Here’s how Reliance Jio keeps its loyal employees happy

Reliance Jio Infocomm, with its free data and voice schemes, has taken the market by the storm and now the Mukesh Ambani-owned company is looking forward to roll out stock options for its employees. This will act as a reward to employees owing to the pace at which subscribers are being added on Jio network and this will also help the company in retaining talent.

ET quoted sources as saying the stock options programme is currently in the planning stage and could be rolled out later this year.

Reportedly, Reliance Jio will possibly introduce stock options initially for senior executives. Jio's parent Reliance Industries, too, has discussed with compensation experts the option of Esops for senior executives. The company is believed to be in the process of launching the programme, and 10-15% of senior executives' compensation could be in the form of Esops.

"In case of Jio, the percentage may be similar to the parent firm. But since Jio is unlisted, it could be given in the form of stock appreciation rights," the head of a compensation consulting company, told ET.

In October, Jio had handed out 7-15% increments to junior and middle-level employees and 5-10% to seniors - slightly better than industry average of 7-12%.

All leading telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India have employee stock option (Esops) plans.

Esops are usually given once a year and can range between 10% and 200% of an employee's salary. These are over and above the compensation, and act as a talent retention tool.