Building resilient companies through a culture of shared ownership

Equity is an immensely valuable tool for employers, but its effectiveness depends on how well these programs are designed, communicated, and understood by employees, writes Susannah Batley.

Canva’s recent oversubscribed employee share scheme sale has thrown a spotlight on the power of employee equity and the wider benefits it can bring to employees. Although a success story for Canva, many employee share schemes still struggle to deliver a true impact. I’ve seen companies go to great lengths to issue shares, only to miss the moment where it really counts: helping employees grasp what it means for them personally. This gap in design and communication offers the biggest opportunity to deliver ROI on employee share schemes.

Artist Hans Hofmann once said, “Design is the intermediary between information and understanding.” This idea resonates deeply. When employees understand how a scheme works, what it represents, and how it could shape their future, the value becomes real. Without that clarity, it’s just numbers on a screen. That’s why we’ve spent time thinking about how to make these schemes feel human. Not flashy. Just clear, intuitive, and grounded in the everyday decisions people make about their financial lives.

Equity is no longer just for execs

Traditionally, equity has been reserved for business directors and executives. Today, as more organisations consider innovative remuneration options, there’s a real opportunity to engage people across a business to build and share in this wealth creation.

When employees at all levels are given the opportunity to benefit from the value they help create, it changes the dynamic. It fosters a culture of shared purpose and long-term thinking. When ownership is distributed, so is responsibility, pride, and ambition. It creates greater resilience among your workforce as they traverse the ups and downs of business. Equity becomes more than a line in a contract, and it becomes part of the story people tell themselves about their work.

At Sharesies, we’ve partnered with over 600 companies across Australia and New Zealand to help make this happen. There are three key areas we recommend companies consider when implementing an employee share scheme:

The employee experience must reflect the value

The employee experience must clearly convey the value of the scheme because the company’s ROI depends on it. If the employee doesn’t see or understand the value, the company won’t realise the potential benefits of a more loyal, aligned, and incentivised workforce. If you want to recruit top talent, they’ve often come from other companies that offer share schemes. In today’s remuneration conversations, these programs are becoming more of an expectation.

Ownership drives performance

The potential benefits for employees and employers alike are huge. Deloitte analysed the benefit packages of companies awarded as exceptional employers, and it found that those with employee stock purchase plans won twice as many “best places to work” awards as those without.

Giving employees a financial stake in the company can enhance individual and collective performance, as they directly benefit from the company’s growth. All our team who work more than 15 hours a week receive shares. We’ve done that since we started. When people feel like they have a stake in the success of the company and the wealth it creates, they begin to think about how they can drive value for both the company and themselves.

Strategic alignment through ownership

Ownership and company buy-in also create strategic alignment. Having everybody bought in and aligned to where the company’s going, and feeling like an owner, increases loyalty, improves customer experience, and ultimately drives value over time.

Equity is an immensely valuable tool for employers, but its effectiveness depends on how well these programs are designed, communicated, and understood by employees.

Enabled by technology, we can foster a more motivated and invested workforce that delivers a true win-win-win for companies, their employees, and their shareholders. And that really is worth it.

Susannah Batley is the general manager at Sharesies Business.