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Philippe Hertig, head of Egon Zehnder International's Zurich office, was one of the guest experts in a recent episode of the TV show Arena on executive compensation. In a controversial discussion with high-level decision-makers from politics and business Hertig offered his analysis of executive compensation in Switzerland. Along with fellow guests Hertig warned against over-weighting populist aspects of the discussion and drawing parallels between a handful of very greedy managers and the vast majority of extremely responsible executives. While ethical, political and social aspects of compensation cannot be underestimated, hard economic facts require top performers to be rewarded with top pay, Hertig warns. To make the country an attractive location for top managers with global careers there is no way of getting around the pay issue. Hertig also cited corporate best practices regarding compensation. Such practices not only include a balanced compensation package, but also encompass regular appraisal of executives based both on their performance measured in financial terms, and their behaviour in the executive team, as well as a clear distinction between the operative level and the supervisory board. It is obviously not acceptable for managers to decide their own final pay, Hertig concluded.