The Power of Equity Part II - driving the right behaviour

In the last article on the Power of Equity we examined who was eligible for equity. In this episode, we will examine how you can use equity to drive the right kind of behaviour. 

Options are the proverbial cherry on the cake. They are a reason to stay at a company and also a reason to go to a company. In the tech world options are expected, but not offered everywhere. In the current market if a candidate has an offer from 2 companies they may select the one with the options scheme over one that doesn't. 

In short, having an options scheme makes you more attractive to prospective employees, and that's no bad thing.

Finding new employees isn't the only type of behaviour you can look to drive, there are behaviours you can look for driving in existing employees too. 

Driving behaviour in existing employees is a different task. There are a few strategies you can deploy here.

Team / Company incentives

Releasing options based on a company target is a great way to incentivise people for the greater good. Such team incentives can benefit the organisation by being:

• Achievement-oriented. Focusing on shared goals drives performance and creates a greater impact on organisations in a shorter time.
• Self-actualising. Group decision-making and problem-solving encourage teams to grow and develop the capacity to meet evolving customer and company needs.
• Humanistic-encouraging. Team incentives reinforce the necessity of working together and supporting one another.
• Affiliate building. Group incentives inspire collaborative and cooperative behaviours, which support organisational performance and deliver shared company goals.

Personal Incentives

While company incentives are great, people in your sales team will be well used to incentives other employees may not. There are a couple of extra considerations:

• What KPIs will you grade each role on
  • e.g. for sales, it's hitting a target, what about the office manager? 
• Keep an eye out that your incentive scheme is driving the right behaviour. There can always be bad apples that try and game the system for their short-term gain. Maybe consider deferring all or part of the options awards to weed these people out. 

In summary, options are a great way to:

• Attract the best talent
• Retain staff
• Drive team and company cohesion getting that 'we're all in it together' feeling
• Build confidence 

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