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WHAT WAS THE BEST
SESSION THAT YOU
ATTENDED? WHAT DID YOU
LEARN?
Cristy:
I really enjoyed going to the
conference/chapter meeting
while at the conference. It
was neat to see all the New
England ESOP’s that were in
attendance come together
and talk about what’s
happening at their state
level and updates on their
company’s ESOP program. I
was unaware of how much
we need our lawmakers to
support ESOPs when they may
become affected by different
bills passing through the
legislature. People got pretty
jazzed up that they were able
to speak with Bernie Sanders
and Elizabeth Warren in
person and that they made
the time to meet with their
groups personally.
Mina:
I attended a session on
Building Trust in the ESOP
Company and Each Other
. I
learned that BL Companies
is doing some great things
to build trust such as having
quarterly meetings to keep
our Employee Owners
informed; having committees
and cohort groups to provide
opportunities for participation
and increase communications;
creating an environment of
openness to feedback; and,
making every effort to align
our actions with our values.
Mike:
It was a session about the
journey of two founders/
owners and their decision to
become employee owned and
their transition to becoming
an ESOP. Although their
story was much different,
it reminded me of how
BL became and ESOP, our
transition over the years and
how far we’ve come.
Jess:
I’m judging the best session
that I attended based upon
the one that I took the most
notes - it was “Engaging
our Great Employees”. BL
is actually already ahead
of the game when it comes
to employee engagement
(we have employee-led
committees, administer
employee feedback surveys
and are transparent in
our communications, etc.)
however, we can always be
doing more and during this
session I learned some small
but effective strategies for
doing so.
Brian Gaulzetti:
I benefited the most from
the presentations which
are focused on sharing
ideas about how to help
communicate and engage
various groups within a
company. At BL, we want
to improve our ESOP
communications with field
staff, between offices,
between generations,
and up and down the
corporate ladder. I heard
a few specific ideas that
other companies have
successfully implemented
which I am going to work to
incorporate into the ESOP
Communications Committees
plans going forward. Hint-
you are hopefully going to see
a lot more of Guy and Alison
LaBella and other blasts from
the past!