How to Create an Ownership Mentality Within Your Medical Practice Team: Ten Strategies

Do you feel frustrated by your medical practice team’s reluctance to take charge or to make quick decisions? Do you wish your employees cared about their work as much as you care about yours? Do you sometimes find them slacking, cutting corners, or simply not giving their work their best effort? If so, and you are wondering how to get your employees to take ownership of their work, you’re not alone. According to Bock,(1) “A culture of personal accountability, where employees possess the freedom to make appropriate decisions and the courage to take ownership, is the single most powerful, most desired, and least understood characteristic of a successful work environment.”

It’s easy to see why we would want employees to take ownership of their work. Those who do are self-reliant, accurate, productive, energetic, and enthusiastic. They are the employees who will do what needs to be done, often without your having to ask them. And when you do ask them, they won’t say “No.” In fact, they will be willing to do whatever it takes for the sake of your practice and the patients you serve. As de Haaf(2) says, “From tireless days and sleepless nights to unpleasant decisions and difficult problems to resolve, [they’ll] do what you think is right. [They’ll even] take out the garbage if they have to.”

We can tell employees to develop an ownership mentality about their work. “Owning the problem,” “being the owner of the project,” “you’ve got to really own it,” and similar phrases are very easy off the lips. They have become well-used workplace jargon in recent years. But such words can ring hollow. Typically, we take care of what we actually own; we don’t take care of what we believe belongs to someone else. If your employees don’t feel that they actually own their work, no well-intentioned popular catch phrases will get them to do it. Fortunately, there is a great deal that you can do to help your employees develop an ownership mentality about the work they do in your practice every day.

What Is an Ownership Mentality?

Many people, including your employees, will assume that “think like an owner” is thinly veiled code for “do more work.” However, an ownership mentality does not always lead to more work. In fact, an employee who has an ownership mentality will invest time and resources in training, establishing systems, and solving problems that will reduce work in the long run.

Having an ownership mentality means that an employee does what’s best in the moment but also has an eye to what’s going to happen next and what’s going to be best down the road. As Ducoff(3) suggests, “You need to invest the time, energy and resources to educate employees on what ownership thinking looks like, feels like and performs like.” It is up to you as a leader to clarify for your employees the boundaries and limits of ownership thinking, Ducoff adds. This may require an investment in time, training, and coaching.

Ten Ways to Create an Ownership Mentality

Although employees do not literally own the medical practice in which they work, it is possible to encourage, create, and foster ownership thinking. Here are 10 strategies practice managers can use to get their employees to think more like owners.

1. Hire employees who already have ownership thinking on board. You may be able to save yourself a lot of effort and headaches simply by designing your recruiting process to screen for the qualities of a good “owner” employee. As de Haaf(2) suggests, “These [qualities] could include an entrepreneurial spirit, self-starting mentality, responsible or self-accountable mindset, big picture awareness, and a take-initiative attitude.” In fact, you may want to give special consideration to a job applicant who has owned his or her own business. He or she is likely to understand from the start what it is like to be an owner, and have an owner’s mindset, de Haaf says.

2. Make every job the most important job in your medical practice. Many of us have heard the story of the NASA custodian who told President Kennedy that his job was to help put a man on the moon. A lesser-known example of ownership thinking comes from the famous director Stanislavski, who once said, “Theater begins at the cloakroom.” By this, Stanislavski meant that audiences begin to experience the magic of theatrical productions the moment they step into a theater and interact with its employees—from the box office attendant to the coatroom attendant to the ticket taker to the ushers who show them their seats. Likewise, every employee who works in your medical practice must regard his or her job as most important and essential to your mission to serve your patients. As Efron(4) suggests, “All great leaders [and managers] help every employee see the importance of their [sic] role in the larger mission of their organization.” Therefore, it is essential that you both believe and communicate to your employees that your front desk receptionist does much more than check in your patients and answer your telephone. Like the custodian whose job it was to put a man on the moon, your receptionist’s job is to help to provide every patient with the highest-quality medical care possible. Be sure to help him or her to see the job in this way, and regard it that way yourself.

