An Employee Owned company is one where each employee shares in the success and achievements of the company. Our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) allows Miklos to deposit company stock into a plan so that employees own a part of the company. At Miklos, Employee Ownership is part of our overall benefits package and drives our non-competitive and collaborative culture.

For more information, see these resources:

• A quick video about the benefits of employee ownership, and
• Our employee ownership Infographic.

Miklos believes those who contribute their energies to the company should benefit directly from its success. All Miklos employees are eligible to participate in Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The plan is designed to:

• Demonstrate our long-term commitment to our employees
• Motivate our employees to help the company and each other
• Enable our team-oriented, non-competitive corporate culture
• Provide potentially significant long-term savings for retirement
• Encourage employee retention
• Enable new employee recruiting

Being employee-owned creates a direct link between company interests and employee interests. At Miklos, all our employees are owners, not just a few. To support our employee-owners making the right decisions, we practice “open books management.” This practice is used to inform and educate our employees about the company’s financial status, the impact of their performance, and our future plans. Our consensus-seeking culture encourages open discussions of questions and issues facing our employees and the company. Our management team is always available to our employees if they need assistance with any issue.

IT’S FREE! At Miklos, the ESOP has no direct cost to the employee and all MSI employees are eligible to participate. This allows everyone to share in the growth of our company, to gain a beneficial interest in the stock of our company, and to accumulate funds for retirement.

Each year our employee owners receive shares of MSI stock and/or cash in their ESOP account, based on their compensation and length of company service. The 401(k) match is also given in the form of shares of MSI stock and/or cash. The benefit each employee ultimately receives from the ESOP depends both on the company’s success and on each employee’s length of employment with MSI. Our four year vesting schedule is designed to reward long-term company employment.

We note that our plan is a tax qualified benefit plan and any growth in its value is tax-deferred until retirement.

So you may be thinking “that sounds great, but does anyone actually like being a member of an ESOP?” Read what some current employees had to say:

• As an employee-owner, we are not only invested in the success and achievements of ourselves, but also the success and achievements of our coworkers. Without the success of “we,” there is no success for “me”.
• I feel a camaraderie… definitely different from other places I’ve worked.
• Being a part-owner, especially in a company with a flat corporate structure, means I always trust my coworkers to put in 100% and do what is in the company’s best interest.
• MSI’s ESOP is set up to also value the contribution of part-timers. An employee-owner does not have to work many, many hours in a year to be able to contribute.
• The company feels like more of a cohesive team, even though we work at different sites for different customers.

Certified Employee-Owned® ensures that Miklos has met rigorous independent standards of significant and broad-based employee ownership. In fact, just 0.5% of companies are eligible for this designation. It means that not only are we sharing the ownership of the company with all of our employees, but that we practice our employee-ownership model. This approach provides open-book reporting and regular discussions of the company’s business and finances. We firmly believe that every employee should have insight, input, and influence in the company’s current and future direction.  To learn more, please visit www.certifiedeo.com.

Certified Evergreen businesses are built to be profitable, enduring, and market-leading businesses that make a dent in the universe. Evergreen businesses put their people first and avoid raising capital that puts money before mission and imposes a growth-at-all-costs or exit-oriented mindset. They measure success by how well they deliver on their mission and they embody the Evergreen 7Ps: Purpose, Perseverance, People First, Private, Profit, Paced Growth and Pragmatic Innovation. Learn more at Tugboat Institute.