Board stewardship, executive compensation, people and sustainability governance

At a time when businesses must navigate complex stakeholders’ interests and operate in uncertain geopolitical conditions, stewardship has evolved beyond its traditional paradigm.

As stewards of their companies’ assets (both tangible and intangible), boards face the challenges of navigating a landscape that demands a more comprehensive approach — one that integrates risk and sustainability principles into the core fabric of business strategy.

WTW’s global stewardship model

Stewardship has evolved into an overarching principle that incorporates five key dimensions — each of which is essential for long-term resilience, visibility and growth.

There are five key dimensions: Performance, Protection, People, Purpose and Planet.

This model serves as a comprehensive framework that guides responsible decision making and value creation in corporate stewardship.

• People: Uplifting and sustaining individual and shared humanity through dignity, wellbeing, compassion, mutual awareness, inclusion and fairness
• Purpose: Defining and connecting individual and organization purpose, the reason an organization exists and what it stands for, and activating it for every member
• Performance: Driving superior individual and organization performance through learning, innovation, transformation, organization and supporting programs
• Protection: Reducing individual and organization uncertainty and loss by identifying, assessing, mitigating and managing one-time and ongoing risks and increasing resilience
• Planet: Protecting and sustaining our shared home of Earth, through climate management, biodiversity, resource protection and environmental safeguarding

In recent years, boards’ role of governance and oversight on people and sustainability has evolved significantly. Global companies have had to navigate different (and sometimes contradictory) policy directives across markets while articulating a succinct narrative in which people and environmental priorities are most material to the business and most likely to drive long-term value creation. In turn, linking these priorities to executive compensation will ensure alignment of interests between management and shareholders as well as other stakeholders.

To inform boards in serving their role of stewardship, we have collated our latest research and thought pieces on topics related to people and sustainability governance and how executive compensation can be used as an effective tool to drive these business priorities.