Global Citizenship

Creating a Culture of Citizenship > Our Workplace Compensation and Benefits

Incentive Compensation

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Pay-for-Performance Philosophy

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Ethical Values

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Hiring in Global Markets

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Incentive compensation is key to Abbott’s pay-for-performance philosophy. Our structure ties individual awards to both business and individual results, to motivate our employees to achieve superior performance.

Our compensation compares favorably with the pay programs of other leading health care companies across global markets where we compete for employees.

Abbott’s compensation philosophy is to pay for performance. Our compensation is intended to compare favorably with the pay programs of other leading health care companies – as well as with other companies of similar size and financial performance outside our industry – across global markets where we compete for employees. Our total rewards program combines elements of base and variable pay with a broad array of benefits and opportunities for growth and development.

While our total compensation targets reference the median of other leading companies, average individual pay varies based on employee competence, experience and performance. This pay-for-performance philosophy, combined with internal and external analysis and reviews, helps drive our total compensation strategy.

Our executive compensation program is designed to help align our business strategy, values and management interests with those of our shareholders. To achieve these objectives, Abbott has set the following guiding principles for our compensation programs:

• Base salaries are competitive in the markets in which we compete for employees.
• Incentive plans are designed to balance short- and long-term financial and strategic objectives that build shareholder value and reward overall company and individual performance.
• Total compensation for Abbott executives compares well to that of companies performing at levels equivalent to Abbott.
• Incentive compensation (both annual and long-term) is a key component of Abbott’s pay-for-performance philosophy. Our structure ties individual awards to both business and individual results, to motivate our employees to achieve superior performance.

Compensation elements are designed to encourage behavior that is consistent with the ethical values established in Abbott's Code of Business Conduct.

Note: All data in the Global Citizenship section reflects activities prior to the separation of Abbott and AbbVie on January 1, 2013.