Essentials of Executive Compensation

Executive compensation is complex and extends beyond pay—it aligns leadership, strategy, and culture to drive organizational success. Balancing its intricacies and getting it right is crucial for motivating executives and achieving results. Understanding how executive compensation is determined and administered is vital for everyone involved, from leaders shaping strategic direction to analysts supporting informed decisions.

Essentials of Executive Compensation is an introductory course providing an overview of executive compensation philosophy, strategy and design. Led by experts, participants will gain practical knowledge to support their organization and executives effectively. This course was developed for professionals worldwide who are interested in learning about this specialized field or experienced leaders who want to contribute more effectively regarding executive compensation.  

What You Will Learn:

• The importance and history of executive compensation, and how design decisions can impact executive behavior, business performance and stakeholder relationships.
• How and when executive pay is reported and know how to read and understand a proxy statement.
• Who the key players in executive compensation are (executives, shareholders, boards and committees, proxy advisors, management teams, consultants, outside counsel, accounting and tax advisors) and how they interact with each other.
• The basic technical aspects of executive compensation (e.g., elements of pay, typical pay package designs) and how and why these may vary based on company, industry and business context.
• How corporate executive compensation teams are structured, what job responsibilities are and what skills are required at each level. 

Additional Information

Participants are not required to have prior experience with or knowledge of executive compensation design strategy or planning.

This course is ideal for compensation professionals wanting to deepen their knowledge of executive compensation, professionals new to executive compensation, and experienced leaders wanting to contribute more effectively. This includes HR leadership, HR business leaders, Total Rewards leaders, finance professionals, compensation professionals and business analysts.

No prework is required. You should plan to spend approximately 4.5 hours in the virtual classroom. Course materials include a 20-question review quiz and digital credential upon completion​. 

Policies

View our Return/Cancellation policies and more here.