Pay and Performance Alignment

We Wrote the Book on Pay and Performance Alignment

Farient Advisors has always advocated that pay and performance be aligned and disclosed. In fact, at the onset of the Dodd-Frank legislation in the US, our CEO published the definitive work on pay and performance alignment. That book, Fair Pay, Fair Play: Aligning Executive Performance and Pay (Jossey-Bass, 2010), is particularly relevant today as the compensation of executives is increasingly linked to stakeholder incentives.

Highly Paid Doesn’t Mean Over Paid

Over the years, we have found that being highly paid doesn’t always mean overpaid. In fact, it’s often not the level of pay at issue; it’s a lack of alignment. When pay and performance move with one another, pay is reasonable relative to the size, industry, and results of the company.

This service includes:

Peer Group Development

We take peer group development to a new level by not only evaluating size and industry, but also conducting an in-depth analysis of the client’s business model to determine potential peers

Pay Level Benchmarking

Market pay provides input into but does not dictate pay decisions. Our analysis goes beyond the data to provide a forward-looking view of compensation based on multiple inputs including market dynamics

Corporate Performance Benchmarking

Pay and performance are two sides of the same coin. To that end, we benchmark performance including market, financial, and sustainability factors to assess program design, pay leverage, and realizable pay

Assessment of Pay and Performance Alignment

Using Farient’s proprietary Performance Alignment Reports™ as well as other diagnostic tools, we assess the strength of the relationship between pay and performance to inform pay program design and actions

Assessment of Pay Practices

Farient goes beyond comparative benchmarking to recommend pay policies. This process considers each company’s values, culture, and strategic objectives while also weighing macro trends, regulatory context, risk, and the alignment between executive and shareholder/stakeholder perspectives

Compensation Risk Assessment

Farient assesses whether the compensation system encourages undue risk-taking using its proprietary quantitative model and our 16-point qualitative analysis

Related case studies

  • How a Forward-Thinking Utility Came in From the Cold

    A midmarket utility with a lagging stock price, caused to some extent by its business portfolio, was also hampered by a poor Say on Pay vote. Farient Advisors was engaged to help turnaround the company’s Say on Pay vote and assist with a shareholder communications strategy.

    Read More >

  • Catalyzing Change at a Chemical Company

    This company was not a shareholder darling. In fact, shareholders had identified several pay-for-performance disconnects and clearly made their point with a 13% Say on Pay vote.

    Read More >

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We’re Here for You

Let us know how we can help you think differently about executive compensation and its alignment with performance.

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