"Companies are being really thoughtful and targeted, and the high-performers are going to be the ones who see the [salary] increases first,” said Rebecca Toman, vice president of Pearl Meyer’s survey business.

“If you have an incentive plan that the entire management organization views as completely unachievable, it is no longer an incentive plan,” said Jan Koors, senior managing director and head of consulting services for Pearl Meyer. “It becomes a disincentive plan, and that’s not in the shareholders’ best interest.”