USA 
United Kingdom
Tell us about the employee-ownership equity program - how it works, why you've done it, what the benefits and challenges are?
We recently launched an employee equity program called SHINE, which stands for SHares + INcentive + Engagement. SHINE was designed with two key goals in mind: to build an ownership culture and to grant a portion of the future value of the company to all employees. Upon achieving our strategic and financial goals, employees will receive a significant payout award upon an exit event, such as being sold or going public. The payout amounts will reflect the value of the company at that moment. The higher the value, the bigger the payout.
Employees simply need to sign up to receive no-cost options. Then, they work to drive the value of the business towards a five-year plan. Around that time, our majority owners, KKR, will look to successfully exit the business and reward all SHINE participants with a portion of the value of the business. Payouts will come as a bonus and be subject to country-specific taxations. Despite the taxes on bonus payments, the plan is no cost to join, no risk, and will focus and align individual efforts towards company growth.
We initiated the program to foster a shared community of thinking and acting like owners. Such incentives have also shown to lead to increased engagement and retention
We initiated the program to foster a shared community of thinking and acting like owners. Such incentives have also shown to lead to increased engagement and retention. The program will increase transparency around company strategy, goals, and performance, as well as provide opportunities for employees to share their ideas on improving the workplace. While still early into the SHINE program, we have received positive feedback and appreciation for the unexpected long-term incentive.
What other initiatives have you deployed around retention and how effective have they been?
We have implemented several initiatives to improve retention, including a mentor program, a graduate training program, and regular stay interviews. The mentor program provides new hires with a dedicated resource to guide their cultural and professional onboarding and integration, while the graduate training program focuses on creating new talent from scratch.
Additionally, we are launching a new LMS platform to support internal and external Learning and Development (L&D) to facilitate skill development in product, technology, soft skills, management, and compliance areas.
Stay interviews have been quite instrumental in understanding and addressing individual employee concerns, leading to higher engagement, job satisfaction, internal transfers, promotions, recognition, and even organizational changes. These initiatives have shown strong results. In 2023 alone, these programs helped reduce staff turnover from 18% to 11%. We are continuing these efforts into 2025 and beyond.
What approach do you take to learning and development?
We are launching an LMS called 360Learning to support and facilitate training, skill development, management, and employee development, and compliance, with courses and curriculum designed to be tailored on an individual basis. We offer a library of training courses through our subscription with Udemy, and generate much of our own content covering both technical and product content. Each employee is encouraged to take one to three courses annually and will track progress through the LMS with ties into our HRIS, BambooHR. L&D is a key strategy supporting many of our overall company objectives.
How important is upskilling to the organization? And what is your approach to AI adoption?
Upskilling, leading the charge of innovation in our markets, and adopting emerging technologies is foremost on our minds, with AI as a key focus. AI is critical to maintaining our competitive edge. Our LMS and L&D strategies will be leveraged to drive innovation to (as our company tagline states) Build Better Networks. Upskilling in AI is happening now. Internal teams have been adopting AI for two years already, particularly in Sales, and more functions across the organization are finding AI solutions every day.
In the past six months, we have added over 125 new staff (now a total of 350 globally) requiring diligent onboarding and ramp-up effort
Our investment in upskilling is illustrated by the recent announcement of our company’s pending acquisition of Deepomatic, an AI company in France. By investing in upskilling, adopting new tools, and making strong investments in these areas, we ensure that our employees are both excited and equipped to handle new technologies and evolving business needs.
What is the single biggest HR challenge in your sector and how do you mitigate against it?
Perhaps the biggest HR challenge in our sector is ensuring employee engagement. In the past six months, we have added over 125 new staff (now a total of 350 globally) requiring diligent onboarding and ramp-up effort. Watching metrics such as eNPS, pulse and engagement surveys, focus groups, and talking to our people ensures our high growth is effective and getting staff productive as fast as possible. All staff across nine countries face social unrest, disruptions, and shifting agendas globally.
They are mindful of perceived risks to their health, welfare, costs of living, and safety. To mitigate this, we focus on creating a supportive and inclusive workplace, offering flexible work arrangements, compelling and comprehensive benefits, creative and interesting work, regular feedback, and opportunities for professional growth. Combined, these efforts have kept our voluntary turnover down as we experience high growth.
Lastly, our company values are reflective of IQGeo: People Matter, Deliver with Purpose, and Pioneer the Future. These values are supported by core competencies that guide not only our colleagues and peers, but our customers, partners, and vendors. With large challenges comes a redoubling of effort to maintain these values and stay connected. As an employer of choice for our world-class talent, we are driving a steady, high growth, and engaged workforce capable of handling and mitigating these challenges.
