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.

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.

Editor's Note: There are a lot of reward terms out there and they aren't always universally understood. Leave it to Dan Walter to illuminate this challenge with his Classic humor!

We all wish we were better at communicating. We create presentations (decks) and plan summaries (SPDs). We carefully choose our words and have our colleagues review things before sending them. Our efforts need to be understood by people with wide ranges of experiences, education and levels of interest. But what if our best efforts were making things worse?

When granting equity compensation, take the time to understand the purpose of the awards and how your grant details, practices, and data contribute to or hinder your long-term success. Take the time to educate managers of the additional responsibility they have in managing their staff to their awards. Ensure your processes do not undermine the hard work you are putting into correcting DEI issues. Remember that equity compensation is missing more than it includes. Things reported as trends are probably only things a few very visible companies are doing. Best practices are just the most common way of using equity, not the best use for your company.

It’s still too early to tell how great the “Great Resignation” will be. Or if it even lives up to that description. True, lots of employees are considering changing jobs, but there’s a world of difference between thinking about quitting and actively hunting for a new opportunity. There’s no doubt, though, that employees want more out of their work life. And they’re willing to fight for what they want or leave if they don’t get it.

What more do these unsatisfied employees want? That depends. Really, the best way to learn what your employees want is simply to ask them. We cannot stress this enough. Check-ins with managers are an ideal time for this if both managers and their direct reports are comfortable having such conversations. Anonymous surveys are another option. If nothing else, conduct exit interviews.

But while individual desires vary, they tend right now to fall into a few general themes: greater freedom and flexibility, a bigger say in the workplace, better compensation, and increased safety and security. Employers that can meet these demands have an advantage in today’s job market. Let’s look at each in turn.

Equity Compensation has been slowly going through its own version of climate change. Much like our planet, the environment for equity compensation has been changing for decades and very few have adjusted or even noticed. Whether you agree with the causes of climate change it is hard to deny that weather is different than it was even 50 years ago. Regardless of the driving forces, it is impossible not to recognize that equity compensation is delivering different results than it was when it became the major currency of tech startups in the 1980s and 1990s.

It’s time to be honest and evaluate what your talent acquisition team and managers are telling prospects and employees about their awards. Are you Tom Sawyer getting people to whitewash a fence or just one more employer looking to put another cog in the machine?

Most human resources and compensation professionals are peaceful people, but we are all fighting for talent. It often surprises me how many startups fight that war using the same tools and techniques as their larger combatants. There are, of course, rules that generally are followed, but they are few and relatively unrestrictive. When you are battling for the existence and success of the company that aligns with your passions and puts food on the table, perhaps you should consider not following the leaders. While cash is limited at startups, annual incentives can still exist and are compelling.