Want to become a visionary leader? Start creating ownership.

Are your co-workers engaged and do you use their talents enough to secure a successful execution? Do you think you are delegating enough tasks involving more authority and responsibility? The reality might look different. Only 15% of employees feel engaged enough and commit to the vision. However, this can be changed by encouraging them to take more ownership.

Read in our 2-part series which benefits an ownership culture for you and how to implement it in your firm.

It is quite normal that employees will lose motivation after working for a long time in the same company and the same department. Also, you as a manager have experienced that feeling where you lack enough engagement. Actually, 85 % of employees do not feel engaged at work.

The problem: projects are going to be less successful, and less profitable, and it also means higher costs for the organization. On the contrary, 69 % of employees say that they would work harder if they were better appreciated. So, what is the best way to make your co-workers feel more appreciated and raise their engagement? Create a culture and environment where they will take more ownership!

What is ownership?

If your employees are taking ownership it means that they believe their actions are not someone else’s responsibility. It also means that they are reliable and accountable for it to be successful. Additionally, your employees will commit to the cause and your idea, take risks and responsibility, and delegate tasks if necessary. It gives them a new purpose and “vision” and can motivate them within their career path.

Why you should raise ownership

Your lower-level managers and employees are often not aware of the strategy that you have formulated. They do not necessarily align their operations with your vision and strategy and, in addition, with non-effective communication they might even think that their actions will not make a difference and do not take ownership of projects.

“95% of employees don’t understand or are unaware of the organization’s strategy”

Without an increase in ownership, employees’ motivation decreases and they might slide into executing only the bare minimum. Studies in the US have shown that low employee engagement can cost you $450-500 billion each year. Additionally, you even have to onboard new employees to fix the gaps. So it is about time for you to change things up.

Benefits of encouraging more ownership

The creation of an environment where people take more ownership has many benefits for you and your company. One of the main reasons is that it increases your employees’ motivation and engagement for working and committing to your vision. If you have experienced that implementing your strategy and vision was unsuccessful because of a lack of commitment, then you know what struggle it is. More Ownership, on the other hand, secures successful communication, implementation, and execution.

“Firms with high-engaged employees are 21% more profitable”

In addition, if you have more engaged co-workers, they will also be more productive and perform at a higher level. This way, you can secure a more successful strategy execution and help your employees to want to stay longer in the organization. Retaining them will also lead to a more cost-efficient process since you save money on onboarding new employees.

Moreover, with more ownership co-workers and also you as a manager, have a better overview and control over who is in charge of which tasks and who will collect information. Especially, employees with responsibility will gain more confidence in voicing opinions and giving you more feedback which helps to adapt to changes and adjust processes if necessary.

Taking ownership tells your co-workers — “You can trust me to do the right thing”

Encouraging your employees to take more ownership has many benefits for your company and can help to achieve more growth while reducing costs. Read in our next article how to implement it in your organization.