A complete executive
compensation program.
Executive compensation is not just base salary. It is a system — total cash, incentives, benefits, retirement, and deferred compensation — designed to attract leaders, retain them, and align their interests with your organization's long-term success. We build the whole system.
Total Cash Compensation
Base salary and short-term incentive design, benchmarked against your market and sector. Built to be competitive, defensible, and internally equitable across your leadership team.
- Market benchmarking by role and sector
- Base salary bands for executive levels
- Short-term incentive plan design
Total Rewards Strategy
The full picture of what you offer leaders — cash, benefits, flexibility, recognition, and long-term opportunity. A strong total rewards strategy closes the gap between what you pay and what executives perceive they earn.
- Total compensation valuation
- Non-cash rewards and perquisites
- Executive employment agreement support
Incentive Compensation Design
Short and long-term incentive plans that align executive behavior with organizational goals. Designed to motivate the right outcomes — not just reward tenure or title.
- Annual incentive plan (AIP) design
- Performance metric selection and weighting
- Long-term incentive structures
Benefits Strategy
Executive benefit programs that supplement base compensation and reflect the seniority of the role. Designed to be meaningful to the individual and cost-effective for the organization.
- Executive health and wellness benefits
- Supplemental executive retirement plans
- Perquisite policy development
Retirement Programs
Retirement plan design for executives, including qualified and non-qualified plans. Structured to reward long-term commitment and provide meaningful retirement security for senior leaders.
- Qualified retirement plan review
- Non-qualified deferred compensation plans
- SERP (Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan) design
Deferred Compensation Program Design
Structured programs that allow executives to defer income for tax advantages and long-term wealth building — designed in compliance with IRC 409A and aligned with organizational goals.
- IRC 409A compliant plan structure
- Deferral election design and administration
- Investment options and payout scheduling
Executive pay is never
just an HR decision.
It is a board decision.
The people who call us about executive compensation are usually carrying one of three very specific problems. Here is what we hear most - and how we help.
Board and Compensation Committee
"We need to set CEO pay that is competitive, fair, and something we can defend publicly."
Boards face fiduciary responsibility for executive pay. We provide independent, market-benchmarked compensation analysis with full documentation — the kind that holds up in an audit, a proxy statement, or a donor inquiry. We also advise on governance structure for compensation committees and help establish pay philosophy the board can communicate with confidence.
CHRO and HR Director
"Our executive pay structure was never designed. It just happened. Now it is causing problems."
Most executive compensation structures were not designed — they evolved through individual negotiations, market pressures, and competing priorities. We bring structure, data, and internal equity analysis to the full executive tier, then build the documentation and communication materials your team needs to administer it going forward.
Nonprofit Executive Director
"Our Form 990 is public. Our board is nervous. And we are losing executives to organizations that pay more."
Nonprofit executive pay operates under IRS scrutiny and donor perception pressure simultaneously. We help nonprofits build a compensation framework that is market-competitive, IRS-defensible, and backed by the kind of documented comparability data that protects the board from intermediate sanctions risk.
How we build your
executive comp program.
Four structured steps, led by a senior compensation consultant from start to finish. No junior hand-offs. No templates applied without context.
Compensation Analysis and Audit
We begin with a full review of your current executive pay structure — base, incentive, benefits, and deferred compensation — and compare it against market data for your sector, geography, and organization size. This tells us exactly where you stand before we recommend anything.
Pay Philosophy and Strategy Design
We work with your board and leadership team to define a compensation philosophy — your position relative to the market, your pay mix preferences, and the principles that will govern executive pay decisions going forward. This becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
Program Design and Documentation
We design the full compensation program — base salary structure, incentive plans, benefits, and deferred compensation - with complete documentation for board approval, HR administration, and regulatory compliance. Including IRC 409A, FLSA, and IRS comparability standards for nonprofits.
Communication and Implementation Support
We help you communicate the new program to your board, executives, and relevant stakeholders — and we stay available through implementation. The engagement does not end when the document is delivered. It ends when the program is running.
Executive compensation
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More Webinars Are on the Way
Executive pay decisions need senior expertise. Not a junior consultant.
- Every engagement is led by a SHRM-SCP or SPHR certified senior consultant with 20+ years of experience. The person you meet at the start is the person who delivers the work.
- We provide independent market analysis, full program documentation, and board-ready deliverables — built for governance scrutiny, not just internal HR use.
- We work with nonprofits, private companies, healthcare organizations, and government entities. We understand the regulatory and governance differences that matter in each sector.
- No long-term contracts required. Engage for a single compensation study or build an ongoing advisory relationship.
LET’S TALK ABOUT PEOPLE, IDEAS, AND SOLUTIONS.
If you want to recruit, engage, develop, and retain the best team in the business, get in touch with us.
NEW YORK OFFICE
New York, NY 10120
NORTH CAROLINA OFFICE
Raleigh, NC 27613
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Bentonville, AR 72712
TEXAS OFFICE
Suite 175 PMB 1024
The Woodlands, TX 77381