3. Don’t take the monkey. We all experience the “monkey on our back” at work. That’s the serious and annoying problem that won’t go away. Employees often assume that because medical practice managers are more senior and more highly paid, it is their responsibility to solve problems and make decisions. They arrive at their managers’ office doors ready to give them the monkeys on their backs. However, taking the monkey can be dangerous. As Oglethorpe(5) warns, “For leaders, there is the strong temptation to help their employees by taking on their problems and solving them for them. But taking their monkeys is nothing more than rescuing them.” Instead, Oglethorpe suggests that managers invest the little extra time that is needed to help their employees to take the initiative and handle their monkeys themselves.

4. Delegate the right way. Employees won’t take ownership of their work if they are not sure that they should. They may not take ownership if they feel that they need to check in with you before taking every action. And they won’t take ownership if they’re afraid of making a decision that you won’t like, and that will get them into trouble. Delegation requires much more than assigning projects. As Bock(1) suggests, “It’s also about clearly communicating where the decision-making power lies and allowing your employees to hold themselves able to take responsibility for their results.” Delegating the right way isn’t for the faint of heart, Bock warns. It requires a lot of time and energy on your part to communicate your expectations to those around you. And it requires you to let go of some control. Eventually, however, delegating the right way will yield an environment of ownership that is not paralyzed by fear, Bock says, and is worth the investment.

5. Collect and act on employee feedback. Lots of employers survey their employees. But many don’t use this feedback, or if they do, they use it in ways that are not transparent to their employees. As de Haaf(2) suggests, “If you want your employees to be owners, then let them know that their voices are heard and can actually create change.” Tell them and demonstrate to them clearly that you value their feedback and that you are using it.

6. Express confidence in your employees’ abilities. Let your employees know what strengths, skills, and positive qualities you see in them. Then, link those positive qualities to the tasks or problems at hand. For example, you might say, “You’re a wonderful listener, and you have a knack for defusing tension and anger. This is going to be very helpful to you and make you very effective when you call Mrs. Jones about her overdue account.” Recognizing and identifying your employees’ useful qualities can help them to build their confidence and self-esteem. As well, it can enhance your relationship with them, Oglethorpe(5) suggests, and encourage them to take ownership of their work.

7. Be explicit. Tell employees you are going to step back and let them do their jobs. As Charpentier(6) suggests, “Remember that the individual staff member knows his particular job better than anyone else and remind all your employees of this on a regular basis.” When you cease efforts to manage and begin to lead, Charpentier says, you allow your team to do its job. Like student pilots who have made their first solo flights, your employees will become more comfortable with this form of independence. Adds Charpentier, “Assure them, though, that you’re there as a safety net, should they need assistance. As they grow, they’ll assume ownership of their jobs naturally, just as the student pilot begins to take on greater challenges.”

8. Reinforce and reward employees who take ownership. In general, managers are likely to see more of the employee behaviors that they reinforce and fewer of the behaviors that they don’t. You don’t want your employees’ emerging ownership thinking to die on the vine. As Erb(7) warns, “Nothing can quell people’s desire to give extra than not feeling recognized.” Therefore, be on the lookout for opportunities to reinforce and reward your employees’ ownership behaviors. Praise them. Recognize them at staff meetings. And identify ownership behaviors that you’d like to see more of and make them part of your staff’s regular performance and salary reviews.

9. Empower employees to think and act like owners. Patients who are upset about a policy may ask to speak with the practice manager. Unfortunately, the manager sometimes ends up giving them exactly what they wanted in the first place, reversing what an employee has told them. Why put your employee and your patients through that painful exercise? Give your employees the authority and leeway to work with your patients to resolve their issues directly, without patients having to go over their heads to get what they want. As Busse(8) suggests, “Watch how efficient and effective things become when we push decisions down to their lowest possible level and cut the tape required to get everything but the major decisions done.”

10. Model and teach ownership thinking. You undoubtedly do things every day in your practice that demonstrate ownership thinking. But do your employees know about them? And, if they do, do they know why you do them? Repurpose your own moments of ownership thinking as lessons for your employees. Ask and encourage them to share their examples of ownership thinking, too. Doing so regularly will help you to develop a culture of ownership within your medical practice team.

