france

EUROPEANCHAPTER

FRANCE
NETWORKING EVENTS
PEOPLE

CHAPTER TEAM:

Agnes Charpenet, Baker McKenzie (Chapter Leader)

Jean-Michel Candela, Banque Transatlantique
Colin Bernier, EY
Etienne Pujol, Berry Law
Jérome Laurre, Beyonds Solutions

 


 

GEO BOARD CHAPTER LIAISON:

June Davenport, FGE, Morgan Stanely at Work

WELCOME TO THE FRANCE CHAPTER

This local chapter community is dedicated to sharing knowledge, experiences, and resources to help members develop their skills, expand their networks, and make a positive impact in their communities. You will have access to a wide range of valuable resources and opportunities including educational sessions and networking events. 

UK Awards
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REGIONAL RESOURCES

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ARTICLE
22 June 2023
UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF ESOP
external article

SOURCE: Wamda

Global

 

The article explores the potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and emphasizes the importance of providing liquidity to employees through stock awards. The authors advocate for controlled liquidity programs that align with equity vesting schedules to enhance employee engagement and empowerment as stakeholders, addressing the challenge of limited liquidity options for stock awards in startups.

ARTICLE
14 June 2023
RESEARCH ON THE PRESENT SITUATION OF EQUITY INCENTIVE AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
external article

SOURCE: EUDL.EU

Global

 

This paper examines the current state of equity incentive research, focusing on scheme design and performance evaluation, as a solution to the principal-agent problem. It explores the selection of equity incentive schemes, incentive intensity, exercise conditions, and evaluation methods based on various theories, aiming to provide guidance for future research in equity incentives.

ARTICLE
14 June 2023
GETTING GEN Z ENGAGED WITH EQUITY COMPENSATION
external article

SOURCE: Global Shares

Global

The article highlights the significance of offering equity compensation as a means to engage Generation-Z (Gen Z) employees in the workplace. It suggests leveraging online platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Discord, and Slack to effectively communicate the benefits of equity compensation, emphasizing the importance of transparency and disclosure. Global Shares is mentioned as a company that assists in designing share plans and provides tailored communication strategies to engage employees, including those from the Gen Z demographic.

ARTICLE
2 June 2023
NETFLIX SHAREHOLDERS WITHHOLD SUPPORT FOR EXECUTIVE PAY PACKAGE
external article

SOURCE: Reuters

Global

The article discusses the recent vote by Netflix shareholders to withhold support for the company's executive pay package in response to the ongoing strike led by the Writers Guild of America West. The union argued that approving the pay package during the strike would be inappropriate, and this vote follows last year's low shareholder support for Netflix's executive compensation.

IN-PERSON CHAPTER EVENT
24 May 2023, 3:45 - 7pm BST
UK AND CHANNEL ISLANDS CHAPTER MEETING
UK CI meeting
Workplace solutions
UK and Channel Islands

Please join the GEO UK community at this fun event; it’s your opportunity to get your hands dirty to support a great initiative, have some fun whilst networking and win points for the GEO UK leaderboard at our Quiz - as well as pick up some goodies!

GEO is the leading global share ownership community. In the UK, this community is enhanced by our supporters and every single individual who contributes to our regular chapter events by hosting, presenting or attending. During the global pandemic, the GEO UK community came together virtually to support each other and celebrate support for a range of charities close to our hearts.

Now that we can meet up again, we’re excited to launch a charitable and community support initiative. This May, we invite the GEO UK community to give back to our wider community by partnering with Whale and Dolphin conservation at a special event in London. We will be joining together to take part in a litter picking activity followed by a quiz, networking and drinks and we would love for you to join us.

Registration and bag drop will take place at the Square Pig 30-32 Procter Street, London WC1V 6NX for a 4pm start at Lincoln Inn Fields. Following the charity event, we will head back to the Square Pig.

ARTICLE
19 April 2023
CAN EQUITY COMPENSATION INFLUENCE CORPORTE CULTURE?
Dominic member image
GEO award excellence
Global

Great company culture sets the foundations for real, tangible business growth. It makes an organization unique and can impact important business drivers from productivity and morale to reputation, employee engagement and retention.

But can you design a workplace culture or is it something that develops organically over time? Leaders grapple with this question as they try to define their company’s personality and express its core values, ethics, behaviors, and beliefs.

