Stocks viable options for staff mm op beurs WHAT'S NewS Nummer 4 August 1995 working relations 9 LINES FOR IMPROVEMENT lr)bviously, surveys of this kind are only useful if you can do something positive with them. The project team has come up with a cluster of proposals designed to help us all improve phone efficiency. 'One of our priorities is to inform people how to use the functions on their phones. So we'11 be sending out a kind of mini- manual to help them get the best out of their extension,' says Prevoo. 'But we also want to encourage the use of voice- mail and E-mail. This would reduce the number of many internal calls. We make so many, and when you're talking to a co-worker, you're unavailable for a cliënt.' Internal communication in the form of letting people know where you are is partly a question of training. 'We're currently setting up Communications courses for account managers,' Prevoo adds, 'and in future all new staff will fol- low similar courses. Other proposals in- clude equipping account managers with mobile phones that have a voice-mail function. And we'11 be issuing people who need them with security codes for after-hours international phone calls.' SELF-HELP The team's proposals are all practical and can be introduced quite easily. But there is a lot that we can do as individuals to im prove how callers are treated. We can all try and train ourselves to answer the phone properly, giving the caller the infor- mation he or she needs about who they have reached. And remembering to teil co- workers where you are going is no more than another aspect of helping them to help you do your job as efficiently as possible. Rabobank's increasing role in stock flotations was reinforced recently by its co-lead position in the Vendex issue in June this year. Part of the package requested by the major Dutch retail group was a way to give personnel a 'present' to mark the occasion.The competition was creative, but in the end it was the corporate finance team working on the issue which came up with the right 'gift'. Dominique Bech talks us through the package. 'When they go public,' Bech says, 'a lot of companies want to do something extra for their staff. One option is precisely that - a stock option. When the Vendex flotation came up, we decided to include this type of arrangement as part of our offer. You know, when you're involved with a flo tation, then you're in touch with the com- pany over a fairly long period of time. A otation doesn't happen overnight. We ad already had discussions with Vendex on staff stock options at a very early stage. But we weren't the only ones, of course. The competition, in this case ABN Amro and ING, were also trying to sell this idea.' KEEPING IT SIMPLE Clearly, what it comes down to in the end is the best idea at the best possible price. 'We didn't hear until a very, very late stage that Vendex had decided to use us to put together the type of staff package they wanted. In the first instance, we had come STOCK OPTION TERMS Stock option: the right, but not the obli- gation, to buy a share at a fixed price during ^Ba particular period. Convertible: a bond that gives you the right to exchange it for a given number of shares or stock anytime up to and induding the maturity date of the bond. up with a proposal involving the use of staff savings plans and prefinance to fund the stocks for personnel. The cliënt was worried that a lot of people in the organiz- ation wouldn't understand this type of construction. I think they were probably right.' CLEAR OPTIONS Vendex finally decided on a package of choices for long-term employees. Staff were able to choose between a gift voucher that could be used in a wide variety of stores or take an option on stock. 'We were called in on a Friday,' Bech recalls, 'and asked to work with Ven dex people on putting together a brochure to explain the choices on offer. It had to be straightforward, concise and above all easily accessible to a group which prob ably has no knowledge whatsoever of stock and shares. The brochure had to be distributed by the next Thursday. I can teil you that was one busy weekend.' Another aspect of the package was the tax position. In the Netherlands, companies are allowed to give tax-exempt 'presents' to staff at holiday times, such as Christ- mas and Easter. 'We were fortunate in that the flotation coincided almost exactly with the Whitsun holiday,' says Bech. That meant people would not have to pay tax on the "gift". Just over 30 percent of eligible staff ultimately choose the stock option, which according to Bech is slightly over the usual maximum. 'We have com- parable figures from other staff stock op tion plans and they show that 20 to 30 percent tends to be the norm, so everyone concerned thinks this is a pretty good result.' This is not the first time a corporate finance team has been involved in this type of package for personnel. But the suc- cess of the Vendex plan means they will be offered to clients more frequently in the future. 'We're actually discussing similar proposals with already quoted companies because I don't think this type of service is limited to flotations. And it's also an op tion for companies who are not going public in the very near future. We can al- ways suggest something like: "Why not let us do a convertible for you staff..." I'm sure there'd be takers.' VENDEX-PERSONEEL ACTIEF Een optie hebben op aandelen in je eigen be drijf, voor personeel van Vendex International is dat nu mogelijk.Ter gelegenheid van de re cente beursgang van Vendex International is door de Rabobank een aantrekkelijk aandelen- optieplan samengesteld voor personeelsleden van Vendex. Veel medewerkers van Vendex toonden interesse voor de optie.

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blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1995 | | pagina 9