Employeeship Organization

Success in corporate life is about mobilizing the energy of all employees to ensure the survival
and growth of the company. The program illustrates what is required of both managers and staff
to develop that special personal commitment which we call Employeeship.

Employeeship is that special culture where management and staff share the responsibility for
success and failure - and join efforts to achieve the best results.

Who played the most important part on D-Day: The "Management" or the soldiers?

It is generally agreed that the successful landing in Normandy on D-Day was the result of
competent management, clear allocation of responsibilities and tasks, and not least co-operation
and commitment. Everybody was motivated. Everybody did their best. The proof of this was in
the results. Nobody would dream of giving the entire credit for this operation to the
"management". It was successful only because all "staff members" on all levels took
responsibility and did their very best.

Organizations fight too. They fight to penetrate new markets - to maintain markets shares - to
grow - to survive. But traditionally, the manager is in focus. If the organization is successful, it is
the result of good management. If it is unsuccessful, it is the result of bad management. The
manager is considered responsible for practically everything. Heavy responsibility often leads to
caution. Most people will be inclined to use the "safe" methods, because they have been tried
before and were successful then. This is dangerous in a changing world.

Employeeship is new thinking

The world around us is changing faster than ever before. The management thinking that used to
create impressive results, now often creates lots of problems. We have reached a point where
new thinking is required. Employeeship is a new effective concept that makes it possible to
create a strong culture where management and staff share the responsibility for success and
failure.

Responsibility, loyalty, and initiative are key

Employeeship is based on the knowledge that practically everybody in the organization has
enormous unused resources at their disposal - viz. the unused potential of the individual staff
member. They are in fact the organization's most valuable resource, but only very few are
capable of activating it in the best possible way. Employeeship is a concept that releases and
utilizes this unused energy and knowledge. It is not enough to appeal to the brain by "sending"
the responsibility to the staff. You also need a positive response.

The staff should both want and dare take responsibility. A sense of responsibility is necessary if
all employees are to display loyalty and to take the initiative to make things function and to
improve and develop the organization.

Everybody is a manager - but there are many "classifications"

An organization needs to be managed. No doubt about it. Therefore, it is not a question of taking
the responsibility for managing the organization away from the managers and handing it over to
the staff. We neither believe in collective management, management through committees or the
like. But we do believe that the individual staff member can be made the "manager" of their own
area of responsibility. But this requires a change of attitude - in both managers and staff.

If the manager does not have the fundamental trust that the staff can take useful and independent
initiatives, the staff will not take responsibility, but will leave the initiative and the responsibility
to the managers. Employeeship combines the demand for production, effectiveness and survival
with the self-realization of the individual staff member. Employeeship makes it possible for the
individual staff member to develop through their work and to unite their resources in a collective
performance with the other staff members of the organization. But the manager should still walk
ahead and show the way.

Keywords: Delegation, Empowerment, Authority, People Management