Guiding Employees Away from a Rescue Mentality

Employees sometimes avoid ownership of their problems because they are hoping that someone will rescue them and fix things for them. Coleman(9) calls this a “silver bullet from an unexpected source.” Says Coleman, “One of the most common momentum killers I’ve seen in my professional life is our propensity to wait for someone else to act, take initiative, assume blame, or take charge. But very often, no help comes.” Taking responsibility is the first step to developing a healthy sense of self, Coleman says. We internalize the idea of taking responsibility when we realize that no one is coming to our rescue, he says.

An ownership mentality begins when we develop a belief or habit of mind that we, as individuals, own our work outcomes, even when we’re working with others. Ownership doesn’t always that mean we have authority over a project or problem. Nor does it mean that we shouldn’t involve others. But it does mean that we own the obligation to take action and deliver results. The ownership of this obligation may be lacking for employees who have been previously coddled, Coleman warns.

Coleman suggests three lessons that you can teach to your employees to help them develop this belief or habit of ownership:

1. Fault and responsibility are not the same thing. Fault is backward-looking; responsibility looks forward. An employee may be responsible for a situation or problem, even if it’s not his or her fault. Blame becomes far less important than finding the solution. If employees point fingers at one another, refocus them. Ask them what they’re going to do to solve the problem.

2. Be proactive. Employees who own their work identify problems when they are small and nip them in the bud. According to Coleman, “The most productive people and those most likely to succeed are those who are proactive about finding and solving problems, and comfortable acting with increasing autonomy and decreased oversight.” Think of leaders who you admire who declined to wait for help and instead pioneered solutions. Encourage your employees to think that way.

3. Taking ownership helps others. Appeal to your employees’ altruism. Help them to understand the link between their ownership of their work and the quality of the medical care you deliver to your patients. Show them how their work contributes to the quality of their coworker’s work life. Help them to see how owning their work matters beyond themselves, in the larger picture of your medical practice.

Accountability versus Ownership

Medical practices need to hold employees accountable for fulfilling the terms of their job descriptions, and for not behaving in ways that are inconsistent with the practice’s values and mission. But according to Tye,(10) accountability alone is not enough. Says Tye, “Great organizations are characterized by people holding themselves and each other accountable for their attitudes and behaviors as well as their performance because they have pride of ownership.”

Accountability, Tye says, is doing what you’re supposed to do because someone else expects it of you. Accountability springs from the extrinsic motivation of reward and punishment. Tye says that accountability is insufficient and calls it “the baseline, the price of entry.” On the other hand, ownership is doing what needs to be done because you expect it of yourself. It springs from the intrinsic motivation of pride and engagement.

Ownership springs from the intrinsic motivation of pride and engagement.

Says Tye, “It’s important to distinguish those things for which people can be held accountable by holding their feet to the fire, and those things for which they cannot be held accountable but which must be accomplished through personal ownership.” You can hold employees accountable for complying with rules, showing up on time, treating people with respect, and meeting deadlines. But you can’t hold them accountable for working with passion, caring, putting their hearts into their work, or thinking entrepreneurially. These thoughts and behaviors come only from ownership, Tye says.

References

1. Bock H. 3 Ways to create an ownership mentality within your team. The Muse. www.themuse.com/advice/3-ways-to-create-an-ownership-mentality-within-your-team . Accessed May 8, 2017.

2. De Haaf M. 9 Ways to help your employees take ownership of your business. Medallia. https://blog.medallia.com/customer-experience/9-ways-help-employees-take-ownership-business/ . Accessed May 8, 2017.

3. Ducoff N. How to get employees to embrace ownership thinking. February 9, 2015. Strategies. www.strategies.com/blog/how-to-get-employees-to-embrace-ownership-thinking/ . Accessed May 9, 2017.

4. Efron L. Four ways to get your employees to care like owners. July 15, 2013. Forbes. www.forbes.com/sites/louisefron/2013/07/15/four-ways-to-get-your-employees-to-care-like-owners/#18cf22ad1a70. Accessed May 8, 2017.

