Nidhi Verma
About Nidhi Verma
Nidhi Verma is Senior Vice President and Chief People & ESG Officer at Crawford & Company, responsible for global HR, talent strategy, culture, and ESG; she was appointed to her present SVP-level position in July 2023, after serving as VP, Training, Talent & DEI (2017–2022) and Director, Talent Management (2014–2017) . The company lists her age as 52 in the 2025 proxy’s executive officer table . Verma holds master’s degrees from Columbia University (Adult Learning & Leadership) and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Human Resource Management), and previously held senior roles at Arthur Andersen, Hewitt Associates (Aon Hewitt), and LexisNexis; she has been recognized as “Elite Women in Insurance” (2020) and “Hot 100” (2021) by Insurance Business America .
From a pay-for-performance alignment standpoint, Crawford’s executive incentive architecture (which applies to executive officers) links annual bonus outcomes to revenue before reimbursements, adjusted operating earnings, and adjusted operating margin, while multi-year PSUs pay out on adjusted EPS over three-year cycles—providing a line of sight to topline, profitability, and earnings power; clawback and anti-hedging/pledging policies add governance safeguards .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crawford & Company | Senior Vice President & Chief People & ESG Officer | Jul 2023 – Present | Leads global HR and ESG; deployed AI-driven HR technologies; harmonized global processes to enhance agility and engagement . |
| Crawford & Company | Chief People & ESG Officer (promotion announced) | Effective Jul 1, 2022 | Elevated mandate to drive culture transformation, employee experience, total rewards, and ESG initiatives . |
| Crawford & Company | Vice President, Training, Talent & DEI | Apr 2017 – Jun 2022 | Designed and deployed global talent programs with an intentional DEI focus across US, UK, Asia . |
| Crawford & Company | Director, Talent Management | Mar 2014 – Apr 2017 | Built foundational talent programs and leadership development pipelines . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Andersen | Senior talent/HR roles | Prior to 2014 (not disclosed) | Human capital leadership and organizational effectiveness experience . |
| Hewitt Associates (Aon Hewitt) | Senior talent/HR roles | Prior to 2014 (not disclosed) | Consulting and internal talent leadership for Fortune 500 clients . |
| LexisNexis | Senior talent/HR roles | Prior to 2014 (not disclosed) | Talent strategy at an information services company . |
Fixed Compensation
- Ms. Verma is an executive officer but not a named executive officer (NEO) in CRD-A’s 2025 proxy; her base salary and bonus outcomes are not individually disclosed. The company notes certain executive officers have written employment agreements, and base salaries are set considering market data and individual performance, with CEO-reviewed recommendations for other executives annually .
Performance Compensation
Program design for executive officers (metrics, vehicles, and governance):
| Element | Vehicle | Performance metrics | Measurement window | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash Incentive (STIP) | Cash | Revenue before reimbursements; Adjusted Operating Earnings; Adjusted Operating Margin | Annual (fiscal year) | Awards capped; targets set off internal plan; aligns cash pay with operating execution . |
| Long-Term Incentive (LTIP) | PSUs (performance share units) | Adjusted EPS (as defined) | 3-year performance cycles (e.g., 2023–2025, 2024–2026) | EPS of $0.74 (adjusted per plan) used as baseline for 2023–2025 and 2024–2026 cycles; excludes unusual/non-recurring items per Committee approval . |
| Long-Term Incentive (LTIP) | Time-vested RSUs | Time-based vesting (no metric) | Typical 3–4 year vesting (company standard) | Equity grants made in ordinary course; not timed around MNPI; grant windows avoid filings; executives don’t select grant dates . |
| Governance | Clawback | Applies to current/former executive officers | 3 fiscal-year recovery period | Restatement-based recovery per Rule 10D/NYSE; plus discretionary recovery for misconduct even without restatement . |
| Risk mitigators | Ownership, no hedging/pledging | Ownership guidelines; prohibition on hedging/pledging | Ongoing | Retention requirement until guideline met; no pledging or margin; no hedging activities allowed . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Stock ownership guidelines for executive officers (either multiple of salary or share-count threshold), with a 75% retention rule on net shares until compliance; hedging and pledging are prohibited.
