Introduction

In today’s unpredictable landscape, companies and employees face mounting pressures. Rising living costs, shifting employee expectations, and a tough economic climate make it crucial for businesses to find smart, efficient ways to reward top talent. According to Aon’s latest Global Risk Management survey, the inability to effectively attract and retain talent has risen to be the 4th top risk for companies, and it is predicted to continue as this significant of a risk until 2026. So what are the levers companies can pull to help mitigate this risk?

One lever is equity and share plans. With almost three quarters of businesses saying share plans helped them recruit and retain staff according to HMRC, they are an established way for organisations to engage and reward top talent. However, equity and share plans come with their own set of complex challenges. Publicly listed businesses are likely to run multiple share plans in parallel, and these are likely to span across borders, different job, financial or digital literacy levels among participants, and have the potential for significant tax implications. There are also the intricacies of each share plan to be considered, the terms and timelines employees are subject to, and how to ensure these are understood and maintained.

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One of the biggest challenges surrounding share plans is how to effectively communicate them to participants. Companies must inform employees of the effects of the share plan, the conditions that apply, and most importantly the potential benefits and risks that come with it. Employees want to know what it means for them to participate, and why they should care. It’s up to companies to bridge this gap if they want share plans to have a positive impact on the motivation and retention of their workforce.

The importance of effective employee share plan communications

Effective employee share plan communications are an essential part of what can make them successful. Share plans present a non-negligible administrative, legal and tax burden for companies. Without clear and meaningful communication, companies risk low understanding and engagement from employees – diminishing the return on all the work invested in managing these plans.

This risk seems to be exacerbated in Europe: Ledgy’s 2024 State of Share plans survey indicated that companies listed in the UK or Germany were 40% more likely to say that teams have “poor” or “very poor” knowledge of their share plans than companies listed in the US. In the same survey, companies across geographies also indicated that “responding to queries from plan participants” was their biggest challenge when it comes to share plan management.

With this being such a big challenge, how can your company set up a best-in-class share plan communications strategy? That’s why we’ve teamed up Zoe Denny-Thomas, Senior Equity Consultant and Equity Communications Practice Leader at Aon to build this guide.

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Setting up an effective communications strategy

From practical information on tax implications, to the alignment with company goals and potential returns, share plan communications are not just something to think about once the plan is already up and running. It is important to set up a communications strategy for your share plans early on - in parallel to the set up of the plan - to effectively engage employees.

General considerations

The first step is to think about your audience. Is this a discretionary or an all-employee plan? Do you roll this out to just a few executive directors or a few thousand colleagues across sites? How might your method of communication and message affect how participants understand and engage with their share plans? Consider the audience’s communication preferences, behaviours, and demographics, keeping factors such as age, seniority, location, and tech preferences in mind.

Segmenting your audience by location is a straightforward way to ensure language is taken into consideration. “If you have a plan that is rolled out over multiple jurisdictions, consider the language you use – speaking to employees in their local language can mean the difference between employees being keen and enthusiastic about the plan and employees who might feel unconsidered.” says Zoe. And even with segmentation, it’s essential to assess the knowledge levels of your audience and tailor communications to their needs. “It’s very easy to fall into a trap of writing communications assuming everyone has the same base level knowledge about share plans as you.” says Zoe, “A top tip here is to have someone who does not know share plans to review your communications.”

Next, think carefully about your communication channels. Reviewing past campaigns can provide insights into what worked well for similar audiences. A mix of communication channels is a great way to make sure the message lands: “People like to receive information in different ways,” says Zoe, “so, if you can, try using more than one way to get the point across.” These channels can include a share plan administration platform, letters, emails, physical posters, videos, an internal microsite or regular internal communications tools, company-wide presentations, and more.

Additionally, you should think about a budget early on: “I always suggest ensuring you get a budget for communications alongside the budget for setting up the plan as it can be hard to get a communication budget approved at a later date.” says Zoe.

The overall owner of communications is usually the owner of share plan administration such as a company secretary, but other key stakeholders that should be involved in your plans are legal, finance, internal communications, branding, company secretaries, and IT. Finance will need to be involved for the budget approval, your branding team will want to get involved to ensure that your communications are aligned with your brand guidelines and IT should always be looped in to prevent technical issues and make sure that communications won’t be blocked. Working together with these departments ensures a smooth, well-supported communications roll-out that is more likely to succeed and resonate with your workforce.

“Overall, clear and concise comms are the most effective. Each piece of communication should have a clear purpose and action points that are highlighted for employees and avoid communications that are ‘Too long didn’t read (TLDR)’.” Says Zoe.

Goals and measurement

Communication plans can have different goals and measures depending on the channels, audience, tools and share plans that apply. “When setting communications goals, it’s important to consider what is realistic. If it is a participation plan, take a look at industry statistics on what kind of participation you can expect in your sector and factor that into your targets.” says Zoe. If the plan is being launched for the first time, the initial launch will have a larger campaign, which will need to be measured differently from the regular communications.

And measuring campaign success may not always be a given, but there are tools that can help. “For example, with Aon’s EquiTV videos, we can actually see how many people watched them, for how long, and what definitions and documents they are clicking on. This gives companies a nice, well-rounded measure of interest and engagement.” says Zoe. It is therefore important to think of goals, how to measure them, and the tools needed to measure them early on to factor this into the initial setup and budget plans as well.

Getting the timing right

In general, when it comes to planning your communications, the earlier the better. Once the plan parameters are laid out, content can be written and strategically timed for maximum impact. “It’s always good to allow plenty of time for this part – I have seen clients go through many content iterations as the drafts have been shared amongst stakeholders for comments and review.” says Zoe. “But make sure to communicate early – we often create teaser campaigns to build excitement for new plan launches.”

