Employee equity plans are a living thing and need to evolve – and when it comes to ensuring your stock plan is on the right track for the year ahead, there’s no time like the present.
Whether your stock plan is global or still scaling, your employees, the internal teams who provide them with incentives and your partners can benefit from the moment of reflection that a new year provides.
Here are some places to get started in 2026:
1. Revise your financial education
For many stock plan admins, providing financial education to your population can be painful and time-consuming. Ensure the materials you have are working hard for you by getting employee feedback, assessing your teams’ process for delivering it, and brainstorming some new approaches. Spend the hours now to save time throughout the year.
2. Assess your tech stack
A new financial year is a good time to stress-test your suppliers. Evaluate your current tools to ensure they meet your needs and streamline processes. Consider investing in new software that offers better integration and user experience. Book annual review and half year meetings with your suppliers and ask the hard questions: are they innovating fast enough? Do they suit your needs? How can they work harder for you over the coming 12 months?
3. Report on your reporting
Good reporting keeps everyone happy – but it can always be more efficient. Now’s the time to engage internal stakeholders on how to make yours more compliant, more efficient and less prone to errors. For more on how to give your reporting a health check, see our recent guide.
4. Look into the trends
Knowledge is power – but you need to make the time to gain it. Block out a few hours to get a deep read on the trends that will shape equity comp in the coming year. Encourage your team to do the same, then pool and compare insights to devise actions for your own plan.
5. Think ‘Integration’
From less manual data handling and reducing reporting errors to better decision-making, integration between your stock plan management and HRIS and accounting platforms has dozens of benefits. Analyze the gaps between your existing platforms and the cost they create in terms of hours, risk and admin to create a case for new tech solutions.
6. Do your audit prep now
Fire drills aren’t much fun, but they’re essential – and so is staying on top of your audit preparedness. Start gathering documents early, create a master checklist and get your reporting in order. There’s no time like the present.
7. Review your offering
Just because you chose to offer a particular stock type doesn’t mean you’re tied to that decision forever. Now’s a good time to review whether your offering is still appropriate for your company goals and growth stage, your changing employee base and tax benefits, then decide if you need to amend the structure, award sizes or vesting schedules to suit your current needs. Remember that growth is a constant process – you can’t be afraid to shed old habits.
Your partner on the employee equity journey
With full integration with your HRIS and accounts platforms, comprehensive financial education resources and global customer support, Workplace Solutions may offer the features you need to evolve your stock plan in the coming year. Get in touch today to arrange a demo and learn more.
This publication contains general information only and J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions is not, through this article, issuing any advice, be it legal, financial, tax-related, business-related, professional or other. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions’ Insights is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be used as such. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions does not assume any liability for reliance on the information provided herein.
