Charas Consulting Celebrates One-Year Anniversary.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2001

Charas Consulting, Inc., (www.charasconsulting.com), a leading provider of professional remuneration consulting services, announced the completion of its first successful year of business.

Solange Charas, the firm's principal and a recognized expert in compensation consulting, founded Charas Consulting, Inc. a year ago in order to assist executives of small- and medium-sized businesses to achieve their strategic objectives by evaluating and redesigning their employee compensation programs.

"In today's uncertain economy where many companies are struggling to stay afloat financially, organizations are re-evaluating their corporate strategies and employee compensation programs more than ever before," said Ms. Charas. "Assessing the value of people and making sure that they are compensated appropriately has rarely been as important. The issue involves rationalizing employee compensation in order to insure retention of the most valuable employees and determining where cost savings can be found without jeopardizing the success of the enterprise," said Charas.

Additionally, Charas Consulting offers the personalized service of assisting executives either currently in transition, or contemplating a move, in negotiating appropriate compensation packages. In this way, Ms. Charas helps executives to understand the competitiveness of a given offer and ensures that remuneration packages are commensurate with market value and their level of experience.

The firm also provides a comprehensive suite of services in the areas of international and expatriate compensation design, due diligence support and negotiation support.

Throughout her extensive career, Solange Charas has worked with such recognized and diversified clients as Wal-Mart, Arthur Andersen, Citibank, C.H. Dean, Lehman Brothers, Oppenheimer Management, Zurich Insurance, Pharmacia and Upjohn.

Prior to establishing Charas Consulting Inc., Ms. Charas created and managed human resource programs for over 200 agencies in 87 countries as the head of human resources for EURO RSCG Worldwide. EURO RSCG is the largest division of France-based Havas Advertising ($8 billion in billings), the fifth largest global advertising network.

Before that, she spent over six years in public accounting at the firms of Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young where she was responsible for leading groups of consultants providing general compensation, executive remuneration and international remuneration consulting services. Ms. Charas has also worked for Towers Perrin and for the Hay Group, as the resident expert in international compensation, and for GE Capital, designing compensation programs for the portfolio of financial services companies.

Additionally, Solange Charas is a published author, having written several articles on new trends in compensation and the link between business strategy and compensation program design. She was also instrumental in writing the book Delivering on the Promise: How to Attract, Retain and Motivate Human Capital, published in 1998.

Ms. Charas received her bachelor's degree in International Political Economy from the University of California at Berkeley, and has an MBA in Accounting and Finance from Cornell University's Johnson School of Management. She has also completed Harvard University's Program on Negotiations.