Read on to discover different ways in which GEO Award-winning companies have used equity compensation as a tool to shape, or reinforce, the important intangibles of a strong organizational culture that elevates companies.

“Every company has a culture, either by default or by design, but our award winners have demonstrated how equity compensation can be used to nurture the ‘right’ corporate culture – to support business objectives, drive employee retention, attract new talent and play a role in marketing the company to customers and to society at large.”

1. A culture of trust

Trust is an essential component of any successful organization - and how better to build trust than to give employees permission to make and act upon strategic decisions?

To foster engagement and action, Danone gifts the power to co-own the company’s agenda through the grant of one free share to each of its employees. Rather than focusing on reward, its ‘One person, one share’ program gives each employee a vote at each annual shareholders’ meeting, encouraging a sense of equal ownership regardless of location or seniority.

Conversely, when Aviva used employee feedback to shape its share plan design, structure and communications, the message to its employees was clear – we respect your input, and you can trust us to design a plan that meets your needs.

2. A purposeful culture

Purpose is characterized by idealism and altruism and can unite people and teams by focusing on shared ideals or contributing to a greater cause.

Generali aligned their employees’ personal purpose with work by establishing a charitable vehicle to help the world’s disadvantaged. Funded by participation in its share plan with corporate donations linked to participation, as well as voluntary donations from employees, the plan placed purpose at the center of the enterprise.

Similarly, Shell, an organization with a razor sharp focus on achieving carbon net zero throughout its entire supply chain, unleashed higher performance and engagement when it included environmental performance criteria in its executive share plans.

3. A culture that supports diversity, equity and inclusion

With a global spotlight on improving and embedding diversity, equity and inclusion into everyday work life, the idea of ‘equitable equity’ versus reserving share ownership for rewarding high-skilled or senior employees is trending.

Saudi Aramco’s ambition to use equity to make their employees feel valued, regardless of background or position, was their equity plan’s key driver and the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia.

Equity compensation can also be used to build an equality-driven culture from the top down. One example is IHS Markit’s plan which introduced performance indicators including leadership support and mentoring, team engagement, inclusion and diversity and volunteering to retain key staff during a merger.

4. A cohesive culture

It is common to experience multiple embedded cultures within an organization, especially during times of change.

When two of Indonesia’s largest non-listed entities merged, GoTo Group looked to its share incentive plans to unify the employees from both organizations and to gain cultural alignment pre-IPO. Its all-employee share option award was named ‘Pancasila’ after the official, foundational philosophical theory of Indonesia rooted in inclusivity and unity.

It can also be difficult to uphold a cohesive culture that includes remote employees. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Atlassian launched ‘Team Anywhere’, an initiative which enabled its employees to work permanently from (almost) anywhere and port their share plan to their new home country. Reinforcing its relaxed culture, participants received plan communications via informal blog posts and emails on their internal wiki space, ‘hello’.

5. A rewarding culture

Commission-based industries, such as real estate or insurance, are challenged with avoiding toxic sales cultures. eXp World Holdings broke the mould by offering equity rather than cash-based incentives to its real estate employees. Participants can exchange commission for shares at a discounted price and earn more equity for notable achievements such as closing their first transaction each year, meeting certain metrics, committing to corporate culture requirements, and attending events.

Their ground-breaking approach positioned the company as the fastest growing real estate company in the world by headcount.

ARTICLE
10 April 2023
GENERALI: DRIVING SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH SHARE OWNERSHIP
people discussing
GEO award excellence
Global

The ‘millennial mindset’ is now a phrase familiar to HR professionals. It means a way of thinking that builds social consciousness into all aspects of life.

As younger generations of employees pay attention to where businesses spend their money and how they contribute to society, establishing a corporate culture of social awareness and offering philanthropic benefits can attract and retain top talent, instil a sense of purpose and improve employee engagement.

In 2020, Generali designed a unique all-employee share plan that empowers its people to drive social change.

Simple to understand and pioneering in structure, We SHARE - The Generali Ownership Plan encourages their 70,000 global employees to help care for those most vulnerable in society.

Let’s take a look at Generali’s socially aware approach to share ownership.

“If your company is looking to recruit and retain the best talent it may be time to look past traditional perks such as gym memberships and swanky offices and use your share plan to offer a rewarding, engaging and meaningful employee experience.”

1. Put people at the heart of your corporate strategy

At Generali, entrepreneurship and growth are encouraged, and their teams are empowered to make a difference to people’s lives through the work that they do.

