Opinion: The little-used way gives employees ownership of their work, which is a win-win for them and employers

By James Bennewitz For more than 33 years, I worked in the semiconductor industry. Then, as happened to many others in my field, my job went overseas. I did not. Starting a new career after more than three decades in one industry was both exciting and daunting. It eventually led me away from tech to finance when my most appealing offer came from Cornerstone, a local asset management company, scaling for growth. I joined in 2015 to help improve decision-making and operations. Soon after I arrived, I was invited into conversations about a major transition. In 2016, Cornerstone's shareholders transferred the ownership of the firm to its employees through an employee stock ownership plan. An ESOP is a retirement plan that holds company shares for the benefit of its employees. It allows workers to build wealth as the company grows, generally without having to contribute money from their own paychecks. When people ask how I learned about ESOPs, my answer is simple: by living through one. My education was not academic. I watched a company I had just joined change in real time. The cultural change came first, my understanding of the mechanics came later. 'What does this actually mean for me?' is a question every employee-owner eventually asks. But the larger meaning became clear to me almost immediately: My work was helping to build an asset that we owned together, and the value we created would ultimately be reflected in our accounts. A decade later, I have learned that employee ownership can be transformational, not only for employees and their families, but also for communities like the Lehigh Valley. To me, being an employee-owner means owning a piece of a collective working to create value. There are two sides to that ownership. The first is reward. When the company succeeds, employee-owners share directly in the wealth it creates. The second is responsibility. As owners, we are responsible for helping create that value. I do not want to let my fellow owners down, so I try to contribute wherever I can. The collective benefits from my efforts just as I benefit from theirs. That shared responsibility changes how people work. When everyone has an ownership stake, people are aligned around a common outcome. They step in where needed, even outside their usual responsibilities. They favor long-term decisions because the business is not being managed to meet an outside investor's quarterly target. I saw that connection take hold for one of our newer employee-owners. At first, he did not fully grasp the ESOP. He appreciated the culture and saw how colleagues supported one another, but ownership still felt abstract. Then he received his first ESOP account statement. He told me that everything changed in that moment. Ownership was no longer just an idea. He could see that when employee-owners improved the business, they were also building value for themselves and their colleagues. At a time when workers' share of our country's economic output is at its lowest point since 1947, employee ownership offers a different model. It gives workers a direct stake in the wealth they help create. At Cornerstone, we see that dynamic every day. Ownership encourages engagement. Engagement drives improvement. Improvement creates value. And that value flows back to the employee-owners. It is a virtuous cycle. That owner's perspective also shapes how we approach change. Some people are understandably concerned about what artificial intelligence and other new technologies could mean for workers. As employee-owners, we tend to see these tools not as threats, but as opportunities to serve clients and one another better. Our focus is not replacing the people who create our value. It is learning how technology can help them work more effectively, make better decisions and provide even better service. Even as we adapt to changes in the world, we remain committed to Bethlehem and continue to grow the business. Our goal is to create opportunities so future employee-owners can have the same chance to build financial security that I have had. The ESOP has allowed me to build retirement wealth through my work without requiring me to defer part of my income. As I think about retiring in the coming years, my ESOP account has given my family and me far more financial freedom. It has changed what I thought retirement could look like. Despite decades of research showing that ESOPs can help build workers' wealth and stronger companies, there are only 302 in Pennsylvania. That means far too few Pennsylvania workers can earn a direct stake in the businesses they help build. The Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership is working to educate business owners about employee ownership and its benefits. The Expanding ESOPs coalition, which includes more than 100 organizations, is also building support for growing employee ownership in Pennsylvania and beyond. Labor Day is the perfect opportunity to commit to a brighter future for Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania. By making more workers employee-owners, we can grow businesses that invest back into our home state and give everyday people a share in the wealth their hard work creates. This is a contributed opinion column. James Bennewitz is director of operational excellence and a principal at Cornerstone Benefits Inc. in Bethlehem. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at themorningcall.com/opinions.