Are employees more motivated if they are employee stock owned?

Answer 1

It depends.

The first consideration is what kind of stock the employees receive, and how easily they can sell it. Some employee stock has so many restrictions it's not worth the bother. It also depends on how large the company is, and if it is listed on a stock exchange; many stock corporations are 'penny stocks' that don't regularly trade on big exchanges.

When it's a good deal for the employee, it really does motivate the employee. All sorts of economies and efficiencies raise from the bottom to the top. Under ideal circumstances, employees are actively rewarded for showing how their job is redundant or otherwise can be eliminated.

On the downside, such corporations can descend into mutual backscratching, where everyone covers everyone elses butt and the company goes down the tubes.

Answer 2

I was not when I worked for an ESOP corporation. Mostly because the people who had been there for a while and the upper management were so stingy with everything we did. When you are employee owned, any extra things come out of the employee owned stock. Meaning bonuses, X mas and other parties, benefits, etc. Employee stock owned corps are in that way, a worse place to work than anywhere else.

Here are some examples of how petty this place was:
1. They would have a Thanksgiving lunch and only provide the Turkey and say everyone had to bring anything else.
2. They would have a cookout and only provide the hot dogs, then everyone else had to bring buns, ketchup, etc.
3. They would not give anyone new chairs or whatever and we had to use crappy equipment because they were so stingy with funds.
4. They would not buy tables and chairs for the breakrooms and we had to share two picnic tables between 60 employees.
5. They started taking off your time for the 15 min. breaks.
6. They bought cheaper paper in a continous printer where the paper was hard to tear without tearing the sheet itself, they did this because it was like 20 cents cheaper than the prior paper.
7. The christmas bonus of 100 bucks a year was cut every year until it was no more bonus at all.
8. Everything we would ask about we would get told no because it would take from ESOP.

Answer 3

I think so, what better way to look after your investment than to be more motivated to the company who's stocks bought me my first house, I for one bought my company share's for $13 and they have split three times since then, they are now at $47.90, am more motivated, you bet I am.