Asking Employees to Take Ownership Has a Catch

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Companies often talk about wanting employees to “take ownership.” By ownership, they mean individuals should feel responsible for seeing something through. But ownership is a two-way street: companies that expect it need to give it. Too often, companies ignore the actions that make employees feel like they can actually own the process.

First let’s understand what a company means by “ownership.” They want people to shift from a mindset of “that’s not my job” or “my job ends when I hand this to the next person in the chain” to “I’ll make sure what we’re doing creates end value for the customer.” Employees with this mindset are proactive; they address problems they see, not just the ones their bosses assign. They focus on outcomes and look across departments and silos. Companies with employees like this tend to be very successful.

Owners and founders have this mentality because it’s their business. Their rewards (often in terms of equity and dividends) are directly related to happy customers, and the details of how to make and keep customers happy are usually a few levels down. Likewise, senior management often has that mentality. A good executive doesn’t work with blinders on, focused on only her department, but rather is one who works across the organization.

What about other employees? Many employees may not have this mindset. Unfortunately, simply telling them to have it isn’t enough. More critically, actions speak louder than words. For someone to have ownership, they need to feel they have a vested stake in the company or outcome, but often companies undercut this message.

One way is through literal company ownership, meaning equity. But companies should ask how much that really matters. Equity stakes are often small, long term, and unlikely to meaningfully impact someone’s life. Likewise, a companywide bonus may be too abstract for any one employee to see a connection between their actions and the outcome. Direct bonuses of meaningful size, tied directly to specific actions, create a clearer feedback mechanism than abstract company equity.

I recall one example from a book (and apologize for not having the source, which I usually like to cite). An airline flight was delayed due to mechanical issues and it would be hours before a maintenance crew could get to it. An off-duty mechanic told the captain he was qualified on that plane and would take a look. He got to the tarmac and addressed the issue, getting the plane out much sooner. When the CEO of the airline heard the story he invited the mechanic out to dinner. An employee steps up, even though it wasn’t his job (he was off-duty), and is rewarded with something valuable (in this case dinner with the CEO). There was a direct cause and effect creating the right feedback mechanism.

More often, companies want to create a culture of ownership. Unfortunately, the catch is that many see it as simply: employees should think about making more of an effort. But why should they make that extra effort?

If there’s a process that often breaks or has exceptions, and you want the employees to step up and help keep things moving, have you asked the employees for input on the process, or are you just asking them to clean up the mess every time it breaks? If you want employees to go out of their way for exceptional customer service, have you made it easy for them to provide it, or do they need to jump through hoops to do so? For example, at a resort, if a customer had a delay or bad check-in experience, can the front desk staff give them a voucher for drinks or an activity, or do they need to find a manager and get approval (something that may not be convenient, especially if the desk is busy)?

Do employees feel listened to? If you simply tell them what to do, then they’ll have the mentality of waiting to be told what to do. Do you involve them in feedback sessions and process design? It doesn’t have to be every employee, especially if the org chart is one that fans out a lot; but do they see that people at all levels do have some type of input, or do design decisions only flow down from the top?

Likewise, if you have a culture of asking for permission rather than for forgiveness, why would employees ever step outside of the box? There’s significant downside and likely not enough upside.

Ultimately, if you want employees to take ownership, you need to make them feel like owners. Instead of simply telling them what to do, you need to involve them in the decision making. Again, that doesn’t mean every junior employee now shows up to every meeting; rather, you need a way that their voices are heard. Better still, their voices should be heard proactively. If you’re creating a new product or process, get their input. Have town hall meetings or a suggestion mechanism.

One common example of alienating employees is with an office move. Often, employees are simply told you’re moving to a new office and the process is opaque to them. The office space, where they spend a good deal of their waking hours, suddenly changes in seemingly arbitrary ways. That’s demotivating and even stressful for some employees.

Understandably, if you let everyone weigh in, no decision would get made. You can certainly ask for their input on what's important. As long as you set the expectations that you can’t promise anything, employees will appreciate being heard. Even if you can’t do that, giving them transparency about what you’re considering and the likely timeline helps them feel engaged, rather than like people to whom decisions simply happen. When I wrote my book, I regularly polled friends for feedback on the title, subtitle, and cover designs. Obviously, I made the final choices and no one had any expectations otherwise; still, one friend commented that he felt vested in the outcome just by participating in the process.

When my building renovated the lobby one of the doormen noted they weren’t consulted at all, even though the management company never goes there and the doormen work there every day (often for decades). He pointed out that by moving the front desk to a different side of the lobby, the doormen could no longer see who was coming down the sidewalk (99% of the people all come to my building from the same direction), which means less time to react if there’s a safety issue. Even a simple fifteen-minute feedback meeting or sending an email with the proposed plan and asking for comments could have elicited that feedback and helped them feel like part of the process instead of a “victim” of it.

Employees with an ownership mentality are the ideal. But such employees aren’t found, they’re made. Even if you have someone with the right mentality to begin with, you need a culture that meshes with that idea, instead of working against it. Like any relationship, it can’t be one-sided. If you want employees to feel like they own the process, make sure they can contribute to it like owners, even in small ways.

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