Employee Ownership Blog

Loren Rodgers

New Academic Fellows in Employee Ownership

On December 31, 2020, the Rutgers University Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing announced the 16 academic fellows for the coming year. The institute’s current and former fellows form a global research network of more than 100 scholars, from students to faculty, in disciplines including economics, law, sociology, history, business, and much more. The network includes the NCEO's Nancy Wiefek, Corey Rosen, and Loren Rodgers.

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Nathan Nicholson

2020 ESOP Executive Compensation Survey Results Now Available

The 2020 ESOP Executive Compensation Survey report is now available. Our thanks go out to our survey respondents, who took time out of a chaotic year to contribute compensation data. We received valid questionnaires from 424 ESOP companies, the largest response in the survey’s 15-year history. Respondents have been emailed a code to receive a 75% discount on purchase of the report.

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Corey Rosen

ESOP Pass-Through Voting and the New DOL Guidance on Proxy Voting

The issue of whether trustees can and should override participant directions on offers to buy shares in a proposed acquisition of an ESOP company has  been one of the most ambiguous areas of ESOP law and practice. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) (29 CFR 2550.404a-1) on proxy voting of shares in retirement plans, including on environmental, social, and governance metrics, includes a brief section addressing this issue, essentially putting into regulatory form what had been just guidance.  

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Corey Rosen

Finding Diverse Candidates for ESOP Boards

Many ESOP companies are looking to diversify their board membership but have a hard time knowing where to look. Board members tend to come from existing networks of CEOs, and tend to be older white males. Research shows that cognitive diversity on boards leads to better decisions. Board members who can think differently about issues and who are willing to challenge existing norms can help companies move forward. Demographic diversity does not guarantee cognitive diversity, but it may help. For many companies, of course, diversity is a goal in itself even if it does not lead to different decisions.

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Jaymie Oviedo

NCEO Holiday Gift Guide Is Here

It's no secret: here at the NCEO, we love to see members of the ESOP community thrive.  In a year that has been challenging in many ways, the NCEO came together in a team collaboration to highlight just a few of our favorite employee-owned companies that are uplifting employee ownership in their own businesses. This season, we hope to spread cheer throughout the entire ESOP community and beyond.

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Dallan Guzinski

Ownership Culture Insights: Rhythm and Cadence in Communications

I was recently joined by Trevor Monnig, CFO at employee-owned PFSbrands, and Patrick Carpenter, president of GRITT Business Coaching, to discuss the importance of rhythm and cadence in communications and internal education initiatives with employee-owners. As part of a series in the NCEO’s new seasonal training program, the Communications Committee Crash Course, employee ownership and business leaders have been meeting for several weeks to learn about what makes ownership culture and communications thrive in an ESOP company. My two guests joined us to focus on what has helped PFSbrands accomplish its goals in the midst of a pandemic and further engage employees in the financials of its business.

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