Home > Ownership Culture > Articles > Growing an Ownership Culture >

How to Make Your Employee Ownership Committee Work

Cathy Ivancic

September 1997

The only thing we do is run the annual picnic, have contests, and publicize ESOP things," complained Donna, a member of an ESOP Committee in a Midwestern ESOP company. "We're not very important," she concluded. Meanwhile, enthusiastic employee owners from companies like The Braas Company, Concrete Technology, Parametrix, and Scot Forge write articles and give speeches describing the important enduring contribution that their committees make to their companies. Curiously, these committee success stories often describe doing the same activities that Donna concludes are "not important." They are running picnics, organizing social events, coordinating contests, teaching people about the ESOP, and publicizing ESOP information. Even though the activities are identical, the perceived benefits are very different.

Perhaps we can chalk up this difference in perceptions to personality traits. "It all depends on the people you have. Some people get it and others don't," are common refrains repeated among company leaders. If this is the case, then most committees should throw up their hands in despair because they don't have those "special" people. The fact is, even the enthusiastic "special" people will burn out after a few projects under the wrong conditions. It takes something other than "special people" or "good projects" to create an effective and enduring employee owner committee.

Enduring committees have a mission and a structure that lives beyond the current members. These committees don't organize the annual picnic because they are supposed to "do" the picnic. Instead, they have a purpose that is greater than the picnic. Perhaps they do the picnic because they know that it is an opportunity to celebrate ownership, which they believe is strategic advantage for their company. Perhaps events at the picnic educate people about the benefits of ownership that will enhance their daily performance and benefit everyone. Or perhaps the picnic is an opportunity to build trust and strengthen the team spirit needed to work together toward common goals. Whatever the chosen purpose, the picnic is a means to an end. The reason for existence, or the mission, it is a key driving force behind the activities of an effective committee.

What can you do to make your committee an enduring, effective committee?

Develop Clear Agreement on Why Your Company Has a Committee

One of the most confusing things about "ESOP Committees" or employee owner councils is that they come in a wide variety of forms and purposes. There are committees that do administration, some that do communication, some that focus on education, and others that make recommendations for company policies to leaders. Frequently the specific purpose of the committee is undefined and its support of the company's goals is vague or non-existent.

There is no reason to create a committee that is not helping the organization meet its strategic goals. When the committee and company leadership agree on the role of the committee and the benefits it brings to the organization, the group can flourish and develop Without this agreement, the group will pick off projects that are feasible but will eventually see their role as unimportant or wander into areas where they are unwelcome or ineffective.

Invest the Time to Write Down the Mission of the Committee

Although it may seem like a waste of time when there are projects to be completed, the process of developing and writing down your committee's mission will secure your lasting impact. All too often, one or two people have a "visionary sprit" that drives the committee. At each meeting, these people remind others of the reasons for doing the project. When this person or persons leaves the group, retires, or disagrees with someone else on the committee, the fabric of the committee disintegrates. When you invest the time to develop and write down a mission you develop a shared purpose. Everyone can be one of those "special people" when everyone shares in the group's mission.

Strengthen the Committee Structure So That It Will Live Beyond the Current Membership

Whether your committee is made up of volunteers or elected individuals, it is important to establish a way for the committee to perpetuate itself. If your committee does not have a clear structure, create one. Do you need terms for the committee members? How will you select the new members, the next chairperson or group leader? Assess current committee members' skills: do committee members need to develop skills for running a successful meeting? A committee without some structure is really a task force for completing a project. When the project is over, so is the committee. If your mission is enduring, your structure should be too.

Evaluate Your Successes Both Long- and Short-Term

"If we get high participation in these meetings we know we are moving in the right direction," says a member of an ESOP Committee about voluntary informational meetings. "But we're not done even if we get 100% participation in this project." Enduring employee owner committees have a long-term perspective, but they also have ways to measure their short-term objectives. How do they do it? One way is to ask the group to answer the following questions before and after an activity: (1) "How will we know we have been successful at reaching our objectives for this project?" (2) "How does this project help us get where we're trying to go as a company?" If you can't answer them, then you've probably gotten off track. A course readjustment now will go a long way to creating an effective committee in the future.

When members of an employee owner committee agree on how their mission supports the company's strategic goals, activities will be selected for their beneficial impact and will be evaluated for their contribution to the whole organization. Without a strong committee mission, a company picnic, an open-house, or a contest can be superficial and meaningless activities. But in the hands of a focused employee owner committee, a company picnic can be a tool for organizational change.

Cathy Ivancic is a consultant and co-owner at Workplace Development Inc. Since 1985, she has helped more than 100 ESOP companies enhance ESOP communications and develop an ownership culture. She is active in national organizations that promote shared ownership and has served on the NCEO's board of directors and as an officer of the Ohio chapter of the ESOP Association.She can be reached at civancic@workplacedevelopment.com.

Firm description and list of other columns in this series

^^Top of Page