About Us
Every business needs to drive performance and build value. LCI enables clients to meet their business objectives by providing consulting services that target the foundational issues of compensation, benefits and employee communications.
We help clients assess and improve the effectiveness of their salary program, execute effective performance-based incentive and equity strategies needed to improve results, and improve company-employee communications.
LCI works with public, private and not-for-profit organizations. Our clients range from NYSE companies to entrepreneurial start-ups. We believe this diversity not only enables us to learn from a wide range of businesses, but also keeps us interested, engaged and on our toes. Perhaps most importantly, working in so many different arenas gives us the opportunity to see that what works for one company may not be the ideal plan for another, and we are committed to providing custom solutions for each client.
Mark Lipis has been consulting for more than 30 years, building on a successful career in corporate human resources. Starting with a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago, he has consulted on the staffs of Mercer Human Resources Consulting, KPMG, Towers Watson, and Compensation Resource Group before forming LCI in 1992.
One glance at our client list shows the variety of our clients. LCI offers customized plans and services that reach beyond standard expectations. Our success is partly based on our ability to use many ancillary talents and resources to reach more nuanced conclusions and better designed plans for our clients. We have extensive boardroom experience, yet we are able to work easily with staff at all levels. We have successfully testified as an expert witness, and in one case convinced a jury to return a record-breaking verdict. We know that if we are to support our client's business strategies and culture effectively we must bring enhanced levels of understanding to each project and provide our clients with customized programs geared to meet their objectives.
Our Approach
We typically work on a project basis, although organizations have out-sourced their compensation function to us on a temporary basis to meet special needs; for example, to provide maternity leave coverage. The initial meeting is usually complimentary, as is the formal Proposal of Service letter that follows. Once the proposal is accepted, we proceed to the kick-off meeting where we confirm the objectives and scope of the project, and begin gathering information. Though not every project requires it, most include interviews with key executives, and some include focus groups with employees. We always tailor our approach to fit the client's needs.
We work with a core team of compensation, benefits and communications professionals. Specialists with specific skills are used to augment LCIs internal resources for particular projects and clients. This approach makes it possible to offer our services on the most cost effective basis. While we are neither attorneys nor accountants, we work closely with the client's counsel and advisors to ensure our recommendations will be accepted and supported.
After we provide preliminary recommendations, we work with the client to further refine the ideas, can assist in obtaining organizational approvals and can develop and conduct training and communications sessions. Our clients will tell you we also like to have some fun along the way because sometimes that's the best way to absorb new ideas and information.
Over the years we've seen certain problems crop up on a regular basis. Though common, the following short list of pitfalls often have innovative and even bold solutions that turn blunders into opportunities. In some cases they can be avoided entirely.