The NASPP Blog

Our popular “Meet the Speaker” series, featuring interviews with speakers at the 24th Annual NASPP Conference, is great way to get to know our many distinguished speakers and find out a little more about their sessions in advance of the Conference.

For today’s “Meet the Speaker” interview, we feature Aaron Schliem of Glyph Language Services, who will lead the session “The Struggle is Real! Corporate Action Communication Challenges”

Here is what Aaron had to say:

NASPP: What will your panel cover at the NASPP Conference?

Aaron: Our panel will help guide you through what can be a rather tumultuous and emotional process—communicating about corporate actions. You will hear a real case study from Pinnacle Entertainment, with key insights from a global perspective. At the end of the presentation you will have a game plan for managing corporate action communications while strengthening your employee morale and buy-in to the larger corporate culture.

NASPP: What is a common mistake companies make and how can they avoid this?

Aaron: Companies commonly assume that their employees understand stock plan basics, when in fact they often do not. This lack of basic knowledge can be exacerbated by complex changes (like corporate action) and when companies communicate with employees across many markets. You can remedy this by allowing for sufficient time to communicate in layers of increasing complexity, by designing basic financial literacy training at the front end, and by employing best practices in terminology management (both in English and in all of your employees’ languages) to ensure consistency.

NASPP: What is the silver lining here?

Aaron: The silver lining is that in facing employee communications in what is often perceived as a negative context (corporate action) you can gain the trust of employees by carefully explaining implications (and offering sufficient information for employees to take smart action) and work to improve morale and cooperation by focusing on the positive impact of new changes both in terms of the company itself and long-term in terms of compensation potential.

NASPP: What is something people don’t know about you?

Aaron: Few people know that I am a man of the arts. I am a singer-songwriter, writing for voice with either guitar or piano. To feed my love of the theater I’ve recently joined the board of StageQ, Madison’s LGBT community theater company. We strive to increase visibility of queer people in the arts, creating new opportunities for community involvement with a special focus on creating safe and fulfilling opportunities for homeless queer youth.

Don’t miss Aaron’s session, “The Struggle is Real! Corporate Action Communication Challenges,” at the NASPP Conference!

About the NASPP Conference

The 24th Annual NASPP Conference will be held from October 24-27 in Houston. This year’s program features close to 100 sessions on today’s most timely topics in stock and executive compensation; check out the full agenda and register today!