Ownership Advantage: Financial Literacy is Key  to Creating an Ownership Culture Over the years I have talked to several business owners who want their employees to think and act like owners. They want them to be engaged and passionate about their jobs. They want them to enjoy coming to work. These owners often see setting up an ESOP as a way to change the organization’s culture and instill the aforementioned traits of thinking and acting like an owner. Two or three years later, I talk to some of the same owners, who at one time saw the ESOP as a cure for their culture problems and now are blaming the ESOP and the employees for their inability to create an ownership culture. They say: “I started this ESOP thinking that it would make all my employees care about their jobs. It hasn’t done anything. In fact, their behavior is worse now.” One would ask: “Why is it worse?” The answer is that these owners were using leadership to manage employees before the ESOP and after the ESOP they quit leading and managing them at all because they thought the ESOP would do this for them. I’ve heard of several cases like this. So, if the ESOP is not going to be the magic potion, what is?

  One of the questions that I hear most leaders ask is, “How do I keep employees engaged?” Is money effective? How about bonuses, or a promotion? As most of you know, very rarely do these work, especially in the long term. Usually it’s the simple things in life that works the best. Remember, you are dealing with people. What works for employees works for spouses, children, siblings, and your friends. Below are 3 very simple ideas on engaging and motivating employees. These ideas are simple, but still require focus and take the time to implement.

More and more companies these days have begun to pay attention to the topic of employee engagement as a way to help drive their future growth. Unlike the days of old, when workers - especially those on the frontline - were expected to do little more than punch a clock and perform rote tasks, today’s leading organizations have come to appreciate how valuable it can be when employees throughout every level of the company brings their passion and creativity with them to work everyday.