October 26, 2021
October is Employee Ownership Month, which celebrates the benefits ownership provides to employees of companies organized as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). At Dix & Eaton, we are proud to be employee owners and celebrate 100% employee ownership. It’s one of our differentiators as a firm.
ESOPs provide several benefits to employee owners including providing a direct link between employee performance and the firm’s success, offering increased retirement savings and fostering loyalty and commitment to the business.
Our firm’s stock is allocated as shares to employees. Because our ESOP provides employees a share of the firm, individual employee owners directly benefit from the firm’s success. As the business grows, so does the value of the shares allocated to each owner. This creates a direct link between success of the business and the employee’s financial benefit.
An ESOP is a form of a qualified benefit plan, much like a 401(k). But an ESOP is unique in that a 401(k) is primarily employee-driven, as the majority of funds are contributed via paycheck deduction. In an ESOP, contributions come from the employer, not employee paycheck deductions, and the employee accumulates the savings. Contributions to eligible employee ESOP accounts are made by the firm on an annual basis.
Perhaps the best benefits our ESOP structure offers are the loyalty and commitment employees toward the firm. When employees have a direct investment in the firm’s performance and profits, as we do at Dix & Eaton, they are often more motivated to do what’s best for the business. This motivation to impact profits results in an increase in productivity, solution-focused employees and overall performance improvement.
Because employees must remain with the firm for a certain period to receive full benefits, an ESOP encourages employee retention to earn the highest payout. In addition to retaining loyal employees inspired to make a difference, our ESOP is also an exciting element of our competitive benefit offering to attract new talent.
While the benefits of our ESOP to employee owners are obvious, our clients are also benefactors. As committed owners vested in our shared success, our employee owners are determined to provide excellent client service, grow relationships and offer innovative ideas.
Employee ownership is worth celebrating! Be sure to check out our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts for a glimpse of how we’re recognizing our status as an ESOP throughout the month.
If employee ownership sounds right for you, check out our Careers Page to view our open positions.
