Empower Your Employees to Take Ownership of What They Do
There are instances when employees feel fearful of taking ownership of what they do. They think that they might be incorrect and its failure could be blamed on them. This should not be the attitude when it comes to work. Regardless of the outcome, people should know how to take ownership of what they do. Both success and failure can teach important lessons in life. You need to empower these employees to step up and be proud of what they have done.
Appreciate their unique ideas
If they have come up with something you are willing to try, let them know. Tell your employees that those ideas are unique and are worth doing. This would make them feel confident that someone believes in them and they should also believe in themselves.
Ownership doesn’t mean doing it alone
When asking employees they should take ownership of what they do, it does not mean they should do the tasks alone. It can be a group effort and the group takes ownership for the outcome. It can also be a group effort, but one has led the entire effort through supervision.
Make them understand the vision of the company
Their efforts must be in line with the vision of the company. If they understand this vision, they can easily find meaning in what they are doing. They will realize that their actions could lead to something big for the company. This motivates them and also allows them to feel empowered to take ownership.
Let them take risks
One of the reasons why a lot of employees don’t feel the need to take ownership is because they are afraid of taking risks. They are afraid that when everything fails, they will be blamed. The leader in the company also has high expectations and has expressed clear threats when things don’t go as planned. This should not be your attitude. Let them realize that risk is fine and failure is a part of the process. Great ideas come out of taking risks. This should not make them feel afraid, but emboldened to do more.
Let them know they have your back
Support is very important for employees. They need to feel that they have leaders who support them and understand their efforts. If you are not this type of person, you won’t see your employees performing well at all. They will always take the easy and safe route than take the risk and get blamed. When you tell them you have their back regardless of the outcome, they will feel more confident. They will even be motivated to push harder just to arrive at the best possible results.
In the end, you need to do your role as a leader well if you want your employees to take ownership. Make them feel that this is not about blaming others but about helping them do better.
Photo Attribution:
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2nd image from https://soapboxhq.com/blog/employee-motivation/help-employees-take-ownership-work
