Executive Compensation at GM led by Business Bronco
Jan. 7, 2016
For General Motors, that professional behind the scenes is Brian Marsh, a 2006 graduate of the Haworth College of Business.
In his position, Marsh serves as an internal consultant to senior leadership advising on executive compensation programs and regulatory issues impacting executive compensation. He is responsible for preparing materials for presentation and discussion at the Executive Compensation Committee of the GM Board of Directors and leads the development of the Compensation, Discussion and Analysis report for GM’s Annual Proxy Statement. He works with everyone from top executives, legal staff, finance, communications, and investor relations to create a report on executive compensation programs at GM that is easily understood by stockholders. Marsh says the field of executive compensation is facing many unique challenges with new Securities and Exchange Commission rules and the highly public nature of executive compensation.
So what path led Marsh to the General Motors position? “I approached all the jobs I have held by focusing on what I can learn to achieve the position I wanted down the road,” says Marsh.
For Marsh, looking ahead took him from intern to his current role in executive compensation at GM.
His career started as an intern at Caesars Entertainment Corporation while still an undergraduate student studying finance and human resource management. His degree and experience at Caesars helped him land his first post-graduation position with Dominos, where he started in an HR leadership rotational position. After completing just one rotation, Marsh was promoted to field HR manager in Las Vegas. Always looking two jobs ahead, he focused on learning as much as he could, and when the opportunity became available, he took a developmental transfer to become a compensation analyst.
In 2011, he accepted an opportunity at Ally Financial as an executive and regulatory compensation analyst. It was at Ally that he focused on compensation for Top 100 executives and learned about regulations under the U.S. Troubled Assets Relief Program—TARP—and the evolving nature of executive compensation. By 2013, he was the lead compensation consultant at Ally and then in early 2014 was named Compensation Manager. During his time at Ally, he earned an MBA from the University of Florida and several professional certifications including his Certified Executive Compensation Professional, Certified Compensation Professional, Certified Benefits Professional, and Global Remuneration Professional through World at Work, and his Lean Six Sigma Green Belt through Purdue University.
Marsh began his position with General Motors in July 2014 and earned his CECP certification through World at Work in March 2015.
“Brian has already developed a significant track record with Michigan companies,” says Dr. Dan Farrell, professor of management, noting that Marsh landed an important role at GM just eight years after graduation.
And it wasn’t long following graduation that Marsh started sharing his expertise and experiences with WMU human resource management students. Farrell says Marsh regularly speaks in classes, as he did this past semester.
“Brian came with copies of the recent GM Proxy Statement and explained executive compensation philosophy and practices. I cannot imagine a more timely, high-profile, highly qualified guest speaker for a class in compensation and benefits,” adds Farrell.