Like any Manager, I have a few very specific long-term goals concerning my employees’ skill sets, goals which quite possibly correlate with my own personal pet peeves. One such goal is ownership. I vow that one day, far, far along into their careers, my employees will know that when a mishap or other issue arises in the workplace, they might very well be to blame. And if they are, they will openly accept that fact and seek to fix it. They will not automatically point the finger at their coworker, their job, and/or anyone or any other set of circumstances apart from their very own lovely and charming selves.

This is not to say that I wish my employees to accept blame for all workplace issues and land in the other extreme of Doormatsville. Just, ownership where ownership is due. As K.Lo reminds her coworker, sometimes a person needs to “Man up!”

We work hard on this skill at The Lo.Co. Management has, on a few specific occasions, engaged in an hour-long standoff with the two-year employee over a serious ECC violation (h-i-t-t-i-n-g) and two all-important little words: “I’m sorry.” We stuck to our guns on this one, and found that future standoff times decreased dramatically, along with the ECC violation incidence itself.

Additionally, K.Lo has recently picked up another habit, surely the influence of those pesky Twoville Offices, where she says, “NO! You do it!” when asked to complete a chore. At this juncture, Management allows one more chance for attitude adjustment. When the employee refuses again, we do the chore together. As in, The Manager becomes The Micro-Manager until said chore is completed properly. And with a smile, preferably.

It is difficult to remember that employees do not come pre-installed with the Ownership Chip, and in fact this skill even more that others may take years and years of training. And that training may never stick. But, we can dream.