Do employees bring a renter’s bias to the job? Or is that bias fostered by leadership, compensation and rewards, structure, or other factors common to the job? It’s the question Harvard Professor James L. Heskett posed in a 2017 Harvard Business School article. Professor Heskett is seeing a trend of employees increasingly becoming renters.
At Gibson, one of our core values is Own Your Future. It refers to how we go about performing our roles every day, with an ownership mentality. And since we all are literally employee owners in our ESOP company, it means something additional to us.
We will be 100 years old as an organization in 2033! Okay, I get it, we still have a few years to go. But it gives you a sense of the long game we are playing. We cherish our independence and what it allows us to do for our clients. Because we are committed for the long haul, we think, act, and invest with an eye on the future, in everything we do. We know that what got us this far won’t be enough to take us there.
In an email exchange with Professor Heskett, he agreed, “Employee ownership, by whatever means, has a lot going for it. I see it every day when I shop here at Publix, a perennial top-rated employer, where employee ownership is important in making it a great place to work. There is nothing flashy about it; it just works in helping the firm take a long-term view rather than a day-to-day transactional approach to strategy. Everybody does everything, including sweeping the store. Respondents to (my) column call this ‘sustainability’.”
It’s like the difference between owning something versus renting it. Whether a car, apartment or home, we’ve all probably muttered something like “don’t worry, it’s a rental” at some point in our lives, right?
When you own your house, you appreciate the value of a good maintenance plan. You fix the roof before it leaks versus leaving it for the next person. Or in the workplace, you invest in training and growth programs for your team.
When you plan to be in a community for the long haul, you make sure you’re a good neighbor. You support the organizations that make your community better. You lend a helping hand to those less fortunate because you know you’re only as good as your weakest link. And you know the community will be there for you, too, when you need it.
When you appreciate your neighbors, you plant trees and grow roots. You do your part to keep things looking nice and pay it forward to the next generation, just like those who came before you and developed the neighborhood you live in.
John Ryan, CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership, wrote in a Forbes article that, “Owners accept full responsibility even when it is not formally assigned, believe deeply in their mission, collaborate with others, take initiative, and hold co-workers accountable to the same high standards. Renters, meanwhile, approach their work with an ‘it’s just a job’ mentality, tend to make statements like ‘that’s not my problem’ and point the finger at others when things go wrong.”
And this brings me back to the question Professor Heskett asked - do employees show up as job renters or do they become that way based on the leadership and management practices they experience?
It’s both. Hiring the right people – the future “owners” – is where it starts. But to do that, organizations need to ensure they’re creating an amazing employee experience. Employees need to know they can trust their employer and co-workers to do the right thing. They want to know that a spirit of collaborative thinking and openness exists. And they most certainly want to know they will be given an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.
Much of the above is on the employer. However, it’s tough to take a perpetual renter and turn them into an owner. So begin with the right people, right from the start. Then, make sure you hold up your end of the bargain.
What’s The Risk?
The risk for both sides is underappreciating the cost and reward of ownership. As Professor Heskett writes, “Owners are like found gold; great organizations seek, develop, and encourage them even though they may sometimes seem troublesome as they point out new ways of doing things or object to a dumb management idea.”
My advice? For both employers and employees, put roots down and own your future.
