But experts say an ESOP doesn ’ t change company culture by itself ; firms must educate staff about employee ownership . Bender-Johnson says it ’ s important for staff to see the impact of company performance on their personal finances . So they ’ ve invested in an ESOP marketing platform that , among other features , gives staff access to an ESOP calculator that uses the company ’ s growth rate , personal financial information and other data to calculate their retirement outlook .
Mountain Hardware and Sports has an employee-run ESOP committee that keeps up to date on the company ’ s performance , and the committee members are paid for that time . The committee organizes ESOP educational events three times a year , and at least once a year someone on the committee sits down with every employee to explain how the ESOP works and where the company stands financially . That ’ s essential to getting employee ownership across because “ ESOPs are
complex as heck ,” says Wright . That educational investment also saves the company money on turnover . Retail stores nationally lose an average of 60 percent of their employees each year . But at Mountain Hardware , 45 of the company ’ s roughly 90 employees have been with the company at least six years .
Proponents of employee ownership say loyalty like that happens when staff buys into the company mission . In turn , that may be why ESOP companies have weathered downturns better than others , according to at least two studies .
Companies with ESOPs hope those patterns hold this year . Not only has Mountain Hardware not laid anyone off — it added 22 positions after opening a second store in Truckee on July 1 , a move that had been planned before the state stay-at-home order in March . Still , Wright is quick to note that the state ’ s declaring hardware stores essential businesses has to some degree immunized the company from the pain that companies not declared essential haven ’ t been able to avoid .
The day before California ’ s order took effect , Mountain Hardware staff took to the company truck to make deliveries — a thermometer to one customer , a blender to another — and the store waived the delivery fees . Wright says he doesn ’ t need to motivate his employeeowners to make extra effort during the crisis . “ They aren ’ t going , ‘ Why do we have to do this ?’ They ’ re saying , ‘ Hey , whatever we gotta do .’ When people can be part of the decision process , if you allow that in an ESOP , it ’ s like a rocket ( booster , and that ) makes a huge difference in how people do their jobs … and the success of the business ,” he says .
Steven Yoder writes about business , real estate and criminal justice . His work has appeared in The Fiscal Times , Salon , The American Prospect and elsewhere . Online at www . stevenyoder . net and on Twitter @ syodertweet .
The next generation of Act ! ™ is here !
all-in-one CRM sales and marketing platform
Contact me for a demo & free trial chris pumphrey | act ! software coach
chris @ actcoaching . com • 406.493.7047 • www . actcoaching . com
November 2020 | comstocksmag . com 65