Share ownership no substitute for employment right and good people management
So yet another employment initiative from our Government. This time in the form of an offer to employees to waive some of their existing employment rights in exchange for shares in their employers’ business.
But is this really an incentive for the majority of employees in the majority of businesses? Especially the small to medium sized businesses that need the most Government assistance.
Except for the large “blue-chip” organisations – over the long term – shares or even part ownership in many businesses must be an intangible or even a gamble for the average employee. Will this really be worth them giving up any of their existing employment rights?
And is unfair dismissal, one of the employment rights concerned, really a big issue in the UK anyway?
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the UK already has one of the least regulated labour markets in the world and where unfair dismissal doesn’t even make the list of top ten regulations discouraging companies from taken on new staff – according to the Government’s own research.
Will any such scheme be divisive in the workplace? Rather than incentivising staff as the stated aim.
I can’t help but think that less Government ‘tinkering’ with employment regulations and more Government encouragement for small to medium sized businesses is what the country needs. Surely what we require is a reduction in our overall tax burden and better incentives to employ and train young people.
Retaining good staff starts at the beginning of the recruitment process by identifying the right type of person to fit into the business. The best incentivisation thereafter stems from good management as appose to asking the employee to opt for greater job insecurity in exchange for company shares.
