Latest Insights & Industry Trends

Geopolitical and monetary policies have a massive impact on the oil and gas industry, as each shift can lead to major changes in growth projections, operational efficiency, and broader cost reduction strategies. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the...

In the realm of non-profit organizations, where missions supersede profits, executive compensation plays a critical role in attracting and retaining top talent. However, determining appropriate compensation levels can be complex, especially in an environment where resources...

In 2024, the landscape of compensation and benefits is poised to undergo significant changes, driven by evolving workforce dynamics, economic conditions, regulatory factors and technology. Employers are expected to continue seeking innovative ways to attract and retain top...

Following the fluctuating trends in compensation over the last few years, it is important for companies to take a step back and reassess what compensation means, its purpose, and how it is evaluated. As the market continues to stabilize, after a few years of historic...

While not all pay is justifiable, executive compensation continues to be unnecessarily painted in a severely negative light. In the world of governance, it is a common topic which bands together the masses against the few, falsely highlighting inequity and greed. While...

In today’s dynamic business landscape, risk management is a paramount concern for organizations striving for sustainable success. Among the myriad aspects of business operations that require careful oversight, compensation management stands out as a crucial area that can...

Sustainability goals are now widely considered on par with more traditional KPIs and are slowly becoming standardized as external pressures continue to push corporations to tie non-financial measures to executive pay; however, this hasn’t always been the case, clearly. So...

In today's dynamic professional landscape, the concept of compensation has transcended the conventional understanding. It is part of the holistic approach we know as total rewards. This comprehensive assortment of benefits and incentives extends beyond the monetary aspect,...

Executive compensation is a complex and multifaceted subject that plays a crucial role in the functioning of banks. In a vibrant financial sector, the compensation of executives at banks is of significant interest and scrutiny. This comprehensive explanation aims to delve...

What the Data Reveals We are well into the middle of the year and most companies have made it through the daunting period of performance reviews and annual raises. So how have increases played out so far?  Mercer’s recent survey revealed that 2023 annual merit...

Importance of Reviewing Compensation Programs Routine compensation reviews, particularly for a whole company population, aid in assuring the organization is offering competitive compensation packages that can attract and retain top talent. By regularly reviewing...

Inflation, threats of recession, and high employee turnover are just a few of the issues Boards and management teams must contend with in 2023. These challenges are coupled with increased regulations, continued shareholder institution noise, and the SEC continuing to impose...

It’s no secret that the role of the Compensation Committee has been evolving for some time now. It is safe, however, to say that sitting on a Compensation Committee (or board of directors for that matter) is not what it used to be. What was merely a fiduciary role to...

Pay transparency refers to the communication of company pay practices to employees and explanation of how pay is determined for unique positions. While pay transparency can be a controversial issue, it has gained traction in recent years as a way to address pay disparities...

It’s that time of year again as calendar year organizations begin to finalize their respective annual incentive/bonus payouts. Within this context, many board members and directors, in their totality, are wrestling with investor perspectives and pre-determined performance...

Incentive compensation holds an important yet unique place within a company’s pay program initiatives. Both long and short-term incentive plans should be designed to balance attracting and retaining top-level talent in conjunction with motivating behaviors to achieve a...

“Where have all the people gone?” An HR executive recently posed this question, a question to which an answer is unclear. He was right, where are they? Turnover is on the rise and hiring more difficult than ever. There just doesn’t seem to be a pool of talent, and...

Pay vs. Performance? “Okay, it’s happening, everyone stay calm.” – Michael Scott Last month, after nearly a decade, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final Pay vs. Performance rules (“Final Rules”). These Final Rules, while more complex than...

Despite remote working exponentially increasing over the last two years, the standard workweek has continued to be five days, which became the standard roughly 80 years ago. You might be wondering why five-day workweeks are in place and the answer is fairly straightforward:...

As we delve into the results of the 2022 proxy season, NFPCC conducted an analysis for Dallas Morning News assessing the compensation packages for the top one-hundred Chief Executive Officers, based on company revenue, in the DFW area. This year’s Chief Executive Officer...

It has been decades since Americans have experienced record high inflation. Macroeconomic conditions, monetary policy, and a long list of other factors have caused inflation to rise around 8.6% over the last 12 months, and the consensus is inflation will continue to trend...

As we hit the midpoint of the 2022 proxy season, shareholders and investors continue to shift focus towards untraditional topics compared to the prior year's proxy seasons. At the forefront of these conversations sits ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and human...

Effective compensation programs have a strong circular relationship between measurable goals, tangible performance, and actual payouts. This is true whether the goal or goals are short-term or long-term in nature. But what happens when the lines between goals and...

In times of economic uncertainty and heightened retention concerns across all employers, utilizing capital to its highest utility is of the utmost importance. NFPCC has been diligently focused on the strategic use of compensation within client organizations. Specifically,...

It’s been nearly twelve years since The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted as a direct response to the financial crisis of 2008. The Act holds many sections detailing regulations to be enforced; however, a recent resurgence of proposed pay for performance mandates from 2015...

