Owners Share More With Managers

Creative, innovative, industrious managers are a hot commodity these days. Companies of all sizes and types know that the quality of their leaders determines the success of their ventures. Proven managers appreciate this fact, too, and, as a consequence, many are putting a higher price on the unique contributions they can make.

Importantly, cash compensation and monetary benefits are not their only motivations. Managers know that in order to be successful - and to achieve personal fulfillment - they must share in the kinds of policy formulation and decision-making that traditionally were the exclusive province of the owners of the enterprise.

As a result, managers worth their salt are demanding a place at the owner’s table from the time policy is made to the point that the rewards are divvied up. Their demands are being met, too.

The prevailing tight labor market has given present-day talent-sellers a distinct advantage. But even if this were not the case, business owners should be delighted to share their power and position with managers.

In today’s change-a-minute world, opportunities come and go at warp speed, make-or-break challenges are ever-present, and competition is relentless. Therefore, companies need the best and brightest talent available. To attract it and retain it, they must be willing to introduce some significant changes into the work environment and personal motivation they provide. To wit, the highest and best use of management talent will be achieved only if the provider of that talent enjoys the participation, perks and passion of ownership.

In a start-up entrepreneurial venture, one just has to hang up a shingle to acquire ownership status. But in a larger, established company that depends on the services of salaried managers, the process of acquiring standing akin to ownership is a bit more challenging.

“Virtual ownership: The ultimate energizer,” a program offered by the Center for Business Ownership Inc., shows both the “givers” and “receivers” of ownership entitlements just what is required in order to reap the benefits of shared ownership. The center contends that an enterprise must provide its managers - its virtual owners - with:

Access to all of the financial and operating information that is critical to effective policy formulation and decision-making. Today, a manager’s “need to know” cannot be tightly circumscribed.

A worthwhile mission that challenges managers’ abilities. This mandate must make sense to both the firm and the managers who are expected to implement it.

An opportunity to participate in the formulation of the strategies and goals that define that mission. Managers must become “owners” of the purpose they are pursuing.

License to continually and aggressively seek and exploit new revenue streams to fuel the firm in the future. The lifecycles of most market offerings are continually growing shorter.

The resources, especially knowledge and technology, that are necessary to do the job. Management guru Peter Drucker claims that knowledge will be the most important corporate resource in the 21st century.

The freedom to be innovative, assume risk, take the initiative, and be a proactive perpetrator of change rather than a reactive victim of change. Managers must have the authority, time and liberty to experiment and change.

The right to eschew traditional lockstep planning in favor of “pathfinding” - or serendipitous opportunity exploitation - in the pursuit of tactical, short-term objectives.

Permission to mobilize into teamunits, or other types of “organizational components,” that are part of a fluid, flexible structure that facilitates communication, decision-making, proactive implementation, and rapid response to opportunity.

Economic rewards commensurate with achievement. A “piece of the action” is essential for an individual who is expected to perform entrepreneurially. While the monetary payoffs of “ownership” can take many forms, they must transcend those afforded by traditional salary and benefit packages.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Paul Willax The Spokesman-Review