The Ownership Mentality

Owners generally behave differently than non-owners.  Ask a landlord, car rental manager or entrepreneur.  The typical tenant, lessee or employee treats the owner's property worse than if they owned it themselves. 

Business owners often take enormous risks in order to own their own business. Every option is carefully considered and every asset is hard-earned.  We hear from other business owners that they wish their employees would act more like owners than employees; we hear them say that they want their employees to "take ownership" of their responsibilities and "think like an owner" when making decisions.  When employees fail to do those things, it's usually because the business owner hasn't created the right environment for them to do so. 

The psychologist Abraham Maslow is famous for developing what he called the Hierarchy of Needs that helps us understand what motivates people.  At the bottom level of his hierarchy, people are just trying to scrape enough together to secure food and shelter for themselves and their families.  At the top, they're creative, spontaneous, and solving their own problems.  Employees want to know that they are valued and recognized for their contributions.  They want to know how the whole company works and how their job fits into that bigger picture.  They want to understand enough about the company’s financial picture to know how they can help when things get rough or share in the success when things are good.  They want to be at the top of Maslow's hierarchy and when they get there, they'll take ownership of their responsibilities. 

Moving employees to an ownership mentality requires us to treat employees more like investors than hired hands.  If we treat them as if they are on a need-to-know basis, they will respond by giving us only the level of effort and respect they think WE need.  Cultivating an environment in which employees act like owners all comes down to communication, trust, empowerment, and mutual respect in the workplace.  What can you do to promote an ownership mentality in your business?