Employees who participate in employee share plans are less likely to be absent and to leave their employer, but more likely to work longer hours and be more satisfied with their roles, according to research undertaken by National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and London School of Economics (LSE) and commissioned by Computershare.
The research also found that the majority of share plan members thought that membership reduced the likelihood they would leave the company, increased their motivation and their likelihood to recommend the firm to others.
The research, which was conducted over six months in nine countries, including South Africa, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Canada and Hong Kong and surveyed more 3,800 Computershare employees, evaluated respondents’ perceptions and consequential behaviour, whether or not they were a member of the company’s share plan.
The survey also found:
- 36% of respondents said that a share plan was likely to attract talented workers to the organisation.
- 46% of respondents said that the plan made it more likely they would recommend the firm. This equated to 55% for members and 34% for non-members.
Martyn Drake (pictured), managing director at Computershare, said: “Although there are signs that the economy is picking up, it remains vital for companies to understand whether the money they’re investing in employee reward and engagement is giving them measurable benefit.”
“For firms looking to attract or incentivise talented people, this research indicates that an effective share plan can be a key tool in the overall benefit package.”
This is a poor survey. There much more reasons to stay loyal to a company such as feeling valued. Buying shres out of my own money doesn’t give me that sense of feeling valued. Companied need to stop living in a dream world full of greed and remember every employee is an asset of that company and without the smallest asset the company cannot function.
Interesting article… Your results are consistent with what I have seen with many of my coaching clients over the past 20+ years, including Southwest Airlines, where many of their employees own shares and their employee loyalty and success are the envy of their industry. Like the work I did with Southwest, I think the positive effects of employee ownership of shares can be greatly enhanced by making the economics of the company come alive, enables employees to make better decisions. (often referred to as open book management) Inevitably this increases their level of effectiveness and engagement, complementing the other initiatives that the company might pursue, not to mention company performance.
These Harvard Business Review articles may be of interest to your readers:
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/06/share-your-financials-to-engage-employees/
http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/a-winning-culture-keeps-score/
Are you familiar with open book management? I would be interested in your perspective on OBM. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you off line. I can be reached at [email protected] Best wishes, Bill
The above comment is rather simplistic. This survey simply adds to lots of other evidence over a very long period of time that employee share ownership does make employees feel more involved in their company because the actions they take at work – no matter how small or large – may or may not have an impact on the company share price of which they themselves have shares. It’s rational human behaviour to be more interested in something that have you have a genuine stake in.
Not many writers can persuade me to their way of thinking. You’ve done a great job of doing that on many of your views here.