When you don't have the words

There is a rapid proliferation of companies identifying themselves as “proudly employee-owned” in the UK.

They display the following image:

The number of business transfers to employees has just reached 2,100, thanks to the Employee Ownership Trust mechanism. This represents over 150,000 employee owners, who in most cases own 100% of their company.

For the essential in Anglo-Saxon countries, employee share ownership is based on two pillars:

•  In one, "a small piece of the cake" is shared. This arrangement applies more to large listed companies. Employees are invited to buy a few company shares using their savings. So they take a financial risk.

•  In the other case, the entire cake is passed on to the employees. This arrangement applies more to SMEs. The company is sold to a trust created for the benefit of all employees. Employees don't invest a penny of their own money; they don't take any financial risk. The operation is financed by a loan that the employee-owners trust will repay, not through the employees' savings but through their work. In fact, in this arrangement, in addition to the “salary” part produced by their work, employee-owners also benefit from the “profit” part, enabling them to repay the loan. This arrangement therefore represents the most complete way of redistributing value through employee share ownership.

To designate these two differently defined systems, Anglo-Saxons have coined two distinct expressions. So “employee share ownership” for the small part of the cake becomes “employee ownership” for the whole cake, hence “employee-owned” for employee-owned companies.

“Employee share ownership - employee ownership”, is a play on words. Like all word games, this one has a magical quality. Unfortunately, like most puns, it's also untranslatable. So in French, as in most other European languages (with two exceptions), we have only one expression to refer to the whole: it's “actionnariat salarié” for the small part of the cake, and it's “actionnariat salarié” again for the whole cake.

When you lack the words, you lack the concepts, and you can overlook a reality without understanding or even seeing it. This is the tragedy that most European countries are still experiencing today. The model that revolves around the small piece of cake is fairly well understood. On the other hand, the model where the driving force is the whole cake is either ignored or not understood at all.

To aid understanding, here's a short glossary of the employee ownership practice that continental Europe is struggling to introduce:

Employee-owned company – Entreprise détenue par les salariés - Empresa propiedad de sus empleados – MitarbeiterUnternehmen - Azienda di proprietŕ dei dipendenti - Zaměstnanci vlastněná společnost - Munkavállalói tulajdonú vállalat - Spolka Pracownicza – Werknemersbedrijf  - Personalägt företag - Ansatteeid selskap - Medarbejderejet virksomhed - Podjetje v lasti zaposlenih - Työntekijän omistama yritys - Töötajatele kuuluv ettevőte - Darbiniekam piederošs uzņēmums - Darbuotojui priklausan

Marc Mathieu
Secretary General
EFES - EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP
FEAS - FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DE L'ACTIONNARIAT SALARIE
Avenue Voltaire 135, B-1030 Brussels
Tel: +32 (0)2 242 64 30 - Fax: +32 (0)2 791 96 00
E-mail: efes@efesonline.org
Web site: www.efesonline.org
EFES' objective is to act as the umbrella organization of employee owners, companies and all persons, trade unions, experts, researchers, institutions looking to promote employee share ownership and participation in Europe.