Linda Chapin
EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer
UL Solutions
Episode 154
From Private to Public: HR's Blueprint for Building an Ownership Culture
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 10, 2025 · 10:31
Thesis
“The transition from private to public company, especially for a long-standing organization, requires a highly structured and people-centric change management strategy, focusing on leadership, comprehensive communication, and fostering an ownership culture.”
Show notes
UL Solutions was founded in 1894. It operated as a private company for 130 years before going public. The HR challenge of that IPO wasn't primarily financial or regulatory — it was human. How do you take a workforce that has operated under one set of norms, expectations, and cultural assumptions for over a century, and transition it into a publicly traded company without fracturing the mission that made it worth taking public in the first place?
Linda Chapin, EVP and CHRO, owned that challenge. Her first realization was that change management wasn't one piece of the IPO — it was the spine of everything else. Finance and legal had clear lanes. HR's lane was broader and less defined: ensuring the right leadership was in place, building the right tools and processes, communicating effectively to segmented stakeholder groups, and holding the organization's commitment to its mission through a period of intense external scrutiny and internal uncertainty.
Her work on the employee stock purchase program (ESPP) is a case study in the gap between offering a benefit and actually making it meaningful. Employees at a public company can technically participate in stock ownership from day one — but without sustained, multi-channel education about what that means and how to make informed personal financial decisions, the benefit is theoretical. Linda's team invested in making it real: not just launching the program, but building the literacy that lets people use it wisely.
- HR as the owner of IPO change management — what the function uniquely owns beyond finance and legal
- Communicating a major transition to segmented stakeholders — how to tailor messaging for employees, leaders, shareholders, and customers
- Building and launching an ESPP — the education infrastructure required to turn a benefit into a real ownership culture
- Maintaining mission through organizational transformation — how a 130-year-old company held its identity through a public offering
- Surrounding yourself with experts — Linda's operating principle for navigating unprecedented challenges
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What you'll take away
- 1When facing a major company transition like an IPO, HR's role is to own the change management program, focusing on leadership, tools, processes, and culture beyond finance and legal aspects.
- 2Effective communication during transitions requires segmenting stakeholders (employees, leaders, shareholders, customers) and tailoring messaging to each group's specific impact and needs.
- 3Fostering an ownership culture can be significantly boosted by programs like Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs), but requires thorough, multi-channel education and engagement to ensure employees make informed personal decisions.
- 4Leaders must clearly define goals and surround themselves with expert teams, recognizing that no single person has all the answers, especially when navigating unprecedented or complex organizational changes.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Linda notes that UL Solutions' IPO experience was unique because it was a 'long-storied private company' of over 130 years, rather than the 'typical startup that goes public,' implicitly challenging the common narrative that IPOs are primarily for new ventures.
In Linda's words
“And being a leader first is defining reality, right? That's our role. And so what is really going to change from being a 130-plus-year-old company, private, to a new public company?”
Highlights a leader's foundational role in grounding the organization during significant change by understanding and communicating the fundamental shifts.
“What I quickly realized, it was about managing through this time of transition, which is change management, ensuring that we have the right change management program in place, the right leadership team in place, the right tools and processes in place. And most importantly to me was to ensure that we remain committed to our mission and build even a stronger culture as a result of this change.”
Emphasizes HR's critical, comprehensive role beyond legal and finance in successful IPO transitions, prioritizing culture and mission.
“But we put together a good project team. And we had our really strong corporate communications team that was there by our side from a communication standpoint. Talent, ensuring that we had the right leaders in place to be able to manage and lead at a public company level.”
Illustrates the multi-faceted, cross-functional effort required for a major organizational change, with HR playing a central role in talent and communication.
“To potentially have the opportunity to participate in a stock purchase program really made it real for our employees, at least to have the option to consider. So we undertook a really good, a strong communication program and engagement education program about a month before people could enroll.”
Shows how tangible benefits like ESPPs, supported by robust education, can significantly enhance employee buy-in and a sense of ownership during a company's public transition.
“Well, my parting advice would always be to surround yourself with great experts and to surround yourself with teams that are committed to your mission and that you're all aligned in a connected way around where you're going.”
A concise summary of effective leadership, stressing the importance of collaboration, shared vision, and expert counsel for navigating complex challenges.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Transitioning a historic, private company (130+ years) to a public entity presents unique change management challenges distinct from typical startup IPOs.
- •Effectively communicating the complex meaning and implications of an IPO across a global organization to diverse stakeholders (employees, leaders, investors, customers).
- •Ensuring employees feel informed, supported, and engaged during significant, potentially disruptive, corporate transitions.
- •Building and integrating new HR capabilities and roles (e.g., investor relations, equity administration) required to meet public company demands.
- •Educating employees about new financial opportunities like Employee Stock Purchase Programs (ESPPs) in a clear, unbiased manner to facilitate informed personal decisions.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
You transitioned from a private company to a public company ahead of an IPO
The Process of Transition From Private to Public Company
Communicating the meaning and importance of an IPO can be pretty complex
Corporate Communications Team on Going Public
UL Solutions introduced employee stock purchase program as it went public
UL Solutions' Employee Stock Purchase Program
What parting advice would you like to share with our community
A Legendary Leader's Last Words
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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