19 Apr Ownership – What is it, and How to Promote it in your Staff
Why does the manager’s office rarely sit empty due to absence, while at the same time unoccupied desks are scattered throughout the rest of the building with a voluminous if unpredictable regularity?
Is it simply because managers get paid more to come to work?
Or does this increased commitment more accurately reflect management’s holistic understanding of current business goals and objectives? An increased ownership of the tasks, systems and processes required to achieve the overall objective of the organisation.
Secrecy, hierarchical company structures and unnecessary departmental segregation all detract from the ideal operating culture of an invested team.
Whilst it may not always be appropriate for all staff to influence in the arena of decision-making, creating an environment of inclusion and promoting involvement at the gestation of objectives and outcomes builds a sense of ownership by allowing employees to move beyond the ‘what’ and discern the underlying, and far more beneficial, ‘why’.
At a practical level, involvement and comprehension enable employees to accurately prioritise work, inherently identify quality requirements and proactively engage in the achievement of pre-determined outcomes.
Assigning ownership to staff through trust and respect goes a long way towards forming a cohesive and productive team, and may just solve the problem of reducing those unexplained and problematic empty desks.