Case study: Telecoms firm KCOM boosts take up with messaging
Yorkshire-based IT and communications service provider KCOM Group has just under 3,000 staff based around the UK and, last November, won an ifs ProShare award for the effective communication of its employee share scheme.
Having run sharesave schemes and a share incentive plan (Sip) in the past, it decided to place a greater emphasis on share ownership when it launched a new-look Sip called "MyShare", administered by Yorkshire Building Society last August. It offered 200 free shares to all employees, which resulted in 78% take-up, as well as a more attractive matching share arrangement, weighted towards the lower end of contribution levels. While its previous Sip scheme obtained a take-up rate of just 9%, take-up for the MyShare partnership shares rocketed to 72%.
The firm communicated the scheme online, in a booklet and through workshops. Staff were also sent reminders about the scheme via text message.
Terry O'Brien, group director of HR, says: "Share plans are notoriously complicated [so it was key to use] plain English."
