Lesley Uren
KORN FERRYAbout Lesley Uren
Chief Executive Officer, Korn Ferry Consulting, based in London. She has 20+ years as a board‑level consultant and 15 years as a top‑level HR executive; prior roles span Willis Towers Watson/Towers Perrin, PA Consulting, and founding Jackson Samuel, with HR leadership at PepsiCo and Rothmans; MA in Human Resources Strategies . Appointed Consulting CEO in Feb 2025 after serving as President, EMEA Consulting (May 2022–Feb 2025) and Senior Client Partner (2017–2022) . Company FY2025 performance: Fee Revenue $2.7B, Adjusted EBITDA $463.9M (17% margin), Adjusted Diluted EPS $4.88; Diluted EPS $4.60, reflecting stronger profitability focus adopted by the board .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korn Ferry | CEO, Consulting | Feb 2025–Present | Leads global consulting; pivot to larger, integrated, multi‑year engagements |
| Korn Ferry | President, EMEA Consulting | May 2022–Feb 2025 | EMEA Consulting fee revenue outperformed other regions; backlog and >$500k contracts up 24% YoY |
| Korn Ferry | Senior Client Partner; Global Lead People Strategy & Performance | 2017–2022 | Built People Strategy & Performance; joined KF as Senior Client Partner in 2017 |
| PA Consulting | Partner | Pre‑2017 | Led global talent strategy and leadership development projects (BP, Etihad, National Grid, Time Warner) |
| Towers Perrin (Towers Watson/Willis) | Senior Consultant; Human Capital Leadership | 2000–2004 | Led Human Capital practice, M&A HR strategy; authored talent management best practice research |
| Jackson Samuel | Founder | Est. 2004 | Specialist talent management advisory for blue‑chip clients; executive search and senior functional appointments |
| PepsiCo; Rothmans | Regional HR Director; Group Talent | Various | Top‑level HR roles across investor‑backed startups to global blue‑chips |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investors in People (UK) | Non‑Executive Director (past) | n/a | Governance and human capital standards for UK awarding body |
Fixed Compensation
| Item | FY2025 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | $502,410 | USD reported in Summary Compensation Table; UK base set at £450,000 effective Feb 6, 2025 |
| Target Bonus % | 100% of base salary | Max payout 200% of target |
| Actual Annual Cash Incentive Paid | $597,879 | Pro‑rated across roles; includes CEO‑approved incremental 15% payout |
Performance Compensation
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout Linkage | Vesting/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company Adjusted Fee Revenue ($M) | 5% (shifted from 30%) | 2,700 | 2,694 | Contributes to annual cash incentive | Adjusted for FX; AOP comparable rate |
| Company Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 35% | 15.5% | 17.7% | Drives profitability emphasis in FY2025 awards | — |
| Company Adjusted Diluted EPS ($) | 20% | 4.28 | 4.91 | — | — |
| Company Adjusted ROIC | 15% | 10.0% | 12.3% | — | — |
| Marquee & Regional Account Revenue ($M) | 20% | 1,000 | 1,053 | Weighted for NEOs’ payouts | — |
| Consulting Adjusted Fee Revenue ($M) | 25% (Uren in CEO role) | 680 | 661 | For CEO‑Consulting portion of bonus | Pro‑rated; prior EMEA role paid at 93.7% of target |
| Consulting Adjusted EBITDA Margin | 35% (Uren) | 17.1% | 18.3% | — | — |
| Marquee & Regional Accounts Consulting Fee Revenue ($M) | 25% (Uren) | 330 | 319 | — | — |
| Additional CEO‑Determined Payout | 15% | n/a | Full 15% achieved | Added to annual cash incentive | — |
FY2025 RSU vs PSU mix: Uren received 100% time‑based RSUs as she was not an executive officer at grant; from FY2026 she moves to 60% PSUs (3‑yr relative TSR) and 40% time‑based RSUs, aligning with other NEOs .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Total Beneficial Ownership | Shares | 18,409 |
| Percent of Class | <1% | *% (less than 1%) |
| Unvested vs Vested | Unvested restricted stock included | 14,816 unvested; remainder vested/owned |
| FY2025 Vesting Activity | Shares vested; value realized | 2,130 shares; $140,537 |
