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Simple idea, but not my quote…it comes from Jack Welch. I subscribe to a quote-of-the-day email, and, like today, it sometimes get me thinking.

At Equity Point, every Client we talk to is faced with change. Most are reactive — they have lost a stock plan manager, for instance, and are looking for temp coverage or assistance recruiting a new team member — but our mission statement includes the promise to do our part to drive change for the betterment of the equity comp world. We are selling a proactive approach, and here is what we are talking to all our clients about:

Remote – The resistance to remote working boggles the mind, especially in stock plan management, where so very much can be handled effectively from anywhere. And whatever perks and pleasures your company offers in the office, most stock plan people are more than happy to trade for the ease and efficiency of working from their home office. It is hard to find great people; it is much harder if you confine yourself to searching within a 25 mile radius of your office, while living 25 years in the past.

Flexible workforce – We love the opportunities presented by the fluid economy, and never miss a chance to preach thinking differently about how to put together the human capital necessary to manage a stock plan. Rather than employing a 2nd or 3rd team member, the stock plan group of the future might feature a CEP choreographer on the inside of a company managing a constellation of specialized consultants for project work, contract independent administrators in for heavy activity periods, and boutique outsourcing firms to manager equity financial reporting or maybe the routine day-to-day administration. This is not only going to allow companies to better manage their stock plans, we should also see – as volume and experience accrues to the various specialists — rapid evolution and the magnification of expertise in terms of the quality of services being delivered.

Process review/system usage – Stepping back from the futurist stuff, a great proactive step for any company is general process analysis focusing on finding gaps/vulnerabilities (or, as we often hear, “we don’t know what we don’t know”), opportunities for efficiencies (especially involving systems automation), and ensuring that they are maximizing the use of their stock plan system. These types of analyses may also even include a review of the organizational structure and staffing requirements.

Communications – We hit on this topic with “Stock Plan Communications is the Next Big Thing“, but it bears repeating, the participants of tomorrow are probably going to have shorter attention spans, and the same general disinterest in learning about their equity compensation. It stands to reason that the companies that can best communicate around their stock plans are also the ones that are going to maximize the attraction, retention and motivation (that old school trio of compensation) of their workforce to the betterment of their companies.

Interested in discussing any of these areas? If you are in the Bay Area, let’s have lunch. If not, see the “remote” bullet point above, and let’s find a virtual way to meet (like over my landline phone). Scott@equitypoint.io