Cultivating an ownership culture

Every organisation wants its employees to possess the passion and zeal of an entrepreneur. Sudipta Dev writes why developing an ownership culture is so vital for an organisation

It could be a utopian vision of an organisation where employees work with the passion of an entrepreneur, where they feel that they own the organisation, are self-motivated and have a great sense of pride in belonging to the company. Developing an ownership culture at the workplace is a tough task for an employer, but it is the only way to ensure employee loyalty, and bridge the gap between employer and employee. If nurtured, this feeling not only optimises productivity and excellence beyond expectations, but also helps in combating attrition. While most organisations do make assiduous efforts to inculcate a feeling of ownership among employees, the task is made more difficult due to the highly fluid situation of the recruitment market and the constantly changing loyalties.

Interestingly, the ratio of ownership differs from person to person at different positions within the organisation. While it is the top management, which should spearhead the effort by clearly communicating the organisational vision and the responsibility of each individual, it is the immediate boss who is directly responsible for grooming the sense of ownership among his or her team members. The need to create this culture is essential for every company. “Ownership reduces problems of employee alienation and attrition. Employees are more attached to an organisation which helps in better organisational management. Work performance improves and growth in job satisfaction is seen at all levels. Furthermore, employees are more open to put forth their ideas and talents,” says Shantanu Ghosh, Head of R&D India Centre and VP Engineering, BindView. Ghosh points out that an ownership culture enforces the fundamental law of entrepreneurs that ‘what is good for the business is good for me’.

Binding employees

The next question is obvious: how can an organisation inculcate this ownership culture among its employees? The list of efforts can be quite vast and includes almost all HR efforts made in an organisation, and much more. Ghosh lists some significant aspects:

• Right to equity: The Employee Stock Options Programme (ESOP) is one of the important ways of managing the employee-employer relationship. Employees would perform better at work because of the financial interest that they share with the organisation. This however might depend on their position in the organisation.
• Right to influence: Employee opinions and concerns should always be addressed. And, if necessary, certain organisational policies must be changed to better suit their requirements. The organisation should create confidence amongst its employees that their opinions can influence its policies.
• Right to control: Certain decisions at times must be left to employees at all levels rather than the management forcing their judgement. This would also help employees in sharpening their decision-making skills, and help them grow up the corporate ladder.

Empowerment, agrees Captain Raghu Raman, CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG), is the best tool. “When employees know that their ability to take decisions and commensurate actions is being rewarded by being given an opportunity to exercise the same, they are more likely to take ownership of projects, events, philosophies and eventually the cultures.” He, however, warns that at the same time, the management must be prepared to pay the cost of investment of such empowerment—in terms of lost opportunities, botched up operations or wrong decisions. There is nothing more damaging for the company than to have the management give lip service about the empowerment and then pull the plug first time something goes wrong.

Are ESOPs the answer?

Wealth-sharing could well be the most direct way of creating the ownership culture. It is an effort, which should start at the top. Geometric Software Solutions has witnessed this since its inception in 1994. People were involved in profit-sharing even when the company was a part of Godrej and Boyce. It was much later in 1999 that the company went public. “As the company has grown, we too have grown. Communication is a vital tool in this process. So we have town house meets, open house every quarter, the results are shared and the managing director encourages people to ask business-related questions,” informs Kalpana Jaishankar, Director, Human Resources, Geometric Software Solutions.

The company has had three ESOP schemes so far. Earlier, only those who had put in two-and-a-half years in the organisation got stock options, but now, the latest scheme for 2005 includes even new recruits. “Our fortunes are linked to those of the company, we are also creating wealth for ourselves,” says Jaishankar, adding however that while ESOPs might not be the only option to create an ownership culture, it is certainly an effective one.

ESOPs are an effective way of creating an ownership culture. Our fortunes are linked to those of the company, we are also creating wealth for ourselves Kalpana Jaishankar Director, Human Resources Geometric Software Solutions	Ownership reduces problems of employee alienation and attrition. They are more attached to the company, which helps in better organisational management Shantanu Ghosh Head of R&D India Centre and VP Engineering, BindView	When employees are empowered, they are more likely to take ownership of projects, events, philosophies and eventually the cultures Captain Raghu Raman CEO, Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG)

There are many who do not believe that ESOPs bring about cultural change. Captain Raghu Raman is one of them. “ESOPs or any other form of compensation is not going to do the trick. Many HR experts believe that money is actually the biggest “dissatisfier”. And in a way that is correct. While ESOPs are a symbol of ownership and recognition or reward is best appreciated through the pay cheque, true ownership is beyond that. Ownership is when an employee has the same level of passion or zeal for achieving the best, regardless of whether it’s linked to his pay or not,” he states emphatically.

Other factors

Apart from the monetary factor, many employees are psychologically involved with an organisation. “In certain cases, employees give more weightage to the Emotional Quotient (EQ) over monetary benefits. They therefore get attracted to the workplace not just for salary or perks, but for intangible benefits such as the feeling of belonging and owning the organisation,” says Ghosh. This is often evident at senior levels where money often ceases to be the motivator.

Many a time it is specific instances that have made a difference and created life-time loyalties. For instance, at MSSG, a new employee did something which cost the company an order worth

Rs 50 lakh. “The mistake was simple but the damage substantial. The employee was so distressed by the whole incident that she was contemplating resigning as a way of atonement. But another way to look at it was that we had just spent Rs 50 lakh of tuition fee on the education of that employee and others. So why would we then even think of losing such an expensively-trained employee,” states Raman.

Involving employees while formulating company policies is a significant strategy adopted by both BindView and Geometric. At Geometric the company has a group called CORE (Council of Representatives and Executives), which holds weekly meetings. The policies are formulated by the company after talking to people who are going to be impacted by it. “They come to know that their opinion is counted. If a suggestion is good, even when we are at an advanced stage of policy making, we have included it,” says Jaishankar, reminding that that HR policies work when there is a buy-in from employees.

Xansa India considers its HR initiatives the best strategy to bond employees with the organisation. As a consequence, the company has been successful in retaining skilled employees, raising employee morale, and minimising absenteeism.

“We ensure that service levels are maintained, and at the same time help employees to work in a way which best supports a balance between their work and home commitments. It is important to note here that Xansa does not operate what is commonly known as the graveyard shift,” says D P Singh, Director, Human Resources, Xansa India.

Some of the popular initiatives at Xansa include flexible working, family-friendly Fridays, part-time employment, homeworking, career breaks (sabbaticals), flexible annual leave entitlement, enhanced maternity and paternity leave arrangements, etc.

Conclusion

In the times of constantly changing loyalties, are employees actually able to understand what an ownership culture is all about? Raman agrees that the ownership culture is not for everyone, “If the core values of the company pivot around ownership then we must also accept the fundamental fact that not all people are driven by ownership. Matter of fact, there is a majority that abhors accountability, which comes with freedom. Many people will be shocked if you tell them that they do not want ‘freedom’. Because they confuse freedom with doing (or not doing) what they want. The other side of freedom, viz accountability, escapes them.” Raman points out that unfortunately this is not something that one can discern and screen out positively while hiring. So discovery of the presence or absence of this characteristic takes time. The problem is compounded because in many instances even the individual does not conclusively know whether he is cut out for the ownership culture. So obviously some people do not fit in and leave.

sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com