Company admins

Earning schedules

The rulebook for how units are earned. Build it once, use it for everyone.

Company adminGrants & vestingNew vesting schedule

A schedule answers one question: how does somebody actually earn the units you gave them? Most companies need two or three schedules in total, not one per person.

The form, field by field#

Name: For you, not the employee. Something like Standard four year or Managers 2026.
How units are earned: By time for the calendar alone. By KPI for goals alone. Time + KPI for both running together.
How long until fully earned: In years. Four is the common answer. After this long, somebody who stays has earned the whole grant.
Waiting period before anything is earned: In months. Nothing at all is earned during it, and leaving inside it means keeping nothing. When it ends, the whole period lands at once. Twelve months is the common answer.
How often units unlock: Monthly, quarterly, every 6 months or yearly. Units unlock in equal steps at the end of each period, rather than trickling in continuously. An employee can only request a payout once a period has finished.
Which KPI, and how many units it unlocks: Only on a goal based plan. Pick a goal from your list and say how many units meeting it releases.

Tip. The screen shows a worked example in plain English as you type, using real dates. Read it back before saving. If the sentence does not say what you meant, the settings are wrong.

How often should units unlock?#

This is separate from how long the plan runs. A four year plan can unlock monthly, quarterly, twice a year or once a year. More frequent unlocking feels more rewarding to the employee. Less frequent is less to administer. For the pilot, monthly is a good choice.

Whatever you choose, an employee only becomes able to cash out a tranche once its period has ended. Between period ends their earned figure stays flat, then steps up.

A worked example#

Four years, twelve month waiting period, by time, unlocking quarterly. Give somebody 1,000 units today and they earn nothing for twelve months. On the first anniversary 250 units land at once. From then on about 62.5 units unlock at the end of each quarter, fully earned four years from the grant date.

For the pilot shape, one year, no waiting period, unlocking monthly: about 83 units become available at the end of every month, fully earned after twelve months.

Choosing between the three#

Model	Good for	Watch out for
By time	Keeping people. Simple to explain and nothing to administer.	Rewards staying, not performing.
By KPI	Driving a specific result.	Somebody has to review claims honestly, every period.
Time + KPI	Most real plans. A base for loyalty, a bonus for delivery.	Explain clearly which units are which, or people get confused.

Changing a schedule later#

Careful. A schedule already in use by a grant cannot be deleted, on purpose. Deleting it would silently change what people have been promised. Create a new schedule and use it for future awards instead.