Thinking About Staff Incentives? How an EMI Share Option Scheme Can Help Grow Your Business Value (😀 + 📈 = 🔥)
Every founder gets there at some point: You’ve got great people, but you’re struggling to keep them.
Maybe your competitors are poaching your best employees. Maybe you can’t afford to hand out massive pay rises. Maybe you’re worried that without real skin in the game, your top team won’t stick around long-term.
The Story: Retention Crisis at EcoGrowth
Meet EcoGrowth, a fast-growing sustainable packaging company. They were crushing it in sales but kept losing key talent. Their head of sales, Jamie, had just handed in his notice—offered £20K more by a competitor.
Hiring a replacement would take months and cost them at least £50K in lost revenue. They needed a way to keep key employees without bleeding cash.
Enter: The EMI Share Option Scheme
A Fractional CFO would’ve stepped in with:
🔹 A Smart EMI Plan That Aligns Incentives with Growth – Instead of just throwing money at the problem, the CFO would:
✔ Design an EMI share option scheme, so employees benefit as the company grows.
✔ Structure it tax-efficiently, so the team gets more value from shares than they would from cash.
✔ Ensure shares vest over time, locking in long-term commitment.
🔹 Explaining the Real Value to Employees – Most people don’t understand share options (let’s be honest). The CFO would:
✔ Sit down with Jamie, explaining how his £20K salary increase pales in comparison to the £250K his shares could be worth in 3 years.
✔ Help employees see how their hard work translates to personal financial gain.
✔ Align rewards with performance—no free handouts, just real incentives to drive growth.
