Trustee Perspective - A Business First Approach
Shaun Goodwin • 22 January 2025
Introducing the perspective of one of our independent trustees on Employee Ownership (EO) in practice and EO more generally.
Through personal knowledge, the author, Shaun Goodwin, shares his career experience in business and the military, and how this informs him in his role as an independent trustee.
What is your professional background, and how does it inform your approach as a trustee?
My background is in business performance management across multiple industries in the UK & USA.
Having worked for, managed and grown businesses in two very different business climates, I have seen alternative and opposite management approaches, to risk and to employees, succeed and fail on both sides. This has given me the experience to understand the needs of both a business and its people, which informs my approach to the role of an independent trustee.
My current role as MD of an employee owned business (before and since the transition) has allowed me to consolidate this experience and navigate the conflicts between what is best for the employees and what is best for the business, and appropriately align these.
My main philosophies are that:
- Our primary moral responsibility to our employees is job security and this should weigh heavily in all decisions.
- In order for a business to work for its people, firstly the business itself needs to work.
My own personal concerns about post-EO executive decision-making authority being diluted were not realised. With the right trustees backing me I have a source of valued and alternate perspectives from outside of my emotional attachment to my “grand” strategic plans.
As an independent trustee, I am able to take this forward to assist in ensuring the same balanced approach is provided to other employee owned businesses and their leaders.
What are some unique aspects of your approach that differentiate you from other trustees?
My experience from my time in the EO space is that there is (rightly) a lot of focus on the benefits to employees. I fully support this, but the business needs to perform in order to realise and fund rewards. As such, I believe the business naturally comes first.
I understand that without a functioning business, there can be none of the second-order benefits we want to give our employees after the transition to EO. Success incentivised by reward, rather than a reward first approach, drives my input to business decisions. Hence, I consider myself an ally to a commercially-minded management board thus, by default, to the employees who ultimately benefit from the success of their business.
How does business performance management align to EO in general?
My ability to draw on career experience and understand the motivations of the executive board removes any potential friction and allows us to work together to grow the business and share the rewards appropriately for an Employee-Owned Business.
Businesses need innovators and visionaries to continue thriving after the transition to EO. Too often this innovation leaves when the founder vendor exits the business. My approach as an independent trustee is that of the supporting partner who understands what it is like to run a business, encouraging growth and appropriate risk taking with a view to how this benefits all of the team.
I have seen in my own managerial role that the excitement of success is better shared by employees when they have a more-personal stake in the performance of the business. A personal stake that can be evidenced in an EO company.
Shaun’s focus on business interests and priorities is balanced by his military background, where the values of dedication and duty to teammates were deeply embedded into his worldview and inform his approach to business management. He is naturally inclined to seek solutions that create an environment in which everybody wins.
The IDT Difference
IDT supports independent trustees to recognise, value, use and share their own unique personal experience and expertise in delivering in their role for clients.
Our in-house EO Toolkit supports our trustees by providing practical tools, materials and knowledge to enable them to be an invaluable partner on the trust boards to which they are appointed whilst ensuring that they have the EO knowledge needed to deliver in the role.
Our in-house trustee networking, centered around monthly knowledge sharing, enables our trustees to share their knowledge and challenges with each other to gain from the collective expertise available by being part of our network.
Shaun is one of over 20 independent trustees working through IDT, all bringing different perspectives, experiences, knowledge and personality to their appointments. To find out more about the breadth of this knowledge read our article introducing our trustees:
https://www.independentdirectorsandtrustees.co.uk/who-are-our-trustees
The Author
Shaun Goodwin is the Managing Director of Barton Fabrications, the UK leader in design, manufacture, installation and servicing aluminium and stainless steel build storage silos in the UK and internationally. The company transitioned to employee ownership in December 2020 and Shaun balances his trustee commitments with leading the company and its employees.
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