How does your organization show it trusts the people that work there?
Does your organization trust employees to make choices about:
- Business travel arrangements?
- Hiring people?
- Investing in growth areas?
- Attending relevant activities and events outside the company?
In some organizations, the official word is, “We trust you, you are our most important asset”, yet through unwritten rules and actions, they say, “We do not really trust you and in fact, if you want something, you have to go up three levels in the organization to get approval because trust is reserved for an exclusive and select few here”.
A company that does not express trust towards the people that work there will destroy itself, or at best become insignificant because real performers will not want to play ball with them.
It is hard to become a chess player if you feel like a chess piece.
When senior leadership teams ask, “Why won’t people take more ownership for the business around them?”, I help them explore how much trust and decision-making range their people have and it’s often very little.
Leaders often lump responsibility, accountability, and ownership into one basket. While all three are related to degrees of engagement, only responsibility and accountability can be delegated. Ownership is a choice, taken by someone, often responding to an invitation or culture to do so.
Ownership is not something that can be mandated, rather it is a mindset that comes from feeling trusted and empowered to make decisions, such as the freedom to make choices about business travel arrangements, hiring decisions, investments in growth areas, and attending relevant activities and events outside the company.
Trust is a critical component of an ownership culture. By showing trust in their employees, organizations can create a positive and productive work environment where employees feel empowered to make decisions and take ownership of their work.