Recently I acquired a new “go fast” toy.
Once again – if you don’t already know – I have an unquenchable and undeniable interest in anything that goes fast and looks cool on two or four wheels. It’s a sickness that I will not see a doctor for, and something I fully embrace as part of who I am. I won’t ever forget driving past the local car dealership and locking eyes on my current daily-driver-turned-project, a bright red 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.
What can I say, though? I’m an absolute sucker for a clean-looking F-body, and the fact that it was already stuffed with a T-56 Borg Warner six-speed transmission behind the beastly LT1 350 small block was enough to seal the deal. I wanted that car, and I had to take ownership of it – no question about it. After about an hour of negotiations, I returned two days later and drove off of the lot with my Z28 that I had already affectionately named, “Xerxes.”
The only bad thing about owning Xerxes is the fact that I have a lead foot, and my drive to Incept every day has gotten a little more costly when it comes to gas, but I forget about that when I’m slamming through gears down I-77. The point of my rambling is simple: I wanted to take on ownership of the Camaro, because it was something I wanted. In the recent weeks at Incept I have been having a lot of discussions with my committee, the “Live Them” values group and other people in management regarding what it really means to take ownership of not only our company values, but also responsibilities amongst employees.
So what does it mean for an employee of an organization to take ownership of their tasks or responsibilities? Easily the biggest thing I see Incept do as an organization is include employees in the change that is going on. But how do you encourage them to put this into practice in their everyday lives?
- Instill and invoke passion for the job. I know that when I came to Incept, I viewed it as just another contact center job. It wasn’t until I came out of training and actually saw how passionate and determined my superiors and other coworkers were that I began to develop a sense of my worth in my own job. Seeing others passionate about saving lives by recruiting blood donors or even simply being passionate about being at work ready to take on the day was enough to rub off on me. When you are passionate about something you do, you are more likely to do your best, and be proud of what you do.
- Giving them the tools to succeed does not mean “holding their hand.” Part of an employee taking ownership of his or her duties is giving them the tools to be self-sufficient.Too many companies and organizations still seem like they are stuck in a “parent to child” type of managing, in which management of a company will give the tools to do the job, but will never fully implement the idea of ownership. One way Incept is tackling this is by implementing our own intranet as a way to not only increase communication throughout the company, but to also arm our Conversational Marketing Experts (CMEs) with up-to-the-minute knowledge when they need it. Though it is something we are still working on, the intranet system is just one example of the tools we provide for our employees to succeed.
- If you don’t take care of the customer, someone else will. In any sort of market or business there always seems to be a never-ending supply of competitors waiting to pounce when you might falter or show signs of overload. Sometimes that is just what is needed to kick it into gear. At Incept, there is no doubt we have competitors, but the reason we stand apart from them is because we always aim to emit world-class level service capable of producing real-world results for our clients. The point being that a company is a team. As cliché as that might sound, it is definitely is true. Sam Falletta, the President of Incept, explained during our latest meeting that while he might not be as good as some of our CMEs (Conversational Marketing Experts) at making appointments to donate blood, he does have invaluable experience when it comes to organizing and running our company in different areas. And the same can be said about other departments. We all work together to make up this company. We all share in the victories and the defeats, but if we do not take care of the customer, at the end of the day, someone else will.
So there is some proverbial food for thought. As always feel free to post your answers to the question below in the comments section!
What else do you think makes an employee want to take ownership of their occupations rather than just drifting through their day?