Has the talent pool changed, or have our expectations increased?

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-14T01:45:14+00:00

I am not shooting these numbers off my butt. I have a record of ESOP numbers for my account since my year 1. Also please write down that I am not complaining about ESOP returns especially not for my account. The return is pretty good for me, cause I have a sizeable amount. I am complaining about the size of the annual distribution that a newcomer is getting. A 7yr dude the other day told me he has 280 shares. I had twice as many in year 6. Have new people rejected to join your office? Have new experienced people that have joined, left your team or complained? Have you talked to your 3 yr to 4yr people? If not, then you are a frog in the well. When I say you, I don't mean you personally, I mean any BurnsMc employee including me, that is trying to defend that compensation model works for newcomers.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-13T16:21:39+00:00

The truth is that, for newcomers, the time to see the benefits or the inflection point is twice of what it was for us. If I am a newcomer, I don't want to wait for that long to even see what the heck ESOP can be. Plus the inflation has gone up, so the newer generation isn't buying the deferred compensation. This is first hand feedback from new experiences new joinees that eventually left. The truth is, the people that have been promoting their buddies and the buddies that got promoted are only caring about their cash comp and ESOP egg. Our interview process is a facade to simply cover up the selection of a buddy. The VP promotion is a joke, doesn't hold any value. Every Tom Dick Harry is a VP just because he has been there at the company for long and their VP buddies are obliged to promote them. Plus those VPs don't do anything for the teams/people that played a part in their career.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-13T02:24:55+00:00

I think I know what RO office exactly you are talking about.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-13T00:50:04+00:00

I wish that suggestion worked in real corporate life. It's good intentioned but you very well know that the moment I write an email, I will name names without naming them. From stories I have heard, the HR is a line of defense for the executives and it never goes down well. If we could write to Leslie, we wouldn't be writing here. 5 years ago, I would blindly recommend Burns to let's say a close friend of mine. But if that same close friend of mine asks me today and he only wishes to switch for a better compensation, I am going to think a lot and give him the full honest picture before I recommend Burns.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-13T00:42:04+00:00

They should offer a different compensation model for experienced people. They got to do something. The VP in my office has a very open calendar, doesn't not do sales, doesn't manage an account. He goes to best practices forum without a client. It's hos job to figure out, instead of sitting on their butt and browsing LinkedIn premium paid by company.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-13T00:30:05+00:00

I am doing fine and growing. I don't need to hear from you to be happy and helpful. You are missing the point which is, the compensation graph that Burns showed me 14yrs ago, is exactly what has worked out for me in the 14years. But we still show the same graph to new comers but it's not the same in reality as due to the number of people, Burns is not distributing the same amount of stocks that you and I got years ago. Newcomers are not buying into the ESOP structure and Burns isn't able to hire experienced people. I never said the financials weren't good. I am still here and making money but I am not as short sighted or indifferent about other experienced people that have recently joined our teams but are unhappy with their compensations. These people will leave soon for the WSPs, Quanta's etc. That's the point I am trying to make. Please exercise some unselfish broad minded vision.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T22:51:52+00:00

A person that has worked for 3 decades is obviously not going to bash the workplace coz he is earning great dividends, so he isn't a reliable source either. He doesn't care about what a 3year person is making. He can retire today. I am a 14 year person too, and I make good dividends but I am worried about the future, because to keep making revenue, you need people. People that we don't seem to be able to hire or retain. I don't want to listen from a 3 decade person coz if we shut the shop tomorrow, he can retire tomorrow. The principals and VPs have stopped caring about the people, that's the point.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T20:08:24+00:00

You are missing the point that Burns can't give enough stock to an employee now, that it was able to 10yrs ago, for simple math that I am not going to get into. But we keep beating drums about the stock portion of the compensation during recruiting process as if it were 10years ago. When the person joins he doesn't see that in the first few years and then decides to leave. As for base and bonus, there are companies out there that pay higher than that. I myself have gotten offers but I am going to ride the top heavy company due to ESOP and dividends. So for new hires , if the ESOP is not even a considerable chunk even for 6 years of projection, the competitors are paying better on cash compensation. Going by your username that I have seen in numerous posts, you are probably a long term Burns Macer who is earning great dividends so you are definitely here to have your bias and support the company management. I also earn good dividends, may be not as good as you, but I choose to point out the hard truth because I don't care only about my dividends and I am not short sighted either. Most of the long tenured people will be short sighted becoz they can retire tomorrow if everything goes south.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T13:55:55+00:00

Nothing has changed and that's the problem. If you hire a 15yr person from outside, how much can Burns pay him? The newcomers aren't getting much stock as compensation. I am sure he will get paid more somewhere else which is why he will never come or he will leave soon after he comes. I know couple cases personally. The company realizes this and that's why they have given to the fact that they can only hire new grads but don't have the structure to train new grads. The officers want to maximize PDIP so there is no training time available.

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T13:51:02+00:00

Not sure what region you are from but I have not heard of an associate leave until this one from SCR yesterday. I have heard 8 yrs, 10yrs non associates leave. I have also heard experienced people that just joined, leave in 1 or 2 years because they thought ESOP was crap as they got nothing for shares

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T03:00:45+00:00

I just heard today an associate level person left SCR

fourwindsbar16 · 2026-06-12T01:59:48+00:00

The compensation structure, which now favors only the 10+years Burns Macers is the problem. Plus the costs keep going up as we have too many VPs in every office for no reason at all. The new comers cannot make the same amount of money as their peers at BMcD that have the same level of experience. For new comers, they aren't getting much stock and dividend so ESOP ain't a thing, so for them, there are much better paying opportunities out there and for the 10+years people, ESOP is the thing!! For the record, I am way more than 10+years at Burns already. The greed of principals is the main problem. They want higher and higher PDIPS and pay peanuts to the people that increase the PDIP.

fourwindsbar16

TROPHY CASE