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Spur spirit of ownership, win loyalty
The sense of ownership in employees is an essential factor for the success of any organisation. This feeling is equally important on the individual level because it drives the person to strive and achieve more. It reinforces determination, responsibility, commitment, dedication and enthusiasm in them. More than with tangible benefits, the employee will identify the success of the organisation with his satisfaction, self-worth and pride. He will go beyond his assigned dutie
s and do everything he can for meeting a target.
He will overcome any inadequacies in himself and constraints posed by the work and emerge as a more accomplished employee. This will result in the success of the company.
When employees take ownership, they do everything to achieve the target. They do not worry about failures but learn from them. They motivate others to do better and nurture a competitive environment. However, this requires a positive environment. To create and maintain an ownership culture in the organisation, people in managerial levels must take a proactive approach to dealing with subordinates. Command, hierarchy and supervision become virtually extinct. Employees are bestowed due influence over various business activities. Here are a few areas that need more focus in the process:
Work environment: The work environment must be fair, transparent and open. There must be no negative influences that trample an employee’s creativity and initiative. The employees must be made to believe that they are valued in the organisation, their opinions contemplated, their concerns addressed, ideas appreciated and efforts rewarded. Power games, bias and politics must be completely eradicated.
Accountability and empowerment: Employees must be informed all about developments at the workplace. Their attempt to know beyond their job or department must be welcomed and backed. While making them accountable for the outcome, employees must be encouraged to take up more responsibilities. They must be supported in all possible ways in their attempt to enable their organisation to meet its goals.
Making employees more knowledgeable makes them fit to take up a job but only freedom can make them take ownership and do justice to their roles.
Limits to seek information, share responsibility, exercise control and offer opinion must be wiped out ensuring that the employees recognise and take the underlying concepts in the right spirit. They must be trusted both for their abilities and values. Access to important recourses and people must not be constrained.
Involvement: Involving employees in every aspect related to them, is very important.
Right from negotiations with clients over taking up a project to deciding on its process flow, deadlines and HR policies, the opinion of employees must be considered.
Any meeting must convene all the connected people and if that is not feasible, a representative of each cohort must be included. Others must be informed about the details clearly and completely.
Do not seclude people considering them unimportant or less accomplished or under the guise of hierarchy. Due recognition and importance are key factors to motivate people to take ownership.
Employees do not take ownership for the fear of being held responsible for failures, being shown their limits, mockery at ignorance, being taken advantage of or sheer self-centeredness and indifference to other’s requirements. But, this only drives them away from excellence.
To take ownership, employees must be responsible. This will demonstrate their integrity, make others respect them, trust their commitment, value their opinion and accept authority. It will also improve employee self-confidence and self-esteem. The next important factor is being reliable. Trying to poke one’s nose in everything while not showing commitment to work will only annoy people.
Then, comes the need to be firm. Workplace consists of people trying to trick others to meet their selfish needs.
Some others can induce their negative approach or stray you away from your path. So it is necessary to withstand these forces. Next is the need to adjust to various limitations and overcoming obstacles while improving performance. This also entails constant learning, adaptability and change in perspective.
Ownership results in more commitment, better solutions, high performance, less attrition, increased team spirit, raised success rates and faster progress of the organisation towards its professed goals.
While the managements must develop a suitable environment to spur this in their employees, employees must demonstrate a suitable behaviour for others to accept their attempts.
NITYA SAI SOUMYA
faqs@cnkonline.com
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