Module 2 – Employee Ownership: Types and Traditions

Introduction

Next, we look more closely at four specific types of employee ownership: the Employee Stock Ownership Plan or ESOP, the worker cooperative, equity compensation, and the employee ownership trust. We will examine how these types of employee ownership work, how they differ from one another, and their prevalence. Then we will dive deep into understanding the historic roots of modern employee ownership. By the end of this module, you will have acquired a basic understanding of four key types of employee ownership. You will be able to visualize how several companies are successfully sharing ownership with employees. And you will understand how some ideas supporting employee ownership and profit-sharing trace back to the earliest founding of the United States, while the cooperative tradition has roots in Black and marginalized community experiences. Throughout this module, we will learn from several different scholars and experts.

Learning Objectives

• Learn the different forms of employee ownership and broad-based equity compensation that exist.
• Know how ESOPs and worker cooperatives work.
• Visualize how existing organizations are successfully using ESOPs and worker cooperatives (with case studies, videos).
• Discover the historical evolution of employee ownership and cooperative traditions.