The CEO and the senior management team typically obtain expert advice from human resources consulting firms in designing and implementing an executive compensation strategy and specific plans to reward key team members for achieving the strategic goals set by the Board. While this may be entirely appropriate,
"… the balance in the relationship between the board, management and compensation consultants has, in too many cases, been skewed to produce an overly close relationship between consultants and management…. At all too many companies, the Compensation Committee of the Board has not played as central and vigorous a role as necessary to assure the public that executive compensation policy is determined independently from management or from compensation consultants hired by management…. The Compensation Committee should retain any outside consultants who advise it, and the outside consultants should report solely to the Committee."
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Findings and Recommendations of The Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise, Part 1: Executive Compensation (September 17, 2002), 4,7,8
