Topic Guides / Employee Ownership

Employee Ownership

How can employee ownership help achieve your job quality goals?

Employee ownership is a pathway to improving jobs, by building workers’ wealth and increasing their decision making power in the workplace.

Employee ownership, including employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), employee owned trusts (EOTs), and worker cooperatives, offers a pathway to an economy in which workers share in the profits of their labor. In addition to supporting higher job quality for workers, a large body of research shows employee-owned companies have greater resilience, higher employee productivity, and less turnover. As millions of owners prepare to retire and sell their business, interest in employee ownership is growing due to its potential to improve job quality and drive business performance.

The following tools are intended to help users gain a broad understanding of employee ownership, become familiar with the steps involved in employee-owned startups and conversions, learn about how companies can build a strong ownership culture, and help users identify opportunities to support ownership at their organization.

How Employee Ownership Helps Achieve Your Job Quality Goals

Not sure how to get started? Our featured Employee Ownership resources can help guide your experience.

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Employee Ownership for Closely Held (Private) Companies

Featured resource: This 2021 resource from the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) gives an at-a-glance overview and introduction of four popular models of employee ownership: ESOPs, EOTs, worker cooperatives, and equity grants.

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Employee Ownership Online Education Program

Feature resource: This online educational program from the Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations is designed to help minority and female business owners learn about employee ownership strategies for business succession planning, focusing on ESOPs and worker cooperatives.

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A building with a sign that reads 'Silver Spring ACE Hardware' and a banner that reads 'A few cool employee-owned hardware stores. Employee-owned since 2021.'

Retooling for Employee Ownership

Feature resource: This 2022 case study of employee owned company A Few Cool Hardware Stores, written by the Aspen Economic Opportunities Program, is a helpful introduction to how and why a company may choose employee ownership and the ESOP model.

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Employee Ownership Ideas Forum 2024

Feature resource: Watch recordings from the 2024 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, which convenes the employee ownership field. This year’s theme focused on city, local, and state efforts to expand employee ownership. The Employee Ownership Ideas Forum is a partnership between the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Programa nd the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

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Resources