The NASPP Blog

You’ve seen and heard it all from employees–but are you effectively using that feedback to improve your education programs? For today’s blog entry, Pam Ellis of Solium Capital will discuss how the questions employees ask about their stock awards can help you refine your education program. Pam will lead the panel, “Not-So-Stupid Equity Plan Questions: What Your Employees Are REALLY Asking,” which will focus on this topic at the 19th Annual NASPP Conference.  

Not-So-Stupid Equity Plan Questions: What Your Employees Are REALLY Asking
By Pam Ellis of Solium Capital

Ever get those head-scratching questions from employees where you just don’t have a clue what they’re thinking, let alone asking? Let’s face it, this happens all the time, and often way more often than we’d like. But rather than throwing the question immediately in your circular file, you can turn this into a valuable lesson to understand the employee’s perspective better and learn what you can do to enhance your communication techniques.

At this year’s conference, I am leading a panel presentation that goes through this very analysis. Entitled “Not-So-Stupid Equity Plan Questions: What Your Employees Are REALLY Asking,” the panel consists of several service providers and an issuer who will review a list of common questions they have received and dig deeper to see what each one can teach us. Panelists include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prometheus Laboratories, Solium Capital, and UBS. The speakers from the various service providers are either involved in or have direct oversight of their stock plan call centers, so they hear firsthand the range and multitude of questions that come in across their broad base of clients.

Once the group started looking at common questions across the spectrum, they realized this was employee-relations gold and set out to illustrate how a company could use these questions to their advantage. The session focuses on 10 of the panelists’ favorite questions, analyzes the hidden message in each one, and provides recommendations on what the company can do to alleviate or eliminate these concerns altogether.

A great example is the confusion employees have over year-end tax forms; like many people who think taxes are a waste of time and an unnecessary evil, they don’t bother to understand them or make sure the numbers are right. They don’t know what information to provide to a tax advisor, what forms they need to complete on their return, or even what income has to be reported. Tailoring education materials to include visual flowcharts and checklists can go a long way in making the employee feel more comfortable about the tax reporting process – and therefore more positive about their equity awards in general. Other concepts such as exercising underwater options and differences between equity awards and 401ks can create further headaches and incite plenty of brow-furrowing inquiries.

With a little bit of humor and audience participation, the panelists expect to demonstrate how there really are no stupid questions.

Don’t Miss the 19th Annual NASPP Conference
The 19th Annual NASPP Conference will be held from November 1-4 in San Francisco. With Dodd-Frank and Say-on-Pay dramatically impacting pay practices, you cannot afford to fall behind in this rapidly changing environment; it is critical that you–and your staff–have the best possible guidance. The NASPP Conference brings together top industry luminaries to provide the latest essential–and practical–implementation guidance that you need. This is the one Conference you can’t afford to miss. Don’t wait–the hotel is filling up fast; register today to make sure you’ll be able to attend.