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The COVID-19 pandemic has left a lot of companies thinking about compensation. And, while the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) addresses a lot of issues, it lacks definitions and specificity in several important areas that pertain to executive compensation issues, according to a report from executive benefits advisory firm Fulcrum Partners, about potential consequences of the CARES Act on executive compensation.

With revenue plummeting at companies all around the world, executives will find it tough to meet many of their bonus thresholds associated with financial metrics. That is assuming, of course, they haven't been forced to make layoffs.

"Salary plus performance-based compensation structures were easy in the pre-crisis days," says Steve Broadbent, a managing director and partner at Fulcrum Partners.

"If had a manager of half-a-dozen complexes in a geographic area, they might have been focused on minimizing turnover of residents and keeping rents at a certain level," Broadbent says.

But as the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis intensifies, it will be tougher to hit those bonus hurdles. "Management's ability to meet those financial metrics or operating metrics aren't within their control," Broadbent says. "The ability to attain those financial metrics is questionable right now."

If companies want to keep their key employees happy, Broadbent says they may have to make adjustments. "One of the things they [companies] might want to do in the short term is to lessen the financial-based metrics of performance and increase some other non-financial metrics that are appropriate for managing an office complex or an apartment building," he says.

If companies don't base compensation on non-financial metrics, Broadbent suggests thinking outside the box. For inspiration, he points to the airlines.

"With all a lot of their planes parked, airlines are doing deferred maintenance or maybe accelerating important maintenance," Broadbent says. "Now, those planes are all on the ground." In commercial real estate, he thinks tenant satisfaction could be a new metric to consider for judging executives. "Making sure the tenants are happy is important," Broadbent says. "It's a whole lot easier to retain a tenant than trying to bring in a new one."

Even if companies can find new metrics for executive bonuses, they still may need to have the money to pay them out when it's time, given the uncertain economic environment.

"It's almost a double-edged sword," Broadbent says. "You want to retain your best people by keeping a performance system in place that they can actually achieve these very unusual times. But if they achieve that, can a company actually afford to pay it out at the end of the performance period?" To avoid having disgruntled associates, companies need to be realistic about what they can payout. "You need to retain the people that have the right skills to manage through this crisis," Broadbent says.

If a company plans well, it is possible to remain in a secure position while retaining key employees. "Perhaps paying out a bonus that is 25% to 50% of the target would provide some incentive to people and keep them from getting dejected that they're not going to be making much money this year," Broadbent says.