The NASPP Blog

July 13, 2010

Using Peers to Promote Your Stock Plan

The May-June 2010 Employee Ownership Report newsletter, published by the NCEO, features a case study of Thomson-Shore, an ESOP company that effectively uses peers to educate employees about the ESOP. Although Thomson-Shore’s education program relates to an ESOP, I think that a number of their strategies could be applied to an ESPP, stock option, or stock award program.

Communications Committee
Thomson-Shore formed a committee of employees, called the “communications committee” to oversee the education program. Members of the committee must meet a minimum service requirement and be self-nominated–this is important because, by self-nominating, the members demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm for the program. Nine of the ten committee members are non-managers–also important because employees tend to trust their peers more than they trust managers, and especially more than they trust some corporate HR goon (e.g., you, the stock plan administrator).

Thomson-Shore has only 205 employees (I think at just one location). Larger companies might need a larger committee (and budget); companies with multiple locations might consider having someone from each location represented on the committee.

Educational Activities

The committee oversees a number of different programs to promote the plan, including:

  • Presentations about the plan at company-wide quarterly meetings.
  • Leading small-group discussions when plan statements are released and being available for one-on-one meetings with employees.
  • Leading informal “Lunch-N-Learn” sessions on various topics related to the plan.

The company also provides a number of other educational opportunities, including “ESOP-oly,” a game about the plan, and a skit describing the plan based on the Wizard of Oz (it would be fun to see that at a future NCEO Conference).

Employee Ownership Month

The company also dedicates an entire month to promoting the plan, which includes numerous learning activities and different themes every week. This could easily be done on a smaller scale–say an “ESPP Week” at the start of each ESPP enrollment period. Or, companies that offer many different stock compensation programs, might have “Stock Benefits Month,” focusing on a different plan each week.

Some of the things you might do during this period include live and online presentations, games and surveys, staffing a table in the cafeteria where employees can stop by with questions (be sure to hand out tchotchkas to encourage people drop by), highlighting a different FAQ every day via email, and featuring podcasts or printed interviews with plan participants (posted to the company intranet).

Committee Education

One of the committee’s key responsibilities is to educate itself about the plan. For the first twelve months after it was formed, the committee did nothing but learn about the plan. On a yearly basis, the committee holds a two-day retreat to plan activities for the year.

18th Annual NASPP Conference
Looking for more clever ideas for your stock plan education program? Don’t miss the sessions “Effective Electronic Education and Communication” and “QUALCOMM and Microsoft: Gold Standards in Employee Communication” at the 18th Annual NASPP Conference. The Conference will be held from September 20-23 in Chicago; register today.

NASPP New Member Referral Program
Refer new members to the NASPP and your NASPP Conference registration could be free.  You can save $150 off your registration for each new member you refer, up to the full cost of registration. You’ll also be entered into a raffle for an Apple iPad and the new members you refer save 50% on their membership–it’s a win-win!   

NASPP “To Do” List
We have so much going on here at the NASPP that it can be hard to keep track of it all, so I keep an ongoing “to do” list for you here in my blog. 

– Barbara