I don't actually think "how" is even a question at this point. If you poke around wikipedia's (clearly incomplete) list of cooperatives and employee-owned* companies the answer is/has-always-been pretty clearly: just like any other form of company works.

*coops however aren't necessarily employee owned-- there's a several models-- and ESOP style employee ownership can be pretty weak from an ownership perspective so in addition to being woefully incomplete the lists should also not be taken at face value.