The Ohio Employee Ownership Center offers both in-company training and development which is designed to meet your companies specific needs as well as multi-company training and development which brings employee owners together to explore common problems and share experiences.

Overview

Since 1987, The Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) has provided various types of education and training to the employee ownership community. We are committed to helping you create, and grow your ownership culture, and unlock the power of employee ownership.

Reflective of the reality that stock ownership alone does not automatically lead to increased employee commitment and firm performance, OEOC training programs are designed to:

• interface with firms’ existing or soon-to-be-developed employee participation structures;
• ensure basic understanding of employee roles, rights, and responsibilities as owners, including how they own the business, what drives the business they own, and how to read the financial information they get as owners;
• combine applied research, company-specific information, and specially designed materials which address firms’ unique situations;
• allow people to learn by doing through interactive exercises that tap into their knowledge and experiences; and
• build firms’ internal capacity to do ongoing training.

The OEOC offers a variety of both in-company as well as multi-company training programs.

In-company training

The OEOC can provide a wide variety of personalized training and education programs that fit virtually any training need you may have and if you become a Member Company of the OEOC’s Employee-Owned Network you receive special discounts and access to all our training and educational programming.

Assessment of Ownership Culture

The OEOC can aid in team or company-wide assessments to help identify firms’ best practices and current needs in bringing about effective employee ownership and participation. Surveys and feedback may be used as tools for planning, understanding strengths and weaknesses, and as baseline data for periodic measurement of progress toward firms’ employee ownership and HR goals.

Employee Owner Education

These OEOC training services provide basic information and training geared to aid employee owners in developing an understanding of their ESOP and business.

ABC’s of ESOPs: Based on plan documents, ABC’s of ESOPs sessions can include the basics of ESOP mechanics; roles, rights, and responsibilities of employee owners; and exercises which reinforce basic ESOP concepts.

The ESOP Game: The OEOC's most popular training program, the ESOP Game takes participants through three years of a fictional ESOP Company. Participants make decisions on how to run the company (and learn its not so easy!); track the impact of their decisions (with simplified P&L and Valuation statements); and how they've impacted share price and the value of their ESOP accounts.

Team Effectiveness Training: While working as a team can be difficult, successful employee ownership requires teamwork and problem solving skills. Using team-based exercises, participants learn how to make group meetings positive experiences and apply problem solving approaches which will guarantee that every meeting gets results.

Financial Education - Understanding Terms, Concepts, and Financial Reports Employee owners should get basic financial information about the business they own. But do they understand it? The OEOC’s financial training program prepares employee owners by introducing commonly used financial terms and concepts. Participants also learn the basics of financial statements, and how to read their firm’s balance sheet, profit & loss, and cash flow statements. This is a one day program designed for all non-managerial employees to understand their business’ financial statements and to use them in decision making.

Understanding Financial Reports: A basic introduction to business financials. Participants

Customization: The OEOC can provide the above training through a series of "off-the-shelf" modules that are ready to go (see the Flat Rate Training Program below), but we can also provide the necessary customization, or create a program from scratch, if that better fits your needs. Contact Chris Cooper at oeoc@kent.edu or 330-672-3028 for more information.

Flat Rate Training Program

We’ve heard from our Network companies that it would be appreciated if we simplified the offerings, and the pricing, for our in-demand training programs. The good news is we’ve listened, and created our Flat Rate Training Program. We’ve created this option in order to allow you to pick from a slate of great training programs, that can be brought to your company for a simple flat rate. Learn more

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Multi-Company Training Programs - Through the OEOC's Employee Owned Network

Every year, the OEOC provides members of Ohio's Employee Owned Network with a slate of multi company training programs and events, these programs are geared towards company leaders, middle managers, and rank and file employees. While these programs are open to non-network members as well, joining Ohio's employee Owned Network provides significant discounts. Multi-company training programs include:

Network Webinar Series

Each year we run a number of webinars that hosted by the OEOC staff, fellow employee owners, and ESOP experts. The webinars cover a range of issues, relevant for those considering setting up an ESOP, new ESOP companies, and mature ESOPs. We also maintain a multi-year archive of past webinars that are available upon request.

Annual Ohio Employee Ownership Conference

For over 30 years the  OEOC hosts an annual conference that has hundreds of attendees and features a slew of topics relevant to employee-owners, management, and business owners interested in selling to their employees.

Southwest Employee Ownership Forum

With session on legal and technical and culture and communication issues, a mini-workshop on ESOP calendar of events, and roundtables for CEO/CFOs and HR professionals this one-day forum, held at the end of the year, is designed to review the past year, and plan for the one ahead.

CEO/CFO Round tables

C-Suite leaders of employee owned companies are encouraged to attend and engage one another in a frank and open ended discussion on the issues affecting your company. The agenda is open and determined by those in attendance.

Communication Check-ins and Roundtables

Our Check-ins and Roundtables are designed to convene a group of your peers to discuss your communications challenges and exchange ideas within an "open forum" structure with others working at employee-owned companies.

Certificate Program for Non-Professional ESOP Fiduciaries

One of the fundamental resources of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) movement is the large group of dedicated, well-intentioned people who agree to serve as trustees or other fiduciaries on behalf of their company’s ESOP. If you are one of those dedicated people, you have undoubtedly felt the concern that is inevitable when taking on that sort of responsibility. The Beyster Institute at UCSD has developed a special intensive education program to help relieve some of that concern – the Certificate Program for Non-Professional ESOP Fiduciaries. For two years the OEOC has partnered with the Beyster Institute to bring this well regarded program to Ohio.

ESOP Communication Committee Tune-up

Whether you are starting (or restarting) your ESOP Committee, or just looking to maximize the success of the one you have, this program will provide you with best practices, dos and don’ts, as well as an opportunity to network with communication committees from your fellow employee-owned companies. Attend for practical ideas to enhance your ownership culture and make your team more successful in 2020!

Ohio Employee Owner Retreat

These retreats offer an opportunity for non-managerial employees to experience of full program of ESOP education. This retreat is extremely helpful for non-managerial employees interested in becoming leaders, members of ESOP communication committees and those responsible for educating others at your company about your ESOP.

Questions?

Contact Chris Cooper at oeoc@kent.edu or 330-672-3028 for more information.