With all types of plans, a more consistent and constant dialogue is best. “Don’t let them forget about the benefits of the plan.” says Zoe. “At the very least companies should communicate at launch, and vest. And when awards become available, it’s important to remind participants of the perks of receiving company shares, but also of the potential tax implications.”

Zoe has also found that the plans where companies have great engagement are the ones where they are more regular with their communications. “I recently supported a client where I held a regular equity hour where employees could just come and ask me anything about their plan. Employees were welcome to come and have a chat about their equity and that’s something employees really valued.” she says.

“Make sure to also communicate about share plans to employees when or even before they join as that’s when they are highly engaged and share plans can be an important part of total compensation.” says Zoe. “I recently worked with a client where we created pre-hire videos about the share plan for their internal recruiters to share. It was a great way of engaging employees early and potentially attracting key talent!” she continues.

In terms of retention, it can also be a good idea to include shares as part of performance and incentive conversations. “Don’t forget to include any share awards within total reward statements given that they can be a key part of your company’s total compensation framework.” says Zoe.

The final piece of the puzzle is to ensure leaver communications are a part of your leaver processes. “Since leaver treatment can vary, it’s important to clarify the position as colleagues are on the way out.” says Zoe.

What needs to be included: Plan specifics

For all plans, include:

In general, communications about all plans should include the basics like start and end date, what happens when the employee leaves, what happens at vest, details about any performance conditions and general tax implications. Any action points required, for example, if an employee must go in personally to accept the award, should also be highlighted. Because each plan does, however, work a little differently, specific considerations will need to be made when it comes to their communication.

For plans with performance conditions, it is important that participants understand the conditions. “These are the people who should have the capacity to move the needle on achieving these performance conditions for the business so they should have a clear picture of how they can support the business achieve these goals.” says Zoe. This benefits participants of the plan but also the wider organisation to achieve corporate goals. “It’s also good to keep participants apprised on how awards are tracked against performance metrics. At Aon, we have a huge number of clients who make use of PeerTracker which does exactly that on a real time basis.” says Zoe.

For option plans, equity communications should include the option price as well as an explanation of the exercising process, and when they can choose to exercise subject to the rules of the plan.

For Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), ideally vesting schedules need to be communicated and what happens at vest. This includes what the default tax option is: either sell or withhold to cover for the taxes, and what that entails for the employee. “It’s likely you will want to communicate in the run up to the vest to make employees aware of any action points. Even if no action is required, which is often the case at vest, you can mention that they can go in and see the vested shares in their account.” says Zoe.


Employee Share Purchase plans, or ESPPs, often require more regular communication as open enrollment usually occurs more frequently than other plans. In some cases, participants might have additional tax benefits if they hold onto their shares - this is the case for the qualified 423 plan in the US. If that is the case, it is important to ensure employees are aware of this so they can benefit from the favourable tax treatment. “We find video is a really good way to keep the communication on this regular, with explanatory videos embedded within enrollment emails.” says Zoe.    

The UK SIP (or Share Incentive Plan) has some complicated taxation rules and participants are buying shares - often monthly – so they can become shareholders quickly. “SIP shares are subject to all the same share price movements and risks and rewards you might expect.” says Zoe, “so for participants to really benefit from the tax efficiency of the plan they need to have a good grasp of it.”

The UK SAYE (Save As You Earn or sharesave plan) offers employees the chance to save for 3 or 5 years toward the purchase of shares at the option price which is set at the start and is often discounted. “This is my favourite plan! It can be a good deal and one of the best things about the SAYE is that even if the share price falls below the option price you can still take your savings back.” says Zoe “The key thing to communicate here is the low risk.” she continues.  It is also especially important to communicate that employees cannot change the amount they decide to put in, “Employees should bear this in mind when enrolling that their contribution should be affordable now and into the future.” says Zoe.

Tools and resources to help manage share plans and their comms

When thinking about setting up your share plans and share plan communications strategy, remember there are tools and consultants out there that were made to help make them specific to your company and allow you to take control of your share plans and their communications. “Because plans are so specific to the company, it really is important for internal teams to feel like they have control and for employees to know where to go to get the correct information. Whilst you can get basic information about some plans from government websites in the UK, ideally you don’t want employees using google or AI to find the information they need about a potentially key part of their compensation, especially if it can be misleading.” says Zoe.

Aon’s team delivers unmatched expertise with state-of-the-art products and services to help companies with employees around the world effectively use and manage equity compensation. “Whether you are thinking about an SAYE or an RSU, Aon has the Equity, Governance, and Communication teams in place to assist with everything from adoption to performance tracking.” says Zoe.‍

In addition, it’s important to have a best-in-class share plan administration platform with an intuitive, modern participant experience. Ledgy can not only help you manage your share plans effectively as an administrator, but it also provides participants with a dashboard that serves as the single source of truth for their share plans. They can find visuals that explain their equity and its value with a live share price ticker, they can find all the documents associated to their plans, and they can even sell and trade directly on the platform. And admins can always preview the dashboard as the user, so as to make sure that the information displayed is correct. “With Ledgy, Aon, and your internal teams working together, you should have everything you need to make your share plan admin and comms a success.” says Zoe.

Expert tips: What you shouldn’t do

Following the advice above, it all starts with not leaving share plan communications as an afterthought to the plan. It needs to be thought of at the same time as the share plan is being set up. “If you just provide legal award documents without any supplementary communications, you can’t expect employees to understand or feel engaged by what’s being offered to them.” says Zoe. “If you spend time creating a plan, you should spend time telling people you created it.”

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