Clearly-worded promotions have been credited with driving 70% of Tesco staff to participate in the supermarket group's save-as-you-earn or buy-as-you-earn share schemes.

Speaking in a session entitled 'Incentivising staff through share schemes', Mark Roberts, group benefits manager at the retail giant, said that a clear language promotion campaign for the share incentive scheme has been partly responsible for the high level of interest among staff.

Details of the share ownership scheme, along with the chain's other benefits, are communicated together to staff under the 'We're all in this together' banner.

Tesco employees also receive regular updates of the company share price, in addition to a benefits report.

"Share schemes were seen by some as intimidating or only for senior managers. We set about changing this perception. Every benefit was [communicated] in one or two bullet points, with really simple language," Roberts added.

The supermarket, which is to mark the 21st anniversary of its share incentive scheme with celebrations later this year, is the UK's largest private sector employer with over 250,000 employees of which 170,000 currently participate in Tesco's save-as-you-earn or buy-as-you-earn share schemes.

The aim of the scheme said Roberts is for staff to share in the supermarket's success, by giving them equity ownership.