It was November 2012 and Koay P.Y., CEO of Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways Holdings Limited (Tigerair), was putting together a compensation plan to be submitted to the Board’s Remuneration Committee (RemCo). He had been in discussions with Ong Chee Mei, Chief Human Resources Officer, on key considerations of designing a compensation scheme that supported the company’s business and HR objectives.

Leading up to Koay’s appointment in August 2012, Tigerair had experienced a difficult time since it was listed on the Singapore Exchange in January 2010. A series of events had negatively impacted the company’s brand reputation and financial performance. Moreover, several senior executives had left, or were about to leave, the group after its initial public offering in 2010, and these positions had yet to be filled.

When Koay joined Tigerair as CEO, he urgently needed to turn around the company’s performance by addressing the ongoing financial and image issues at hand. The company also needed to hire the right people who could build the foundation of a sustainable business.

The Board had surmised that as part of the solution to these problems, Tigerair needed a new compensation scheme to attract the right talent to meet two business objectives. First, of a short-term turnaround compensation plan for the RemCo’s approval. Second, for the new compensation structure to serve as a support mechanism to bring about an improvement in the long-term fortunes of the company.