Executives and employees are both important human capital of enterprises, which are also crucial to the transformation and upgrading of enterprises. However, the existing research has ignored the important role of employees. Especially under the wave of digital transformation, it is necessary to examine the impact of employee motivation on the digital transformation of enterprises. Based on the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2014 to 2022, the impact of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) on enterprises?? digital transformation was explored. The results show that the ESOP can significantly promote the digital transformation of enterprises. Mechanism analysis shows that the ESOP can promote enterprises' digital transformation by improving the level of digital human capital, the efficiency of technical output and the abundance of redundant resources. Further analysis shows that the impact of the ESOP on enterprise digital transformation is more significant in growing and mature enterprises, enterprises with higher quality of internal control and stronger attention from external investors. It reveals the important role of employees as human capital, which provides enlightenment for high-quality promotion of digital transformation.