“It’s important to remember that the number you see in that summary compensation table is not the same thing as what somebody puts in their pocket or into an account,” said Jan Koors, senior managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“The discussion around say-on-pay has changed and the focus is now more specific and nuanced," said Peter Lupo, senior managing director at Pearl Meyer.

HR leaders have always played a crucial role in their organizations, but the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust HR into the leadership spotlight. In the process, human resources teams have become “essential workers” to ensure a safe and healthy return to the workplace.

“Most companies are rethinking their pay-scaling approach,” said Bill Dixon, managing director, Pearl Meyer. “An important reason for a reevaluation of geographic differentials is the potential complications surrounding pay equity.”

"At this juncture, when companies are allowing—or encouraging—remote work and it is going well, it appears there is some hesitancy to disrupt the talent pool," said Bill Dixon, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

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At certain points during the transaction, the valuation is liable to change significantly, so using outdated paperwork to calculate stock awards could be disastrous, said Robert James, a principal at Pearl Meyer.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