5. Oglethorpe A. Six steps to help your employees take ownership and responsibility. HRZone. August 27, 2010. www.antoinetteoglethorpe.com/six-steps-to-help-your-employees-take-ownership-and-responsibility/ . Accessed May 8, 2017.

6. Charpentier W. How to motivate staff to take ownership. Chron. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivate-staff-ownership-42309.html . Accessed May 9, 2017.

7. Erb M. How to inspire an ownership spirit among employees. Entrepreneur. March 15, 2011. www.entrepreneur.com/article/219328 . Accessed May 9, 2017.

8. Busse R. Cultivate an attitude of ownership among your employees. Business Know-How. www.businessknowhow.com/manage/ownershipattitude.htm . Accessed May 9, 2017.

9. Coleman J. Take ownership of your actions by taking responsibility. Harvard Business Review. August 30, 2012. https://hbr.org/2012/08/take-ownership-of-your-actions . Accessed May 9, 2017.

10. Tye J. The Cultural Blueprinting Toolkit Workbook. Solon, IA: Values Coach, Inc.; 2013.

Do You Create an Ownership Mentality? A Quiz

According to Spence,(1) three key factors are essential if you want to develop an ownership mentality among your employees: transparency; clear and quantifiable goals; and a stake in the outcome. Spence has created a four-question quiz to help you figure out where your medical practice stands on these three factors. Rate your performance in each of the following statements on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being “we are excellent at this – truly world-class” and 1 being “we are terrible at this – we don’t do this at all.”

1. We openly share critical information about our practice with our entire team. If there is news, they hear it first from us.

2. Everyone in our practice has very clear, specific, and measurable performance objectives.

3. We generously reward (in both money and praise) those employees who demonstrate a true ownership mentality and who consistently meet or exceed their performance objectives.

4. We deal decisively and effectively with employees who are mediocre and/or do not consistently meet their performance objectives.

According to Spence, any score below 7 is cause for concern. He adds, “A score lower than a 5 is probably a major issue.”

Reference

1. Spence J. How to create an “ownership mentality” on your team. John Spence. September 24, 2009. http://blog.johnspence.com/2009/09/how-to-create-an-ownership-mentality-on-your-team/ . Accessed May 9, 2017.

Why Talented Employees Don’t Take Ownership

What’s the top reason that talented employees don’t take ownership of their work? It is not laziness, low self-esteem, or a poor work ethic, as some may think. According to Shannon,(1) the culprit is blame.

Blame is very easy to recognize when it’s stated obviously, Shannon says. Clearly, we know that an employee is blaming someone else if he or she says overtly, “I didn’t do it. It’s Jennifer’s fault.” Blame can be a little less obvious to us when an employee more subtly blames a coworker, as in, “I was late because Sue couldn’t finish her part on time.” Still, we can see the blame fairly easily. However, blame is the hardest to see when the employee blames something that seems plausibly out of his or her control.

For example, imagine that an employee arrives to your office one morning a half hour late for work. He or she could blame the traffic or the weather, and that may seem plausible. But is that the whole story? The employee could have said, “I should have listened to the weather report and allowed more time to get here this morning.” Or he or she could have said, “I cut things too close. I now know that I will need to allow a little more slack in my commute.” Such statements are not blaming and suggest that the employee is taking ownership of his or her behavior, Shannon says.

Medical practice managers can model a less-blaming way of thinking for their employees by framing their own remarks from an owner’s perspective. For example:

Shannon suggests that blame subverts the process of our own improvement. As soon as we blame, we remove the need for ourselves to be in charge. Blame places the requirements for us to do our work, to meet our obligations, or to improve ourselves on someone else’s shoulders. “Blame makes us victims of our environment, rather than masters of the universe,” Shannon says.

Reference

1. Shannon E. Stop whining–take ownership. Just Jobs Academy. December 28, 2011. http://academy.justjobs.com/stop-whining-take-ownership/ . Accessed May 9, 2017.