Salary budget planning for 2022 has been a hot discussion as companies moved to finalize budgets for this year. In general, salary forecast trends for 2022 are currently tracking to be about one percent higher than previous projections earlier in 2021. Recent pulse surveys...

Companies preparing compensation strategies for 2022 can expect similar conditions to what we have seen in 2021. The ever-changing environment along with sporadic regulatory requirements from COVID protocols are forcing companies to be more adaptable. Believing the US...

The employment market reflects drastic changes following the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 4.4 million workers left their jobs in September of this year with no indication of slowing. The old-school model of employee loyalty to a firm has been...

  Impacts of a global pandemic, volatility in the markets, bankruptcies and consolidation through M&A activity has created a new business landscape… one no industry has completed escaped. The one area this impacts meaningfully is peer selection for compensation...

The effect of the 2020/2021 economy has wrecked recruiting and budget plans, causing a shifting of power. Specifically, the transition and pausing of business in the early months of the pandemic resulting in a precipitous decline across all sectors. The economy has...

For a long time and even more recently in a pandemic/worldwide health crisis, the compensation of executives, specifically in cyclical and commodity-based businesses, has always been scrutinized. Our firm sees articles like Forbes’ “CEO Compensation is Out of Control” and...

Bank executives have some of the most highly transferrable, in-demand skill sets, leaving boards to decipher the best and most efficient ways to stay competitive while aligning the future of their organizations. They must balance three pillars of a well-rounded talent...

What is better ISOs or NQSOs? This week, one of the boards I sit on that is preparing to go public, asked the question – “What is better – ISOs or NQSOs?” It’s such a great question and actually, one of the easier questions I have gotten as a board member, so...

Introduction It’s been over a year since having to cope with this global pandemic and the difficult decisions companies were forced to make regarding where their workforce should work – at home or remote. Of course, the realistic answer to this question is not so simple...

Executive compensation in the eyes of shareholders and outside observers is a complex, intriguing subject matter that always has people talking. As for public company executives, with their compensation required to be disclosed, the discussion around how much the company...

Exploring the pros and cons, and key considerations when drafting golden parachutes I was Deloitte & Touche’s national partner in charge of performance management compensation. Several partners were in a conference room with me discussing a merger of two large...

How and why was the first Golden Parachute established? While highly controversial, no executive compensation package is competitive without it. Introduction If there was ever a compensation area of more polarization and notoriety, I don't know of it. Golden...

Introduction The pandemic has significantly impacted the real estate sector. With a surge in the number of employees who work from home, the demand for office space has softened. At the same time, growth in e-commerce has exploded, resulting in further disruption...

Did you know that the very first Rabbi Trust was, in fact, for a real rabbi?! Legend has it that he had been a great spiritual leader in his synagogue and was getting ready to retire. What is a rabbi trust? A Rabbi Trust is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan...

Introduction Over the last 10 months, we have watched many companies across the US begin to shift from a traditional work landscape to a “work from home” environment. The cause? An on-going global pandemic. What appears to be one of the greatest human capital...

BUILDING SUCCESS THROUGH TALENT ACQUISITION AND PRESERVATION The importance of employee attraction and retention on overall business success is an often-debated issue. Although two very divergent schools of thought exist — either employees as assets or employees as...

In all businesses, the single largest asset and investment are the people. As any company leader knows, the biggest cost of doing business is most oftentimes the cost of labor; inclusive of wages, benefits, payroll, or other related taxes. This investment of organizational...

The corporate structure over the past 30 years has been predicated mainly around the regulations necessitated by actions taken by corporations that have ultimately resulted in negative consequences. A constant balancing act of an open-market economy vs. necessary...

/ BANKRUPTCY COMPENSATION The concept of excessive executive compensation is a seemingly frequent topic that garners significant reaction regardless of personal viewpoints. The essence of the topic is intended to elicit a moral response, asking us to question...

In times of crisis, companies are desperate to reduce expenses As the weeks go by, the effects of COVID-19 have entered nearly all aspects of life and business. The month of February marked the first death from the virus on American soil which soon began the series of...

As many of us settle into what has become a new normal, businesses are feeling the wave of negative effects the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought to the American economy and are desperately trying to navigate the challenges brought forth by this crisis. For many it has meant...

According to a recent survey by Willis Towers Watson, in mid-February some 15% of participant companies expected material impacts from COVID-19 to persist over the next six months. As we all know, the situation has continued to evolve around the world, injecting increasing...

In a previous article written by NFPCC in 2018, the growing concern of gender pay gaps and how they impact attraction and retention issues in corporate America was addressed. Through this process, it was discovered that the issue of the pay equity gap really was not as...

Every January, NFPCC purposes to focus on major events that will shape the compensation landscape in the new year. In 2020, the biggest factor that will impact the future of compensation packages and organizational success/profitability, that is a certainty, is the 2020...

MAJOR COMPONENTS (OR "BUCKETS") OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION ARE FUNDAMENTALLY SIMILAR IN PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES. We at NFPCC understand that although similar in function, there are certainly unique characteristics in every company’s respective...