Willem Beeby, Manager Growth and Innovation at TEBA

Employee share ownership trusts were created for a clear purpose: translate value creation into shared value for employees, while strengthening delivery against ESG and B-BBEE commitments. Yet for many large schemes, the hardest part is not establishing the trust – it is sustaining an accurate, two-way connection with members over time. When members cannot be reached, cannot understand their options, or cannot act on their rights, the scheme risks falling short of its mandate and undermining the very purpose for which it was created – to provide employees with a meaningful share in the business.

In our work with employee ownership schemes, we repeatedly see the same pattern: the longer a trust runs, the more complex the administration becomes including :

• Incomplete and outdated member information
• High employee turnover, and misalignment with HR processes, leading to lost contact with members
• Wide geographical distribution of employees and their beneficiaries, including those in foreign countries and remote rural areas
• Difficulties in tracing employees and their beneficiaries
• Varying literacy levels among beneficiaries
• Processes not designed to serve individuals who are semi-literate or have limited access to technology

In 2025, TEBA was given an interesting challenge to assist a large Mining based ESOP linked to one of TEBA’s multinational clients, reconnect with its members and fulfil its mandate.

To achieve the objective of the Trust, TEBA designed the programme around four practical outcomes:

• Re-establishing contact with members and their beneficiaries though practical communication and accessible service points
• Updating critical member information
• Providing access to easy to use services that enable members to exercise their choices regarding share allocations, including options for reinvestment and sales and
• Integrate physical solutions with digital ones – enabling access regardless of literacy levels

In a matter of weeks, the programme supported more than 23,000 individuals to make informed elections directly on the administration platform. Where members needed help, they were assisted in-person through staffed service points using mobile devices and trained agents, and could also access support through TEBA’s national footprint.

Key lessons learnt

• Member data is a strategic asset, not an admin by-product. If the scheme cannot reliably identify, contact and validate members and beneficiaries, every downstream process (elections, distributions, governance and reporting) weakens.
  • HR information systems aligned with ESOP admin is not a negotiable – it’s a must
  • Organised labour must be part of the solution in communicating to members the importance of updated information and entitlements

• Design for real-world access. Schemes must accommodate varying literacy levels, limited connectivity, limited digital literacy, shared devices and language preferences – without compromising security and auditability.

• Meet members where they are – physically and digitally. A blended channel approach (local service points, mobile support and assisted self-service) materially improves reach and completion rates.

• Reconnection should be treated as an ongoing capability. High turnover and geographic dispersion mean contact details degrade quickly; regular refresh cycles and event-driven updates prevent the next “lost member” wave.

• Partnership matters. Alignment between trustee governance, employer stakeholders and the service partner accelerates delivery and ensures the approach remains member-centric while meeting compliance requirements.

For ESOPs under pressure to demonstrate tangible, member-level impact, the message is clear: reconnection is not optional – it is foundational.

ENDS