CEO-to-Worker Compensation Ratio Rising
Community Challenge Makeover Monday 2021 Week 18:
My redesign (Tableau File Here):
Original Visualization:
Reading time: 2 min 2 secs
Discussion
Evaluating Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of 350 of the largest US firms shows that CEO compensation has grown exponentially. In contrast, the average workers' earnings have not increased at the same rate. The report from the Economic Policy Institute indicates that the rate of increase is not due to increased skill but the CEO's ability to set their pay rates.
This Makeover Monday 2021 Week 18 challenge (CEO-to-Worker Compensation Ratio) uses data from a report created by the Economic Policy Institute. The data contains 54 years of CEO pay ratios, showing the value of compensation when granted and realized. The viz I created focuses on the realized dollars. The trend line shows that the ratio between CEO vs. Workers Compensation is expected to increase, creating a more significant economic imbalance in the future.
Goals
Show the Economic imbalance between CEO and workers' compensation.
Complete the challenge in less than 40 minutes as a way to prep for future tableau certification.
Have the viz tell the story while keeping the design minimal
“I have often advised managers that a 20-to-one salary ratio is the limit beyond which they cannot go if they don’t want resentment and falling morale to hit their companies”
Project Discussion
Challenges
My goal for doing the Makeover Monday Challenge series is to prep for Tableau Certification. The primary goal is to finish a viz in a limited time to match the limited time one would find during a certification exam. I am using a base template that has containers. This concept helps with the setup of the design. This week is the first time I used a caption to give background information on the viz. I like the use of the caption since it formatted the text nicely. This formating is much easier than if I had to do it manually.
Design Discussion
I like using a minimal design. I am also honing in on a custom color palette for my work. I have identified the colors I will use for general viz (Blue #41B7C4 and Grey ( #1B1B1B).
Bring in more storytelling to my viz designs; I did four things. First, I added the beginning and ending data summarized in a quasi highlighted manner under the title. Next, I added a trend line to help emphasize the critical point for the viz - CEO / Worker Ratio is continuing to rise. The third thing I did was add a caption to the viz to provide some additional information. The last thing I did was to create a title that was a statement of how I interpreted the data, using the viz to support the argument.
Final Thoughts
I am getting better at working with the limited-time challenge. I am finding joy in - "What can I design in a limited-time challenge?". For this week's Makeover Monday Viz, I wanted to ensure that the design told a story. I love diving into data, curious about the stories that are behind the numbers. This curiosity means my default visualizations are exploratory viz. This week the goal was to focus on a single idea; I got lucky that the data lent itself to this type of design.
What do you think? Let me know on Twitter @YvonFitz.
Links & Additional Information
Challenge Information
Original Article: CEO compensation surged 14% in 2019 to $21.3 million
Data Source: The Economic Policy Institute
Challenge Link: Makeover Monday 2021 wk 18
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