Executive pay benchmarking has long been a cornerstone of best practice for Boards and Management. But the benchmarking process is involved, evolving and competitive. Traditional thinking is no longer relevant, as organizations adopt new and forward-thinking approaches to quantifying appropriate market-competitive pay levels.
While common practice sees market data as the defining factor, we see it as a starting point. We leverage global pay, third-party, proxy and placement data, then put it in context with factors such as internal equity, current and expected performance, business and shareholder climate, and potential talent pool. We then partner with key stakeholders to analyze these important elements and develop an objective, defensible, and relevant way of quantifying appropriate market-competitive pay levels for your business.
Other factors critical to our process include:
- Company size - as measured by revenues or market cap.
- Sector - in terms of industry and competitors.
- Business model - how the company makes money.
- Talent market - companies your executives may be coming from or going to.
- Location – a national presence is often appropriate at the executive level.
- Customer base and market share – scale and demographics of key customers and end markets.
The aim? To provide objective market context, and determine a competitive pay framework that finds and retains dynamic talent, that fits compensation philosophy and furthers next level corporate strategy.
WHY KORN FERRY?
- Our pay knowledge is deep. We have experience working across all areas of executive pay, whether advising on pay levels, business transitions or pay design.
- We are data-driven. We own the world’s largest global pay databases, and our reward data is world-renowned for the granular level of detail it can deliver.
- We are independent and objective. We are able to offer independent analysis and advice on executive pay with no conflicts of interest.
- Our people know people and our process is proven. We have a long track record of designing tailored executive pay solutions; our approach has been developed over more than 70 years.
