Illinois Center for Employee Ownership (IL-CEO) Publishes WORC CEO, Dr. Ellen G. Frank-Miller, on Intentional Employee Ownership and the Myth of the Ownership Culture Fairy
“Structure is necessary but not sufficient; culture must be intentionally built.”
Who is the Ownership Culture Fairy, and why doesn’t she exist? The Illinois Center for Employee Ownership (IL-CEO) published an article by WORC’s founder and CEO, Dr. Ellen G. Frank-Miller, “There Is No Magical Ownership-Culture Fairy: The Hidden Cost of Employee Ownership Shortcuts” on November 19, 2025 that reveals the answer.
Creating an ownership culture is a science, not magic, and concrete operational changes, not just technical shortcuts, are needed to see company-wide results.
As more companies adopt employee ownership programs, many are learning the truth — changing your ownership structure without changing the culture does not generate the ownership mindset needed to drive company performance in the long-term.
WORC’s research shows that a targeted approach to changing the right operational and managerial practices reshapes how employees think about their role in the company, which changes how they behave. Those ownership behaviors are the engine that drives superior results we see for employee-owned companies.
But creating an ownership culture doesn’t end there, either. Continuous measuring and following through on the holistic implementation of employee ownership, using targeted tools, can help companies maximize the impact of their ownership structure. WORC’s science-backed, statistically validated Ownership Impact Index® ensures that the ‘magic’ of employee ownership becomes a tangible and sustainable reality.
Leaders need to be all-in with employee ownership and the work it requires to understand the drivers that create an ownership mindset, then measure them, and then respond with targeted actions.
To learn more straight from WORC’s CEO, read the full article here.
