By Shawn Cole, President and co-founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search
If your organization is diving back into the executive talent market after a hiatus, you’ll find that it looks a lot different.
Attempting to acquire top C-suite talent using tactics from one to two years ago means that you’ll make a lot of offers — and that most of those offers will be rejected. Some will even get laughed at. That’s disheartening, especially when you’ve made a strong bid for valuable executive talent.
The new reality is this: Compensation benchmarks from 2023 and 2024 are already well below the current market for top performers. Here’s how to restructure your compensation approach to win top talent.
Executive Compensation Expectations Have Detached From Reality
What Everyone’s Saying
“The market is competitive.”
That’s not why executive searches are failing.
What’s Actually Happening
In 2026, executive compensation expectations have shifted far enough from historical benchmarks that many businesses enter the market with offers that can’t win — not because the company is lowballing, but because they design packages based on outdated expectations.
What We’re Seeing
One consistent pattern has emerged: Compensation committees are relying on data that they should have left far behind.
Benchmarks from two or three years ago are well below the current market, especially if you are bidding for an executive with a proven track record of delivering under risk.
What This Means
Most executive searches don’t fail in interviews. They fail at the offer. The candidate is excited to get started, and the board is happy with the pick. And then the compensation package lands, and the response is polite, but final: “No.”
Executive candidates don’t evaluate your offer against your benchmark spreadsheet. They compare your bid to what they can secure elsewhere.
Cash Is Table Stakes, and Executives Are Evaluating Total Wealth Creation
What Everyone’s Saying
“Base and compensation still matter most.” That’s not the full story.
What’s Actually Happening
In 2026, candidates care about the total economic impact of their compensation package. Savvy candidates will consider:
- Equity structure
- Acceleration clauses
- Vesting schedules based on risk
- How upside is distributed relative to the work
Top-performing executives are being asked to step into riskier environments and win in volatile markets. Make your offer reflect this reality.
What We’re Seeing
Candidates are pricing risk differently. They want a tangible path to wealth creation. Right now, you want an exec willing to bet on themselves and their ability to deliver when it matters most.
What This Means
Joining a new organization at a senior level comes with serious reputational exposure. If a candidate is asked to put themselves under that kind of performance pressure, they want a compensation structure that acknowledges the risk they are taking on.
Performance Bonuses Are Getting Replaced by Guaranteed Equity
What Everyone’s Saying
“Bonuses bring the best out of executives.”
Not anymore.
What’s Actually Happening
One of the biggest changes is the move away from traditional performance bonuses in favor of guaranteed equity. Many executives view bonuses as:
- Too dependent on factors outside their control
- Too easily modified by boards when markets get volatile
- Too slow to reflect the value they create
Executives are now pushing for guaranteed equity packages with aggressive vesting schedules.
What We’re Seeing
We’re seeing more executives who believe that equity best aligns potential rewards with the risks they are taking on. You have to get aggressive with equity and vesting periods if you want to win the top-performing executives in your next search cycle.
What This Means
Bonus structures are obsolete. Guaranteed equity is the way forward. Treating it as optional will lead to failed searches.
Remote Work Killed Geographic Discounts
What Everyone’s Saying
“Location still affects pay.”
Executives disagree.
What’s Actually Happening
Executives who can lead remotely or via a hybrid model are demanding coastal-level compensation, regardless of where the organization is headquartered.
What We’re Seeing
Many businesses assume that their location should influence pay bands. Candidates increasingly disagree.
What This Means
If you’ve grown accustomed to geographic discounts, it’s time to move on from that line of thinking. Otherwise, your compensation offers will consistently fall short.
The Rise of “Make-Whole” and Protective Offer Engineering
What Everyone’s Saying
“Sign-on bonuses should cover the gap.”
They don’t.
What’s Actually Happening
Senior leaders have substantial unvested equity and long-term incentive packages tied to their current roles.
Moving jobs can mean forfeiting millions.
What We’re Seeing
Businesses that succeed in luring these leaders away from their current employers are doing so with more complex and more expensive sign-on packages.
Today’s offers win by including one or more of the following:
- “Make-whole” packages for forfeited unvested equity
- Gross-up provisions for relocation taxes
- Equity acceleration
- Change-of-control provisions
This is what it takes to win top talent.
What This Means
Executives are evaluating whether moving is rational. Your job is to convince them that it is.
Candidates Are Comparing Options in Real Time
What Everyone’s Saying
“Negotiations take time.”
Yes, but not as much as they used to.
What’s Actually Happening
Executives are talking and sharing information within their circles. You are competing against candidates who have real-time market intel from other active searches.
What We’re Seeing
Candidates are declining without countering. They already know which offers would leave them underpaid.
What This Means
If your offer is meaningfully out of touch, your candidate will know this long before they make their decision. Don’t even expect them to counter. They’ll simply move on to a better opportunity.
Avoiding Rejected Offers and Failed Searches
Executive compensation expectations are much different from what they were just one to two years ago. If your compensation team is using old benchmarks, your executive search will result in a lot of missed opportunities — and a lot of rejection.
When offers fail, the search fails, and your business pays the price.
If you want to be prepared for executive hiring in 2026, treat your compensation strategy as an all-or-nothing lever. Partnering with the right search firm becomes a genuine advantage. And the time to retain such a firm is now.
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