Phantom Stock - By Paul Bardaro on Aug 18, 2011

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It’s
an ongoing challenge for many small business owners in virtually every
sector of the economy: figuring out how to motivate and retain employees
who are essential to the company’s success without granting them an
actual ownership stake.
During
the recent recession, you probably moved consideration of long-term
employee incentive programs to the bottom of the to-do list. However, as
the economy slowly climbs out of the doldrums, it may be time to think
ahead.
Keeping
this rare and valuable category of employee in the fold may require
certain innovative incentives beyond the traditional 401(k), health
insurance and other typical perks. But, at the same time, you may not be
ready to enter the “no-return zone” by ceding true ownership control.
One
solution is the seemingly little-known practice of issuing phantom
stock. As mysterious as it may sound, the technique has numerous
comforting benefits for both the employer and key employee.
For you as an owner, that list of benefits includes the following:

• Less hassle. Unlike
  its more conventional brethren, the issuing of phantom stock is
  considered a non-qualified benefit. As such, much of the paperwork,
  restrictive rules  more… http://bit.ly/pkk21a