Everything you need to be successfully employee owned
Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) bring change to your business, but they don’t come with clear or simple instructions. Our EO Training Centre helps you access best practice learning and nationally-recognised training to get the most from your EOT model.
We deliver training courses for the sector’s national trade body the EOA.
Our training is designed and delivered by our MD Campbell McDonald and draws on best practice learning and insights from 17 years working in the EO sector.
Campbell also designed and led the sector’s largest ever research project, the 2023 EO Knowledge Programme in his role as Chief Executive of independent think tank Ownership at Work.
How can you improve your EO performance?
Training for EOT Trustees
Every EOT-owned business needs confident, capable Trustees. We deliver nationally-recognised training to provide the knowledge and skills needed for these specialist roles.
Show me moreBe an impactful independent EOT Trustee
This course is designed for anyone who wants to become an effective independent EOT Trustee. We run this course for the EOA and it is jointly led with Sue Lawrence from Independent Trustees and Directors.
Show me moreEO training for leaders and senior managers
The most significant driver of successful EO is how a leadership team makes ownership real in the business. Our training provides a senior managers’ toolkit to improve EO performance.
Show me moreYears 1-2: Laying EOT foundations
Bring your EOT model life: we help you set realistic expectations, establish an ownership rhythm, share information and influence effectively, build owner mindset and design your EOT bonus.
Show me moreTake our EOT MOT
We apply an established EO performance measurement framework to assess your EO strengths and weaknesses and offer best practice insights on how to drive EO improvements.
Show me moreHappy Trust, happy Board: EOT governance masterclass
It is vital your Trustees and Operating Board work well together. We support both groups by testing joint decision-making, sharing best practice and establishing common expectations and effective behaviours.
Show me moreTraining for EOT Trustees
Every EOT-owned business needs confident, capable Trustees. We deliver nationally-recognised training to provide the knowledge and skills needed for these specialist roles.
We cover all the core knowledge and skills needed to be effective in an EOT Trustee role in a 5-hour, same-day course, including:
- Role of the Trust on paper and in practice
- Legal duties and liabilities
- Governance best practice and effective decision-making
- Carrying out Board oversight
- Representation and employee voice
- Deciding on dividend distribution
- Trust role in supporting a high-performing EO business
- Demands on different Trustee types (employee, management, selling owner)
The course is aimed at anyone wanting to enhance their EOT Trustee confidence and capability. On completing this course you will have the technical knowledge this role requires, understand governance best practice in the sector and be armed with a range of practical, applicable insights.
We run courses quarterly through the year and typically with groups of at least four, meaning you will also be able to build your EOT Trustee network.
Find out datesBe an impactful Independent EOT Trustee
This course is aimed at anyone who is or intends to take up the role of an Independent EOT Trustee Director.
We deliver this course in partnership with Independent Trustees and Directors and on behalf of the sector’s national trade body the employee ownership association (eoa).
Maximise your impact and strengthen your understanding of the difference an effective Independent Trustee can bring to an EOT board. You will take away:
- Key knowledge, skills, and behaviours of an effective Independent Trustee
- Your role in supporting the wider Trustee group
- How to adapt to business maturity, time in EO and likely governance scenarios
- Improved ability to draw on EOT governance best practice from across the sector
Courses only run 2-3 times a year and are popular, supporting you to build your own Independent Trustee network.
Book a place nowEO training for leaders and senior managers
The most significant driver of successful EO is how a leadership team makes ownership real in the business. Our training provides senior managers with a toolkit to improve EO performance.
EO can drive team motivation and improved company performance, but it doesn’t happen automatically. This training is intended for operational leaders and senior managers in EO businesses of any size and no matter how long you have been EO. We deliver this training exclusively for your senior team and can tailor content and learning goals to help you address any specific challenges you identify.
We help leaders and senior managers understand:
- how EO can drive company performance
- understand clearly what your role is in turning EO into business success
- what areas of operational activity to focus on: including owner mindset and behaviours, EO culture and engagement, EO business strategy, EO-driven innovation, delivering owner benefits and measuring EO success
- what best practice looks like across the sector
This training is intended for operational leaders and senior managers in EO businesses of any size and no matter how long you have been EO.
We deliver a Bitesize version of this training on behalf of the sector’s national trade body, the employee ownership association (eoa). Called Senior Manager’s Toolkit: Boost Business Performance with EO, this is open to attendees from multiple firms.
Book a place nowYears 1-2: Laying EOT foundations
We work with the whole business to bring your vision for EOT ownership to life.
Your first two years after introducing an EOT are critical. In this period, there is the highest risk of disruption to the business and most colleagues will decide whether employee ownership is meaningful to them or not.
We ensure the Board, Trustees and senior management team have a shared understanding of what change the EOT will bring, what the benefits of EO will be and a clear plan for how and when those can be achieved.
We deliver this training exclusively for your business and can tailor content and learning goals to help you address any specific challenges you identify, including:
- Setting realistic and shared expectations
- Establishing an ownership rhythm to complement your operating rhythm
- Sharing information and influence effectively
- Establishing effective voice and representation (including Employee Councils)
- Designing your first EOT bonus for maximum impact
- Supporting your wider team to develop an owner mindset
Take our EOT MOT
How healthy is your EOT business? Are you struggling to see all the benefits and behaviours you expected? Could your ownership culture do with an injection of energy and fresh ideas?
We apply an established EO performance measurement framework to assess your EO strengths and weaknesses and offer best practice insights on how to drive EO improvements, including across the following areas:
- EO as a driver of business performance
- Employee owner mindset, motivation and behaviours
- Sharing information, influence and reward
- Your unique EO culture
- Trustees, Board and effective EOT governance
- The EO difference for customers
We deliver this exclusively for your business and can tailor content and learning goals to help you address any specific challenges you identify.
Let’s speakHappy Trust, happy Board: EOT governance masterclass
It is vital your Trustees and Operating Board work well together. Effective oversight will help drive business success, whereas friction between these groups puts performance at risk.
We offer learning support built on excellent governance practice from across the EO sector. We deliver training to your Trustees and your Operating Board separately and together:
With each group, we share best practice learning on joint decision-making in EOT-owned businesses and frameworks for effective behaviours.
- We listen to different perspectives on strengths, weaknesses and specific challenges.
- With the groups together, we agree an inform-consult-approve framework, use that to resolve specific issues and role-play critical scenarios to establish common expectations on future support and challenge.
- We deliver this exclusively for your business and can tailor content and learning goals to help you address any specific challenges you identify.
