Are Your Employees Owners or Renters?

 If you’ve ever owned a rental property you surely know the difference. The way you drive a rental car is likely not the way you drive your own car. The difference is real. The difference is how much you care. It’s no secret that we take care of what we own. If you own a home, a car, a high-end bicycle or other object, chances are you take better care of it than if you just borrowed it. We don’t always do it perfectly, but we hear that nagging voice when we glance in the back seat and realize the “kid clutter” has become overwhelming or our home looks a bit tired compared to our neighbours. I doubt you feel that for your rental car when you drop it back at the airport or the AirBNB when you check out. 

But could this apply to our employees, those we rely on daily to keep the machine running? 

I believe there are two types of team members, owners and renters. The difference is how much they care. It stems from their emotional connection to the team, the work and the company. It also, likewise, contributes to their emotional connection to the team. Let me explain. 

Ownership is an investment, it requires giving something up to get something, trading value as it were. And ownership has a sense of longevity, a timeline in which the owned item or investment will hopefully increase in value or provide a series of dividends. Renting on the other hand is short-termed and serves an immediate purpose. Are you starting to see how this might apply to your team? 

The team member can “own” their work, the team and the company if they are invested in it. They will treat it as their own, they will go the extra mile, they will protect it, defend it, fight for it. This is the type of team member we want. If they are merely renters, the work serves an immediate purpose, it pays the bills. It’s fairly safe to assume that 10% of your employees (at best) are renters. We’ve all rented jobs from time to time, no judgement. It’s a stop-gap measure until something better comes along or maybe until a better leader comes along (ouch!). Renters do what’s necessary (after all, you do put gas in the rental car before you return it), but nothing beyond. 

Ownership always starts with an “offering”. This is an invitation to participate in the work, assume part of the risk, either emotionally or financially, and have a voice at the table. Owners call the shots, after all. Participation is ‘skin in the game’. Remember, it involves trading value. So you’d do well to consider what value your employees are trading to “own” the work of the team. If they’re only trading time for pay, that isn’t ownership, that’s renting. If they trade emotional energy, extra time, full-effort, creativity, innovation, feedback, accountability, and the like, then they are most likely owners. This is their investment, they are giving something that they hope will increase the value of the asset, that will turn into a lasting dividend going forward. 

If ownership starts with an offering, then the logical thought that follows is what is the role of the leader? Is the leader a landlord or a condominium corporation. Humor me to stretch the metaphor. If you, as the leader, treat your people as tenants, who come and go, who line your pockets and do your bidding then they are renters and they’ll treat their employment home as such. If, however, you see yourself more as the member of the condo board, partnering and dependent on other co-owners, then they will also treat you in that manner. It’s a mindset. Do I have all the answers, make all the decisions and bark all the orders (okay, maybe you don’t bark)? Or, do I listen, invite new ideas, share work, blame and glory? The difference is striking.

That may be the most important point. Focus on your own role as the leader for this will determine who’s on your team. If you, as a landlord, view your team as tenants, then owners won’t show up. It’s no mystery that renters don’t come to condo board meetings.

Lastly, don’t mistake this emotional connection for a feeling that can be manufactured. Ownership creates care & concern that emerges as a tangible feeling. However, you can’t manufacture that feeling. There’s no shortcut to create that feeling you get when you wiggle your toes in the lawn of the home you own. Corporations often try to emulate that feeling by promoting their brand, their vision, their CSR programs or the like. These are important but nothing builds the connection, loyalty, dedication and productivity that ownership does. 

Maybe it’s time to sell your people a stake in the team.

Or just ask them…”Who’s team is this?”