Featured - Workplace Development, Inc.

Don’t Let Your Lizard Brain Rule Retirement Planning

Cathy Ivancic2021-03-10T21:33:49+00:00November 11, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, ESOP Committee Development, Featured, Skills for ESOP Ownership|

Did you know our human brains have the same limbic system that dominates a lizard’s brain activity? Luckily, we also have other lobes that provide higher-level functions. The limbic system is the source of impulses like fight, flight, feeding, fear, freezing up, and falling in love. Certainly, it’s good to have these reactions when we need them, but our “lizard brains” aren’t well-suited for activities like retirement planning and understanding fluctuations in ESOP stock value. Click here to read the full article.

10 Ideas for Employee Ownership Month

Cathy Ivancic2021-03-10T21:34:20+00:00August 19, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, ESOP Committee Development, Featured|

If employee ownership is an important part of your culture, you’ll want to find ways other than the annual statement to bring awareness and focus to your unique ownership structure. Here are 10 ideas Workplace Development, Inc. (WDI) brings you from ESOP-owned businesses nationwide. Click here to read the full article.

Your Unique ESOP Rollout: It’s all in the Details

Cathy Ivancic2019-08-19T18:59:37+00:00August 19, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, Featured, New ESOPs, Uncategorized|

Joe Motz, like many successful business founders, wanted everyone to benefit more directly from their daily efforts growing the company. “People receive wages and benefits for helping us succeed in the short run,” he commented. “The ESOP provides everyone with an equity stake, rewarding them for their efforts to grow our business in the long run.” Click here to read the full article.

Five Keys to Engaging Employees as Owners

Cathy Ivancic2019-06-06T15:20:39+00:00June 6, 2019|Articles, Building Business Literacy, Communicating ESOP Benefits, Featured, Skills for ESOP Ownership|

Because unlocking the door to greater employee engagement is critical to your ESOP’s success, here are five communication keys you turn to open it. 1) Answer the "why" to create an ownership foundation. There are many different types of ESOP companies, styles of leadership, methods of sharing information and tools for engaging employees. Bottom line: No matter the company, people want to know the “why." Why should I care? Why would I want to be engaged? Click here to read the full article.

ESOP Advocates Energize Ownership Culture

Cathy Ivancic2019-06-06T15:15:20+00:00June 6, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, ESOP Committee Development, Featured|

When a company transitions from being traditionally owned to employee-owned, it’s perfectly normal to run into some resistance, skepticism and confusion among employees at every level. And that can make it more of a challenge to develop an ownership culture and mindset. Hydraulic Controls, Inc., (HCI) encountered this very scenario after becoming a 100% ESOP in 2009. Through several subsequent acquisitions, HCI, headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., has now grown to 13 branch locations scattered across several western states. While corporate growth is a good thing, the executive team realized its employee-ownership culture wasn’t being tended to. Click here to read the full article.

Team Focus On “When Do I Get My ESOP Money?”

Cathy Ivancic2019-04-08T00:56:52+00:00April 8, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, ESOP Committee Development, Featured, New ESOPs, Skills for ESOP Ownership|

“If I retire, then the payments begin in the year after?” one ESOP Communication Committee member asks for clarification. “Tell me again, now, what's retirement age,” another member chimes in. Does this sound familiar? Is it a bad sign when the dominant theme of your interactions with participants or your ESOP committee is all about cashing out? When employee owners are spending energy thinking about their exit, they aren’t developing “ownership thinking” or focusing on actions that build value. How should you interpret it when people keep asking about cashing out? Click here to read the full article.

Ownerfest Builds ESOP Culture and Connection

Cathy Ivancic2019-04-08T00:55:31+00:00April 8, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, ESOP Committee Development, Featured, Skills for ESOP Ownership|

If there’s one thing that captures the concept of employee ownership it’s connection. Connection to each other, both in day-to-day interactions and as people. Connection to the company, and the pride and responsibility. And onnection of one’s own individual efforts to the broader shared success of the company. How do you foster such connection? Click here to read the full article.

Explaining ESOP Stock Value in Volatile Times

Cathy Ivancic2019-02-03T02:13:36+00:00February 3, 2019|Articles, Building Business Literacy, Communicating ESOP Benefits, Featured, Skills for ESOP Ownership|

Anytime the public market goes on a roller coaster ride as it did in late 2018, it can cause quite a bit of uncertainty and anxiety for employees who are invested in stocks or equity funds as part of their 401(k) and other retirement accounts. So, naturally, your employees may be wondering how it all impacts their ESOP accounts.

Click here to read the full article.

Custom Materials Connect Employees to Your ESOP Story

Cathy Ivancic2019-02-02T05:26:17+00:00February 2, 2019|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, Featured, New ESOPs|

“An ESOP can be complicated to understand,” says Sondra Campbell, Controller at Omico Plastics in Owensboro, KY. “The large amount of information contained in Annual Participant Statements can also be very confusing. If employee owners don’t understand the benefit and what it means for them personally, they won’t view the ESOP as the tremendous benefit that it is.” This is why she decided to get materials that told the unique Omico Plastics story. Click here to read the full article.

Your Recruitment and Retention Edge: Employee Ownership

Cathy Ivancic2018-08-06T17:06:00+00:00August 6, 2018|Articles, Communicating ESOP Benefits, Featured, New ESOPs|

In June 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that U.S. companies added 233,000 jobs, extending the economy’s monthly job-creation streak to almost eight straight years. Given it’s getting harder to find and keep excellent employees, are you making the most of your company’s unique recruitment and retention edge: employee ownership? Click here to view the full article.