We sat down with Sue O’Brien, Senior Manager, NSW Team to have a chat about what it’s like working at Link Group and with the Equity Plan Solutions team.
Tell us about your role?
I was appointed Senior Manager of the NSW team in January 2022 and manage an experienced group of Client Relationship Managers who all bring something different to the team.
We manage the Share Plans for diverse range of listed and unlisted clients covering a variety of different equity plans.
Prior to joining Link I work with Woolworths Group in the Secretariat team, managing the share registry and employee plans relationship. This provided me with a deeper understanding of clients internal processes, pressure points and allows me to view activities/ deliverables through a different lens.
What does your day to day looks like?
Ensuring that the team has everything they need to provide exceptional service to our clients and investors is front of mind for me. If that’s not working, then our service levels can’t be top notch and SLAs can’t be met.
Daily catch ups with set agendas each week ensure that no deliverable is missed and collaboration on a variety of topics that is aimed to improve process and service.
At certain times of the year, we have focus sessions (e.g. ATO reporting, year-end reporting, offers) to allow cross sharing of information on how different clients have managed communications. This allows the team to provide our clients insights into communication strategies that work well.
I am very focused on pre-planning and like the team to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to upcoming client activities. When it comes to partnering with our clients, we really see ourselves as an extension of their team.
What do you find exciting about Employee Share Plans?
Implementing a plan that fits with the client’s purpose is what we like to achieve. Some clients include us in the design and others just like us to implement. Either way, one part that I really enjoy is creating engaging communications and feel great satisfaction when I review analytics that show how many employees open a broadcast, click on the links and then accept an offer!
A lot of pre-planning goes into ways in which we can ensure that employees not only receive an email but then open and act on it. Providing clear instructions and information on how they can be a part of the company, via their equity awards can provide employees with a different focus on the roles they play in their day to day.
Demonstrating the use of microsites as another tool to engage employees is another area, I find exciting. There are so many ways to present the content of a share plan and a microsite is becoming one of the more popular ways to do this.
I love the fact that Link Group can provide an end-to-end service for implementing an Employee Share Plan such as plan valuations, TSR calculations (if required), trustee services and all reporting just provides our clients with a ‘one stop shop’ for everything relating to Employee Share Plans
What would you advise any client implementing a new plan?
Don’t rush it! Set up an offer project timeline and give participants time to review the offer (2-3 weeks). Engage Link Group early – that’s what we are here for!
Create engaging communication, multiple channels, reminders, town hall sessions. We host many sessions for clients either in person, via Zoom or Microsoft teams calls. These are interactive sessions that allow employees to ask questions.
If you are looking at an opt-in offers, our Investor Centre removes the need for paper-based offer and acceptance. This can all be managed online.