Remuneration policies

Remuneration of the members of the Executive Board depends upon the responsibilities and personal achievements of the individual Executive Board member as well as the economic situation and market environment of the company as a whole. Each member of the Executive Board receives a fixed annual remuneration (35 % of the total remuneration) as well as a variable annual remuneration whose value is performance-based (the annual bonus; 30 % of total remuneration). The goals for the annual bonus are set in accordance with the business plan for the current fiscal year as well as in accordance with the achievement of individual goals. The company’s sustainability objectives are also incorporated into individual performance goals and thereby into the remuneration package of the Executive Board members. The members’ performance goals are communicated to the managers of the correlating divisions. In 2016, management development, succession planning and increased process efficiency were the main priorities. In addition, certain items are also incentivized, such as the reduction of our direct and energy-indirect (Scopes 1 and 2) CO₂排放,我们创新的可持续发展方向vation process or the sourcing of raw material from sustainable sources.

Moreover, the Supervisory Board allows the members of the Executive Board to participate in our long-term incentive program. Upon maturity, this three-year program provides for a cash bonus (35 % of the entire remuneration) dependent of how Symrise’s share price has performed over a period of three years. Our company does not offer shares or share options.

When an Executive Board member’s contract expires, we offer no termination benefits. If a change-of-control situation happens to arise, then the Executive Board member’s contract provides for termination benefits that comply with the German Corporate Governance Code.

We offer a company pension in the form of deferred compensation. This applies to the Executive Board as well as to senior management. We provide our remaining employees with either a pension plan that participates in a pension fund or a suitable pension plan.

80 % of the variable annual remuneration for our Executive Board members is based on earning targets (EBITDA) that have been agreed upon with the Supervisory Board. An additional 10 % is drawn from the respective division’s optimization objectives, and an additional 10 % is drawn from sustainability objectives. We have established a separate global performance bonus plan for our approximately 70 managers who have global or regional responsibilities (our senior management). With this, we motivate managers to achieve agreed company targets by means of a variable remuneration geared toward results and performance. Depending upon level of seniority, the variable remuneration of our senior management amounts to 30 % to 50 % of the fixed annual remuneration.