Business owners dream of employees who think like entrepreneurs and who work as if they belong to the organization and also own it. But often the employees don’t see beyond their job and fail to connect their activity with that of other departments for greater efficiency.
But the success of any business consists, besides the vision of the founders, in intrinsically motivated employees, who concentrate their energy in leading the business to fulfill the objectives, the direct consequence being a personal success.
A culture of ownership is built in time and it depends on how the employer/owner relates to his own team. There are a few things that can be done so that employees become more motivated, involved and provide their professional potential.
MOTIVATION AND COMMON OBJECTIVES
The objective and shared values between the members of a team are the basis of the group’s cohesion. When employees share the same vision with the organization, taking on the job and on the result represents the first steps towards a shareholder/owner attitude, and the motivation increases.
How are the decisions made in the organization? What is their impact on customers and, in general, on the company? When the business owner chooses transparency as a core value, he takes the first step in empowering his employees and determining them to think as a whole, to exceed their job level.
Moreover, delegating to employees the setting of their own goals opens the way to define the best methods of achieving them. And, as long as the business is doing well, the employee will be fine.
EMPLOYEES-SHAREHOLDERS AND THE POWER OF THE EXAMPLE
Selling a part of the business (for example as shares) to their own employees or offering them as a bonus leads to higher rates involvement.
If the organization is led by a true leader, entrepreneur-manager involved and visionary, the rest of the employees will understand the necessity of carrying out the activities as part of the whole.
OUT-OF-THE-BOX
What is the most efficient method by which employees acquire new skills? In most cases, the practical principle (learning by doing) guarantees a much higher success rate than a purely theoretical approach.
It is said that you do not really understand the other until you put on his slippers. Establishing rotational assignments will generate team cohesion, better-trained employees and a global vision of the business. An entrepreneur willing to allocate resources for specialists in a particular field to approach a completely new one, but applied in the organization will gain employees involved, mentally owner.
LOOPS of FEEDBACK
An employee who is not encouraged to give his opinion, to give constant feedback on the decisions that affect his work will never have an assumed attitude. To feel that they have a word to say, that it means something, employees need attention, the right words, and an honest attitude.
It can also be a “courtesy” at the professional level of the employee, transmitting the feeling that it brings a plus to the company and requesting constant feedback. For the employees to think like the employers should be treated as such – freedom of decision on their activity, expression and assuming. Because the property can be a financial one or a psychological one.
In an article advising entrepreneurs on how to get employees involved and thinking like true business owners, Martin Zwilling lists 7 tested ways:
- Communicating the overall image and the reality of the business
- Offering the necessary degree of freedom
- Ownership through shares
- Prioritizing the initiative to the detriment of the experience
- Offering real-time feedback and coaching
- Leveling the managerial hierarchical structure
- A quick fix of mismatches and commitment issues
How are things in your organization?
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