HRevolution

My best hires have always been those willing to take ownership in their work. These people excel. In addition to screening for this tendency in selection processes, we also develop it in our department. I don't believe the ability to take ownership is a tendency limited to a chosen few, though it may be closer to the surface for some. We have had a lot of success with it.

So, how do we create an ownership mentality? We begin by spreading responsibility. We extend people's jobs to include results, and with those results we add rewards, including stock options - literal ownership - that are distributed as widely as I can possibly justify. We encourage people to take ownership by giving them ownership. It's that simple. I still can't see why this isn't the norm.

Speaking of ownership, in an earlier post (Salary Compression, May 8th), I mention encouraging ownership by way of spreading the wealth through bonus programs. This is feasible without dilution to shareholders when greater wealth is created. The bet is that engaged employees create more value for shareholders even when participating in a larger reward system (especially when the rewards include stock options). Oh, and ownership works really well in flat organizations. They naturally expand responsibility across people and levels in ways other structures cannot.

It's no different than the bet an entrepreneur makes when taking venture capital. They'll take a haircut on the percentage of ownership, anticipating they'll make more money owning a smaller piece of the (now larger) venture.