I recently completed the DISTek U track on ESOP Basics. My interest in signing up for the track was to read Beyond Engagement by Corey Rosen. Others had talked about the book, and I was intrigued.
The track proved to be a worthwhile investment of my time. I learned more about ESOPs, including a better understanding of how DISTek was set up as an ESOP. For me, the most valuable learning came from Beyond Engagement. Rosen shared insight to the differences between being an engaged employee-owner and an involved employee-owner. DISTek, along with many other companies, regularly schedule engagement surveys to measure engagement. However, for an ESOP company, having engaged employee-owners is good, but having involved employee-owners is much better. Let me explain in a manner that really sealed my understanding.
I recently attended an Iowa State University football game. For those that know me, you know that I am passionate about the sports teams I follow. It seemed to me that I was involved when it came to Iowa State. Sitting in the stands of the game, I saw examples of engagement and involvement. There were people near me in the upper rows of the stadium yelling out suggestions for the team (along with advice for the refs), but as fans, we were only engaged. The players and coaches were the ones involved, as they were the ones actually playing the game. For me, I realized that, unfortunately, I could only be engaged – there was no way for me to get involved. I couldn’t play the game nor help coach the team. I felt powerless and realized I am a person that desires to be involved when I do something. Luckily, being part of DISTek and an ESOP company gives me the ability to be involved.
Being involved at DISTek means that an employee-owner has an opportunity to make suggestions and work with others to make DISTek a better company. As an example, a previous blog post highlighted the Software Craftmanship Club, which was an idea that was developed at the grassroots level. Another example was a change in our Health Savings Accounts. Previously, our Health Savings Accounts were simple interest-bearing accounts. An employee-owner suggested adding investment options to the Health Savings Accounts to earn a higher yield, which took some time, but was eventually implemented.
I appreciate that the concepts of engaged and involved were cemented during the football game, which was the only positive of the game, since, unfortunately, Iowa State lost. Being an involved employee-owner is my goal and, as a leader within the company, causes me to look for opportunities to get others involved. That is one of the positives of working at DISTek and being part of an ESOP. Ownership culture has been stated many times around DISTek and I understand what it means – being engaged AND involved.
