The role of the Human Resources Committee (HRC) continues to evolve and become more complex. The decisions that are made are highly scrutinized and send important signals to stakeholders about the company’s strategy and priorities. 

There are some unique aspects to the HRC, given the main areas of oversight do not have the same standardized rules and processes as those found in Committees such as Audit. In addition, HRCs are dealing with emotional and personal topics (compensation, talent) that can have a fundamental impact on the business and its performance. 

Given these challenges, we leverage our 70+ years of combined consulting experience to provide a toolkit and reference guide to reinforce an effective HRC. 

In this second toolkit, we focus on executive compensation from establishing the underlying compensation philosophy to pay levels and incentive design. 

We provide an overview of the issues, various tools and templates to support the process, and 18 questions that the HRC can consider to align their executive compensation programs in the best interests of the organization. 

About This Author

Ryan Resch, Senior Partner

Ryan is a founder and Senior Partner of Southlea, a GECN Group company. He has over 20 years of experience consulting complex organizations across North America on executive and broad-based compensation including related governance considerations. He is often the named executive compensation consultant representing either the human resources committee and/or management. Prior to forming Southlea, he worked in Willis Towers Watson’s Toronto and Vancouver offices leading many of the practice’s large client relationships.

He leverages this expertise to bring stakeholders together and drive meaningful change aligned with key business and talent priorities. He is known for providing fresh and innovative thinking with his most recent research focused on connecting environmental, social and governance (ESG) with people and pay programs.