Symantec 2008 Annual Report Download - page 59

increased the proportion of RSUs granted to senior executives relative to options. For fiscal 2008, named executive
officers who received equity incentive compensation awards generally received approximately 50% of the value of
such compensation in the form of RSUs and 50% in stock options. (See further discussion below under “Equity
Incentive Awards”.) These percentages (and other percentage-based equity awards value discussed below) are
based on the grant date fair value of the shares of common stock underlying the RSUs and the grant date fair value of
the options using the Black-Scholes option pricing method. The awards made to named executive officers other than
the CEO are determined by the Committee after seeing recommendations made by the CEO. In determining its
recommendations to the independent directors of the Board, in the case of CEO compensation, and in making
compensation decisions with respect to other NEOs, the Committee may consider factors such as the individual’s
tenure at the Company, industry experience, current pay mix, long-term equity and cash awards previously granted
to the individual, retention considerations, business unit performance (as applicable), individual performance, and
other factors.
COMPENSATION COMPONENTS
Compensation for our named executive officers includes the following components:
Base Salary
The annual base salary for our named executive officers is our primary form of fixed (not at-risk) compen-
sation. The Committee reviews named executive officers’ salaries annually as part of its overall competitive market
assessment and may make adjustments based on positioning relative to market, individual role and contribution
levels, and our overall salary budget. The Committee reviews the CEO’s salary in executive session (i.e., without
any executives present), and changes are considered in light of market pay assessments and the Committee’s annual
CEO performance evaluation. In setting the base salaries for the other named executive officers, the Committee also
considers the recommendations of the CEO based upon his annual review of their performance.
With respect to fiscal 2008, the Committee did not increase the salaries of the named executive officers, except
that upon his promotion to Chief Operating Officer in January 2008, Mr. Salem’s salary was increased by $150,000
to bring his salary within the competitive range for such position. Specific information regarding fiscal 2008 salary
amounts is contained in the Summary Compensation Table beginning on page 54. Our chief executive officer
requested for the fourth consecutive year that the Committee not increase his base salary for fiscal 2009 and the
Committee decided not to increase the base salaries of the Company’s other named executive officers for fiscal
2009.
Executive Annual Incentive Plans
The Executive Annual Incentive Plans for our executive officers are adopted pursuant to the Senior Executive
Incentive Plan (SEIP) approved by our stockholders in 2003. We are seeking stockholder approval of certain
material terms of the SEIP as required under applicable tax rules so that amounts paid under future SEIP awards
may be fully deductible (see Proposal No. 4). The Executive Annual Incentive Plans adopted under the SEIP are
annual cash incentive plans that reward named executive officers (and other participants) for generating strong
financial results for our Company in the short term. To support collaboration within the senior leadership, all named
executive officers earn incentive compensation based on performance against pre-determined corporate goals
described further below. The Committee may choose to measure the named executive officers’ achievement against
specific business unit or individual performance targets as well.
Executive Annual Incentive Plan Target Opportunities: Under the Executive Annual Incentive Plans for a
given fiscal year, each named executive officer has an award opportunity, expressed as a percentage of base salary
with threshold and target levels. The Committee uses peer group and survey data as input in determining the target
bonus levels for our Executive Annual Incentive Plans. In addition, the award opportunities for fiscal 2008 were
determined based on a market composite, the desired pay mix, internal pay equity goals, and the role of the named
executive officer. For fiscal 2008, the target opportunity for the CEO was 125% of his base salary and 80% of base
salary for the other named executive officers. Each named executive officer must achieve threshold performance for
each metric established in the named executive officer’s executive annual incentive plan in order to receive payment
45