HealthStream CEO rewards employees with personal shares
More than $2.25 million of personally owned shares will be available to staff.
Why You Should Care
Have you ever thought of giving millions in stock to staff?
The CEO of HealthStream just has, find out why.
Compensation and benefits are important at a time when people are reconsidering what they want from work.
In efforts to bolster offerings and retain employees, many have offered improved stock options. However, few CEOs have taken this issue into their own hands like Robert A. Frist Jr., CEO of medical workforce solution company HealthStream.
Frist has decided to give his personal shares to help benefit employees and it is a substantial sum.
Donating stock to staff
The CEO contributed roughly $2.25 million of his personally owned shares of HealthStream common stock. This amount is equivalent to 86,494 shares.
This is already a large number of shares that will become available to staff, but it has been doubled as HealthStream has approved a grant of that same number of shares under its 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
Over 1,000 employees will be eligible to buy stock and this excludes executives, vice presidents, or associate vice presidents. This is because senior staff periodically receive equity grants in the company’s stock incentive plan.
Speaking about the decision to make this stock available and use his personal assets, Frist commented: “Since its founding as a two-person tech start-up over 30 years ago, HealthStream has grown into an industry-leading, innovative public company that is improving the quality of healthcare by developing the people who deliver care—and our employees have made this happen.
“I am excited to make this contribution to allow our employees, many of whom have not previously participated in our equity programs, to become owners in the company that they helped to build and join all of our stakeholders in the future success of HealthStream”
The sharing of the stock will not lead to dilution of the stock for shareholders (bar Frist of course). In terms of the administrative costs of the exchange, Frist has covered this by giving an additional 7,113 shares (valued at approximately $185,000).
Unpacking the reason for this decision further, Frist said: “I am humbled by our employees’ visionary drive and hard work to make a difference in healthcare, particularly during the last 21 months in their relentless support of the healthcare workforce through the extraordinary challenges brought on by COVID-19.
“For those that have been on this journey with me over the months and years, I want to recognize their service with this expression of my appreciation.
Undoubtedly, employees will be glad to have greater stock options as a result of their hard work and this kind of display of appreciation can be an effective way to retain staff and boost morale.
In fact, Forbes council member Jill Hauwiller wrote that displays of gratitude “isn’t a new concept. but it needs to be a priority now because it can be a countermeasure to burnout when paired with other workplace attributes that employees value.”
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Senior Journalist
Dan combines his first-hand experience alongside the latest news and opinions in the HR Technology space.
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