"Be careful during this [SPAC transaction] period that you're sizing awards and setting the exercise price on stock options in accordance with the current fair market value of the stock," said Robert James, a principal at Pearl Meyer.

“Despite the decline in the use of stock options, the vehicle remains prevalent with young companies, especially companies that are emerging from an IPO,” said Matt Turner, a managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“As companies are propelled into a continually new and changing world, incentive programs need to focus more on innovation,” said Aalap Shah, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“The [current] environment is quite unique for negotiating a salary increase,” said Bill Dixon, a managing director of Pearl Meyer. “If your employer is not willing to entertain those conversations, that might be a reason to reassess your gratitude.”

"Based on our survey, it appears there is some hesitancy to disrupt the talent pool [with geographic-based pay]," said Bill Dixon, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

"The pandemic permanently changed the nature of the employer-employee relationship… [through] expansion of performance-driven incentives and perks to attract talent," said Steve Sullivan, managing director, Pearl Meyer.

“The most notable compensation change coming from the pandemic was the injection of discretion into existing packages,” said Bill Dixon, managing director, Pearl Meyer.

"When we talk with [nonprofit] boards, CEOs, and CFOS ... there's been a common understanding they want the top talent from anywhere, and it's not just limited to other not-for-profit organizations," said Tim Dupuis, vice president, Pearl Meyer.

"It remains to be seen if shareholders will continue to back tying diversity, equity, and inclusion goals to incentive programs if it means executives have significantly less skin in the game regarding companies' long-term financial performance," said Aalap Shah, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“There's always a push and pull in terms of talent coming and going, but it's gotten worse with the pandemic,” Wes Hart, managing director at Pearl Meyer told the Houston Chronicle. “When crises arise and bad things happen, you've got to have good people to weather the storm.”

"There's been a significant uptick in incentive plans tied to diversity and incentive goals, with larger companies leading the way," said Aalap Shah, managing director for Pearl Meyer.

“We’re seeing quite a bit of movement in the inclusion of ESG metrics into incentive plans,” Jan Koors, senior managing director and Western region president at Pearl Meyer told WWD. “This is still not majority practice, but certainly a significant minority practice.”