These employee-centric and altruistic principles became a key focus when Generali launched its strategic plan in 2020.

The company strived to ensure alignment of employee performance with their new strategic goals by prioritizing their employees’ needs.

 

2. Create a common purpose

Generali wanted its We SHARE plan to be capable of reaching out and bringing together people with a common purpose from across the globe for the common good.

To provide a structure and focus for their corporate giving, Generali established ‘The Human Safety Net Foundation’, a charity that aims to help shape a safer future and make a concrete and lasting impact on lives.

 

3. Incentivize plan participation

A donation of the equivalent monetary value of one share for each employee who actively participated in the company’s share purchase plan was paid by Generali to its ‘The Human Safety Net’ charitable foundation. Employees were also encouraged to make additional voluntary donations to feel personally invested.

Other engagement incentives included free shares, potential share price gains, and membership of ‘The Owners’ Club’, an app offering on-demand financial education and support.

 

4. Develop a multi-channel communications system

Generali’s well-orchestrated communications campaign was lauded by our judges as one of the most integrated and comprehensive programs they had encountered. The plan had visible top-down support, strong program branding, and its comprehensive communications materials were visible, clear, country-specific, and accessible.

 

5. Prioritize more comprehensive financial education

Generali provided participants with digital tools to make informed financial decisions via their Owners Club app. This award-winning financial education program provides direct, virtual, on-demand, and borderless access for plan participants all year round.

Financial concepts are made easily understood and its content leverages expert opinion from qualified internal and external sources with themes that dovetail into the benefits of equity and link to the corporate charity.

 

The result? A successful share plan that fuels positive change

Not only is the We SHARE plan an innovative share ownership program that fits snugly with the company’s ethos, but it also enjoyed a plan participation rate of 35.7% during its three-week enrolment window and won the following GEO Awards:

  • 2020 Best Plan Communication
  • 2021 Best Use of a Share Plan in Support of Corporate Social Responsibility
  • 2021 Best in Financial Education

Today, the Human Safety Net charity is funded by donations from the We SHARE plan, General’s employees, its Vitality membership base, members of the public, and social investors. It works to transform the lives of over 150,000 vulnerable parents, children, and refugees across 23 countries, most recently raising funds to support impacted families with children from Ukraine. Visit the Safety Net website to find out more.

ON-DEMAND WEBCAST
24 January 2023
GEIS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE 2022
webcast on-demand

SPEAKERS: Sheila Frierson, Computershare, Sandra Sussman, FGE, SAP,  Andrew Thain, hkp///group, Sebsatian Wetzel, Siemens Energy

Trending now
Global

Now in its 11th consecutive year, the Global Equity Insights Survey is the leading global assessment of current market practice and trends regarding equity-based compensation across the world. With new focus topics each year, insights into new market developments help practitioners design and implement equity programs in the largest companies from diverse industries. Join us for a discussion of the latest trends with survey sponsors and panel experts.

ON-DEMAND WEBCAST
20 September 2022
PLACING THE EMPLOYEE AT THE HEART OF YOUR COMPENSATION STATEGY
woman smiling

SPEAKERSJanet Cooper OBE, FGE, Moderator (UK), Margie Molesso, Walmart (US), Eileen Lacamera, Pfizer (US), Louis Pretorius, Anglo-American Kumbe Iron Ore (SA), Kathy Son, Uber (US)

GEO award excellence

Rather than solely focusing on the customer experience, companies are turning their attention to the people who make everything happen: their employees. In an employee-centric organization, individuals are supported, encouraged, and their ideas are requested and heard.

In the context of employee share plans, considering employees’ needs above revenue measuresabove commercial outputs can increase participation and align employee and shareholder interests.In this moderated webcast, you'll discover:

  • How employee needs were prioritized when communicating the plans
  • What lessons were learned
  • Whether the employee-centric share plans had any wider benefits for the company

CHAPTER DISCUSSION BOARD

GEO members in your area can come together to engage in meaningful discussions, share ideas, ask questions, and connect with fellow members who share similar interests via GEOconnect. Whether you're a long-time member or a newcomer, we encourage you to participate and contribute to the vibrant discussions happening here.

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PAST EVENTS AND RESOURCES

Access details of past local events and their materials. Whether you missed an event or want to revisit the content, our community discussion board provides a platform to access event information, including presentations, videos, and discussions. 

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REGIONAL NEWS AND INSIGHTS

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