| Executive level | Ownership multiple | Share-count alternative | Retention rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Vice Presidents (applies to Ms. Verma) | 1.0x base salary | 45,000 shares | Retain at least 75% of net after-tax vested shares/options until guideline achieved . |
- Selected insider transactions by Ms. Verma (Form 4):
| Date (reported) | Security | Code | Shares acquired | Shares withheld/disposed | Price | Shares owned after |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-12-15 (filed 2022-12-16) | Class A Common | A (award/vest) | 636 | — | $0.00 | 636 |
| 2022-12-15 (same filing) | Class A Common | F (w/ tax) | — | 191 | $6.12 | 445 |
| 2024-12-18 (filed 2024-12-19) | Class A/B Common | — | — | — | — | — |
Citations: 2022 filing (detail) ; 2024 filing (index) .
Note: The 2025 proxy’s beneficial ownership table covers directors and NEOs; Ms. Verma (not a 2024 NEO) is not itemized there, so her total beneficial ownership, vested/unvested split, and options detail are not disclosed in the proxy .
Employment Terms
- Employment agreements: The company states it uses written employment agreements for certain executive officers (including NEOs); individual terms for Ms. Verma are not disclosed in the proxy .
- Clawback: Executive Compensation Clawback and Recoupment Policy adopted July 28, 2023, covering current/former executive officers; restatement-based recovery per Rule 10D and discretionary misconduct recovery; no indemnification for recovered compensation .
- Insider trading: Company-wide policy prohibits trading while aware of MNPI; executives cannot influence grant dates; grants avoid filing “Filing Window” periods; no hedging/pledging/margin accounts permitted for officers and directors .
- Ownership compliance: Executives must comply with stock ownership guidelines; non-compliant executives are restricted from selling company stock until targets are met (proxy notes NEO compliance status but does not address Ms. Verma specifically) .
Performance & Track Record
- Strategic initiatives: Verma has “spearheaded the deployment of best-in-class, AI-driven HR technologies,” harmonized global processes, and advanced D&I initiatives across regions (US, UK, Asia), aligning with a high-performing, people-first culture .
- Tenure impact: Promoted to Chief People & ESG Officer effective July 1, 2022, with an expanded remit over culture transformation, EVP, talent management, leadership development, total rewards, and ESG—positioning HR as a lever for operational execution and retention .
- Context: In a 2024 podcast interview, Verma highlighted workforce strategy and skills investments amid an aging industry workforce backdrop; she referenced “ninth quarter of top line growth” context for the business during that discussion (podcast), underscoring the linkage between talent strategy and growth execution .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment: Ms. Verma’s incentive structure is governed by enterprise-wide designs that tie annual cash to revenue and profitability and long-term equity to three-year adjusted EPS; this supports alignment with shareholder value drivers, while the clawback and anti-hedging/pledging restrictions reduce governance risk .
- Selling pressure and retention: SVP ownership requirements (1x salary or 45,000 shares) and 75% net-share retention reduce near-term selling pressure and enhance retention; Form 4 history evidences periodic RSU vesting with tax withholding, not discretionary selling .
- Data visibility: As Ms. Verma is not a 2024 NEO, individual compensation detail (salary, target bonus, award values, severance/CIC terms) is not disclosed in the proxy, limiting granularity for pay benchmarking and change-in-control modeling; investors should monitor future proxies and Form 4s for trends in equity vesting and net ownership accumulation .
- Execution lens: Her mandate (AI-enabled HR, process harmonization, DEI) suggests continued emphasis on productivity, engagement, and capability building—key enablers for sustaining operating leverage and service quality in an insurance services business .
Governance summary:
- Ownership guidelines (SVP: 1x salary or 45k shares) with retention .
- No hedging/pledging; disciplined grant-timing policy .
- NYSE Rule 10D-compliant clawback with additional misconduct recovery .