Lucy NewcombeDec 12th 2012

Employee Share Plans - Why Participation Matters and how to Maximize it

Lucy NewcombeDirector Corporate CommunicationsComputershare Group

Lucy Newcombe is a BBC-trained journalist who took her skills to technology company Plantronics in a public relations and marketing role across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She joined Computershare in 2005 as Marketing Director for the EMEA region, and worked to build Computershare’s marketing function, including a significant Client Communications team which works on behalf of client brands to engage with employee and retail shareholders. She was appointed Director Corporate Communications in 2010 and is responsible for building Computershare’s global brand, including worldwide social media initiatives. Lucy also heads up CSR initiatives for the company, driving both Computershare group and client based programmes and is currently based in Hong Kong.

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The Background

› Poor data on share plan effectiveness and practices

› Previous industry research efforts not close enough to reality

› Industry representative groups not filling the gap

› IFRS places pressure on Issuers to demonstrate ROI

› Trend toward companies asking provider about best practice in

design

› ‘Shared Capitalism’ project in USA

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Our Mission

› To undertake ground breaking research to understand the attitudes of a workforce as regards share ownership

› To deliver hard data relative to the assumptions we all make regarding share plan participation

› To gain real insight into the justification for and the best ways to grow employee share plans

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Project Overview

› Devised comprehensive questionnaire

› Tested actual knowledge as well as perceptions and cross-

analyzed

› Developed an online tool

› Pilot

› UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, USA

› 2780 participants

› Surveys conducted over a year, repeated 3 years later

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LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS/HARVARD RESEARCH

› Statistically significant results show that employees in a company share plan stay longer, work harder, care more about the company and are generally happier

› All of these effects increase with depth of ownership

› These results give us real pointers for plan design and communications

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Share Plan Communications

› How are you communicating to eligible employees?› Are you using all available communications channels?› Are you making the most of new technology?

› How well are you communicating?› Ask your staff

› Do they have enough warning?› Do they know how to join?› Leave?› Alter payment amounts?› What the tax implications are?

Good Communication = Increased Participation

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ASDA CUSTOMIZED SHARE PLAN COMMUNICATIONS (UK tax-qualified version of an ESPP in the US)

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Method of communication Who For?

Payslip messaging All colleagues

Toolkits People Service Managers

Posters/table talkers All colleagues

Article written for inclusion in the company magazine

All colleagues

Green Room – Sharesave dedicated page created

Accessible by all colleagues

Social media – teaser videos produced and uploaded to Asda’s Green Room and Facebook pages. Facebook and Twitter updates scripted in advance.

Accessible by all colleagues and those who have access to Facebook

Share Plan Awards Created awards for best site uptake etc, linked in with a customized reporting site

ASDA CUSTOMIZED SHARE PLAN COMMUNICATIONS

Toolkits designed under the ‘Make it happen’ theme and produced and sent to People Service Managers 2 weeks before launch.

Kits included:›3 x Posters ›PSM Fold Out Info Sheet›2 x Table Talkers

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ASDA CUSTOMIZED SHARE PLAN COMMUNICATIONS

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ASDA CUSTOMIZED SHARE PLAN COMMUNICATIONS

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ASDA CUSTOMIZED SHARE PLAN COMMUNICATIONS RESULTS

› Participation increased by almost 2000 individuals to 26195

› 21% of people enrolled via real-time SMS

› 20% of people enrolled online

› Asda won various awards for the campaign, which they have built on in successive years

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ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CUSTOMIZED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

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ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CUSTOMIZED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

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ROYAL DUTCH SHELL CUSTOMIZED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

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METHODOLOGY

In regions with established share plan communications requirements:

›Computershare’s communications experts provide consultancy to client to understand their business challenges and existing communications channels›Design, presentation and finalisation in-house›Hand-in-hand with legal and compliance›Campaign management from marketing/plans project manager

If there’s enough interest in the US market, we could easily replicate this service.

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