A good employee stock program should successfully engage employee-shareholders in the entrepreneurial challenge of generating revenue, delivering great results, and growing the business. It should be easy to administer, and it should include some provision for shareholder liquidity, giving owners, both old and new, a means of turning equity into cash.

Is your program running smoothly and productively, reaching the full potential of employee ownership to foster an entrepreneurial culture and boost company performance? If not, maybe we can help. At the Beyster Institute, we help companies resolve a wide range of problems that can limit the success of employee ownership. Examples include:

• Updating plan design. A program that was put together several years ago may no longer match the changing business conditions that face the company today. During the "go-go" days of the technology boom, for example, many companies hastily adopted stock option plans. While that may have been the right call at the time, a stock option plan may no longer represent the most effective way to provide employees with a stake in the company's future. At the Beyster Institute, we have helped many companies to evaluate their existing equity plan to determine whether structural changes are advisable.
  
• Executive Compensation. The leadership provided by an effective senior management team remains just as important at an employee ownership company as at a conventional company. But the fact of employee ownership can raise some unique considerations when it comes to setting fair and appropriate forms and amounts of compensation for the leadership team. Thousands of employee ownership companies have faced and resolved these issues. We can show you how.
  
• Inadequate employee training and involvement. Even the most well-designed employee stock program won't translate into improved company performance if the employees don't truly understand the dynamics of the situation. Employee motivation can only occur when they understand how the program turns them into shareholders, company performance drives the value of the shares they own, and how their personal efforts drive company performance. This process is known as Creating an ownership Culture.
  
• Poor corporate governance procedures. The introduction of an ESOP into the ownership of a corporation imposes important new obligations in connection with the governance of the company. As the legally authorized shareholders, ESOP trustees have rigorously regulated responsibilities. If an ESOP committee plays a role in the operation of the ESOP, it too must attend to proper procedure. The company's board of directors, too, must attend to its proper role in governance matters. The Beyster Institute has more than 20 years of experience in the operation of ESOPs. If you have concerns that your corporate governance procedures could leave you exposed to regulatory sanction, contact us about performing a Governance Audit. The purpose of the Audit is to evaluate your current governance procedures and then suggest steps that will provide assurance to you that the appropriate actions are being taken with the necessary due diligence and the proper documentation.

Let's Talk!

You don't have to know exactly what's causing the problem or even where it is. Get in touch with us, and we'll talk. We'll ask the right questions to investigate the potential problem areas.

To begin a dialogue with us, please fill out our Pre-consulting Questionnaire, which will provide us with some basic information about your company. One of our experts will be in touch with you shortly.

Back

Print this page