The pressure is on for top executives to consider their own pay levels before expecting employees to tighten their belts. Many HR practitioners doubt that performance-based pay systems are an accurate way to reward high-performing employees. The trend in reward determinants could be towards measurable results and away from behavioural assessments.

The global financial crisis and sharemarket collapse have placed the link between pay and performance under scrutiny as never before. As government leaders step in to bail out banks and support some of capitalism’s most iconic names, many—including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd—have called for a new look at the way executive remuneration and incentives are calculated.