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EUROPEANCHAPTER

UK AND CHANNEL ISLANDS
NETWORKING EVENTS
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CHAPTER TEAM:

Sophie Altaf, Fidelity (Chapter Leader)

Peter Ahern, Ledgy
Elliot Alexander, Computershare
Sarah Fearnley, J P Morgan Workplace Solutions
Mark Higgins, WPP
Onyee Yip, Howells
Adva Lewitte, Shareforce
Frances Morgan-Smith, Fidelity
Jennifer Rudman, Equiniti
Nick Newman, Deloitte
Catherine Rylah, bp
Bryony Wilson, J P Morgan Workplace Solutions
Tom Gwinnell, RewardPro
Ben Brettell, RewardPro
Jake Dear, MUFG
Rianna Sergeant, GAM

GEO BOARD CHAPTER LIAISON:

Hannah Needle, FGE, Tapestry Compliance 

 

 

WELCOME TO THE UK AND CHANNELS ISLANDS 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. 

THANK YOU TO OUR CHAPTER SUPPORTERS

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ARTICLE
19 April 2023
CAN EQUITY COMPENSATION INFLUENCE CORPORTE CULTURE?
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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
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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
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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
ON-DEMAND WEBCAST
14 June 2022
EMPLOYEE RETENTION: DOES OFFERING EQUITY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
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SPEAKERS: Janet Cooper OBE, FGE, Moderator (UK), Nick Lawry, Kindred Group (UK), Adrienne Pettit, Insulet (USA) 

Employee engagement
Global

As companies continue to combat the Great Resignation, the search for effective retention initiatives to reduce churn is an ongoing challenge. Putting talent first is a must to save time and resources on recruitment, sustain team morale and support growth.

How can employee ownership improve employee retention rates? 

In this moderated webcast, GEO Award-winning companies that have built successful employee retention strategies supported by their equity plans. You'll discover:

  • Whether retention was a key objective when designing the winning equity compensation programs, or a welcome by-product
  • The affect of global events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the ‘great resignation’ on plan participation and employee retention
  • Whether the share plan had any other employee-centric impacts
  • What other steps the companies take to retain employees
  • What’s next - is retention a focus for their future share plans?
ON-DEMAND WEBCAST
27 January 2022
WINNING ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO MAXIMIZE PARTICIPATION
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Janet Cooper OBE, FGE, Moderator (UK), Karin Adams, TMX Group (CA), Andrew Forsythe, Unilever (UK), Anika Link, Allianz SE (DE), Julie Sheperd FGE, The Sage Group (UK)

Employee engagement
Global

In this moderated webcast, we ask GEO Award winners Unilever, Allianz, TMX Group and Sage the secret of their successful communications.

Each has demonstrated an effective and innovative approach to their share plan communications with clear objectives and strategic intent, innovation, creativity, and quantifiable, measurable results - explore their use of audience insights, creative innovation and cultural and brand influences.

Discover which of their communication strategies, platforms, mediums and frequencies worked, which didn’t, and importantly, why.

You’ll come away with ideas on how to breathe new life into your communications and modernize your share plan experience.

CHAPTER DISCUSSION BOARD

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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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Explore the GEO Insights area, where you can filter by region to access the latest events, articles, survey findings, and reports. Stay updated with the latest information and insights specific to your region, and gain valuable knowledge from our curated content.

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