The Advisors' Blog

– Lynn Jokela

With concern about COVID-19, we’ve had questions about what companies are doing when setting performance targets for incentive comp.  This blog from Willis Towers Watson discusses implications of COVID-19 for incentive plan goals.

As noted in the blog, many companies have either just set their short-term and long-term incentive goals or they’re trying to figure out how to set the goals in the midst of all the uncertainty.  The blog says that as the firm has worked with its clients, some have discussed or decided on the following actions:

– Delaying metric and goal setting until Q2 (this has been the prevailing response so far as it’s viewed as less disruptive to existing incentive plans)

– Modifying regional level and/or enterprise-wide goals

– Proactively discussing the likelihood of a need for discretion later in or at the end of the performance period