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Is Employee Ownership Just PR?

We’ve all seen the headlines: a snappy title announcing the fabulous news that a company has been bought out by its employees, accompanied by a photo of a smiling team, overjoyed with this marvellous turn of events.

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But is this actually the case? What does employee ownership – otherwise known as EO – mean in practice? In this article we take a look at not just the pros and cons of employee ownership, but whether it is simply a PR exercise.

Let’s Present the Evidence

Firstly, let us look at some of the facts of EO: research has shown that there is tangible evidence that staff stay longer and make more money for the company if they have buy-in. That in itself negates the fact that the whole process is a staged PR exercise, and something that PR companies – whether Cheltenham PR or Chelmsford ones – would refute if called upon to promote the takeover.

Tax Haven

In 2014 a number of tax perks were introduced which have proved a popular reason to head down this path for many companies and their employees.

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Adding Up the Figures

It is often frowned upon if an EO business isn’t owned wholly by employees; however, many EO companies start out with a small percentage and increase this over the years. Making sure as a new EO that you employ the right PR company – check out www.targetgroup.co.uk – is essential to get the right message out about the EO journey.

Thinking Ahead

The hard work really begins once a firm becomes employee-owned. It’s fabulous news, and you have made the best of promoting this to current and potential clients.

But there is still a lot of work to do and a lot of good news to impart over the years as an EO; from a leadership review through to HR, finance and the all-important communications, such foundations underpin a successful and emerging EO and, crucially, will help to build long-term foundations.

Ensuring that the organisation is transparent from day one is absolutely vital, as this will stop the grapevine and office whisperings from undermining the new regime; employees will feel valued and listened to if this is introduced and maintained from the beginning. Building in regular updates is essential too, especially in relation to financial security.

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