Covid-19: Redefining approaches to pay and the corporate model?

Shaping governance for a post-pandemic world

The economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has crystallised the need for a prudent and restrained approach by companies to corporate pay.

Chief executives and remuneration committees tabling irresponsible pay packages can expect a withdrawal of support from investors, even up to re-election of the chairman in extreme cases. Any pain should start at the top. Pay cuts should affect senior management first; whether that means a cancellation or reduction of bonuses, lower future share awards, or even a temporary suspension of salaries. Those measures should come before any scrutiny or decisions about longer-term, wide-scale, redundancies or restructurings. There must also be a greater appreciation of the importance of e...