They feel if the employees own the company, they're more interested in doing a better job for the customer - they'll work harder and be more attentive to the customer's needs. SAIC's ownership philosophy enables the company to recruit and retain people with national reputations for being the best in their industry. Those who help build the company should own it and in proportion to their contribution to the company's growth and success. In many cases, people have turned down much higher salaries and near-term remuneration to come to SAIC, gain an ownership stake and build a business area. One constant challenge for the company is involving its 22,000 employees in a meaningful way.
Participation is extremely important.
If you don't allow the employees to participate, then the equity ownership is not going to be as effective as it could be. After all, he had been the sole owner of Stellcom Technologies, a software engineering firm, for 12 years. It took me 12 years to do it, but philosophically, I've always felt that sharing stock was the right thing to do. It's the right way to get your employees to feel and act like owners and take responsibility for where the company is going. After a year of fact finding and talking with other CEOs who had been in his shoes, Mark's concerns were laid to rest.