Jacob is the CEO of Lamik redgate software,
Attracting and retaining top talent is a constant challenge in any business. As a result, companies often offer a variety of benefits to create a positive work environment, encourage people to stay and encourage new people to join.
In the software business, this is even more important. It is highly competitive both in terms of the field (which is constantly changing) and limited skills. Despite recent layoffs in the tech sector, good people are scarce – whether in sales and marketing or software engineering roles.
It’s no different at Redgate, where I’m the CEO. We’ve been around for 20 years, and we’re known for our software, which enables enterprises to incorporate databases into advanced development practices like DevOps. We take the difficult—and often very complex—parts of the development process, such as deploying changes across different databases and platforms, and we solve them with tools we like to call ingeniously simple.
In turn, very bright, very talented people are needed in every function to develop the software and support it. It’s hard to find these people. Like many businesses, we had an incentive plan that rewarded everyone in the company with a cash bonus at the end of each year based on profit. It worked great and was a good incentive to give it to the skilled people we wanted to join us.
It will come as no surprise that we found that offering a cash bonus was a short-term solution to a long-term issue as it was limited by our performance in any given year. Instead, we wanted to give our people a deep sense of ownership, unite them with a shared purpose and encourage them to create value for themselves while supporting the Board’s objective of increasing value for the company Were.
It raised some big questions for us about how to get there and it took a lot of hard work to find the answers we were looking for.
how we approached it
We knew we were looking at some sort of stock option scheme. However, there are many share plans out there, and we wanted one that reflected our inclusive and honest company values, benefited all of our people (because supporting our growth touches everyone’s roles) and brought Will offer a recognizable return on value paid. Table.
That’s a big demand, so we called on Deloitte to help us build and launch the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) in three key ways.
• Designing the LTIP so that it rewards everyone in the company, there is no limit to the benefits. LTIPs grant share options that vest annually and, importantly, will let people realize the value of their options in the future – even if they leave.
• Communicating LTIP to create a shared sense of ownership in our success. A plan was developed that included town hall meetings, live Q&A sessions, drop-in surgeries from our CFO team, and a series of blog posts and manager presentations.
• To explain the details of LTIP in the easiest way using interactive content. Deloitte employee communications specialists, Stitch, were engaged to give LTIP a distinctive look and feel that transforms complex topics into engaging and easy-to-understand information.
how we measure its success
We had three criteria for the success of LTIP, the first of which was to take the plan forward. Will our people participate and sign up? Turns out they did with 99% enrollment in the scheme. I took it as a big endorsement.
Next was the internal feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive. A recent company survey ranked LTIP among the top five benefits.
The final benchmark was staff turnover. Did it encourage people to stay and did they feel more involved in the future of Redgate? Happily, yes. Business leaders reported an increased commitment to creating value for our customers.
lesson learned
If you are planning a similar initiative, I hope our experience has helped demonstrate that even rewarding people with a well-thought-out, long-term plan can deliver rewards for your business. What seems relatively simple on paper, however, comes with a few caveats.
For example, it’s not a boardroom decision that just happens. This includes everyone in the entire business. You need input from human resources, people managers, internal communications, legal and department heads, and finance. Be prepared for lots of meetings.
You need to be prepared for curveballs as well. In addition to input, you’ll also receive opinions, questions, concerns, and feedback—some of which you might not have even considered and need your attention. We are concerned with such areas as how we will treat employees equally in the five countries in which we operate, how to be fully inclusive, and how to fairly engage the people who join us in the future. Yours will be different.
This ties into perhaps the most important point: The plan you come up with should reflect your culture, your mission, and your people. Who are the most valuable people you want to attract and retain? What are the drivers that motivate them? What’s the best way to connect with them? The answers will provide good indicators as to what type of plan you need.
Finally, I cannot stress enough how important communication is throughout the process. You need to communicate, communicate, communicate. Never underestimate the value of repeating the message and reinforcing the positive intention for which your plan is made. Be open, be transparent, and tell your people everything they need to know. Then repeat it, and repeat it.
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