March insights

Hello GEO Community,

I came across a great metaphor for share plans professionals the other day, courtesy of Elena Thomas, MBA, CEP of Empower. Elena posted on LinkedIn about reading with her children about prairie dogs aka ‘keystone species’…"organisms that have a disproportionately large impact on their ecosystem relative to their abundance. Without its keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether."

Elena said: "That sounds an awful lot like share plan administrators to me! Often just one or two people that tie together the complex ecosystem of compensation, payroll and tax, legal, compliance and participant services, share plan administrators play a critical role in global organizations."

The metaphor ‘keystone species’ resonated with me and I was immediately flooded with memories of my time in-house at several share plan issuers. So much of what I loved about my role as a share plans manager was the sheer variety of stakeholders across the corporate ecosystem, and how two days were never the same. The skilful share plans professional is the great connector, reconciler of opposing views, and coordinator of multiple functions...every single day!

The role of course was never without its challenges, and I can certainly empathise with anyone UK-based who is steeling themselves for HMRC share scheme returns season, or navigating the politics of AGM prep or DRR disclosure drafting. Further afield, our share plans peers and their HR counterparts will be grappling with what the EU Transparency Directive may mean for their share plans (especially discretionary plans) and in the US and practically everywhere else too, we are being challenged to ‘do more with less’…corporate code for budget challenges, yes, but also a call to arms for creativity and a greater focus on what really moves the dial on effective equity ownership.

It’s GEO Board Election season soon (self-nomination opens on 21 April), and if you’re an active and experienced member in your part of the global equity community then why not consider nominating yourself for a seat on the Board? Don’t let impostor syndrome or an over-developed fear of failure hold you back from taking a transformative step forward. If you are forward-thinking, passionate about equity, and want to make a contribution to the strategy and governance of the world’s leading global equity membership organisation, then we would LOVE to hear from you! You can find out more on our website and you can also get in touch with any of our Board members, me or our Chair, Tom Paleka, FGE , for a confidential conversation if you have questions.

If you haven't looked at GEOlearn recently, do take a peek as the GEO team have been hard at work revamping this treasure trove of equity information and knowledge. It's navigable by topic and format, and you can curate your own playlist of content.

I really can’t sign off this month's edition of Insights without mentioning the small matter of our Annual Conference at the end of next month, in picturesque Prague. If you still haven’t booked your ticket, better get your skates on as prices are set to rise on 4 April.

I hope to see many of you in Prague but for those who can’t make it, we have three regional one-day events coming up this year (California in September, London in November and Boston in December) plus a swathe of Chapter activity to keep you connected, inspired and supported in the GEO community.

See you soon!