“When a company makes what we call a ‘mega grant’ that is meant to cover multiple years, you’re going to have peaks and valleys in the proxy disclosures,” said Jannice Koors, senior managing director at Pearl Meyer.  “While the year of the grant will show as a big number in the summary compensation table, in following years it won’t.”

“It’s still an open question if we’re going to see a shift in resources from real estate or operating costs to higher employee pay [because of COVID-19],” said Bill Dixon, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“Publishing demographic data in SEC filings is different than publishing the same data via other avenues,” says Deb Lifshey, managing director at Pearl Meyer. “Some companies may worry that if they put it in [a filing] one year and take it out the next, people will notice—putting pressure on companies to explain why figures went down.”

“At the end of the day, CEOs end up getting rewarded for how they respond to external occurrences such as COVID-19,” said Jannice Koors Senior Managing Director and Western Region President of Pearl Meyer.

At certain points during the transaction, the valuation is liable to change significantly, so using outdated paperwork to calculate stock awards could be disastrous, said Robert James, a principal at Pearl Meyer.

“Linking executive pay to ESG initiatives isn’t very common yet, but with mounting pressure from shareholders and the general public, that will likely change over time,” said Jannice Koors Senior Managing Director and Western Region President of Pearl Meyer.

One study from advisory firm Pearl Meyer found that three in four companies, on average, assign job titles to their staff, but a quarter also give them “latitude in determining their external or working title."

“There has been a true cultural shift,” Aalap Shah, managing director at Pearl Meyer told Fortune. Companies’ actions on diversity get plenty of public scrutiny, which could fuel a virtuous cycle of adoption of concrete targets.

“With the 162(m) provision, it’s important to distinguish that these salaries are only being considered for tax purposes,” says Deb Lifshey, a managing director at Pearl Meyer. “The new provision does not require the comp committee to add any new public disclosures around pay.”

According to a new report from Pearl Meyer exploring what’s top of mind for healthcare boards, special attention to the healthcare workforce is needed, with five areas of particular concern outlined.

“The role of chief impact officer addresses questions companies have such as ‘What kind of change are we trying to introduce into the organization?’ and ‘How does the current structure of the organization either help that change or impede that change?’” managing director Jan Koors told Marketplace.

In 2021, boards will be involved in the reassessment of business and talent management strategies at hospitals and health systems, according to compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer.