How to Take an Ownership of Your Job

Have you ever been told, "You need to take more ownership of your job?" And you didn't really know what that meant? It is a phrase often used in organizations but rarely understood by the employees. Here are a few thoughts to help you understand what it means and use it to enjoy your job more.

To me, it means always being on the lookout for ways to do your job better, faster, more efficiently and so on. It means making suggestions of how the work processes or systems can be improved and doing your job to the very best of your abilities. It is a willingness to learn and to be constantly striving to get a little bit better in all aspects of your job.

Not only because it may get you a raise, promotion or something else, but because you want to feel that you are performing your job at the highest level you can. It results in a pride you feel deep down in yourself that makes you feel good about your abilities and raises your self esteem. And that will help you will enjoy your job more.

Ask yourself: What good comes to you and your customers when you take ownership of your job? How does it change the way you do or think about things? How do you feel about yourself when you do that?

Now think of the opposite---what happens when you are just skating through the day and do just enough to get by while watching the clock and counting the hours until you can leave? Is that what you want? Does that make you feel proud of yourself? I hope not. Something as simple as often being a few minutes late to work is one example of not owning your job. It results in making it more difficult on your teammates to do their jobs and can send a message that you are not reliable, responsible and more. Owning your job is more than just doing the duties in your job description--it is the seemingly little things where you take initiative to do something a little bit extra. Like spending an extra minute doing something special for a customer.

But the best thing to do if your management has not defined what you should or should not be doing in order to take ownership of your job is to discuss it with your boss. Ask for examples of what tasks, behaviors and actions would make them believe that you are "owning your job." So what's the payoff for you when you take ownership? Let me know how and what you do. I am looking for specific examples to use in a program on the subject.