GEO Awards 2019

DuluxGroup’s Long Term Executive Incentive Plan (LTEIP) rewards its executives for their contribution to the company’s ongoing success and supports them in building their long-term share ownership. The LTEIP plan design is as complex as it is unusual in Australia. DuluxGroup took advantage of the Australian capital gains tax legislation by providing a loan to each participant to purchase an offered value of company shares. The judges recognised DuluxGroup’s efforts to develop a unique plan that delivered the best outcomes for their employees. They were particularly impressed with the slide deck that DuluxGroup used to educate employees on the benefits of participating. Although it was a low-cost format, it was an effective communications tool that positively impacted recruitment and retention of talent.

Roche’s global equity programme, Roche Long-Term, is offered to all employees in the US and to executives and senior management in all of their other countries. The judges agreed that Roche had succeeded in creating a compliant programme which was significantly enhanced by a new ‘Equity Choice Program’. This gave employees a choice of three combinations of Stock-Settled Stock Appreciation Rights and Restricted Stock Units: 80:20, 50:50 or 20:80 which is rare for companies in the global biopharmaceutical industry. The panel praised Roche’s bold commitment to empower its participants and allow them to actively engage with their equity compensation.

Shell designed a suite of teasers, invitations, reminders and testimonials to attract new employees to their Global Employee Share Purchase Plan. The striking communications were available in six languages with clear, simple language so employees could completely understand the plan. The communications were delivered to participants using email, an online information hub, video, plasma screens, posters, webcasts, their corporate social media platform and town hall meetings. The judges agreed that Shell succeeded in putting their employees at the heart of their communications to increase enrolment from different cultures and countries.

In 2018, Schneider Electric introduced a ‘New People Vision’ engagement programme to create a sense of union and ownership around the company. To achieve these goals, they created a brochure and two educational videos, among other things to educate employees. Schneider Electric measured their plan effectiveness using the annual participation rate, the ratio of investment outside of France (where the company is listed), and the percentage of employee shareholding capital. They saw the plan enrolment increase from 41% to 45% overall. The judges applauded Schneider Electric for defining the specific measures for their campaign as listed above. They also agreed that the positive results reflect the value and trust Schneider Electric’s employees place in the direct result of aligning the equity plan with their new corporate values.

Siemen’s Young Talent Network, a community who supports young employees, suggested a way for employees to make a big difference through an initiative called Cents4Sense. It allows employees to donate the value of one dividend to support three charity projects. What’s more, Siemens matched the donation, doubling the total impact. So far, Siemens has 22,500 employees participating in Cents4Sense, raising an impressive EUR171,000. The judges applauded Siemens for living their ‘Know, Understand, Live’ values by enabling their participants to have a positive impact on the lives of people across the globe.

To remove barriers to recruiting talent and embed a two-way commitment between new employees and Unilever from day one, new employees were given a ‘Transition Award’ which is tied to the results of their peers’ equity plan: the Management Company Investment Plan (MCIP). This ground-breaking Transition Award links short-term performance with longer-term loyalty by allowing the employee to invest a percentage of their target annual bonus into the MCIP from the year they receive the first bonus from Unilever. The judges agreed that this alignment has created a truly innovative solution which offers immediate benefits to new joiners.