When asked by our CEO James de le Vingne why they become employee owned, the panel agreed that it’s about preserving the legacy of the business, keeping the culture alive, and looking after the people.
For ALTAR Group, it came down to cost. They couldn’t afford to keep buying shareholders out, so the move to EO made financial sense. But it also ensured the Group could protect and maintain its culture and people. Talk about a win win!
Martina from Esteem Training said the company’s plan has long been EO. They even looked at transition years ago. But, at the time, a lack of staff and not having the right management in place meant EO wasn’t the right option. But, when exploring succession options a decade later, it made complete sense.
“Putting people first drives the culture. Employee ownership shouldn’t hang on one or two people, but on everyone,” she said.
“We told staff about our intention to transition well ahead of time. They were all given plenty of opportunities to ask questions of me, the other senior leaders, and even the advisors we were using.”
This taps into one of the key themes of the event – it’s all about people. Becky from ALTAR Group stressed that people and culture are everything, while Vicki, the Group’s Director of Finance and Operations, had a bit of a rude awakening.
“I expected everyone to be engaged in being employee owned on day one and thought it would be a lightbulb moment when they realised they were all co-owners, but it wasn’t.”
It was a learning curve that saw the Group doing tangible things – like putting ‘co-owner’ in all employees email signatures – to help embed EO.
Sharing what she’s learnt, Vicky said it takes two years to get the basis right, and five to get people fully engaged. Likely it won’t be until your business is financially free for people to truly get it.
When it comes to individual employees, Martina stressed that you don’t want to focus on negative people. Instead elevate those who are passionate about EO.
“They’re you’re rising stars,” she said.