ESOP company leaders face all the usual challenges in setting executive compensation as well as a few that are unique. If you think of a well-constructed executive compensation program as a house, the outside compensation study is one tool that you have at your disposal to help build the house, but you must use the tool appropriately. Some companies treat compensation studies as a hammer and use them to whack every compensation issue that surfaces, while some companies never use this tool at all. The answer is somewhere in between, and this article discusses the proper use of this tool.

Matt Keene
“My highest satisfaction comes when clients say that our work structuring their executive compensation program helped them achieve their goals. The “how” (pay levels, incentive structures) is pretty easy. The “why” is the challenge and the reward.”