Addressing these five topics over the next 12 weeks will provide a foundation for the new year. They will also provide the foundation for information to include in communications to shareholders as your company discusses successes and needs in the future. Most importantly, you will be ensuring your very limited equity compensation budget is being used as efficiently as possible.

Now is the time to fix your worst incentive plans, or adjust pay structures that have crumbled under the weight of furloughs, lay-offs, remote work, shrinkage, growth, or any other of the myriad of issues that are being faced in business. Yes, you are tired. But so are your competitors. The best time to win is when they can’t respond. In a world where increases have been in low single digits for a decade, it doesn’t take too much to set your company above the crowd.

Intentionally building stock options to take back what someone has earned through effort, time and investment is just a bad faith deal, in my humble opinion. Don’t use stock options if you are unwilling to commit to their commonly understood intent, and don’t buy your partner a gift because you really want to use it.

There are some bad and good things that apply to gift cards that simply don't apply to cash. Nearly all gift cards have a finite life expectancy. Many expire within five years of purchase or activation. Some require annual maintenance fees that draw down against the value until fully utilized. But, they can also inspire people to delay use until some real need or item with great personal value becomes available. This type of delayed gratification is seldom seen as a benefit of cash in your pocket.

The term “unicorn” refers to a pre-IPO company valued at more than $1B. When the term was coined in 2013 there were only 39 such companies. As of October 2020, there was a herd of at least 450 of them! Terms like “decacorn” and “hectacorn” have been used to define $10B and $100B companies, but I prefer Godzillas. Godzillas are truly unexpected. They cause you to change your approach. And if you don’t handle them well, they may destroy things that everyone finds valuable.

Companies are addressing talent acquisition challenges with better pay. Equity compensation vesting schedules may finally be changing. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals are getting more than lip service. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) metrics are becoming what we thought they would be before COVID-19 began. And executives somehow continue to be paid well despite some less than stellar results. Here’s a quick round-up of what we’re seeing and what we aren’t.

Sales people are eager and enthusiastic to get started with a new plan, new sales cycle, new anything. This can be tough on the people who are trying to enhance or create sales plans. You want them to be engaged. Once this goal is achieved, your sales people are ready to sprint. It can be a challenge when every project begins with: On your marks! Get set! (The 5 year-old next to you starts running.) GO! And once again you are playing catch up. Prepare well before you start explaining your approach because you won't get much time once everyone is involved.

I often say that the most important aspect of any incentive plan is its intent. Intent drives the details of design. Intent sets the foundation for communications. Intent informs people of the definition of success. But intent without great execution will nearly always fail.

About a year ago, Abigail began her first day on a new job. She was a software engineer, new to the workforce, and eager to make a good impression on her colleagues. At the end of the day, she noticed a fine, jagged line on the floor of the office, stretching the length of the building. She examined it, puzzled. She was pretty sure she hadn’t noticed it earlier, and almost as sure that it hadn’t been there when she’d arrived. For a moment she considered asking someone about it, but she didn’t feel comfortable inquiring about structural integrity on her first day.