Why Every Employee Ownership Company Needs a Jargon Buster (And Here's One to Get You Started!)

Employee ownership is transformative. It changes how people think about their work, their colleagues, and their future. But there's a problem: the language of equity, shares, and financial instruments can feel like it's designed to keep people out rather than bring them in.

When someone joins your employee-owned company, they're not just getting a job—they're becoming an owner. Yet if they can't understand what "vesting schedule" means, or why "EBITDA multiples" matter to their future, they're owners in name only.

The Hidden Cost of Jargon

We've all been in meetings where financial terms fly around like confetti. You nod along, not wanting to look uninformed. You tell yourself you'll Google it later. But you don't. And slowly, something that should feel exciting and empowering starts to feel exclusive and confusing.

This isn't just an inconvenience. When employees don't understand their ownership stake, several things happen:

Disengagement creeps in. If people can't connect their daily work to their equity benefits, the ownership model loses its motivational power. It becomes just another perk they don't really understand, filed away mentally next to pension contributions and critical illness cover.

Decision-making suffers. Employees can't make informed choices about their options if they don't understand what exercising shares means, how vesting works, or what happens in an exit event. They might miss opportunities or make choices they later regret.

Culture divides emerge. When only the financially literate few understand the ownership structure, you've accidentally created an in-group and an out-group. The very model designed to create equality starts to feel hierarchical.

The ownership story goes untold. Your employee ownership model is probably one of the most interesting things about your company. But if people can't explain it confidently to friends, family, or potential recruits, you're missing out on a powerful culture and recruitment story.

Making Ownership Accessible

A jargon buster is more than a glossary. It's a statement of intent. It says: "We want everyone to understand this, not just the people who already speak finance."

The best jargon busters share a few characteristics. They use plain English, replacing technical definitions with relatable analogies. Instead of "equity represents proportional ownership in an enterprise," try "your slice of ownership in the company—like owning a piece of a pizza."

They explain the "why," not just the "what."

It's not enough to define EBITDA; explain why it matters to someone's equity value.

It’s good to be honest about complexity where it exists. Some concepts genuinely are complicated, and that's okay to acknowledge. What matters is making them as clear as possible. Most importantly, they connect to real employee experiences. The best explanations reference situations people actually encounter, such as how much they might receive or what happens if they leave the company.

Getting Started: A Template for Your Company

We've created a comprehensive jargon buster template that covers the most common employee ownership terms. It's written in plain English, uses everyday analogies, and focuses on what employees actually need to know.

You can download it, customise it for your company's specific schemes, and share it with your team. Add it to your onboarding materials. Reference it in your all-hands presentations. Put it in your Slack workspace. Make it as accessible as possible.

👉 Download the Employee Ownership Jargon Buster Template

Beyond the Glossary

Creating a jargon buster is an excellent first step, but the work doesn't stop there. Here are a few ways to embed clearer communication into your culture:

Review your internal communications. Every time you send an email or create a presentation about ownership, equity, or financial performance, ask yourself: Would someone without a finance background understand this?

Create champions. Identify people across different teams who can explain ownership concepts well and empower them to help their colleagues. Not everyone will read the jargon buster, but they might ask a trusted teammate.

Make it part of onboarding. Don't wait for people to stumble across confusing terms. Build equity education into your onboarding process from day one.

Keep it updated. As your ownership structure evolves, so should your jargon buster. Make someone responsible for keeping it current.

Encourage questions. Create safe spaces—whether that's dedicated Slack channels, office hours, or regular Q&A sessions—where people can ask "stupid questions" about ownership without judgment.

The Bigger Picture

Employee ownership is growing in the UK, and that's genuinely exciting. It's a model that can transform working lives, build wealth more equitably, and create companies that people feel proud to be part of.

But if we're going to make employee ownership truly accessible, we need to make the language accessible too. A jargon buster might seem like a small thing, but it's a statement about the kind of culture you're building—one where everyone is genuinely included, not just theoretically.

Because at the end of the day, if your employees don't understand their ownership, they don't really own anything at all.

Ready to demystify employee ownership in your company? Download our free jargon buster template and start making equity accessible to everyone on your team.