| Outstanding RSUs (time‑based) | 2022 grant | 2,025 units; vests in 4 equal annual installments starting Jul 11, 2023 |
| 2023 grant | 3,353 units; vests in 4 equal annual installments starting Jul 11, 2024 | |
| 2024 grant | 4,090 units; vests in 4 equal annual installments starting Jul 11, 2025; grant‑date fair value $255,584 | |
| Stock Ownership Guidelines | Requirement | NEOs must hold 3x annual base salary; retain 75% of net shares until compliant; unvested awards do not count |
| Hedging/Pledging | Policy | Executives are prohibited from hedging, speculative trading, borrowing to purchase, or pledging company stock |
Employment Terms
| Scenario | Cash Severance | Equity Treatment | Illustrative FY2025 Quantification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition Termination (before Aug 1, 2027; prior to CoC) | Accrued comp; pro‑rata annual incentive based on actual performance | All time‑vested awards vest; performance awards vest based on actual performance for full period | Total $1,182,055; Equity/ECAP $584,176; Annual incentive $597,879 |
| Involuntary Termination (pre‑CoC or >24 months post‑CoC; not Transition) | 1.5x base salary + 1.25x target annual incentive | Time‑vested awards due to vest within 12 months accelerate; performance awards pro‑rated based on actual performance plus one additional year (capped by period) | Total $2,450,218; Base $904,338; Annual incentive $1,351,494; Equity/ECAP $194,386 |
| Involuntary Termination within 24 months post‑CoC (Double Trigger) | 2.5x base salary + 2.5x target annual incentive | All time‑vested awards accelerate; performance awards at greater of target or actual‑to‑CoC/target thereafter | Total $4,201,528; Base $1,507,230; Annual incentive $2,110,122; Equity/ECAP $584,176 |
| Death/Disability | Accrued comp; pro‑rata target annual incentive | Full vest of stock options/other equity (excl. performance shares); performance shares at target for full period | Total $1,187,068; Annual incentive $602,892; Equity/ECAP $584,176 |
Clawback: NYSE‑compliant clawback adopted Oct 2, 2023 covering excess incentive‑based compensation for prior 3 fiscal years in the event of restatement .
Additional Context on Performance and Segment Execution
- Consulting pivoted to larger, integrated solutions; average bill‑rate rose ~50% to ~$470/hr; backlog increasing with 42% of engagements >$1M .
- Regional trends: Continued momentum in Europe and Asia; Americas more challenging; management cites macro‑uncertainty and AI‑driven workforce changes .
- FY2025 segment profitability: Consulting Adjusted EBITDA $28.8M (17% of fee revenue) in Q1 FY2026, reflecting firmwide improvements; North America Executive Search and EMEA showed notable gains .
Governance, Shareholder Feedback, and Policies
- 2025 Say‑on‑Pay: For 39,860,719; Against 6,339,627; Abstain 284,097; broker non‑votes 2,188,612, indicating majority support for NEO compensation .
- Timing of awards: Annual grants in Q1 during open trading window; company currently does not grant stock options .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Strong pay‑for‑profitability tilt in FY2025 (EBITDA Margin and EPS weightings increased) aligns incentives to margin expansion and ROIC, supporting cash returns and disciplined capital deployment .
- Retention and selling pressure: Significant unvested RSUs (14,816) with annual vesting through 2028 and FY2025 vesting activity ($140,537) imply ongoing taxable events but hedging/pledging prohibited—reduces misalignment risk; monitor Form 4s for any discretionary sales .
- Change‑of‑control protections: Double‑trigger severance at 2.5x salary and 2.5x target bonus with performance award “greater‑of” treatment is generous, mitigating attrition but could be costly to shareholders in M&A scenarios; transition‑termination clause through Aug 1, 2027 provides clarity during leadership succession .
- Execution risk: Consulting backlog consumption depends on client pace; macro conditions in Americas remain challenging, but EMEA/Asia momentum and integrated solutions strategy support durable fee revenue and margin resilience under Uren’s leadership .