4 Courses Required

Additional Details

Target Audience

  • Compensation analyst
  • Total rewards specialist
  • HR business partner
  • Compensation and benefits manager
  • HR consultants
  • Organizational design specialists
  • Executive coaches

Accreditation

  • Executive Compensation Fundamentals Certificate from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations
  • 40 Professional Development Hours (4 CEUs)
  • 30 Professional Development Credits (PDCs) toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification
  • 30 Credit hours towards HRCI recertification
  • 20 Professional Development Units (PDUs) toward PMI recertification

Certificate Description

In today’s competitive business landscape, executive compensation is integral to attracting, retaining, and motivating senior leadership. This foundational certificate program offers a comprehensive introduction to executive compensation, providing you with the essential concepts and tools needed to evaluate, manage, and design pay structures that align leadership performance with organizational objectives. The program explores the critical relationships among leadership compensation, organizational performance, and corporate governance.

The program begins by establishing a financial foundation necessary for analyzing executive compensation decisions. You will discover how to interpret corporate financial statements — income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements — and apply financial performance metrics like ratio analysis to assess profitability, asset management, and industry comparisons. Building on this knowledge, subsequent courses delve into executive pay structures, such as base salaries, bonuses, long-term incentives, and performance-based compensation. You’ll explore how to create effective executive incentive programs that drive accountability, align leadership goals with organizational success, and meet the expectations of stakeholders.

Designed for HR professionals, analysts, and business leaders, this program combines self-paced coursework, real-world case studies, and expert insights to provide actionable knowledge you can apply in the workplace. By the end of the program, you’ll be equipped to critically assess executive compensation frameworks, craft impactful incentive plans, and understand their influence on organizational outcomes in today’s dynamic business environment.

The courses in this certificate program are required to be completed in the order that they appear.

This program includes a full year of free access to the HR Symposium!

These highly interactive virtual events span multiple days and explore today’s most pressing topics. Symposium offers exclusive opportunities to engage in real-time discussions with your eCornell community, applying insights from your courses to real-world scenarios. Through reflections and small-group discussions, you’ll deepen your learning, broaden your perspective, and expand your professional network.

Symposium events are held throughout the year, providing ongoing opportunities to stay engaged, gain fresh perspectives, and strengthen your skills. Once enrolled, you’ll receive access to the Symposium networking site and details about upcoming sessions. You can participate in as many as you’d like to make the most of your experience, though attendance is not required to complete your program.

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