In the wake of the Conservative conference last month we started thinking about the discussions around giving employees greater ownership of the company they work for. Employee reward is always a hot topic for engagement and performance, and we are seeing a growing trend in employee share schemes forming a core part of the employee reward package. This is a trend that smaller business are also being encouraged to look into due to the benefits to both the employee and company itself.
By initiating a share scheme for employees companies will be linking their financial reward with overall company performance. This encourages and builds a performance culture within organisations and demonstrates how employees can directly influence their own financial reward and that of the overall business. The key component to making employee share schemes a success though is communication.
When developing your employee communication strategy for employee share schemes, our top tip would be to clearly identify the link between behaviour, performance and employee reward that they can influence and control. Explain it isn’t just about delivering against set objectives, but about how those objectives help the overall business performance and how they are achieved.
By explaining why there is that direct connection between behaviour, performance and reward you can build the right culture, incentivise and highlight the right behaviours and give clear line of sight to business objectives. By bringing all of this together and communicating it coherently, you can be sure you’ll meet your objectives and return on investment for employee share schemes.
Share schemes, when explained in the right way, can be a real asset to a business, large or small. Just remember, if you’re planning on making any changes to employee benefits, communication is the key.
