockholder return ranking for our company as compared to the
S&P 500. The value to the employee of the remainder equity grants to our named executive officers depends on
the company share price performance.
A Total Rewards Approach: Elements of the total rewards offered to our executive officers include base
salary, short- and long-term incentives including equity awards, health benefits, a deferred compensation pro-
gram and a consistent focus on individual professional growth and opportunities for new challenges.
Appropriate Market Positioning: Our general pay positioning strategy is to target the levels of base
salary, annual short-term cash incentive structure and long-term equity incentive opportunities and benefits for
our named executive officers with reference to the relevant market data for each position. The Compensation
Committee may set the actual components for an individual named executive officer above or below the
positioning benchmark based on factors such as experience, performance achieved, specific skills or com-
petencies, the desired pay mix (e.g., emphasizing short- or long-term results), and our budget.
Competitive Market Assessments: Market competitiveness is one factor that the Compensation Commit-
tee considers each year in determining a named executive officer’s overall compensation package, including pay
mix. The Compensation Committee relies on various data sources to evaluate the market competitiveness of each
pay element, including publicly-disclosed data from a peer group of companies (see discussion below) and pub-
lished survey data from a broader set of information technology companies that the Compensation Committee,
based on the advice of Mercer, believes represent Symantec’s competition in the broader talent market. The peer
group’s proxy statements provide detailed pay data for the top five positions. Survey data, which we obtain from
the Radford Global Technology Survey, provides compensation information on a broader group of executives
and from a broader group of information technology companies, with positions matched based on specific job
scope and responsibilities. The Compensation Committee considers data from these sources as a framework for
making compensation decisions for each named executive officer’s position.
The information technology industry in which we compete is characterized by rapid rates of change and
intense competition from small and large companies, and the companies within this industry have significant
cross-over in leadership talent needs. As such, we compete for executive talent with leading software and serv-
ices companies as well as in the broad information technology industry. We face particularly intense competition
with companies located in the geographic areas where Symantec operates, regardless of specific industry focus or
company size. Further, in part because we believe that stockholders measure our performance against a wide
array of technology peers, the Compensation Committee uses a peer group that consists of a broad group of high
technology companies in different market segments that are of a comparable size to us. The Compensation
Committee uses this peer group, as well as other relevant market data, to evaluate named executive officer pay
levels.
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