The little-known secret to retaining talent

By Emily Bergstrom , Senior Manager, Investments & Partnerships

For many years, I worked at a family-run company with a robust profit-sharing program. It was amazing to me how profit-sharing changed the way employees showed up to work every day. We all saw that we benefited from the bottom line; our incentives were aligned with the company’s profits. 

Whether fully employee-owned or partially employee-owned, companies where employees have a stake in ownership are ones where they stay for the long haul and show up to work differently. They’re naturally more engaged. I saw firsthand how employees share ideas, understand the bigger picture and are motivated to make the company better—and stayed at this company for 12 years because of this.   

One of the reasons I am passionate about employee ownership (EO) is because I believe it is an elegant solution to employee recruiting and retention, especially in industries with talent shortages. 

EO does more than reward employees—it transforms your entire operation. Companies that offer ownership don’t just hire better—they keep great people longer.

Here’s why:

✅ Attract top talent: Ownership appeals to driven candidates seeking meaningful, long-term growth. Younger generations especially want jobs that matter and align with their values. Think better pay, flexible benefits and the pride of building something bigger than themselves. EO is an easy way to take a regular business and make it more significant for everyone who’s working there.

✅ Boost retention: EO fosters commitment, shared purpose and higher job satisfaction. Employees who own a piece of the company are less likely to leave—and more motivated to make it thrive. As an elder millennial, when I share with people that I worked at one company for 12 years, they’re shocked. Few companies these days can hold an employee’s attention and loyalty for that long. For me, profit-sharing was a huge part of why I stayed.

✅ Improve culture: Ownership incentives and empowers your team, creating alignment around values and performance. For example, when I worked at the company with profit-sharing, every single person would stop and pick up a piece of garbage on the floor if they saw it. Little actions like this are a signal of pride and shared responsibility.

✅ Proven results: When businesses are employee-owned, they tend to fare better during recessions, have increased productivity and deliver higher profit margins. At Project Equity, we saw companies pivoting gracefully during COVID-19 (reinventing new product lines, changing how they did business, etc.) because they were incentivized to do so. 

If you are a business owner or advisor with questions about whether or not employee ownership might be a fit for your exit strategy, please feel free to book a free consultation with us.

Want more info on how EO can give you a competitive advantage? 

At Project Equity, Emily advises owners on the benefits of transitioning their company to an employee-owned structure. She also has written thought leadership for the manufacturing industry. Emily has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a focus on operations and economics. She received a Fulbright scholarship and spent two years abroad in Latin America, becoming fluent in Spanish. She earned her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University and comes from a long line of hard-working Detroiters. Emily lives in Chicago with her family and is usually found outside in the garden, on a hike, or biking.