Kindred Group kicks off new employee share incentive plan

Kindred Group has kickstarted a new three-year performance-related share incentive plan (AESP) which gives employees shares in the business subject to its performance. The compulsory scheme will be made available to all permanent employees, apart from Kindred’s executive management team. Shares will be awarded to employees based on the performance of the Stockholm-listed operator’s EBITDA, with the size of the vested amount varying depending on the threshold performance acheived. A partial award of shares will be made if the company hits the minimum threshold required, rising to a full award of shares if the maximum EBITDA threshold is reached. Shares awarded in a previous AESP run by the firm between 2017-2021 rose in value by 70%. “Its all about keeping our employees engaged with the running of the business,” Kindred Group chief human resources officer Gavin Hayward told EGR. “We prefer that approach to a cash bonus. With those sorts of bonuses, you tend to see a drop off in employees after the bonus is awarded, because people will wait for the bonus and then start looking for another job. “A share incentive scheme is obviously geared to retention of these employees through engagement. In our previous scheme, more than 75% of our employees who were awarded shares have retained them, so they will now get dividends on that investment,” Hayward added. In its Q1 2021 financial results, Kindred reported a 131% year-on-year rise in company underlying EBITDA to £98m.