For a typical independent director, [boards] are generally trying to accomplish a few things through compensation: Recognize the time and responsibility associated with board service, attract and retain qualified directors, and create alignment with shareholders," wrote Ryan Hourihan, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

According to research from the compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer, 80% of companies use job titles to describe where employees sit in the corporate hierarchy.

Pearl Meyer has welcomed Emily Daughters as its new Chief People Officer, which comes as the firm continues to invest in its own leadership bench following Jayson Traxler's Q1 2026 appointment as CEO.

“There’s an existential risk to the company if something happens to the CEO or part of the executive team,” Shah said. Many perks these days, he said, are “really necessary to run the business in the most effective way.”

Compensation strategies can change as a result of priorities. When executives are brought in to make changes, their incentives packages may then need to be realigned with the revamped organization’s new goals, Alexander Yaffe said.

Tim Dupuis, principal at Pearl Meyer, sees company boards as being locked in on doing the right thing when it comes to executive pay.

"You kind of have to expect that you're going to see a different version of the board when you're the CEO than you did when you are a C-suite leader, even though you all attended the same board meetings," Thies said.

"When it's an uncertain social political climate, an uncertain geopolitical climate, an uncertain impact of AI ... there's so many things that make this version of [volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity] even more ambiguous," said Peter Thies, managing director at Pearl Meyer.

“You should see that reflected in pay levels as compensation committees and boards struggle to be able to attract, retain and reward experienced talent,” said Bill Reilly.

In this conversation with The Consulting Report, Traxler discusses why compensation is most effective when paired with leadership strategy, how Pearl Meyer’s “One Pearl Meyer” model supports clients, and how AI is changing the context for board and executive decision-making.

The article discusses findings from a new Pearl Meyer survey showing that directors and C-suite executives differ in their views on the board’s involvement in CEO succession planning.

"Often, we tell clients we're not assessing for AI capability; we assess for the ability ... to be learning-agile, to be flexible, to be able to drive organizational change — and that's what this is," Brad Jayne said.