Aon Study Projects 9.1 Percent Average Salary Increase for Senior Executives in India in 2023
Average CEO compensation is INR 8.4 crores, increasing 21 percent in the last four years.
NEW DELHI (30 January 2023) –
Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today released findings from its latest Executive Rewards Survey in India. Aon’s 12th annual study, the largest and the most comprehensive of its kind in India, analysed data across 519 companies from more than 25 industries.
For Board and senior managerial positions, one in three organizations are focusing on improving diversity levels. As part of an accelerated effort, boards are embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, diversity and succession metrics in the long-term and short-term goals for CEOs and executive leaders. Within Pay at Risk – the sum of variable pay and long-term incentives (LTI) for total compensation - the component of LTI has increased to 40 percent of the total compensation, up from 26 percent in 2015-16.
Nitin Sethi, chief executive officer, Human Capital Solutions, India and South Asia at Aon, commented, “Senior executives’ salary increases continue to focus on pay at risk, indicating the emphasis on rewarding executives for the value they bring to the organization. In a rapidly evolving, volatile business environment, organizations seek to adopt executive pay programs that drive the right behaviours, are cost effective and contribute to long-term business results. Organizations can therefore benefit from a data-driven approach to make better decisions regarding complex executive compensation issues while navigating business volatility.”
The study found that amongst the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) top 30 companies, LTI is provided at 176 percent of fixed pay for CEOs and at 103 percent for other c-level executives, including the chief operating officer, chief financial officer, sales leader and chief human resources officer. The average LTI amount for CEOs for the same set of organizations is Indian Rupees (INR) 10 cr.
Compensation, and its related governance, continues to be an important issue for employers as they strive to build and maintain a resilient workforce. Pritish Gandhi, director and practice leader of the Executive Compensation and Governance Practice in India at Aon, commented, “With rising shareholder activism, pay governance has become a key focus area for India Inc. As a result, organizations are updating their Malus clauses that is additional checks before vesting of long-term executive incentives – particularly in cases of material financial restatement. At the same time, claw back clauses which allow organizations to retrieve past pay-outs under exigent circumstances of fraud and misconduct are also being applied for a duration of three to five years, as organisations design their 2023 executive compensation programs”
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