What We Do
Al Massar Declan LLC provides a number of services tailored to optimize your human capital
Human Capital Audits
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Reward Strategy and Principles ("Reward Philosophy")
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Human Capital Risk Assessments (HCRA) / Succession Planning
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Executive Performance Management Processes (EPMP)
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Reward Strategy & Principles
(“Reward Philosophy”)

Human Capital Audits
Reward Strategy and Principles by Al Massar Declan

What are “Reward Principles”?

Reward principles are broad statements which define how a company should pay its employees and how to reward them for on-target or above-target performance. They define what a company pays its employees and why. These broad statements (often referred to as a “reward philosophy”) enable companies to take a strategic, fair, consistent and cost-effective approach to the three categories of reward:

  1. Fixed Pay (e.g. salaries, allowances, medical insurance, pensions etc.)
  2. Variable Pay (e.g. bonuses, commissions etc.)
  3. Long-term incentive plans (e.g. stock option plans)

The value of reward principles

A company with a strategic approach to reward and defined overarching reward principles is enable to improve its cost-to-income ratio (e.g. by focusing on variable pay), to mitigate human capital risks (e.g. by attracting and retaining talent), to balance decisions between fixed pay and variable pay, and to ensure, simplicity, consistency and fairness throughout the company by minimizing time-consuming “exceptions” and other workarounds.

The Value of Reward by Al Massar Declan. Employee receives promotion.

Our Deliverable to You

The deliverable is a set of principles (usually 10 maximum) and a supporting “commentary” containing a precise definition of all technical terms and a detailed explanation of the reward principles. Typically, both the reward principles and the commentary are approved by the Board Compensation Committee. Our service includes briefing members of the Committee prior to meetings, presenting to the Committee and actioning any resolutions or follow up points, as required by our clients.

 Example of a reward principle:

  • “The more senior an employee is in a company then the greater the percentage of his/her total annual reward is linked to his/her individual performance as measured by quantifiable data”.

Our Credentials and Our Approach

We have designed reward principles for banks in 23 countries and have extensive experience in working within different legal jurisdictions.

Typically, our clients have three objectives.

  • To address head-on any major concerns linked to reward
  • To secure agreement among the members of the executive team for a company-wide approach to reward
  • To secure the approval of the board of directors for (1) a strategic approach to reward and (2) a delegation of authority enabling the executive team to make decisions regarding fixed pay, variable pay and long-term incentive plans.

We take a risk-based and highly rigorous approach when fact-finding and a very collaborative approach when making recommending reward principles. We are highly sensitive to the constraints of the corporate cultures of our clients and do not believe in “one size fits all” solutions. We can work in a number of languages. We have in-depth experience in presenting to boards of directors and coaching board members.