Encourage Your Team to Think and Act Like Owners
By:TJ Tedesco, President, Grow Sales, Inc.
For: High Volume Printing
Published: April, 2005

It's natural for employees, regardless of their position in a company, to develop a one-dimensional view of their role. “I sell print. Somebody else covers the rest,” is not an uncommon thought pattern. While employees create these spheres of responsibility to help them focus their energy, it's a short-sighted approach that can stunt company growth.

This is not restricted to a particular department or day-to-day functions, because this type of thinking can lead to isolating employees and creating feelings of detachment from the overall purpose and success of the business. Owners and managers can reverse this trend by encouraging employees to think and act like owners themselves.

The “Broken Windows” Theory
What does a broken window have to do with revenue growth and company success? On the surface, they have nothing in common. But a broken window can teach us a lot about shifting the behavior of a company. According to the “broken windows” theory developed by sociologists in the late 1960s, a single sign of neglect, such as one broken window on one building, can reduce the perception of the entire neighborhood.

If we take a closer look at our businesses, we’d likely see many broken windows – figuratively, of course. The theory is a reminder that small details do make a big difference when it comes to making a good impression. Customers and prospects have daily interaction with our businesses, either in person, on the phone or over e-mail. It’s important to instill confidence in visitors that their projects will be handled carefully and competently.

Companies with a lot of virtual broken windows likely have a culture of non-ownership. Missed deadlines, inconsistent production quality and a lack of communication with customers and other employees are all indicative of an “it’s-not-my-fault” mentality. If nobody considers one broken window to be their personal responsibility, the same will be true when the number expands to 5 or 10 broken windows.

Link Behavior to Business Success
Thinking and acting like an owner involves taking responsibility for all details, both large and small. Every aspect of every department is the owner’s responsibility, and this shift in mentality can be difficult for non-owners to comprehend. But providing employees with the tools to think and act like owners will improve every aspect of a business.

One place for an owner to start is by evaluating the day-to-day behavior of employees. While this may seem invasive on the surface, it should be made clear to employees that the purpose isn’t micro-management, but teaching self-management. Here are a few activities an owner can implement to make this message clear and help employees get comfortable in the clothes of ownership:

For most employees, spending an extra half-hour or twenty dollars here and there may not seem like much in the daily course of business. But owners and managers recognize that the failure to closely track such expenditures can add up to wasted resources and missed opportunities.

There are many similar examples of the impact that even the smallest decisions can have on the success of your company. When appropriate, discuss expenses, project decisions and vendor selections with employees, or invite them to listen in on critical meetings or phone conversations to get a feel for the care and attention owners give such small decisions.

Have each person in the company write their own job description – and start with your own. Employees should have the opportunity to revamp their job descriptions, especially if it hasn’t been updated in more than a year. By extending the activity to ownership and management, you raise the perceived importance of an otherwise menial task. It also gives employees and owners an opportunity to see how each person in the company contributes to its success.

Acting like an owner yields improvements that are measured beyond bottom-line results. Once the habit of making ownership-minded decisions is spread company-wide, every employee will better understand not only their importance to the company’s success, but their responsibility to ensure it. That level of buy-in will then translate to an improved level of service to customers.

Share Information Carefully
We’ve discussed a few activities that help build trust and collaboration between ownership, management and all other employees. This in turn helps shed light on how the activities of everyone in a company – even as they relate to minute details – can impact the success of a company.

Part of this process involves the sharing of information among the ranks, which is not always easy, feasible or politically astute. Not every employee will be involved in these ownership lessons and activities, so carefully consider what information to share and with whom. Those in your organization who are privy to these activities will benefit from seeing ownership issues unfold – and will also wield newfound responsibilities with the information they possess.

Not every employee will respond to these developmental strategies the same way. Information is powerful, and can be used to create a powerful organization. Be up front with your employees about their responsibilities and your intentions with allowing them access to the decisions you make as an owner. Over time, a degree from your “Ownership Academy” will become a much-sought-after commodity at your company.

One final point: It’s important to make clear the scope of each person’s ownership role. There are many ownership responsibilities that are the domain of only the owner; with few exceptions, non-owners should not be empowered to hire and fire, make salary adjustments or other decisions of similar magnitude. The point is not to extend ownership authority to non-owners, but to enlighten employees on the breadth of responsibility of an owner and encourage them to take similar responsibility in every aspect of their jobs.

T.J. Tedesco is with Grow Sales, Inc, a company specializing in outsourced marketing leadership for the graphic arts industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, Win Top of Mind Positioning, and Direct Mail Pal. All three are published by GATFPress and are available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com. Grow Sales, Inc.’s website is www.growsales.com.