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Compensation Consulting
Our compensation practices takes a holistic and continuous approach to working with clients to develop and implement compensation strategies and plans. We work closely with clients to understand company business goals and objectives and will conduct thorough research internally and externally to gather all of the necessary data to construct a plan that’s right for each client. Our consulting process includes evaluation of the company’s existing programs and their effectiveness through external benchmarking of peer groups; analysis of overall competitiveness of total compensation, including annual and long-term incentives; and analysis and recommendation of appropriate base salary and incentive opportunities, equity ownership and retirement plans.
Each Company should have a total compensation strategy that sets forth the company’s philosophy on issues such as:
- Pay Positioning – level of compensation relative to competition
- Pay Mix – balancing the appropriate mix of fixed pay (i.e. salary and benefits) and variable pay (i.e. short-term and long-term incentives)
- Performance Measures – combination of financial, market and strategic performance measures
- Performance Benchmarks – use of historical, projected or peer performance as standards of success
- Key Cultural Objectives – rule of subject measures
Cowden Associates provides value-added services to support compensation consulting. We recognize that disputes may arise regarding the interpretation of plan provisions. As such, we provide expert witness testimony, opinions and litigation support.
We have demonstrated excellence in litigation support activities representing corporations in legal disputes concerning compensation, equity, retirement, collective bargaining issues, and health and benefit matters for hourly and salaried employees, including preparation of expert reports and testimony.