ATLANTA -- Southern Company Services, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company, has named Robert Bell vice president of compensation and benefits. Previously, Bell had served as the company’s director of compensation and benefits.

“This appointment reflects the increasing importance of compensation and benefits issues to our business,” explains Southern Company chairman and CEO Bill Dahlberg. “As labor markets continue to tighten, the tools we use to attract and retain employees have become much more critical and complex. By elevating Robert’s role to this level, we are not only recognizing his outstanding accomplishments over many years of service but also the heightened need for the kind of compensation and benefits programs that will help us to be an employer of choice.”

Bell joined Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power in 1973 as an assistant personnel representative. He rose through positions of increasing responsibility to become director of compensation and benefits for Southern Company Services in 1991. He holds a bachelor of business administration from Georgia State University and an associate of arts from Clayton Junior College.

Bell resides in Fayetteville, Georgia with his wife and two children.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an international energy company that operates more than 48,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity worldwide. It is the largest producer of electricity in the United States and one of the world’s largest independent power producers. Southern Company subsidiaries and their affiliates serve 12 million retail customers worldwide and millions more through the wholesale market. Based in Atlanta, Southern Company is the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric.

Through its Southern Energy Inc. subsidiary, Southern Company has operations in 13 countries on five continents and has a growing presence in North America with assets in the Northeast, the Midwest, California and Texas. Southern Company also provides energy-related marketing, trading and technical services in the United States and Europe and offers Southern LINC wireless telecommunications.