I recently heard a business owner describe his company’s voluntary benefits package as a “nice to have.” If that’s the case, I say get rid of the package and save both the aggravation and administrative cost.

Compensation involves more than just a worker’s paycheck. For a company’s top performers, the compensation challenge is even more acute. Too little incentive and you don’t maximize the employee’s potential; too much constitutes a drag on the company’s earnings.

The recent furor over "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson’s alleged misuse of funds is an instructive lesson for executive benefit designers.