Aligning pay with business goals is not new. What is new is connecting executive compensation to corporate goals for social change. Recently, large corporations have begun linking executive pay to the achievement of broad environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. These ESG goals include climate change initiatives, reduction of carbon footprints, focus on alternative forms of energy, and efforts to achieve greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the organization's leadership ranks and workforce. The hope is that tying executive compensation to the achievement of ESG and DEI goals will improve corporate profitability and human capital management, while meeting internal and external demands for social change. This article will examine how some companies are linking executive compensation to the achievement of ESG and DEI goals.

• Which organizations are Including social change objectives in their executive pay programs?

An estimated 57% of the S&P 500 companies disclose using some form of ESG to determine annual or long-term incentive compensation outcomes. The ESG+ Incentives 2021 Report (Semler Brossy 2021). Another study found that "in the 12-month period to Sept. 30, 2018, 51 companies in the S&P 500 included a diversity metric in their compensation program," but in "the 12-month period to Feb. 1, 2021, that number had nearly doubled to 99 companies." See "Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Boardroom" (Glass Lewis 2021) .