The Impact of Ownership Mentality on Employee Accountability & Company Growth

No matter the size of your business or whether you have no current plans to hire that first team member, it’s never too early to begin or, in some cases, continue defining and evolving your company’s culture. Establishing an ownership mentality mindset is vital to include in your culture.

How to create an Ownership Mentality in your business

Ownership mentality is vital to instill into a healthy company culture because you are asking your employees to take responsibility for outcomes and be empowered to make the decisions that will lead to (hopefully) positive outcomes. Instilling an ownership mentality into your culture doesn’t necessarily require (literally) offering an ownership stake in your company or providing similar incentives. 

However, creating an ownership mentality in your business should include as many of these items as possible:

1. Financial Incentives (market competitive salaries, retirement matches, employer contributions to insurance expenses, etc.)
2. Education (how the company makes money and the team’s role in making that happen) 
3. Financial Reporting (how the company is doing overall and how the team contributes to the goals)
4. Business Training (ensuring the team can understand the financial reporting)
5. Profitability Sharing (where possible, through incentive plans, profit sharing, or other avenues)
6. Team Engagement (encouraging contributions through not only the sharing of their ideas but through everyday work)

What happens if you don’t foster an ownership mentality in your team members?

When a company sees a lack of ownership mentality in its company culture, we see several outcomes:

1. Little to no accountability, instead blaming others for their mistakes
2. Decreased productivity, as they feel disconnected from their work, leading to a lower output
3. Lack of team collaboration, with little to no accountability, companies find their employees would rather work solo
4. Reduced Innovation due to the lack of feel recognized for their contributions
5. High Turnover Rates, as an employee feels a lack of investment into their success at the company

Fostering Ownership Mentality in Your Team Members

So, how could your team members emulate an ownership mentality? How can they contribute to or support the decisions of others that foster your business culture toward having an Ownership Mentality?

Here are some examples (note - not all decisions in an organization are financial ones):

• An organization decides to begin offering health insurance but informs the team that this additional expense means less of a retirement match from the company
  • The decision impacts each team member differently. Not to minimize the impacts, but in looking at this decision through the lens of Ownership Mentality, team members should be able to recognize the importance of this additional benefit offering, not only to them but also to future team member recruiting and retention, despite the adjustment to another benefit
• An organization’s team members are empowered to make various business decisions on behalf of the company, which costs money
  • So, who is spending money when making these decisions? Is it your money? Yes, of course—but when an ownership mentality is present, the team member should also view it as their money
    • In this example, we’ll refer to these expenditures as “Controllable Expenses.” These differ from Uncontrollable Expenses, where there is little to no control over their necessity, amounts, or frequency. The Controllable Expenses they’re faced with are those in which they should consider the variables around the expenses and ask themselves questions such as, “Is this necessary?”, “Do we need this much?” “Is the pricing fair, or can I find better pricing elsewhere?” etc.
    • They should consider these financial decisions regarding “this is my money” and “how should I responsibly spend it?” By asking themselves questions like these, they’ll be more conscientious about them and not only save money but likely cut unnecessary expenses for your organization
• “Business Need” is a term to embed into decision-making at your company. Understanding this and the reasoning behind it as justification for decisions will align your team with the organization's goals. This can look like many things, whether it be Restructuring, Team Member Promotions, new Job Postings, Systems/Software transitions, Compensation Philosophy modifications, Culture changes, new or concluded Service and Product Offerings to your customers, and more.
  • “Change” is inevitable, and your Business Needs will change. Throughout the company, change will happen, and being flexible and adaptable to these changes will allow you, your teammates, and the organization to grow and thrive.

All your team members can and are responsible for contributing to the company with an Ownership Mentality. This should excite them because they’re proud of the fantastic opportunity to be part of your company.