Getting executive pay right starts with rigour: clear principles, sound governance, and clean data. Below is our end-to-end approach, honed for Boards, Remuneration Committees and HR leaders who want decisions that withstand scrutiny and support strategy.

1) Establish the foundation: principles, governance & structure

We begin by understanding the organisation’s remuneration intent and decision rights. Through targeted interviews with the Board Chair, Remuneration Committee Chair, CEO and HR Director, we clarify:

• Your remuneration principles and governance framework
• Strategic priorities and risk appetite
• Any legacy decisions, constraints or sensitivities

We review recent Committee minutes and prior benchmarking to ensure continuity, avoid re-litigating settled matters, and surface any emerging issues early.

2) Define the true market: roles and talent flows

Pay should reflect where you compete for talent, not just who you resemble on paper. For each role in scope we:

• Map talent inflows and outflows (where you recruit from; where leavers go)
• Gather role profiles, job evaluation scores (if available), reporting lines and scope (e.g., budget, headcount, geography, regulatory accountability)
• Translate scope into objective comparators (size, complexity, capital intensity, customer reach)

This yields a defensible market definition and a peer set that reflects the real alternatives available to your executives.

3) Source, normalise and validate market data

We assemble relevant market references from robust surveys and public disclosures, then standardise them so like is compared with like. Our process includes:

• Converting all elements to consistent remuneration constructs (e.g., Total Fixed Remuneration, Short-Term Incentive opportunity, Long-Term Incentive opportunity, and Total Target/Maximum Remuneration)
• Adjusting for size and complexity and ageing data to a common valuation date
• Identifying and treating outliers; reporting medians with interquartile and upper-quartile context (P25, P50, P75, P90)
• Documenting sources and methods to create an audit trail for governance and investors

4) Role-by-role executive benchmarking assessments

For each executive position, we provide a concise, decision-ready assessment that covers:

• Market positioning: where current pay sits vs P50/P75 (and rationale)
• Pay architecture: mix of fixed vs at-risk, STI/LTI opportunity and vesting calibration
• Internal equity: alignment across the team; compression risks and progression pathways
• Talent dynamics: retention and attraction risk indicators based on market tension and flight-risk factors
• Contextual commentary: sector trends, investor expectations and any regulatory or disclosure considerations

5) Engagement and decision support

We tailor outputs to your stakeholders:

• Committee pack: a clear narrative with exhibits ready for inclusion in Remuneration Committee papers
• Management summary: practical guidance for HR on implementation and communication
• Board discussion: we attend the Remuneration Committee meeting (as required) to present findings, pressure-test scenarios and provide independent advice to support decisions

We also prepare minutes-ready summaries so the governance record reflects the analysis and rationale behind outcomes.

What you receive

• Benchmarking report per role, with peer rationale and market statistics
• Recommended positioning ranges (e.g., target at P50, room to P75 for critical or scarce roles)
• Architecture guidance on fixed/variable mix, STI/LTI opportunity and performance alignment
• Risk and fairness lens covering internal relativities and potential pay-gap or compression issues
• Implementation notes for HR and Communications to support consistent messaging

What we need from you

To streamline the work and sharpen the conclusions, we’ll request:

• Current role profiles and organisation charts
• Job evaluation outcomes (if available)
• Scope indicators (budget, headcount, geography, regulatory accountability)
• Any prior benchmarking and recent Remuneration Committee minutes

Why this approach works

• Market-true, not market-myth: we benchmark to the market you actually hire from and lose to.
• Decision-grade analysis: normalised data, clear statistics, and a documented audit trail.
• Governance-ready: evidence-based recommendations that stand up to investor and stakeholder scrutiny.
• Practicality: insights that translate into pay outcomes, not just pages of numbers.